All eyes are on schools this week - as lecture hall doors open and remote students join virtual sessions to jumpstart the 2020 Fall semester.
Ever since universities began closing at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, thought leaders in higher education have been scrambling to gather as much information as possible to secure effective education plans prior to the start of the new school year.
Many colleges and universities were hopeful that socially distanced, in-person classes could be a possibility for the Fall, with research showing that in July 2020, 63% of schools wanted to bring students to campus for in-person classes. Only a few weeks later, the percentage of universities planning for in-person classes dropped to 53%.
Instead, the percentage of colleges opting for hybrid classes - a combination of in-person classes and virtual teaching and learning increased.
But now, with a surge in coronavirus cases after just the first week, the universities that opted for in-person classes are suddenly pivoting to totally remote learning.
Caption: Students at the Zachry Engineering Education Complex of Texas A&M University walk the halls during a class change in February, 2020.
The latest university that made national headlines this week was UNC-Chapel Hill in North Carolina. Originally intended to host classes in-person, students moved into dorms and began campus life while starting their first week of classes. Just a few days later the COVID-19 testing positivity rate soared from 2.8% to 13.6%, with 130 students testing positive for the coronavirus during its first week of classes. NPR reported that officials explained,
“As much as we believe we have worked diligently to help create a healthy and safe campus living and learning environment, the current data presents an untenable situation.”
UNC-Chapel Hill moved classes from in-person to solely online, effective immediately.
High profile universities followed suit with their own challenges arising, even after vigorous testing processes were established as students arrived to campus. After an increase in coronavirus cases with a 19% positive student testing rate, Notre Dame moved in-person classes online for the next two weeks. If the outbreak isn’t contained in the two weeks, Notre Dame will send students home to learn remotely. Ithaca College just reversed their original plan to have students on campus, and Michigan State and Carnegie Mellon University have now asked students to stay home.
Now it’s the next batch of universities’ turn to be the data - as we look forward to more schools’ initial week of opening. Texas A&M University opened late this week, where over 75 percent of students will have at least one in-person course, while Penn State University starts on Monday.
The goal for all higher education organizations? To foster effective education with high retention rates as safely as possible.
We’ll be continuing to track trends across higher education - who is currently hosting in-person classes, hybrid scenarios, or solely virtual learning - depending on current coronavirus counts, along with The Chronicle of Higher Education.
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