For the upcoming fall semester, there is a high level of uncertainty that faculty and students must overcome. In a recent study by The Chronicle, tracking the decisions of 960 colleges across the United States, of which 65% of them are planning to have in-person teaching. Taking into account the circumstances, a majority of the institutions are planning to finish their fall semester by thanksgiving break, which is when the flu season is expected to commence. As to how the in-person classes will be illustrated, other than modifying classrooms so that there will be proper social distancing measures, I was not able to find information on what that will look like.
Incoming college freshmen may likely decide to stay in-state and attend a more cost-effective university, rather than attending an out of state school and/or a private one. Many of these private institutions pride themselves on being a more holistic and thought-provoking curriculum, which requires students to take a variety of classes outside of their disciplines. Smaller class sizes typically offered at private universities allow for personal connection that may not be the case at larger institutions who tend to have a much larger pool of students fighting for the same attention and resources. That is not to say that students cannot flourish in either private or public higher learning institutions, they will have to perform their own analysis and decide what works best for them. In these times, those factors at private schools may diminish in value, unless the university can offer competitive financial aid. It will be interesting to see their total enrollment numbers this year and projections for the future.
Reports have shown that numerous colleges have since collaborated with consulting firms to discuss the measures they will need to have in place to have school in the fall. A few liberal arts colleges have taken this approach of conducting semesters into 7-week modules, here, the student will take 2 courses each module and have and have an option to take winter course. Allowing for a maximum of 36 credits per school year for the foreseeable future. In the state of California, public universities such as the University of California Los Angeles are planning to reopen campus; however, the vast majority (if not all) for their courses being offered online. The Cal State school system has chosen to cancel all in-person classes at its 23 campuses and switching to offer courses online. While at the University of Southern California, a private institution is preparing for a hybrid model approach, to which courses will be in-person with the capabilities for those classes to be online as well to suit students who don't wish to be in a classroom. Now, these are two institutions that are well funded and are capable of conducting these measures, it may not be the same at other schools.
Now moving forward, I would like to see college officials admit that we are in an inconsistent and uncertain time but to adequately inform students of updates so they can adjust. Issues with transparency have plagued student-administration relationships, now is not the time to be opaque. While at the same time be realistic, people are going to move around, there are things that college student gravitate towards doing, what are some of the measures being put in place to ensure the general population of the school is safe. I strongly encourage all students to carefully look into your university's reopening plan, and whenever there are discussion forums, pose your questions and concerns!
How confident are you in your school's response, and what do you think can be done? Are you concerned about your return to school? Feel free to share thoughts and comments.
Be mindful that information can change from the time posted.
