In the last decade, higher education has been transformed through sharp dramatic changes in the structure of human capital, new technologies, and generational differences in skills and knowledge channels (Roache et al., 2020). The teaching fraternity has been forced to continually improve and keep up with implementing new teaching methods and technologies. Despite the fact that most higher education institutions have introduced elements of distance learning, various institutions have tried their best to create balances between innovations (Roache et al., 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has become one of the world's severe challenges in current times and has had a considerable impact on almost all aspects of human life. In response to the rapid spread of the virus, all social and economic activities ceased by the federal government (Roache et al., 2020). Educational institutions were the first to be locked down and were advised to deliver courses online. COVID-19 has forced every stakeholder to reimagine the delivery of an engaging and holistic learning experience to students. Colleges and universities have been thrown into uncharted waters as they have been forced to migrate to online-only courses.
CMU's Response to the Pandemic
Due to the unprecedented challenges posed to the University due to COVID-19, various temporary provisions were enacted by the administration to help students complete their courses and semester requirements (CMU, 2020). The University's administration adopted a hybrid model that allows students to attend in-personal classes and participate in the lessons through online synchronous sessions. The hybrid model allows some students to participate in the class remotely and in-personal based on the University's instructions (CMU, 2020). The University's administration has decided to offer the following modes of study in response to the challenges inflicted by the pandemic:
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Online Synchronous Mode – Classes and courses are offered online, but students and faculty are required to be online during specific times or days (CMU, 2020).
Online Asynchronous Mode – Classes and courses are fully offered online, but there are no specific times or days that faculty and students have to meet (CMU, 2020).
Hybrid Mode – Classes and courses are offered face to face with a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous learning modes. Thus, some of the classes require students and faculty to have face to face meetings while others would incorporate online meeting platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Reams for instruction. (CMU, 2020)
Before the pandemic, the above learning modes were available, but they were not fully operational. Distance learning was offered to only specific students in collaboration with online asynchronous mode. When COVID-19 led to the widespread shutdown of higher education institutions, the University had to adopt, which forced the administration to conduct distance learning for all students (CMU, 2020). The modes of study from different semesters had to change to fully incorporate distance learning with asynchronous methods of delivering courses and class to students. The novel virus forced the University's administration to push more educational content online at breakneck speeds to meet the academic requirements of both new and ongoing students. To support faculty and staff, the University has set aside an emergency support fund to help cater to their immediate and unexpected needs brought about by the pandemic, such as food, health care, and other essential services (Pedersen, 2020). The administration has also differed and refunded credit for on-campus students who are not on a full scholarship. Students with past or due accounts were not placed on hold to allow them to plan to pay for their installments accordingly.
CMU offers about 300 educational programs at the masters, undergraduate, specialist, and doctoral levels based on the Carnegie research classifications (CMU, n.d.). The Carnegie research classifications are used to classify and control the differences in higher education institutions. To be classified, the University must award its students at least 20 research-based doctoral degrees annually (Robert, 2019) . These classifications are important because they are used for rankings and grant eligibility. The Carnegie classifications are used to classify the best degree-granting higher education institutions in the United States based on 17 measures of academic quality (Brooks & Morse, 2020) . These ranking factors include social mobility, undergraduate academic reputation, financial resources per student, graduation and retention rates, graduate indebtedness, and graduate rate performance, among other factors (Brooks & Morse, 2020) . CMU is ranked among the five percent of higher education institutions in the United States in the Carnegie classifications (CMU, 2020). To maintain these rankings, the University's administration had to adapt swiftly to changing the education requirements of its students based on the evolution of the pandemic. This may have influenced the University's deliberation and response to the challenges brought out by the epidemic.
The University's response to the educational needs of its students reflects the institution's location, size, and level of complexity. Not all Universities in the United States have been to switch to a hybrid model of delivering classes and courses. The effort by CMU to move to an online model in a matter of months after the pandemic struck is an indication of the institution's ability to give rise to innovation and ingenuity in delivering educational models that bridges the line between traditional and online campuses (Currie, 2020). The novel virus has forced higher education institutions to evolve, and the future of education is based on the combination of both place-based and online education modes (Currie, 2020). The implementation of these methods may not be perfect, but they will continue to evolve with time. The use of synchronous and asynchronous modes of study has made it possible for difficult classes such as calculus, anatomy, and physiology more accessible as students can keep watching videos over and over again until they understand the concepts being taught (CMU, 2020). The lasting effect brought about by the pandemic to higher education institutions is the need to be nimble and adapt, which reflects on the ability of the University to disarm entirely and not rely on the standard teaching models (Currie, 2020).
Although the University has managed to move all its lessons online, it is challenging to meet the needs of all students online, namely advising, engagement, and counseling. The current generation is well-versed with online technologies, and they prefer learning in virtual groups. Still, we cannot deny the essence of human interaction in conducting face-to-face classes. The response implemented by the University reflects on the institution's demographics characteristics taking into consideration full-time and part-time students. The University's administration has implemented various online learning technologies such as Cisco WebEx and Microsoft Teams for holding video conference sessions with faculty (CMU, 2020). For more technical courses, the University has a virtual lab with specialized software that mimics real-world scenarios. Such software is expensive for students to acquire licenses for home use. The most critical student resource to facilitate online learning is Blackboard, which includes information about the courses, faculty, notifications, library, assignments, and course materials (CMU, 2020). The University's administration considered the students' needs before integrating these technologies based on the mix of majors being offered to its students.
The migration of courses and classes to online platforms did not take consideration of students in low-income families. Internet connectivity is a prerequisite to online education services. The accommodations administered by the University provided internet connectivity to students from low-income families, which made it easier to access online courses. Students living in far areas where the internet is of poor quality or not available at all, connectivity possess the biggest challenge to students. Although in-person classes have resumed, students may be skeptical of contracting the virus; they may prefer to stay at home and find other ways of accessing the internet and gadgets to continue with their education.
There are a lot of incremental steps that the administration took to move classes online. Firstly, the administration invested in a Learning Management System, such as Blackboard, that facilitated the framing of classes online. Students needed a place to access course readings and materials, and a way to submit assignments, receive feedback and grades for their work (Mohapatra, 2020). Secondly, the administration also considered the needs of the faculty how the instructors would deliver content to the students and communicate with them. All these needs can be met by the learning management system where students can post questions, access digital libraries such as EBSCOhost and post questions (Roache et al., 2020). Thirdly, the administration collaborated with faculty in the development of content or assessment strategies for students. Since the University already has a learning management system used for distance learning, they had to adapt the remaining courses that were not offered by the platform (Mohapatra, 2020). Lastly, the administration collected feedback from students in real-time through Google forms based on their needs or what activities they would like included on online platforms.
From the responses that they received, the administration developed a blended learning pedagogical approach based on the needs of the students and faculty and the onlieeducation.
References
Brooks, E., & Morse, R. (2020). How U.S. News Calculated the 2021 Best Colleges Rankings . US News. Retrieved 21 September 2020, from https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-us-news-calculated-the-rankings.
CMU. (2020). Latest communications from CMU . CMU. Retrieved 21 September 2020, from https://www.cmich.edu/coronavirus/Pages/communications.aspx.
CMU. (2020). Student Provisions: Covid-19 . CMU. Retrieved 21 September 2020, from https://www.cmich.edu/fas/fsr/student_acct_university_billing/Pages/covid-19.aspx
CMU. (2020). Student Resources - Online Learning . CMU. Retrieved 21 September 2020, from https://www.cmich.edu/office_provost/OIT/Pages/online-student-learning-resources.aspx.
CMU. (n.d.). CMU Quick Facts. CMU. Retrieved 21 September 2020, from https://www.cmich.edu/about/Pages/Quick-Facts.aspx
CMU. (n.d.). CMIU Online Programs. CMU. Retrieved 21 September 2020, from https://www.cmich.edu/global/cmuonline/Pages/programs.aspx
CMU. (2020). Information for Students . CMU. Retrieved from https://www.cmich.edu/firedupforfall/Pages/students.aspx.
Currie J. (2020). COVID-19 Reshapes Higher Education. Business NH Magazine , 37 (8), 30.
Mohapatra, A. K. (2020). Editorial: Impact of Covid-19 on Higher Education. Journal of Management & Public Policy , 11 (2), 4–6.
Pedersen, C. (2020, April 4). President Davies announces CARES Act funding for students . Cm-life.com. Retrieved 21 September 2020, from https://www.cm-life.com/article/2020/04/cares-act-funding-for-students.
Roache, D., Rowe-Holder, D., & Muschette, R. (2020). Transitioning to Online Distance Learning in the COVID-19 Era: A Call for Skilled Leadership in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). International Studies in Educational Administration (Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration & Management (CCEAM)) , 48 (1), 103–110.
Robert, V. (2019, January 22). How Colleges’ Carnegie Classifications Have Changed Over Time . Robert Kelchen. Retrieved 21 September 2020, from https://robertkelchen.com/2019/01/22/how-colleges-carnegie-classifications-have-changed-over-time/.
