The 2020-2021 school year is unlike any other. Some students will avoid campuses from fear of infection or will be sent off campus when an outbreak occurs. Others will take classes in person and gradually adapt to the transformed world of shielded faculty members, some classes online (because of spatial limitations), peers always six feet away, and scant options for social life and entertainment.
As the academic year unfolds through these lived experiences, each institution faces choices about the pandemic. Explore the challenges to come and the solutions colleges are creating in The Chronicle's report, The Post-Pandemic College.
The Academic Enterprise:Futurist and senior scholar at Georgetown University Bryan Alexander predicts a bumpy ride that could include intensive campus testing for Covid-19, heavier teaching burdens, college closures, and possible layoffs.
The Student Experience:Gen Z has been deeply affected by the pandemic and the national reckoning over racial violence as they face a tough job market and increased mental-health issues, as explored with higher-education reporterKarin Fischer.
The Business Models of Colleges: The pandemic gives academe the push it needs to plan for a more sustainable future, as argued by Rick Staisloff, founder of the consulting firm rpk GROUP.
Enrollment:Colleges are facing increased challenges to survive in a hyper-competitive recruitment race, according toCornell B. LeSane II, the vice president for enrollment and dean of admissions at Allegheny College.
