|
|
EvgeniiAnd/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
Education Dive
Colleges announce tentative plans for fall 2020
Hallie Busta
April 27, 2020
Dive Brief:
Colleges nationwide have begun talking, if speculatively, about the
conditions under which they would reopen campuses for the fall 2020
term.
Since Boston University released a plan earlier this month indicating
how it may restart campus operations once it is safe to do so, many
more colleges have followed.
Their plans range widely, and several acknowledge some degree of online
instruction will be needed even in the best-case scenario. Most are
still tentative, however, with officials awaiting the go-ahead from
public health officials.
Dive Insight:
The coronavirus drove the spring term online in a hurry. Now, colleges
are looking ahead to fall and many are planning for a variety of
scenarios. Those range from how to safely handle a return to campus to
navigating another term entirely online.
Even if students can return to campus, the potential for an outbreak
could cause schools to revive stronger social distancing measures.
Widespread testing and technology-enabled contact tracing, as well as
the ability to safely isolate infected students on campus, are
prerequisites for reviving campus life, wrote Brown University
President Christina Paxson in an op-ed for The New York Times this
weekend.
"Our students will have to understand that until a vaccine is developed, campus life will be different," she wrote.
Paxson went a step further, suggesting governments "marshal the
resources and expertise to make it possible to reopen" campuses. Purdue
University President Mitch Daniels said in an April 21 letter to campus
that the school plans to open in August if permitted by "governmental
authorities." Other executives have emphasized that they will take
their cues from scientists.
Of 187 college presidents surveyed in mid-April by Inside Higher Ed,
one-third said they weren't certain when the majority of in-person
class meetings would resume. Just under half said they expected that
most courses would start the fall semester in person. On other topics,
such as when they expect to reopen residence halls and administrative
offices and restart athletic programs, around one-third were still
uncertain.
In light of the wide range of potential outcomes, some colleges are
changing their academic calendars to lessen the impact of disruptions.
Beloit College, in Wisconsin, and Centre College, in Kentucky, are
dividing their term into two blocks to reduce the number of courses
that may be affected by a change in public health policies. And
Southern New Hampshire University said it will enroll incoming freshmen
in only online classes.
Final decisions aren't expected across the board for at least a few
weeks, and colleges are already facing pressure to give new students
past the traditional May 1 deposit deadline to make their choice.
Just 10% of 419 parents of college students responding to a recent
survey said they were comfortable with their children attending an
institution in the fall term based on the measures colleges are
currently taking. Around 44% said they would be comfortable with a
"meaningful reduction" in price. Some 22% said they would not be
comfortable with any online learning, while a similar share would
require "significant improvements" in quality.
|
|
|
|
