COVID-19 pushed higher education online almost overnight. The field transformed itself, troubleshooting on the go to make sure students could succeed while quarantining at home. Federal funding was heavily invested in resources that connected students with technology and high-speed internet.
As the pandemic has begun to taper, many institutions are transitioning back to fully-in-person education—but not all.
Dr. Jessica Davis-Ganao, associate professor and chair of the criminal justice program at North Carolina Central University.
These programs offer their students options to attend class in person, online, or asynchronously. TCSG and NCCU representatives say this flexibility has made their students happier and increased equitable access to higher education, critical in a time of decreasing college enrollment numbers.
To better understand shrinking enrollment, Dr. Jessica Davis-Ganao had conversations with students about what might be preventing them from enrolling or persisting. Davis-Ganao is an associate professor and chair of the criminal justice program at NCCU, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Durham, NC.
Students told her that their needs outside of the classroom, like work or caretaking for dependents, made it very difficult to attend class, particularly for students in the criminal justice program. Many early criminal justice careers work difficult hours that conflict with evening courses, said Davis-Ganao.
Davis-Ganao said she had been wanting to incorporate online instruction for almost a decade, but it wasn’t until COVID that she finally had the opportunity to push her department into the option. Now, they are pilot testing hyflex learning at the graduate level. In monthly gatherings, students relay just how much they appreciate the flexibility now available to them, and so far attendance has stayed at the same levels as in-person instruction.
