2021-09-11 07:30:08
Fortnightly News Round Up
+ "Colleges go online to prevent spread of COVID-19" - Inside Higher Edhttps://bit.ly/3nk8DrF
Mike's Analysis: "At the hundreds of US universities that announced COVID-19 vaccine mandates ahead of the fall semester, “the vast majority” of students and staff are complying with the requirement — with many Ivies and other top schools reporting vaccination rates well above 90%, However, most universities are still proceeding with caution as positive cases continue to spike just a few weeks into the semester. For many US colleges, classes are shifting online (at least in part) for the next several weeks or longer, with universities providing updated plans on a week-by-week basis for student bodies that are eager to resume in-person classes and activities. However, to have over 90% of people on campus complying with vaccine mandates at the likes of Harvard, Yale, Brown, Duke, UC Berkeley and so many others is an amazing feat and a clear indication that college communities are working together towards the common goal of putting the pandemic behind us."
+ "This season's vital college football statistic: vaccination rates" - The New York Timeshttps://nyti.ms/2X2hAuu
Mike's Analysis: "In 2020, the cancellation of entire sports seasons was a huge blow for student-athletes’ college careers as well as universities’ athletics programs; so in 2021, most sports conferences plan not to reschedule games but rather, to press on with scheduled competitions with “largely unforgiving policies intended to keep players and coaches safe” — even if it means individuals miss games or teams end up forfeiting. In the US, athletics are a huge part of universities’ student experience as well as their financial wellbeing. We know that the last 18 months of cancelled and limited seasons have upended college sports, so we certainly understand why many universities and sports conferences are committed to staying the course this school year. However, as bleak as this may sound with COVID-19 cases on the rise in the US, it has actually proven to be a strong incentive for many student-athletes to get vaccinated and observe precautions in order to ensure they stay on the field."
+First-Year College Students’ Online Learning Experiences During the Pandemic - ACT https://bit.ly/3laYjPT
Mike's Analysis: "According to a report released this week by ACT, the nonprofit organization that distributes the ACT college entrance exam, the shift to remote learning at over 1,300 US universities in the spring of 2020 “disrupted first-year college students’ experiences in almost every facet of their college life.” The report found that two-thirds of first-year students faced academic challenges while learning online, with classes and materials much harder to understand and motivation difficult to muster while learning remotely. We can’t say we’re surprised by the findings of this report — after all, we work directly with many students whose first year at university was interrupted by the pandemic! Nonetheless we’re saddened to know just how difficult online learning was for so many students, and are especially disheartened by the high degree of concern for the upcoming school year indicated by this study. At Crimson, we remain hopeful that increasing vaccination rates will soon herald a return to normalcy and on-campus learning."
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