Goldstein: Lessons learned from UNC’s failed reopening

By Buck Goldstein

When I wrote earlier that the fall semester at Chapel Hill would be a test case for broader reopening in society, this isn’t quite what I had in mind.

UNC has been in the national news as one of the first schools to reopen — and now one of the first to pivot back to teaching exclusively online. These are not the headlines we’d been hoping to make, and certainly not the outcome we wanted for students or the wider community.

But to a significant extent, we chose to be the canary in the coal mine on the theory that a public university with the resources and research capacity of Carolina had an obligation to make the effort. There are real costs to remaining online-only, and not just financial. The support services and social experience of campus life matter a lot for equity and student success, even if the quality of online learning is strong. In any case, there is no point in failing if you’re not willing to share lessons learned, so here goes:

• Beginning with teaching and learning, we found that it’s possible to keep classrooms safe with masks and appropriate social distancing. As far as I know, contact tracing at Carolina turned up no instances of classroom spread. At the same time, a lot of us learned that a face-to-face classroom with required masking/distancing precautions is actually inferior to a fully online classroom. At least Zoom classes allow everyone to see facial expressions, hear all participants in the classroom, and avoid the unsettling experience of being one of 25 students in a classroom with 100 seats. “Hy-flex" class — “hybrid-flexible,” where some students are online and others are in the classroom — are the worst alternative by far. Unless you’re in a specially (and expensively) outfitted classroom with all the high-tech gear needed for that kind of hybrid discussion, having a passel of masked, spread-out students in person and a bunch of others online was a compromise not worth making. As long as we are living with the restrictions imposed by COVID-19, the online learning experience is probably better than a muddled face-to-face experience.
   
• A number of positive surprises emerged from teaching online over the first two weeks. Students and faculty seem more comfortable with Zoom than they were in the spring. Office hours are well attended. Class discussions and group work go at least as well over Zoom as in person and in some cases better. Online allows for large classes to break easily into smaller groups in ways that can’t be accommodated in a traditional lecture hall. Surprisingly, faculty seem to be more not less accessible in an online environment.

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Schools seek state’s help to deal with COVID-19

RALEIGH (Aug. 25, 2020) – Fluid situations demand flexible funds.

That’s what state education leaders asked of a state House committee this week as they sought $350 million to deal with the coronavirus pandemic when the General Assembly returns to session next Wednesday.

The state’s own financial picture is fluid, Committee Chair John Fraley said repeatedly, because Congress has not yet agreed on a second round of pandemic relief funds.

Depending on federal action, the state has $552 million to $903 million remaining from the federal CARES Act that it left unspent last spring. Fraley, R-Iredell, said state legislators might allocate what is available next week and return again before the end of the year, after Congress acts.

Jennifer Haygood, Chief Financial Officer of the UNC System, said state universities spent $322 million last spring on room and board refunds, emergency student aid, remote instruction, personal protective equipment and additional sanitation. The system received $293 million in reimbursements.

Enrollment has remained roughly level across the 17-campus system, she said. 

But campuses are dealing with constantly shifting conditions, prompted in part by students’ off-campus activities. UNC President Peter Hans has directed campuses to develop enforcement strategies and hold students accountable, Haygood said.

“As soon as we come up with a plan, conditions change and we see that we have to pivot,” she said.

Thus far, UNC Chapel Hill, NC State and East Carolina University have shifted all undergraduate courses online. UNC Charlotte plans to start classes Sept. 7 online, then move to in-person classes in October.

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College grads: Help at the polls!

We often hear that college graduates show greater civic engagement. Well they have an opportunity to do just that approaching.

Across North Carolina and beyond, local election boards are viewing this year’s election with trepidation. Many – if not most – poll workers are 70 or older and understandably reluctant to spend 16 hours on Election Day speaking with relative strangers in the midst of a global pandemic.

Those voters might or might not wear masks or practice proper social distancing. So older poll workers’ apprehensions are well-advised.

But if college graduates are indeed more civically engaged, now is precisely the time for young graduates to step up and do a public service by making sure the mechanics of our democracy work properly.

Election officials operate the polls during early voting and Election Day. They set up voting equipment, check in voters, process ballots, help voters with special needs, and secure the site at the end of the day. Normally, an election worker must be a registered voter who lives in the precinct. But because of special demands this year, the State Board of Elections says some poll workers can work outside their home precinct.

This requires modest training. The time to act is now – not a week before Election Day.

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HEW Webinar Sept. 3: 3rd Grade Reading, College Readiness and Success Strategies

Third grade reading proficiency is critical to future academic success and a key determinant of college readiness. A study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that students not proficient in reading by the end of third grade were 4X more likely to drop out of high school than their proficient classmates. Further, 88% of students who did not earn a high school diploma struggled with reading in the third grade.

Given the importance of 3rd grade reading, we invited several experts in early childhood education to share their suggestions and best practices for supporting young students given the increase in digital and at home learning.

Learn more and register here >> 

RALEIGH – NC State to shift classes online as COVID-19 clusters rise

RALEIGH – NC State University reports its 21st cluster

RALEIGH – NC State University will close campus dorms, calling COVID situation ‘untenable’

GREENVILLE – ECU to move undergraduate courses online for fall semester

CHARLOTTE – UNC Charlotte delays start of in-person classes

CHAPEL HILL – More than 200 new COVID-19 cases among students reported at UNC Chapel Hill

RALEIGH – Greek life is at the center of some of the COVID clusters at UNC and NC State

RALEIGH – What did it cost to open, then close, UNC System schools? Millions, with more to come

RALEIGH – Here are COVID-19 cases at North Carolina colleges, universities

BOONE – App State one of largest UNC system universities still holding in-person classes

WILMINGTON – Does reopening UNCW increase COVID-19 risk for Wilmington?

WILMINGTON – UNCW: There will be consequences for students who ignore COVID-19 rules

GREENSBORO – For N.C. A&T, an increase in online instruction comes with a price

FAYETTEVILLE – Health director tells college students to stay away from mass gatherings

FAYETTEVILLE – Fayetteville State University officials report cluster of COVID-19 cases

DURHAM – Thousands of students start in-person classes at NCCU under strict rules

DURHAM – NC Central starts hybrid classes with restrictions in place

RALEIGH – COVID-19 relief, teacher bonuses: Here’s what’s in NC Gov. Cooper’s budget proposal

RALEIGH – Cooper calls for teacher bonuses, unemployment boost, borrowing for school construction

GREENSBORO – Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering working to combat COVID-19

CHAPEL HILL – Guskiewicz: Meritocracy, public service and the People’s University

THE NEW YORK TIMES – How UNC’s Zeynep Tufekci keeps getting the big things right

ELIZABETH CITY – ECSU marks highest enrollment since 2014

FAYETTEVILLE – Fayetteville State University to display George Floyd mural that others rejected

WILMINGTON – Is the Wilmington 1898 coup getting lost in the classroom?

CULLOWHEE – WCU students who used racist slurs no longer enrolled

WILMINGTON – UNCW professor outlines Teddy Roosevelt’s environmental record

GREENSBORO – Ed Hardin: When college students head back home, athletics programs get their bubble

WINSTON-SALEM – Aspiring NASCAR driver Rajah Caruth is a freshman at WSSU

WINSTON-SALEM – Woman who participated in WSSU graduation 70 years after earning degree dies at age 100

RALEIGH – EDITORIAL: UNC Board of Governors, fix this or resign

RALEIGH – It’s not working. Send NC college students home.

THE DAILY TAR HEEL – 'They simply did not listen': Student leaders discuss UNC's one-week reopening

THE WASHINGTON POST – UNC botched the pandemic. What does it say about how it sees its students and community?

THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION – Holden Thorp: Colleges lost the moral authority to blame students

THE WASHINGTON POST – Student papers say administrators share blame for virus outbreaks: ‘Don’t make us write obituaries’

CHAPEL HILL – Students dressed as 'plague doctors' try to encourage mask wearing at UNC-Chapel Hill as the university suspends in person classes

ASHEVILLE – McGoun: The case for community colleges, now more than ever

THE WASHINGTON POST – ‘Will Purdue last?’: University restarts in person amid coronavirus pandemic