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A New California: How is COVID-19 changing the college on-campus experience
In tonight's A New California, we're looking ahead to the fall semester. How is COVID-19 changing the college on-campus experience? University officials everywhere are planning for an altered school year one way or the other.
LOS ANGELES - Back to school in “A New California” will look and feel different for college students come this Fall.
How is COVID-19 changing the college on-campus experience?
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University officials everywhere are planning for an altered school year one way or the other. Claremont McKenna College is our example.
FOX 11 asked the Vice President of Student Affairs what incoming freshman can expect.“The reality is that they're starting college in a time where physical distancing is a thing,” says Sharon Basso, Student Affairs VP at Claremont McKenna.Basso says remote and virtual learning may become more of the norm when the 13-hundred or so students return to the private liberal arts college in Claremont this Fall.
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She says 98% of students live on campus so housing is a big concern. “Residentially, we're looking at single rooms or single in double rooms,” says Basso.
Also, she says the school made an agreement with a nearby apartment complex to procure additional apartment housing. That housing could be used as a quarantine site if students become ill.
As for instruction, Claremont McKenna is considering rotating students in and out of the classroom; some students in class while others remote at the same time.
For classroom spaces, the school is considering repurposing its auditoriums, gymnasiums, and studio fitness spaces.
Another option: take the classroom outside.
“Many times already our faculty will have small seminars outside on the lawn so we may think about adding furniture outside so folks can do some smaller classes with social distancing outside as a possibility,” says Basso.
Another blessing about studying in Southern California: sunshine study.