College journey takes new direction
IUN educators, students discuss changes in pandemic
Going to college amid a pandemic can cause some people to feel discouraged, but Indiana University Northwest Chancellor Ken Iwama said moving forward in the process is important.
Iwama was part of a group of educators and students who spoke with potential incoming students and families Saturday over Zoom in an event with IUN to discuss what going to college in a pandemic looks like.
“My call to everyone here that is thinking about college, whether it’s fall 2021 hopefully, or if you’re not a senior maybe a little bit longer than that, when you delay that decision, and you delay your choice to go to college, you’re delaying your own growth,” Iwama said. “You’re delaying your own growth, and frankly, from my perspective, your security.”
The seminar allowed educators and students a chance to talk about what college currently looks like, how campuses are staying safe, the difference between e-learning at the high school level and the collegiate level and how students and faculty are staying connected, among other things.
“(We) gathered this morning to give students hope, and the real story of how a local university transitioned into and through the pandemic, helping students socially, academically and financially,” Dorothy Frink, IUN director of admissions and strategic recruitment, said.
Iwama spoke about comprehensive testing taking place on campus, as well as tuition prices and education quality that comes with going to the university.
“One of the ways we care for our students and each other is our health and safety precautions,” Iwama said. “During a pandemic, IU and IU Northwest have, I think, led the state, if not the country in terms of the low numbers of coronavirus cases on campus, comparably speaking to what is happening in our communities.”
According to IU data updated Dec. 16, at all campuses the week of Dec. 6, 23 positive cases were identified among 3,119 faculty and staff test results, with a positivity rate of 0.7%.
For the week of Dec. 6, the mitigation testing COVID-19 positivity rate was 1% across all campuses, according to the IU dashboard.
“We have comprehensive testing right now on campus, run by our nursing school,” Iwama said. “These precautions will be in place, until, frankly, the virus is eradicated nationally and globally.”
Also at the seminar, IUN student and president of the Student Government Association, Angad Sidhu, spoke about his experience attending the university during the pandemic.
Sidhu said there was some uncertainty surrounding the move to online, but he’s still been able to feel connected and have some sort of campus experience, even if it looked different this year.
“I feel that with all the hard work that the health professionals put in, and the administrators and faculty, in keeping those safety guidelines, following those safety protocols,” he said “Although it’s been different, that’s no shock, we’ve still been able to do things on campus, we’ve still been able to persevere.”
Associate Professor Mark Baer spoke of the experience of the year as well, stating that he feels professors and f aculty sometimes seem more connected with students, noting that now, he would probably know what is going on in the lives of each of his students individually.
Baer said this year has consisted of a lot of collaboration between faculty and students.
“I felt that our faculty, in particular, it wasn’t just about what’s going to work for me as a faculty member, or what new rules that I decide on,” Baer said. “It was about reaching out and figuring out what’s going on with our students, and making a way for them to meet the learning objectives of the course in their new situations.”
Frink closed out the meeting by discussing the reasons behind the seminar, noting that she was saddened by the prospect of students not going to college due to the pandemic.
“This wasn’t really just about apply, apply to IU Northwest — we really are concerned about our community,” Frink said. “We consider this our civic duty, our community duty, to share the information about going to school in a pandemic.”