Fall semester 2020 was a semester full of questions. While Bluffton University had classes in person while being in the COVID pandemic, in many classes students could also Zoom in if they were not able to show up in person for any reason. With there being both the in-person option to have class as well as the Zoom option, students and staff were seeing a lack of students showing up to their classes.
Lamar Nisly, vice president and dean of academic affairs, said there is no hard data to back up students coming to class less than they would at a normal setting, but this semester was a challenge for both students as well as professors with there being students in quarantine and isolation throughout the semester.
Nash Morgan, a sophomore double major in criminal justice and psychology, thinks there were many reasons why his fellow students did not attend class as much throughout the course of the first semester of in-person courses.
“First is the concern for their health or the health of their loved ones,” said Morgan. “Next would be the no breaks at all. It was just class after class after class. I think this caused kids to take breaks of their own. I think the placement of classes was a problem. For example, the Ropp classroom was miserable.”
Nisly also talked about online learning versus in-person learning. He said it was evident from last spring online learning was not as good for the students as face to face learning. Thus being the reason Bluffton did its best at following guidelines put in place in order to hold in-person classes for their students.
“As we were planning for the fall,” said Nisly. “We put our energy into providing as strong an in-person instructional experience as we could, given the needed restrictions. I am very pleased with the way that we were able to offer classes throughout the semester. In my observation, providing both virtual and in-person options for students does not lead to the best learning situation for either group. So we remain committed to offering in-person classes.”
Nisly also said that through contact tracking the spread of COVID on campus was through the social setting but not being in class. While Morgan said he believes some students were not going to class because they were afraid to get COVID because there were students around campus taking the procedures lightly and not following all the protocols.
“Yes,” said Morgan. “Some students were scared. But a lot were not scared and took it lightly. I do not think for most people that this is the reason they skipped class. However, I do think that could be a reason for some.”
Next semester is in person as well. Fall semester has been a learning experience for both students and professors. There will be much of the same as fall semester in the spring, but there will also be some more new things to help aid the students and professors.
“We are committed to providing some improved technological solutions to connect with students in quarantine,” said Nisly. “To make sure that they can stay connected to their classes. But I encourage students to embrace their opportunity to be here on campus, to go to class, and to connect with their professors and colleagues.”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article said part of the spread of COVID was due to being in class. This was not the case.
