There are a variety of opinions about UW’s plan for the fall semester from students, but one thing is clear: students are conflicted.
Some students believe the plan is “stupid” and that UW should begin classes in early August so the semester ends before Thanksgiving, providing a full semester of in person education; others are excited for the year to start and appreciate the on campus time they get, but are still nervous about the difficult transition to online.
“I was happy to hear that I would be able to have some classes on campus and be able to see my friends again,” stated Bailey Vogler, a senior majoring in Communications.
Vogler is hopeful with the University’s plan to initiate the fall semester half in person and half online. She is also excited for the availability of masks for students and appreciates the consistent information and advice on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while on campus or simply in public.
However, she is nervous that students will only practice social distancing and wear their masks in the beginning of the semester and eventually become more lenient about it. This could possibly contribute to the spread of COVID-19 on campus, which Vogler is nervous about.
“I think that there will be students who will be consistent and wearing their masks and practicing safety and others will be convenient especially if there are no reinforcements,” stated Vogler.
Another concern is that individuals will still fill the Union space as students always have in the past to socialize, get food, and work on school assignments; however, Vogler believes the rise in online classes will help prevent that.
“I think with all of the precautions that the university is taking it will be ok,” stated Vogler. “I will just have to not spend as much time as I usually do hanging around campus. And I expect there not to be as many students on campus since a lot of classes will be online. I hope the university will still try and host fun events like the cultural dinners and free movie nights while still following COVID safety.”
Some teachers, like Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Communication and Journalism Kristen D. Landreville, have altered some of their classes to not only be half online but completely online for the whole fall semester. Landreville is moving some of her classes completely online that have large class sizes due to the limitations to available rooms adequate for proper social distancing, and simply as a precaution due to the unpredictability of COVID-19.
Vogler is hopeful that all of her classes, excluding one she intentionally signed up for online, will remain in person for the first half of the semester due to them being senior level courses with only about thirty students enrolled. She personally loves that college environment of attending class and socializing. Also, communication classes tend to have many presentations and projects shared with the rest of the class, according to Vogler, so being on campus is ideal. However, the switch mid semester from in person to online will be difficult but, on the brighter side, she doesn’t mind the online exams due to the more relaxing atmosphere she can put herself in instead of a room of thirty nervous individuals.
“Learning online was a bit difficult,” stated Vogler. “I learn better in person and being able to feed off of my peers with in class discussions and talking to the professor after class rather than scheduling another time like I did when we were moved online.”
While some students are content with this change, like Vogler, some are not too thrilled at all.
“I didn’t pay to go to a university for all of my classes to be online,” stated Zach Lundgren, junior majoring in business undeclared. “If I wanted it online, I would just pay a community college to get the same degree for way cheaper.”
Lundgren expresses concerns that having part of the semester online would hinder his education in a sense that the class would not be taught to its fullest capabilities as it could in person like it was originally planned. Furthermore, financially he does not want to be charged extra for last minute online classes that he originally signed up for as on campus. For now, Lundgren has not heard from any of his professors if their classes will be moved to completely online but also understand they may be trying to figure things out themselves and have not made that decision yet.
“I think its kind of a waste especially making finals online,” stated Lundgren. “Tests are way harder online and by putting finals online it makes it harder for the students to excel. Also, almost every other university is done at Thanksgiving so if that’s the case we should have started sooner making us done at Thanksgiving as well.”
Hopefully UW will provide the best education possible with their plan to ease the worries of both Lundgren and Vogler. Online classes are not for everyone, but everyone currently is trying their best. Maybe this year will be a trial run and next year will have a sooner starting date as Lundgren suggested. Maybe this year will go smoother than Vogler anticipates and students will consistently wear masks and social distance.
