Starting College During COVID-19? Five Things a Professor Wants You to Know

I’ve been a professor for almost two decades, and I love what I do. It’s a tremendous honor to step into a classroom, open my attendance log, and get to know my students. This is even more true for first year students because there is a shared sense of worry and excitement. No doubt these emotions will be even stronger when students venture off to college this fall. What will classes be like? Or the dorms? How about sporting events and other things that make up a college campus?

Two years ago, I wrote a modestly popular essay called “Starting College this Fall? 10 Things a Professor Wants You to Know” and I couldn’t help but think that maybe it was time to offer an update, especially during these uncertain times. What can you expect? How are your professors preparing for your arrival? What follows are five things that most professors would probably like you to know.

1. The Unknown

To be honest, no one really knows what the academic year will look like. In spite of our best plans (and you wouldn’t believe how hard we’ve been working on this) the unknown hangs before us. This is uncharted territory. Everyone should wear a mask in class, we should social distance, and desks should be disinfected immediately after they’re used. But what will it be like to teach in a mask? Will you be able to hear us? What does group work look like? Or labs?

Professors all over the country are chewing on these problems. I can only speak for my own plans so, as you read on, it might be good to keep that in mind. Because I teach at a relatively small university of 1,700 students I don’t have to worry about being in a packed lecture hall. In fact, my largest class will be just twenty-five students. This means I anticipate being face-to-face (F2F) throughout the semester. I’m going to have cameras and a link to a media platform so that students can join us remotely if they need to. I already know my attendance policy will be more bendable than usual — it has to be. The way I’ve done things in the past needs to change.

This is also true for campus life. What will sports look like? Aside from tennis and golf, maybe your college has cancelled sports altogether. Extracurricular activities and clubs will also look different. Study abroad probably won’t happen this year. Choirs and marching bands also may not happen.

Bottom line? Each institution is doing things differently and there are a number of unknowns. One thing that’s not unknown? Well, keep on reading…

2. We’re Excited (and Nervous) to Welcome You

Your professors love being in classrooms, and labs, and studios, and helping you to forge new futures. Very few of us enjoy teaching online and there’s a good reason for that: it simply cannot replace the lively dynamic of a classroom. Although online teaching can be done well, it can’t replicate the give and take — the spontaneity — the surprising turns — of being together in the same room. While I’m looking forward to welcoming my students, I have to be 100% honest here and say that I don’t feel prepared for what rests ahead. How will the first month go? How can I normalize things for you? If a student has a question, my office is now too small for a meeting, so where can we go? Online? The hallway? I’m not sure yet.

You should also know that we’re nervous about getting sick. This is even more true for my colleagues who teach at universities in excess of 10,000 students. Maybe you feel this way? There is risk involved in meeting face-to-face, but thankfully we know more about the coronavirus now than we did at the beginning of the year. But what will happen if you get sick? What will happened if I get sick? These are justifiable concerns. In fact, some professors across the country are refusing to teach F2F at all. And who can blame them?

No doubt you’ve heard of “hybrid learning” and “HyFlex.” If you’re at a larger university this means you’ll almost certainly be in class one day and then taking class remotely the next. Since I teach at a smaller institution I don’t have to split my classes into Group A and Group B. We can safely fit into a classroom with six feet between everyone. I’ll have to be ready to pivot online at a moment’s notice though, which means I have to think of both in-class instruction and online instruction. This is totally new for me. And the fact that I’m in a Midwestern state that currently does not have a spike in cases is also shaping my plans.

So…things will be different. I’m not entirely sure what campus life will look like, but much of what happens outside of the classroom will come down to you, which brings me to my next point.

3. Personal Responsibility

The health of the entire campus rests on your shoulders. I’m not speaking figuratively or abstractly here. I mean this literally. The choices you make outside of class will have a direct bearing on everyone. Although you’ll be expected to wear a mask for most of the day, what happens when your professors and residence hall monitors aren’t around? You’ll need to take personal responsibility for your actions and this means taking the coronavirus seriously. How many people will you allow into your dorm room? Will you be cautious in larger groups? Parties are normal in college, but we’re worried that one night in a packed house could cause an outbreak. This is a very real possibility. A kegger on Friday could have disastrous effects for class on Monday.

And so, you’ll need to make mature choices. Your generation will have to grow up faster than you’d probably like, and you’ll have to make decisions that carry serious biological consequences for those around you. If that seems daunting, just think about the women and men of your age in the past. At eighteen or nineteen they were nurses in the pandemic of 1918, they stormed into Hitler’s Germany, and they marched for Civil Rights. I believe that being young doesn’t mean that your internal compass is preset to selfishness. Sometimes it’s the young who have the greatest impact on society, so think about your community and your influence upon it. You could be saving someone’s life by doing the right thing and encouraging others to do the same.

“This is totally new for me. And the fact that I’m in a Midwestern state that currently does not have a spike in cases is also shaping my plans.”

4. The Classroom

Even as I type this, professors all across the country are learning new platforms like Canvas, Zoom, Flipgrid, Respondus, and Moodle. We’re taking crash courses so that, if our courses crash due to an outbreak, we can move online. This means we’ll make mistakes and we’ll be confused. Please be patient with us. I know, I know, this is America and we expect convenience and ease. Unfortunately, that’s not how education works — it takes time to master difficult concepts — and this is even more true as we figure things out on the fly. Although we’re experts in our field, the way we’ve done things in the past has fundamentally shifted. Maybe we’ll be teaching F2F and online at the same time? This HyFlex model will be new for many of us.

What follows are my expectations about the classroom, but it’s important to remember that I’m just one voice among many. My plans are influenced by the size of the university where I teach and the policies that it has built. Your college may do things differently.

Desks in my class will be separated by six feet and disinfectant will be applied to all surfaces before anyone enters. As students come into class — wearing masks — they will take their seats and set up their laptops. We’ll be using these for small group discussion. Rather than huddle up as they usually would to solve a problem, I’m going to have them use their laptops instead. They’ll need headphones for this. It’s not ideal but it’s better than having them get into a tight circle where they can’t social distance. I’ll stay near the chalkboard and help students who may be Zooming into class — these remote students can join small group discussions. As far as my lectures are concerned, I plan on getting a mask that has clear plastic over the mouth so everyone can see what I’m saying.

When class is over, students will leave as if they were exiting an airplane — single file, seat by seat. Once the room is empty, I’ll squirt disinfectant onto desks to protect the next class. My university has added extra time between classes so that we don’t need to rush across campus. This will allow for spacing outside.

This new normal will require patience from everyone. The good news? Your professors are likely to be even more patient with you. Confused? Worried? Falling behind in your work? Let us know. Supporting you is something we’ve been doing for years — we’ll just be doing it in a new way.

5. The Outside World

I’ve never liked how people say “the real world” is somewhere beyond the boundaries of a college campus. The outside world is never kept outside — nor should it be. Your professors can’t turn off current events when they enter a classroom, and neither can you. Even if you study literature that is a thousand years old, you’re still going to look at it through the filter of what’s happening now. Human beings don’t learn in a vacuum and this means that how you put ideas together will necessarily be formed by the gravity of the present. Many of us have been reviewing our syllabi and wondering how to meet the current moment. How can we prepare our students to think critically about the historic events swirling around us? For this reason, professors all over the country are choosing course material that will specifically talk about pandemics, freedom of speech, systemic racism, and much else.

Don’t assume that there is an inside and outside world to your education. You aren’t learning in a bubble, and what happens on campus isn’t isolated from what happens off campus. Be prepared to put your learning into dialogue with what you’re seeing.

6 (Bonus Point): The Best We Can

No one knows what this academic year will look like because no one can see into the future. What I do know is that I’m devoted to my students and I do my best every single day. No matter where you go, there is an excellent chance your professors feel this way too. And so, as you step onto campus, and load up your backpack with books, and make your way to class with a stylish new mask, think about the community you’ve joined. Think about how your actions have a direct impact on the lives around you. We’re happy you’re here, and we’ll juggle everything as best as we can.

I ended my previous essay about starting college with the following words, and they’re just as true now as they were then: “Be excited about entering the classroom. It’s one of the greatest places on earth.”

I still believe this, but things are going to look different until we get a vaccine. And who knows? That vaccine might be developed on a college campus.

Patrick Hicks is the author of The Commandant of Lubizec, The Collector of Names, and Adoptable . He is a Professor of English at Augustana University and a faculty member at the MFA program at Sierra Nevada University. His latest book is In the Shadow of Dora: A Novel of the Holocaust and the Apollo Program, due out this Fall.