I created a narrative equivalent to a "Wordle" over the last several weeks on the
repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic for higher education. Now that the longer term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are unfolding, this "after COVID-19" blog post captures the thinking and action of institutions as they now move on (I will revise/update the post for several weeks going forward).
It's important to review how we got here in order to see the opportunities that lie ahead. A good place to start is with a post I did titled "
Bremmer - Geopolitical recession and COVID-19." More than anyone else I've seen, Bremmer captured why the global response to COVID-19 has been so ineffective - it's because we have experienced a geopolitical (not initially economic) recession that increased isolationism, competition, and blaming that allowed the virus to spread unchecked. One of the most destructive examples of the recession from cooperative effort can be seen in the Trump administration's response, including
silencing the CDC, rewriting medical statements to fit the Trump narrative, and contradicting scientific evidence on a regular basis.
The dysfunction of our global community is devastating, is instructive of where we now need to go, and reinforces that learning is a precious and essential resource which must be protected through an ongoing process of
shared problem solving and leadership. In fact, the type of
candid communication and leadership that is required may look much like historic models of political leadership in history. The urgency of managing stressful times, which include some
dire predictions, may result in institutions looking as if they are withdrawing from public engagement when the best approach is to
engage even more, creating the connections and
providing the public benefit that higher education brings to all. New and returning students for Fall 2020 are a ready source of optimism in these difficult times says
Eboo Patel, but COVID-19
outbreaks from fraternity parties demonstrate that some students do not see themselves as part of the solution. Even with the slippage of fraternity parties and other mass gatherings, some advocated
reinforcing students' better selves (although others
cautioned against relying too much on shaming students into compliance) when faculty and staff urge compliance with COVID-19 containment strategies. Going even further than shaming, some institutions were
driven to suspend students who violated campus policies designed to deter the spread of COVID-19. Ultimately, students have to be engaged through
positive involvement opportunities and a sense of
shared responsibility and resulting impact reinforced.
When looking at the question of when and how to reopen campuses,
Claire Laporte of Fordham University recommended careful planning that would include 'herd immunity" and policies/practices to protect vulnerable groups (such as older faculty).
William Tierney asserted that reopening in Fall 2020 must look very different than previous approaches while
Scott Galloway called reopening in any face-to-face way "consensual hallucination" and
John Warner predicted squandering resources on reopening that could have been dedicated to improving better on-line learning. As the summer of 2020 evolved, some institutions that previously announced in-person instruction
reverted to on-line learning and there were predictions of impending
disaster for those who stuck with in-person strategy. The options under consideration have to be studied with the assumption that any number of
"deals" or "circuit breakers" may require continuing adaptation.
Business officers expressed increasing concern about disruption of budgets resulting from extra expenses and faltering enrollments;
furloughs for staff were announced as one strategy when institutions began to open and
accelerated once the academic year began. The predictions of the
economic impact on institutions and diverse students are sobering to say the least and the impact
showed up in 2021 forecasts as well.
Survey responses documented broad
reservations among faculty about returning to in person instruction.
Edward Maloney and Joshua Kim proposed fifteen alternative scenarios from which
students and faculty might choose for Fall 2020.
Inside Higher Education's compilation of 2020 planning provided greater detail on trends throughout the U.S.A. and their "
Taking Colleges Online" (preview available but report must be purchased) took it further into how to create sustainable and scalable approaches to online learning.
Simulations were also proposed to help planners see how various strategies might look in practice.
A survey of
presidents of colleges and universities in April 2020 (and
updated in June 2020) summarized the many issues to consider as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, especially as many began to realize that
previous existing problems were exacerbated in its aftermath and that
learning for students was not what they hoped. Among the myriad concerns was determining when to return to in-person instruction. By the end of May,
53% of surveyed presidents indicated that their campuses were "very likely" and another 31% "somewhat likely" to return to in-person instruction for Fall 2020. Striving to maintain enrollment, some campuses have
held steady or reduced tuition, which appeared to increase applications for admission. By June,
enrollment news became increasingly uncertain, with
public research universities holding steady but
regional publics,
private institutions, and
community colleges more mixed.
Advice to private universities included following the example of the non-profit sector by focusing on shared understanding, empowered leadership, mission alignment and other variables. The disparity in enrollment projections is driving new thinking about recruitment for future enrollment as well as
recovery of lost students who stopped out. As more institutions weighed the risks and benefits of reopening campuses,
presidents expressed concern related to liability should it not go well as
lawyers provided advice on the types of issues to address in order to stay out of trouble. On top of the intricacy and urgency of decision making among administrators, faculty involvement in decision making has been neglected in some cases, leading to
AAUP investigating if shared academic governance had been undermined in the process.
A
Niche survey of 100,000+ students concluded that the three top preferences were 1) returning to in-person classes, 2) block scheduling, and a 3) mix of in person and virtual instruction. University of Michigan faculty launched a
MOOC "that offers inspiration and practical guidance on cultivating resilient pedagogical approaches and builds a new community of practitioners and scholars." Some educators urged a continued focus on
mission-aligned instruction and preservation of
core campus culture. Others saw the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to take another look at
fundamental restructuring of the ways higher education functions and address
persistent problems that have been ignored.
The
American College Health Association guidelines, the
Center for Disease Control guidelines of late May 2020 and
amended in October 2020, and the
Johns Hopkins University planning guide provide important guidance to assist institutions in their decision making. Nearing the traditional fall break, American College Health Association issued advice on how to
manage students' Thanksgiving travel and how it could spread COVID-19. Institutions may find
modeling what campus would look like as a way to prevent uncontrolled spread of COVID-19. They increasingly need to look at least 3-5 years into the future, perhaps considering
Deloitte Consulting's scenarios. Beyond a core focus on physical health, some believe that the complex and deep needs of
students may be neglected.
Access to mental health services has not adequately addressed the
emotional insecurity that many students report and evidence indicated that
students did not take advantage of the resources that could help them. As a result, some educators urged that attention be given to the critical need to
cultivate community among students with one of the best ways being to
reach out to student organizations. Instead of despondency, educators must
imagine a different and new future where disruption and dislocation are the common denominator, where
resilience is fostered (among
faculty and students alike), and where
transformation is the ultimate goal. Perhaps the
COVID-19 crisis could even improve education by breaking the current static confines of education, helping students move beyond easy answers and thereby growing in their agency to work and live in a complicated world. A specific example of engaging students in real problems could be to mobilize them to help the U.S.A. reopen by
serving in a core of contact tracers.
Resilience in relation to career is particularly important for
adult learners who have lost jobs and now require retraining but younger students as well have
great interest in preparing for career entry. Rethinking career planning will also be required of
faculty just entering their careers.
Academic administrators need to look at policies and practices that will support faculty at all points of their careers. By embracing the disruption and focusing on the role higher education plays in
preparing the future workforce, a new role for education can be found and we can begin to work together to correct the things that were not working before COVID-19. In addition to embracing the disruption,
active communication with stakeholders about the
outcomes of higher learning will be essential to reinvigorating colleges and universities throughout the world. With virtual interaction having led to "
Zoom fatigue," other platforms for communicating and planning will hopefully emerge.
A survey by Eduventures indicated that students place highest value on three dimensions of their experience -
academics, extracurricular, and social life. In many ways, the
lack of clarity about what the future holds is one of the most difficult challenges they face. Students' expectations can be addressed by a number of
fundamental shifts including; redefinition of the role of the professoriate, refocus on the wholistic experience of students, new
instructional innovations, and a more responsive curriculum. As institutions consider what changes are required in the shift from primarily face-to-face experiences to virtual or a mix, it is critical to foster an institutional ethos of optimism, a real commitment to enhancing student engagement, and
include students in the planning. Maintaining some semblance of the collegiate experience is critical and there are ways to
adapt this experience to an era of physical distancing that still includes
active learning. By November 2020 faculty were able to refine approaches to on-line and hybrid instruction demonstrating that
active engagement makes a very real difference. Preserving a
residential experience, which has
unique challenges, coupled with various forms of on-line learning has been proposed by some institutions. Corvias, a private developer of student housing, was rumored to have
pressured campuses to keep residence halls open, which drew legislative concern. Health
authorities also struggled with whether to send students who test COVID-19 positive home or quarantine them in campus residence halls. As universities
disclosed their approaches to residence halls, some
students expressed concern that these dense living situations would contribute to increased spread of COVID-19, which may be the cause of a predicted
40% no show rate among first-year students at 4-year residential colleges. Students who
lived in residence halls reported more positive outcomes than those who did not in a late-fall 2020 survey. The number of students who choose to
study abroad is likely to decline due to travel and host institution challenges. The good new is that
expanded models for international exposure are emerging. These are examples of higher education institutions' commitment to holistic learning and there are many more.
The wholistic view of education in the U.S.A. is based on John Dewey's ideas at the dawn of the 20th century and resulted in the "American" style of education that includes critical thinking, affirms independence of thought, discovery learning, and activism.
Keeping current students engaged through such things as traditions, arts, recreation/wellness, and clubs and organizations is central to maintaining this commitment. As
the big athletic conferences moved to cancel Fall 2020 sports seasons,
others followed and then some reversed course, the social bonding of cheering at intercollegiate athletics by students waned or disappeared; some view the
down-scaling or loss of these extravagant sports events as a good thing. An example of working to compensate for these lost "collegiate experience" opportunities,
New York Institute of Technology's Dean of Students initiated five student-focused strategies. Other institutions have launched
lower-risk socializing opportunities (often outdoors) and required students to sign
behavioral contracts in order to return to in-person learning.
The growing evidence in mid-Summer 2020 was that
students were ready to return to their studies, with only 7% indicating they would take time off for Fall 2020. By late October 2020,
first-year student enrollment has already dropped by more than 16%. As institutions such as
Georgia Tech sought to model the impact of in-person instruction, surveys found that
many students didn't really trust their college's attempts to control the spread of COVID-19. Iowa graduate students and faculty staged a
'sickout' to protest the Universities reopening strategy.
Multiple moments of truth came as
COVID-19 cases among young adults rose, resulting in a
variety of institutional strategies with the
University of Tennessee,
University of North Carolina, Oklahoma State University,
Notre Dame, Michigan State (with large institutions experiencing
large case counts) serving as select examples. There were so many changes at
other institutions that a
database is now available to track changes. Closing down in some case came as a result of
pressure from local jurisdictions and
county health officials as evidence mounted that
counties with colleges and universities were accelerating in the number of COVID-19 cases. County health records reviewed later in the fall confirmed that
deaths in those counties had doubled versus non-college counties increasing by 58% during the same period. Pressure from various sources resulted in changes when it should have been driven by clearly understood and communicated
trigger conditions on campus. The
University of Wisconsin's outbreak resulted in serious town-gown tensions and the University of Colorado's President
moved instruction on-line and prohibited student gatherings on and off campus. Although closing was essential in these cases, it
confirmed students' lack of trust in their schools' initial decision.
Pressure increased for colleges and universities to move to online instruction as the failed openings mounted and
cases spiked throughout the U.S.A. By November, many institutions that began fall instruction in person,
reversed to on-line and sent students home for the remainder of the term. Some
Asian universities have now moved to online as well. The
first known student death from COVID-19 at Appalachian State University reinforced the reality of worst-case possibilities in managing the pandemic on campus.
Trump and his administration offered advice on how to handle sick students while simultaneously pushing institutions to open in-person instruction. Higher education leaders struggled to adopt approaches that
don't exaggerate the uneven impact of the pandemic. Significant
differences exist in the responses of colleges and universities, some of which is driven by the
resources available at the institution. As proposals emerged to bolster the U.S.A. economy,
Democrats included significant funding for higher education that was coupled with an expectation that states maintain their contributions rather than pulling back. Adding to the complexity of institutional decision making,
Republicans and Democrats bickered back and forth about the viability and conditions under which institutions could reopen.
While certainly not the only representation of Dewey's philosophy,
"student affairs" is one of the clearest examples of a commitment to engaged learning in U.S.A. higher education. As institutions moved to on-line instruction, student support services on many campuses were quickly outsourced just to provide the immediate support that students required. Looking toward the future, institutions are likely to incorporate a stronger
team effort that relies on faculty and student affairs staff working together to provide wholistic learning and cultivation of graduates who see themselves as resilient, creative and capable of leadership in a changing world.
