Coronavirus

15 Scenarios for Fall 2020

POSTED BY MARTIN KICH I have been posting a number of items related to how campuses might be re-opened in the fall 2020 semester. If you have not seen it, the following series, written by Edward J. Mahoney and Joshua Kim for Inside Higher Ed, fairly exhaustively catalogs the various ways in which courses might…

image of N95 surgical mask lying on a table next to another mask

Poll Highlights Sobering Toll of Coronavirus on Students

POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN The Education Trust–West and The Education Trust–New York in May partnered with Global Strategy Group to conduct a poll on the experiences of students attending two- and four-year institutions of higher learning in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. From May 14 to 19 an online survey of 1,010 two-year, four-year,…

Permanent Austerity and Health Risks for Fall 2020

BY JACOB A. BENNETT  Results from a survey of University of New Hampshire undergraduate students were discussed at the April 2020 meetings of the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees, indicating that only “30% of students felt they continue[d] to learn effectively” after the abrupt and necessary shift to remote learning this past…

Ohio Conference of AAUP Statement on Returning to Campus

BY THE OHIO AAUP CONFERENCE The COVID-19 pandemic has created a tumultuous time in Ohio higher education. The emergency shutdown of our colleges and universities has drastically changed the nature of instruction, as well as the financial situations of our institutions. This past semester, faculty across Ohio rose to the challenge of moving courses online,…

Indiana Conference of AAUP Statement on Re-Opening

BY THE INDIANA AAUP CONFERENCE The COVID-19 virus pandemic has upended higher education, as all educational institutions quickly scrambled to protect students by making all instruction virtual, and otherwise keeping social distancing, often by sending residential students home for the rest of the year. Now, as colleges and universities must plan for how the fall…

doctor wearing scrubs and protective mask

University of South Florida Pandemic Principles

BY BRIAN CONNOLLY As universities across the country responded to COVID-19 with various austerity measures, including mass layoffs and furloughs, coupled with an insistence on returning faculty, staff, and students to campus, a group of faculty at the University of South Florida drafted a set of principles and submitted them to the administration. The aim…

In This Pandemic, Ohio’s Colleges and Universities Are Serving the Public Good

BY MARTIN KICH Ohio’s colleges and universities are contributing in uncountable ways to the state’s efforts to contend with the coronavirus pandemic. Our faculty have provided expertise that has helped our state to meet a wide range of challenges, from conducting ground-breaking bio-medical research to resolving unprecedented logistical and technological issues. Our institutions have opened…