Covid-19 and the Shift to Online Education

Kortney Kling

ELRC 7602 Organization and Administration of Higher Education

School of Education, Louisiana State University

Dr. Joy Blanchard

July 22, 2020

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Covid-19 and the Shift to Online Education

During the dawn of the corona virus pandemic, higher education campuses remained

open taking heed as the slowly began to accumulate Once it was evident that the numbers were

going to continue increasing and more and more cities and states were affected by the virus,

campuses across the country began to shut down, forcing students and faculty to a remote, online

platform for the remainder of the spring semester. In a survey conducted by Top Hat that

measured student satisfaction with the transition to the abrupt online learning environment, the

overall dissatisfaction was evident (Adrift in a Pandemic, 2020). Another survey conducted by

Top Hat found that 51-percent of students found online instruction to be worse than in-person

and only five percent found online instruction to be better (Adrift in a Pandemic, 2020). The gap

between online education and in-person instruction becomes clearer as its shortcomings continue

to surface. Now, as the fall semester closes in, institutions are being faced with the task of

determining what the best plan of action is for classes. Institutions will need to determine what is

most important, providing a safe, in-person educational environment or establishing a stronger,

more effective online educational platform. In the case of Trinity Washington University in the

District of Columbia, they have used funding from a nonprofit organization known as Quality

Matters to help their campus transition to online learning without sacrificing the quality of the

education (Selingo, 2020). The number of confirmed cases continues to rise in the United States

and states are being forced to postpone and, in some cases, even move back to their first phase.

The conditions for the fall semester continue to be a mystery with little certainty for what will lie

ahead in terms of class setting and the future state of the country amidst the pandemic.

Objective

The implications of Covid-19 on higher education will be explored, as well as what is

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driving institutions to push for in-person instruction for the fall. Other topics to be explored are

how higher education organizations are utilizing garbage can models to assist in determining

their best course of action. In many cases, it does seem that many institutions are expecting to

open campuses for the fall with extreme social distancing measures in place. The execution of

such measures requires funding, along with the continued maintenance once the fall semester

commences.

Effects of Covid-19 on Higher Education Campuses Fall 2020

For many campuses, the fall term remains to appear as a giant question mark. Reported

cases continue to rise and social restrictions remain in place. As of July 20, 2020, the Center for

Disease Control (CDC) reported 3,761,362 cases and 140,157 deaths in the United States. What

does this mean for higher education institutions? Many campuses are continuing to prepare for

in-person instruction with heavy regulations in place such as reduced class sizes, required face

masks, and revolving schedules that assign students specific days to be in class (Hadden, 2020).

Picture One also depicts options offered up as solutions for safe, in-person learning. Other

campuses, who are able to comfortably offer such alternatives, are continuing to refine their

online course offerings and are optimistic about enrollment for the fall. These would include

institutions such as Harvard University, who is able to survive off sheer prestige alone, and

smaller institutions such as technical or community colleges who are already highly adaptable

and also affordable. As Selingo (2020) suggests, many institutions rely heavily on their in-person

experience to justify the cost of tuition and without such experience many students and parents

do not want to hand over the money to attend these schools.

Institutions’ Hesitation to Move Online

Higher education institutions are seemingly hesitant to moving fully online for the fall
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2020 semester, despite the overall health benefit. Chart One shows a graph created in late April

where The Chronicle of Higher Education began tracking 1,210 colleges and their intentions for

reopening in the fall. According to Selingo (2020) the largest contributing factor to the pull back

on remote learning is the effect on institutional retention. As previously stated, many parents and

students do not want to pay full tuition prices if they are unable to be on-campus and if that be

the case there are many cheaper alternatives than attending the state flagship school. Institutions

are sharing their plans for opening in the fall, in hopes to encourage enrollment. Much of

whether they will be able to open is out of the institutions control. President Trump has also

stressed the importance of reopening schools, but if there is a continued rise in cases, as there has

been the entirety of this pandemic. The chance of reopening is ever decreasing. Instead of

focusing time and resources on the uncertain reopening of the campus, they should instead look
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to invest in developing an effective and engaging online setting. One of the institutions who have

answered the call for this demand is Trinity Washington University.

Trinity Washington University

Historically, Trinity Washington University (TWU) out of the District of Columbia was

the first Catholic liberal arts college for women. Though nowhere on their website can goals of

technological competency or advancement be found in their mission, TWU has committed itself

to remote, online learning for the fall of 2020. They have used funding from federal Cares Act to

assist in their transition, allocating roughly $300,000 towards helping faculty and adjuncts to

create better online educational experiences for their students (Selingo, 2020). What initially

urged TWU’s president, Patricia McGuire, to explore online learning options was an internal

survey responded to by faculty and students demanding that TWU’s online learning environment

be revamped if they intended to go remote for the fall (Serlingo, 2020). The institution
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recognized the need to go remote during the summer and decided to embrace the shift, rather

than fight it.

Unlike TWU, schools like Tiny Colby College are set on having in-person instruction for

the coming term and are expected to spend $10 million to administer 85,000 Covid-19 tests

throughout its campus (Selingo, 2020). The cost of reopening surmounts the cost of going remote

and is evident between these two colleges. A $9.7 million difference. Institutions like Louisiana

State University (LSU) offered a Louisiana CARES exemption exclusively for the summer 2020

term that provided students 15-percent off tuition. It does not seem that LSU or many other

institutions will be offering any further tuition breaks for the fall.

Instead of fighting to reopen, higher educations should look to institutions like TWU who

are responding to the desperate need for institutions to reinvent their online presence. It is

evident through the surveys conducted by Top Hat that higher education is lacking in this arena

and as our society becomes increasingly technologically advanced, the education system needs to

be doing the same. The pandemic is exposing the current state of higher education and the

inflated cost of tuition whether the student be on campus or not. Online education must become

more interactive and engaging and the only way to accomplish these things is through reform,

but higher education will continue to struggle if they continue to ignore the call to action.

Garbage Can Model Implemented

The garbage can model is defined by Cohen, March and Olsen (1972) as, “the process in

which problems solutions and participants move from one choice opportunity to another in such

a way that the nature of the choice, the time it takes, and the problems it solves all depend on a

relatively complicated intermeshing of elements.” The point Selingo (2020) continues to make is

the reluctance by higher education institutions to embrace remote learning. Institutions have been
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more focused on creating task forces and contingency plans that allow for their campuses to

remain open which still offer no guarantee that they will open doors come the first day of the fall

term (Selingo, 2020). The number of garbage cans are infinite. Should campuses require masks,

enforce social distancing, limit classroom sizes, put faculty behind plexiglass, go online? The

options and their variations are limitless, but the reality and unpredictability of the pandemic

needs to be addressed and accepted by administration. The lack of acceptance may not be the

exact issue that is being faced, more so than the reluctance to move to remote learning because of

the financial implications the shift will have.

Conclusion

The transition from on-campus to online instruction and whether institutions embrace

these changes will have significant and long-term effects on higher education. It is up to each

individual institution to decide whether the implications are positive or negative. Covid-19 has

had a major impact on how students, faculty, administration, and the everyday person view

higher education. It is important currently for institutions to evolve and reinvent themselves for

an ever-changing academic environment. The four-year institution is appearing to be asked to

become versatile and ambiguous, characteristics typically reserved for two-year institutions. The

conversation on open-access and remote learning will continue as long as the pandemic lingers.

Institutions will have to be ready to adjust their instruction and curriculum as the numbers climb

and decline. Students and faculty will have to embrace change as uncertainty remains. Even once

Covid-19 subsides and life begins to return to normal, the effects will remain, and education will

change in the wake of change itself. Universities, like Trinity Washington, will find a way to

survive while others who remain reluctant to change will struggle until they accept the call to

action or until their infrastructure falls apart in the continuously shifting plain of modern-day
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higher education.
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References

Adrift in a Pandemic. (2020). Retrieved July 20, 2020, from https://www.holmesmurphy.com/

fraternal/wp- content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/TopHat_ebook_StudentSurveyReport.pdf

CDC COVID Data Tracker. (2020). Retrieved July 20, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/covid-

data-tracker/#cases

Cohen, M. D., March, J. G., & Olsen, J. P. (1972). A garbage can model of organizational

choice. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17(1), 1-25.

Hadden, J. (2020). What the top 25 colleges and universities in the US have said about

their plans to reopen in fall 2020, from postponing the semester to offering more remote

coursework. Retrieved July 20, 2020, from https://www.businessinsider.com/how-major-

us-colleges-plan-reopen-for-fall-2020-semester-2020-5

Selingo, J. (2020). Plexiglass Won't Save Us. Retrieved July 20, 2020, from https://www.chronic

le.com/article/Plexiglass-Won-t-Save-Us/249192?key=O01RVfHGcmvIBQW9w

WAeoGqkXWpa98xwpwEzmS2YmNXTs9m Brb6JnCFHh17JSVoFNjVjUG5Uc

XA5S0lORGwzMlFKdURFMzMySGplUkNKQm5a QnhiQ0ttU0lNYw

Staff, C. (2020). Here's a List of Colleges' Plans for Reopening in the Fall. Retrieved July 20,

2020, from https://www.chronicle.com/article/Here-s-a-List-of-Colleges-/248626

Trinity Reopening Plan. (2020). Retrieved July 20, 2020, from https://discover.trinitydc.edu/

news/trinity-reopening-plan/