Higher learning: Indoors, outdoors and in between

What we do know, however, is that it won’t look like the way we expect it to look – meaning, the classrooms and campus cannot magically return to the memories we have from January or February or pre-COVID-19. Instead, administrators and faculty across colleges worldwide have been in conversation and discussing what it would mean to bring students back to campus in the fall. 
    

It’s an ongoing discussion; definite plans and procedures will be outlined in the months ahead. Certainly, everyone would like to be back on campus. As a professor, I’d love for nothing more than to be in front of the classroom, welcoming students back and splitting them into small group discussion as they work together to annotate and discuss literary passages – or act out scenes.         

 

I’d love to listen as students talk about the gatherings and parties they attended as they attempt to navigate their studies with their social lives. But looking at the spread of COVID-19 and keeping the need for the safety of students, faculty and staff front and center, it seems unlikely that these desires will be met.
    

Instead, colleges are gravitating toward a few options. It’s not necessarily a black-and-white issue. It isn’t necessarily either “we’re returning to campus” or “we’re learning remotely/online.” There are models to consider that allow for the safe transmission of learning in a situation that will be continually evolving. 
    

For those who plan on returning to in-person classes, some are favoring an earlier start to the school year. Starting earlier in August and eliminating breaks would allow for the fall semester to end in November, prior to Thanksgiving, in anticipation of a second peak or surge in cases, following the historical trajectory of novel viruses and learning from the trajectory of, for instance, the 1918-19 Spanish Flu.
    

Another option to consider would be useful in, perhaps, upper-level or more specialized courses within a student’s major. These courses could take a hybrid approach: the first portion of the class would consist of an intensive seminar or workshop lasting over the period of a few weeks. This in-person segment would introduce the students to the methods of the course and the specialized topic before moving to an independent study model that could be conducted online, with students taking ownership of the class and applying the methods learned to their own projects.
    

Of course, an alternative to in-person classes would be the move to outdoor classrooms. Certainly, this would be possible only if the campus has the outdoor space necessary – and the funds to create an environment that would allow for the technology and equipment needed to project the materials and enable students who are social-distancing to hear their instructor. 
    

These models, of course, say nothing about what the interior of the classroom will look like. Apart from increasing sanitization, requiring masks of students and instructors, eliminating shared materials and lowering the number of students occupying a particular space, administrators and faculty are still working out the finer details. How, for instance, can we ensure safety in social spaces and social gatherings? 
    

From personal experience – both as a student in college and as a faculty member – when one student falls sick within a dorm, it’s only a matter of time before the majority of other students fall sick, too. There’s a reason professors stress that if you’re sick, you shouldn’t come to class. Viruses spread easily in shared spaces.
    

At the end of the day, we’re still in a state of uncertainty. My university has made no definite decisions outside of saying that we’re hopeful for a return in the fall. Colleges cannot monitor their students 24/7 – but we do have an obligation to keep our students, faculty and staff safe, particularly those who fall at greater risk.
    

Heather Bozant Witcher can be reached at [email protected].