By Madeline Fuerstenberg, Community Reporter
Members of the UW-Eau Claire community are weighing the pros and cons following Chancellor James C. Schmidt’s announcement that the university will resume face-to-face instruction in the fall.
Much uncertainty has revolved around the eventual status of the Fall 2020 semester, following the university’s spring semester transition to online-only instruction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schmidt provided some clarity via his June 11 email.
According to the email, fall classes will commence on Sept. 2 – with certain precautions in place.
“This will be an atypical semester,” Schmidt wrote, “and some elements of our experience will be altered to promote safety and well-being.”
UW-EC ‘hallmarks’ missing in online classes
Mike Rindo, assistant chancellor for facilities and university relations, said the decision reflects the fact that there are certain “hallmarks” of a UW-EC education that simply cannot be easily replicated through online-only instruction.
“While our faculty and instructional academic staff were able to effectively ‘pivot’ to online education to complete the spring semester, it became clear that online-only learning was not an adequate substitute for ‘the Blugold experience’ UW-Eau Claire is known to provide students,” Rindo said in a recent email interview.
He said the decision to resume face-to-face instruction is a product of numerous discussions involving UW-EC executive-level staff. Those discussions were held with members of the University Senate, Student Senate, University Staff Council, the chancellor’s COVID-19 emergency response team, UW Shared System Administration, the UW Board of Regents and Eau Claire City-County Health Department officials.
Rindo said these discussions consisted of a risk analysis, as well as an examination of safety measures that could be employed to mitigate the spread of the virus.
In-person instruction aids retention rate
He said many national surveys during the spring indicated that continuing online-only education would likely result in a 15-20 percent enrollment drop. In contrast, the decision to resume in-person instruction has resulted in an 84.4 percent benchmark retention rate for first-to-second-year students – which is identical to last year at this time, Rindo said.
This year’s incoming first-year class is about five percent smaller than last year’s, but that reduction is “far less than what the survey of incoming students indicated the enrollment drop would have been if we had gone to exclusively online classes in the fall,” Rindo said.
“This is obviously a unique challenge that requires considerable collaboration to address,” Rindo said. “There are still many, many decisions that will need to be made as we proceed through the planning process.
“Decisions will be based on the known science at the time and will likely need to be continuously adjusted as condition change,” he said.
An incoming student reacts
Bethany Mennecke, an incoming first-year graphic design and instrumental music education student, said in an email that she agrees with the university’s decision to resume face-to-face instruction, as some majors do not allow for easy online instruction.
“It is also easier for freshmen to be introduced into college with face-to-face classes, as it presents and solves potential academic challenges for the student that would have been overlooked in virtual schooling, and then made sophomore year even more challenging,” Mennecke said.
Mennecke, who is looking forward to joining the Blugold Marching Band in the fall, said she does anticipate some difficulties.
“I think that it may be difficult to hear teachers with masks on in large lecture halls and that masks may lead to discomfort and potentially more stress and anxiety for the student, especially during tests,” Mennecke wrote. “I also think that the communal bathrooms in the dorm halls will be a struggle to maintain cleanliness and regulate the number of people in there at one time.”
Two other views
A UW-EC resident assistant, who wished to remain anonymous, said the university did not make the right choice.
This source said COVID-19 cases will most likely rise again in the fall and the university should prioritize student health over “the money (the university) lost in the spring” semester.
“How can the university possibly be sure the traditional residence halls are safe for students?” the RA said. “I am concerned about my future residents’ safety – especially those with compromised immune systems … How can 30 students share a bathroom every day and not get sick?”
Isabelle Clark, an elementary education student at UW-EC, said she worries the university will ultimately be forced to transition back online if and when COVID-19 cases spike again.
As an elementary education student, Clark said this will impede her ability to work in local Eau Claire Area School District classrooms.
“Hands-on time with actual children is extremely important,” Clark said. “You can’t get that online. I worry for those who are student teaching as well. What happens if Eau Claire goes online and their class doesn’t, and vice versa?”
While Clark would have preferred to have another online semester, she said she is choosing to remain hopeful and she is looking forward to what is ahead.
Reopening plans include guidelines
According to the Schmidt’s June 11 email, plans to reopen the university include the following guidelines – which may be adjusted during the semester:
- Classes will be in person as much as possible through December.
- Students will be required to wear face coverings while on campus and in classes.
- Students will be required to self-report biodata into a provided app to ensure appropriate campus safety.
- Additional move-in times will be available for those in the UW-EC residence halls.
Schmidt said all classrooms will be reconfigured to accommodate for six-foot physical distancing guidelines. Zorn Arena and the Davies Student Center may also be used in order to “expand (the university’s) academic capacity by converting large spaces into physically-distanced learning spaces.”
For the 2020-21 school year, UW-EC will implement the mandatory daily use of a symptom-tracking app which will be available for mobile phones later in the summer. This app will allow students and employees to complete a daily log of their temperature and any potential symptoms indicative of COVID-19.
This app will alert students, faculty and staff if their symptoms or temperature warrant a visit to the doctor. COVID-19 testing will be made available to students at the Student Health Center.
Campus visitors strongly discouraged
Throughout the school year, campus visitors are strongly discouraged. Schmidt said any visitors will be asked to check-in at a predetermined location, provide their contact information and have their temperature taken.
Students, faculty and staff will each be provided with two high-density, double-ply face masks for use in all common areas on campus.
On-campus students will continue to live with the appropriate number of roommates as usual. Early move-in dates for furniture and luggage will be scheduled for Aug. 15-16 and 22-23. Students may then move in permanently on Aug. 26, and no preemptive COVID-19 testing will be required.
If a student should test positive for COVID-19, Schmidt wrote, quarantine rooms will be available in Putnam Hall. Additional rooms will also be available at UW-EC’s Barron County campus in Rice Lake.
“Students with underlying health issues or risk factors that the (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) says warrant extra precautions should carefully consider whether returning to on-campus housing is safe for you,” Schmidt said.
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