What should college students expect this Fall?
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Students should expect to take most if not all of their college classes online while also having to comply with coronavirus prevention guidelines whether they are on campus or at home.
When the novel coronavirus took hold earlier this year, colleges and universities across the country quickly closed their campuses and swiftly transitioned to online college classes and remote teaching/learning. As the fall semester begins, colleges are also welcoming new students while trying to do what they can to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease.
According to a College Crisis Initiative at Davidson College in North Carolina cited by U.S. News & World Report, less than 3.5% of over 2,100 colleges have announced fall plans that will be fully in-person and on campus, while most opt to go either fully online or partially online through hybrid instruction models. Any and all in-person college experience will be largely modified with physical and social distancing guidelines.
What kinds of changes might college students expect this Fall 2020?
Campus tours and orientation may look different.
College tours are likely to be offered online.College orientation traditionally involved packing rooms and meeting spaces full of hundreds of people—students and their families—for long information sessions and events. Rather than having many long sessions, some colleges may assemble students into small groups to follow along with social distancing recommendations. Other colleges may use online virtual methods to host online orientation sessions where students can communicate with other students, faculty advisers, and online orientation leaders online.
Not everybody will be allowed back on campus, even at institutions that are bringing students back.
Not all college students will have the traditional in-person experience. There are some universities that want to only bring back certain students to campus. For example, some colleges plan to bring back incoming freshmen or seniors.Princeton University and Harvard University, for instance, plan to limit who is allowed back on campus by class standing. Massachusetts Institute of Technology plans to bring back seniors to campus.