Reopening college campuses
Many colleges and universities are announcing plans for on-campus instruction this fall, juggling the importance of maintaining their community’s health during the coronavirus pandemic while providing students with the sought-after college experience.
A few schools have come forward with detailed plans that include innovative solutions that others should consider.
What seems clear is that most schools will have some sort of “hybrid” method of instruction this fall. Students and professors will be able to have much-needed, though limited, personal interaction and access to resources on campus. Online instruction will also be part of the curriculum.
What this will look like varies. Institutions are taking into account their campuses’ respective size, location, population and other factors. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, for instance, has decided to separate its 12,000-student body into rotating “teams” who take turns showing up in a classroom one day and video connecting to the course another day.
Allegheny College is splitting its traditional two semesters into four “modules.” Students will learn on campus during the first and fourth modules while taking instruction virtually during two modules between Thanksgiving and late February. The measure will reduce the rural campus population during the winter flu season significantly.
The University of Pittsburgh, with an enrollment of more than 33,000 students, is also looking to prevent people from flooding back to campus after a short trip home for
Thanksgiving. Instructors will have the option to either finish classes before the holiday or continue instruction and give exams virtually after it. Penn State, with an enrollment of more than 46,000 on its main campus, has made remote instruction and exams mandatory after Thanksgiving.
Colleges are also taking precautions when it comes to dining and living situations as well. Robert Morris University plans to assign meal times to reduce crowds in dining halls. At IUP, students living in residence halls will have private bedrooms, and no more than two students will share a bathroom.
Both RMU and Allegheny College plan to train staff to do contact tracing in case coronavirus cases emerge on campus. These colleges have also committed to regularly cleaning and disinfecting all dorms and facilities on campus.
As colleges determine how to reopen, many questions remain. Penn State faculty are asking for assurance that instructors can decide how to teach classes and hold meetings, whether remotely or in person. Faculty at IUP are asking how much PPE will be available, what the sanitation process will look like and how to juggle remote instruction with in-person learning.
Although committed to on-campus instruction this fall, area schools also recognize that there are still many unknowns about the coronavirus and how an outbreak might alter decisions being made now. The key for school officials will be to remain flexible and continue to explore innovative methods of instruction while being transparent about how things might change and how students would be affected.