The Place for Jersey City News
Log In / Register
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
Jersey City Times
  • News
  • Diversions
    • Performing Arts
    • Visual Arts
    • Other Fun Stuff
  • In Our Midst
  • Food And Drink
  • Education
  • Neighborhoods
    • Downtown
      • News
      • Guide
    • Heights
      • News
      • Guide
    • Journal Square
      • News
      • Guide
    • Bergen Lafayette
      • News
      • Guide
    • Greenville
      • News
      • Guide
    • Westside
      • News
      • Guide
  • Opinion
  • Columns
    • Eye Level
    • Mamarama
  • Event Calendar
  • Support our Mission
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

Posts

university lecture hall

Students Face the New Realities of College Life, Virtual and Otherwise

May 13, 2020/in Education, header, Latest News, News /by Jersey City Times Staff

As freshmen prepare to adapt, educators and administrators are still in the early stages of ‘shaping the new normal’ of a college education: part two

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By Sheila Noonan

Kaitlyn Huamani, a Bernards High School senior, is headed for the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

faculty club

Photo by Aubrey Rose Odom on Unsplash

Huamani knows it’s possible, depending on the pandemic’s course, that her first USC semester could be spent at her Gladstone home. “I’d be disappointed, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world,” she said. “Leaving college mid-semester, with new friendships being formed and college activities under way, would be more difficult, but it’s best to be safe and follow guidance that’s in my best interests. I’ll just take it day by day.”

Such are the new considerations for today’s students, as the COVID-19 pandemic remakes a college education or even what it means to be “on campus.”

Until there’s an approved vaccine or treatment for COVID-19, administrators face the challenge of creating a similar college experience to what students and parents heard about on campus tours.

“The end of college as we know it no longer seems like a pipe dream or a nightmare — but a looming possibility,” wrote Steven Mintz, a senior adviser at Hunter College in New York City and frequent contributor to Inside Higher Education. “The vibrancy, energy, campus spirit, the dynamism of the face-to-face classroom and, yes, much of the collegiality of college life are threatened and aren’t readily replaced electronically.”

The remaking of college life also comes — at least in the short term — with tensions and hardships. Some displeased current students have been vocal about their virtual education this spring, with online petitions and lawsuits, seeking tuition refunds similar to those residential students received for room, board and parking.

New Jersey colleges have pushed back. In an online message to her community, The College of New Jersey’s president Kathryn A. Foster responded with an emphatic “no,” noting among other points that students were able to make progress toward earning their degrees.

Some virtual disappointment

The spring’s virtual instruction disappointed some students, but college administrators say transitioning class and campus services formats in a matter of weeks was an accomplishment in itself. “Not all virtual instruction is created equal, and for that matter, not all classroom experiences are, either,” said Anne Prisco, president of Felician University, a private Catholic, primarily commuter college, which has campuses in Lodi and Rutherford.

Noting that virtual classes are designed much differently from classroom courses, Prisco said, “We moved nimbly, within a week, to provide students with online classes and support services, including mental health and career development.” With virtual instruction a future possibility, she said, Felician students have been surveyed to see where improvements can be made.

The New Jersey Institute of Technology’s (NJIT) approach to improving virtual learning began seven years ago, when it pioneered an educational model called converged learning.

Asynchronous learning, in which a professor can post assignments, learning modules and assessments for students to complete within a designated timeframe, serves a purpose, but lacks the teacher-student dynamics of a traditional classroom.

library

Photo by Harry Cunningham on Unsplash

NJIT says its model of synchronous learning provides an “anywhere” classroom; through technology, professors and students can meet in real time for face-to-face discussions. “With a minimum of equipment (laptop, microphone, camera, tablet, and document reader), instructors were teaching and interacting with their students ten days after the official close of campus,” according to an NJIT brochure.

Still, said Mintz, to even more closely mimic the classroom experience with virtual instruction, professors will need to think creatively. “For some, online education has them saying, ‘This isn’t my wheelhouse. It’s not what I signed up for — it’s no longer a satisfying experience,’” he said. “Others are figuring out what they need to do to fulfill their obligation to students by providing learning experiences rather than solely classroom instruction.”

One example of what Mintz means comes from Stockton University. Its Lake Fred is not only an iconic presence on the Galloway campus — it is also a learning opportunity. Students in Professor Aaron Stoler’s ecology class made experimental islands in Lake Fred before classes went virtual to test the theory of island biogeography. With them no longer on campus, Stoler attached a motor to his canoe, set up a camera (“The trick is, with technology, not to fall in,” he noted) and donned a lifejacket for a virtual science lesson and then toured the lake as viewers requested updates on its turtles, frogs, otters and plants.

Students: Will they or won’t they come?

But the biggest unknown facing college administrators is whether students will even enroll and under what conditions.

Will they enroll at previous levels or decide to work? Will they want instead to take a gap year or, for incoming four-year college students, fulfill general education requirements at community colleges?

New Jersey colleges are trying to sweeten the decision-making process by extending decision deadlines, waiving certain fees and freezing tuition.

Still, undergraduate enrollment has been declining for the past several years, and even though historically there’s been an uptick during poor economies, it’s unclear if that trend will continue.

According to one national  survey, about one-fifth of high school seniors might change plans to attend college in the fall. Richard J. Helldobler, president of William Paterson University in Wayne, is especially concerned that first-generation college students, who account for a significant percentage of William Paterson’s student body, will become discouraged and choose not to attend. And yet, it’s exactly the time they should, he said, with higher education being the pathway to social mobility and increased earnings.

“These are students who all their lives have been told, ‘You can’t,’” he said. “We need to help them understand and do all we can to say, ‘Yes, you can.’”

Even with changes to family income, the prospect of continued virtual instruction or other factors, college students still have choices — although limited ones — about their fall plans, said Erin Avery, a certified independent educational consultant from Fair Haven, and author of “The College Labyrinth: A Mindful Admissions Approach.”

Expecting more movement than in the past

“There’s always been ‘summer melt’ — a time when some students change their college plans — but this year, we expect to see more movement than in the past. It could be a real feeding frenzy,” she says.

One reason for that beyond the pandemic: Facing U.S. Department of Justice antitrust accusations, the National Association for College Admission Counseling will for the first time allow its higher education members to recruit students committed to another college. Avery cautions, however, that students shouldn’t make deposits at two or three colleges as a way of hedging their bets. “You can only attend one of the schools, and it really leaves colleges holding the bag,” she said.

The best gap years are planned well in advance, she added, although there still might be a few opportunities. If it’s the prospect of virtual learning that’s driving that choice, perhaps reconsider. “Students with learning differences often have a great deal of difficulty with virtual learning, so that’s a valid reason for deferring enrollment,” she said. “However, for others, virtual learning can grow those students who rise to the challenge. The sooner young people learn to adjust to life’s disappointments and develop resiliency, the more successful they will be.”

Maybe it’s resiliency from having a senior year without its best perks — prom, commencement and yearbook signing — in the traditional fashion, but some of the college-bound are taking an “anything goes” approach to the fall.

Two seniors, James Greaney, who attends Westfield High School, and Lindsey Radeke, from St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel, are staying in New Jersey for their college education.

Greaney plans to study marketing at Rowan University, which was the only one of the 10 colleges he was accepted to that he was able to visit in person for a second time. “I liked Rowan a lot the first time I visited — it’s not too close to home, and I know people there — but the second visit made me feel connected in a way the virtual visits didn’t,” he said. The prospect of virtual instruction wouldn’t faze him, though. “It’s still a learning experience.”

For Radeke, the deciding factors for choosing Ramapo College were the course offerings in her intended major, psychology; cost; and proximity to home. In addition, she said, “A traditional college experience is important to me because I want to get myself out there and experience things that I have not tried yet and meet new people.” However, like other students, she would take online courses rather than defer her enrollment if that’s what is offered.

‘Worrisome’ but interesting time

Even with the landslide of pandemic-related challenges facing New Jersey schools, college presidents say, there have been bright spots and a realization that the decisions they’re making are shaping the future higher education landscape.

“We’re not about to return to normal — we’re shaping the new normal, one that at TCNJ will be true to our mission and values,” said Foster. “We’re in the midst of a worrisome time, but it’s interesting to see where higher education is headed and have a role in its transformation.”

Part One: How the Pandemic Has Transformed the College Experience and Could Transform It Even More

 

Header:  Photo by Changbok Ko on Unsplash

auditorium

How the Pandemic Has Transformed the College Experience and Could Transform It Even More

May 12, 2020/in Education, header, Latest News, News /by Jersey City Times Staff

Educators begin to come to terms with how the health crisis has utterly altered college life in New Jersey, its finances and its outlook: part one

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By Sheila Noonan

Colleges change with the times. New Jersey’s colonial theological seminaries are today’s leading research universities; its teacher training colleges expanded to liberal arts; and an education once reserved for white wealthy males is now open to all.

Higher education is on the cusp of another transformation, but not for occupational or societal reasons: the drivers this time are a coronavirus pandemic that sent students home for virtual learning and a gutted economy some fear might keep them there.

Three overarching factors could shape this transformation: whether in-person classes resume this fall; if they do, how new social-distancing rules will change classrooms, scheduling, dormitories and transportation; and colleges’ and families’ financial status. A fourth X-factor: students and parents, and how they’ll react to changes in the college experience or potentially, ongoing pandemic-related restrictions.

Financial factors

“All of our academic lives, we’re trained to pursue and share knowledge. Right now, there’s more that we don’t know than we know, but I share what I can,” said Richard J. Helldobler, president of William Paterson University in Wayne. In one message to faculty and staff he describes the overall situation bluntly: the outlook for the 2020-2021 fiscal year appears “bleak, and it is likely we will face some hard choices together.”

He’s not alone in his concerns. Many New Jersey colleges face an array of difficult decisions because of a perfect storm: the pandemic’s severe toll on the state’s fiscal health; the uncertainty of additional relief from the federal government; and questions around enrollment, as tuition, room and board are major revenue streams.

Some colleges have already announced hiring freezes, furloughs, holds on construction projects and more, while others brace for similar hardships.

auditorium vertical

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Two of several examples: Rutgers University, anticipating a revenue budget shortfall of $200 million this fiscal year, announced several cost-saving steps it is taking, with some critics advocating additional measures. The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), while successfully addressing budget shortfalls this fiscal year, is planning the 2020-2021 budget based on “grim assumptions” with a need to explore a broad range of strategies for cost containment and revenue enhancement.

The most extreme, but possible, outcome of a college’s sustained economic problems is closure. According to an Education Dive database, 60 private and public nonprofit colleges across the country have either closed or merged since 2016. Already, two colleges nationally have cited the coronavirus as a factor in closing their doors, and with many colleges operating on financially shaky ground before the pandemic, more are expected to follow.

“Many higher education institutions are facing a short-term liquidity problem. Among the solutions are to borrow, do anything you can to get people in the door, and pray,” said Steven Mintz, a senior adviser to the president for student success and strategic initiatives at Hunter College in New York City and frequent contributor to Inside Higher Education. “In the long term, it is a Darwinian situation.”

New Jersey colleges’ financial plight begins, but doesn’t end, with state aid for higher education, which has essentially remained flat since fiscal year 2006. Of the $1.66 billion appropriated for fiscal year 2020, about $132 million has been pulled back as part of Gov. Phil Murphy’s pandemic-related spending freeze. In addition, colleges are under numerous contractual obligations that can’t be ignored; the potential exists for private donations and grant funding to dry up; and in some cases, investments in new technology or campus adaptations must be made. With many parents and working students furloughed, unemployed or worried about either prospect, enrollment could plummet (especially among international students, who typically pay full sticker price) or colleges may be unable to meet the demand for financial aid.

Under the first wave of federal CARES Act emergency funding for higher education institutions, New Jersey’s public two- and four-year colleges and universities were awarded a combined $238,113,748, with private four-year colleges, technical and trade schools, and seminaries sharing another $84,967,031. (Princeton University, like other Ivy League colleges with robust endowments, declined its allocation of the aid.) Half of each college’s stipend is earmarked for financially needy students, who must apply through their institution for the aid, a process currently under way.

At the end of April, a second round of CARES Act aid was announced, this time earmarked specifically for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), minority-serving institutions and universities serving low-income students. Colleges have until August 1 to apply for their share of the nearly $1.4 billion available.

The CARES Act funding eases some of the colleges’ pandemic-related burdens, but certainly not all. For example, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ)’s allocation available for institutional spending is about $2.5 million. Meantime, it will issue refunds to students for housing, meal plans and parking totaling about $13.4 million.

To gain ground on these shortfalls, colleges will likely turn to their reserves. “It’s our rainy day account that we can use during emergencies such as these,” said Kathryn A. Foster, president of TCNJ. “However, our focus is on creating a conservative budget. We can’t control our revenue, but we can control what we spend.”

In calling for additional government aid for higher education, Eugene Lepore, executive director, New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities, said it’s an investment in the state’s financial health.

“As major employers in their region, educators of the state’s future workforce, bastions of innovation and entrepreneurship, and vehicles for upward socioeconomic mobility, New Jersey’s state colleges and universities are fundamental to the economic recovery,” he said. “Therefore, it is imperative that the federal and state governments make the investments that will help these institutions continue to thrive.”

Students, too, are looking for all the financial help they can find. In April the state Senate passed S-2356, which would ensure that students don’t lose a future semester of financial aid eligibility if the coronavirus emergency prevents them from finishing their spring 2020 semester. It would also require the state to waive the usual amount of aid to be repaid by students who withdraw or reduce credits below their enrollment status, whether full- or part-time. And the measure would alter the grade point average requirement under the NJ STARS program to accommodate pass/fail grading. A companion bill was advanced by the state Assembly Appropriations Committee on May 4.

Additionally, on May 5, a new recruitment program aimed at bringing back out-of-state students to “help revitalize your state with your talent and service” was announced. NJ Scholar Corps promises an easy transfer process, acceptance of course credits in which a C or above was earned and access to scholarships at 10 New Jersey colleges. New Jersey has one of the highest student exodus rates in the country, with more than 33,000 students choosing out-of-state schools each year.

Planning for the unknown

Since mid-March, New Jersey college campuses have been closed to all but a few essential workers and students with extenuating circumstances. In parts of the U.S. currently less affected by COVID-19, some college presidents have said their campuses will reopen in the fall. It’s a promise their New Jersey peers can’t make now.

“It’s going to take us significantly longer to make that decision, which will be guided by the data and the science, whether the curve flattens and the availability of ramped-up testing,” said Helldobler of William Paterson University. “We’re hoping for the best but planning for the worst.”

William Paterson’s senior administrators, like those on college campuses throughout the state, meet several times a week to assess a variety of scenarios. Among them, said Helldobler, are:

  • delaying the start of the fall semester (faculty are committed to 32 weeks of instruction each academic year, but their contract does not specify the timing of it);
  • alternating class schedules aimed at reducing the number of people on campus at one time;
  • continuation of virtual learning.

He anticipates being able to provide more clarity to the college’s 10,000-plus students, 1,000 full-time and adjunct professors and 900 full- and part-time staff members at the end of June.

Every scenario has several layers of complexity — and associated costs. “Every question we answer leads to another,” said Foster, the TCNJ president. “We’re asking not only what can we do, but how these scenarios affect budget.”

Take housing, for example, which at TCNJ accommodates about 4,000 students in 15 dorms or apartments. If housing opens, do double rooms become singles? If only half the residential students can live in campus housing, how are they chosen and what can be offered to the rest? How could a one-person-per-room rule affect price at a time when many families can’t afford to pay more?

And perhaps the most challenging scenario of all: how to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak in a dorm and manage it if it occurs.

Felician University, a private Catholic, primarily commuter college, with Lodi and Rutherford campuses, is also in planning mode. “We’re looking at several scenarios, although like everyone else, wish we had a crystal ball to predict what’s ahead,” said Anne Prisco, Felician’s president. One advantage it has regarding social-distance planning is small class size. “We don’t have large auditorium classes — our average class size is 15 students — so we can look for rooms that accommodate 30 people and space out seating,” she said.

As colleges prepare for many unknowns, she said, it’s imperative they keep the unique needs of their students front and center. At Felician, it’s been focusing on the challenges first-generation college students face, and an across-the-board freeze was made on 2020-2021 tuition, housing and room and board.

“We were planning a 2% increase, but many of our students are the first in their families to attend college, and that $600 or $700 means a lot,” said Prisco. “Instead, we decided what we could live without to keep student costs from increasing.”

College administrators aren’t the only ones weighing important decisions. Many students and their parents are expected to reexamine their fall plans in light of the potential for continued online instruction and the nation’s economic woes.

Tomorrow: Part two, life for students in the shadow of the pandemic

 

Header: Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

News Briefs

Mayor Steven Fulop and the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation (JCEDC) have launched the latest round of emergency funding to provide over $2.5 million in direct aid and support to Jersey City’s neediest residents, regardless of immigration status. The city will partner with  York Street, Women Rising, United Way, and Puertorriqueños Asociados for Community Organization (PACO). 

Darius Evans, age 45, of Jersey City was arrested  on Monday by The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office in connection with the stabbing death of 39-year-old Tyrone Haskins early New Year’s morning. The charges include Murder and two counts of Possession of a Weapon for Unlawful Purposes.

Mayor Steven Fulop is joining forces with Uber to announce a new agreement that will expand residents’ access to COVID-19 vaccinations with free Uber rides to and from Jersey City vaccination sites. Phase 1B includes essential frontline workers and seniors 75 years old and over.

According to a report in the Jersey Journal, Jersey City received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines Monday and plans to begin vaccinating eligible residents later this week at the Mary McLeod Bethune Center.

The federal Paycheck Protection Program, which offers businesses loans that can be forgivable, reopened on January 11th. The revised program focuses first on underserved borrowers – minority- and women-owned businesses.

Jersey Art Exchange (JAX) has merged with Art House Productions effective January 2021 to help improve and expand arts education and opportunities for the Jersey City community. JAX Founder Jacqueline Arias will remain Director of the program at Art House.

Christmas trees will be collected citywide every Wednesday night throughout the month of January. Pickup resumes this Wednesday January 13th.

Keep abreast of Jersey City Covid-19 statistics here.

Governor Murphy has launched a “Covid Transparency Website” where New Jerseyans can track state expenditures related to Covid.  Go here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upcoming Events

Fri 15

Curators Choice 2020 Virtual Exhibition

October 1, 2020 - February 1, 2021
Fri 15

The Very Affordable Art Show

December 4, 2020 @ 12:00 pm - February 1, 2021 @ 5:00 pm
Jersey City NJ
United States
Sun 17

January Nature Programs at LSP: Winter to Caven Point

January 17 @ 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Jersey City NJ
United States
Wed 20

January LSP History Programs: The Historic Trilogy

January 20 @ 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Jersey City NJ
United States
Tue 26

January LSP History Programs: History of the CRRNJ Terminal

January 26 @ 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Jersey City NJ
United States

View More…

CONTACT US

    ADS/INFO

    For information on advertising opportunities, please contact - ads@jcitytimes.com

    For information on writing opportunities, please contact - info@jcitytimes.com

    Download our media kit here

    ABOUT US

    About Jersey City Times

    Contact Jersey City Times

    Social

    Archive

    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    Copyright © 2020 JCityTimes.com. All Rights Reserved - powered by Enfold WordPress Theme
    Scroll to top
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter

    Support Jersey City Times WITH A MONTHLY CONTRIBUTION

    for the price of a tall coffee at Starbucks!