It’s been quite a year in higher education. The concerns of last summer seem to echo in the distance as we currently watch COVID-19 case numbers surge once again – this time rising highest among the young adult population. While older adults scrambled to grab vaccination slots over the past few months, the student population has remained largely untouched. Across the country, thousands of young adults sit in COVID bubbles, diligently working toward their final exams and papers. And collectively we wait and watch.
University students, staff and administration have slogged through weeks and months of online lectures and exams. Initial resistance to the qualitative experience of learning via Zoom has been replaced, in many instances, with a reluctant acceptance of this new mode of learning as a necessary evil this academic year. The reality is that, for many college students, Zoom has permitted continued progress towards a long-range goal that otherwise may have been completely interrupted. Yes, learning by Zoom may be less than desirable. But it’s worked.
For students lucky enough to be living on campus this year, daily health assessments and regular COVID testing have become essential to maintaining routines. Most schools implemented entrance COVID testing in some form and required ongoing COVID tests throughout the semesters to varying degrees. In this way, colleges and universities modeled for the rest of the country how to manage testing programs for the virus, as well as how to contact trace and contain positive cases. While there was a fair sum of attention placed upon whether college students should return to campus in Fall 2020, in large numbers these same students left their respective campuses for the holidays and then came back for another round in January.
Students living on campus in this pandemic academic year have faced many unique challenges. University libraries have had limited hours and seating – if they were open at all. Class sizes have been limited; sometimes students alternated the days that they participated in their courses in the classroom with days that they “attended” their classes from their dorm rooms. Dining hall offerings have been reduced, in many instances, to “grab and go” – with many “communal” meals eaten alone back in the dorm room – or, for a brave few, carefully consumed behind plastic partitions at one of the limited number of tables in the actual dining hall.
All the little extras that contribute to the student experience on campus have looked different this year. In general, college campuses nation-wide have been eerily quiet even when the semesters have been in full swing. While college is considered by many to be a pivotal social experience, loneliness and isolation have formed the larger part of the student experience this particular academic year.
When athletic events occurred, often there were few, if any, spectators. Athletic team members have lived in COVID “bubbles” in an effort to reduce missed games and tournaments. Student ceremonies, recitals and performances have been streamed on line, permitting wider audiences but significantly reducing the social aspects of these events. Fraternities and sororities have conducted “rush” by video. College parties have been like pop-up secret societies – with the identities of attendees carefully selected and protected lest blame be placed for any campus-wide spike in COVID case numbers.
The financial burden of the safety protocols upon all of the individual institutions remains to be seen and will no doubt be reflected in future tuition hikes or appeals to alumni for charitable donations. As college and university students approach the 2021 Commencement season, what may be most visible is the collective emotional and physical exhaustion in university communities. Summer looms in the distance. Just a few more weeks.