Last year colleges and universities were forced to temporarily close their doors as COVID-19 spread throughout the country. Virtual instruction became the norm as institutions worked to continue with classes while mitigating transmission risks, and meeting students’ basic needs became the focal point as food and housing insecurity were exacerbated by the pandemic. Finding affordable childcare also became a challenge for students working to learn with children at home.
“All of those things had to be rethought quickly to happen remotely,” says Monica Parrish Trent, vice president for network engagement at Achieving the Dream. “I think in a good way, it challenged colleges to think about how can we improve our systems so that there is continuity of instruction when people can’t come to campus. I think that many of our colleges rose to the occasion and we want to see them continue with those efforts.”
Many institutions set up Wi-Fi hotspots in parking lots, and most scrambled to meet the demand for devices for students. Leaders re-thought ways to provide students with a quiet place to study and access to library resources and other academic support, such as tutoring virtually.
Community college students hit hard
Community college students were among the most impacted. Seventy-two percent of part-time and 62% of full-time community college students work, and many faced unemployment, according to Dr. Martha M. Parham, senior vice president of public relations at the American Association of Community Colleges.
Due to the high number of individuals needing a job to pay for their education, staff at Clinton Community College in New York, for example, worked to find emergency loan assistance and other financial aid opportunities for students to complete their degrees.
“This is probably the first time many of us have experienced anything this drastic that would impact higher ed in such a way,” says John J. Borner, dean of student affairs at Clinton Community College. “It has really been not only a learning process but, I think, a time of great creativity. An adoption of new ideas or new ways of doing things.”
