The Impact of COVID-19 on Campus

Covid-19 Impact on College Campuses 

   The corona virus has led to a dangerous and uncertain time for all Americans this past year. It’s created a pandemic the likes of which the United States hasn’t seen in 100 years. With Over half a million deaths contributed to this virus in America alone, it has become a national initiative to contain and stop this virus from spreading any further. To achieve this, we’ve all had to make considerable changes to our everyday lives.

   For college students, the entire approach to earning a degree has been altered for most. With many students having to quarantine, figuring out a way for students to continue going to classes as well as ways for them to participate has proven to be a challenge. Many college campuses across the United States had to close leading students to either participate in remote learning or forcing them to put off their educations while waiting for conditions to improve.

   Multiple college sports programs have had to cancel games mid-season or have had their seasons completely canceled due to steps in preventing the possible spread of COVID-19. Other activities such as school clubs and organizations have also had to go inactive or make major adjustments in order to help prevent the spread of this pandemic. All in all, participation in school events and activities  have seen dramatic declines due to the pandemic.

Technology is Keeping Up With the Virus 

   The introduction of new technology and services have helped increase the availability of distanced and remote learning for most colleges. With the use of apps and websites like Skype and Zoom, students and instructors have been able to hold conferences, meetings, lectures, and more from the safety of their own quarantined spaces. However, while this can be useful for learning information, it doesn’t replace hands on experiences for many who are pursuing a more physically hands on education such as nursing.

   There have been many tribulations for colleges that have chosen to keep their campuses open. In order to keep campuses safe for students, many changes are constantly being made to ensure that students, instructors, and faculty are doing everything they can to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Many campuses have developed intense sanitation regiments in order to combat the spread of this virus. Class sizes have also been reduced to support and enforce social distancing guidelines as well.

   Instructors for college classes have also had to make major changes to assignments as well as the curriculum for their classes in order to adjust to guidelines used to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campus. Classes that were group assignment based or more physically hands on have faced huge changes. Dealing with the needs of individual students as they have to quarantine and dedicating their time to make sure students don’t fall behind has proven difficult for instructors and faculty. As the pandemic continues, constant changes are being made by instructors in effort to give students a quality education during these times.

   For more detailed insight into how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted life for college students and college campuses, including in-depth interviews, I encourage you to follow these articles. Each of these major themes will be further investigated and explored in detail through interviews with students and staff as well as through sourced information and analyses.

For more information visit the link below:

CDC Guidelines

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