Mask-to-school: A look into academics during COVID-19
University prepares to navigate in-person classes during fall 2021
JACOB FISHMAN/THE EAGLE
By Ben Johansen | August 30, 2021
While American University administration and faculty lay the groundwork for this fall’s return, many throughout the AU community are preparing to transition back into a classroom setting after being online for almost a year and a half.
On Aug. 11, members of AU leadership, including President Sylvia Burwell, hosted a community forum in which they discussed the University’s approach to reopening campus. In the conversation, they summarized various components of the plan, including the academic and campus life approach, while also answering questions from the community.
As outlined in the AU Forward Fall 2021 Health and Safety Guide, in-person instruction will return for classes with less than 50 students and remain online for classes with more than that threshold. For those attending in-person class, face coverings will be required at all times, except for when drinking.
“Our goal is to maintain an optimal learning environment, while remaining flexible in the face of evolving conditions,” Provost Peter Starr said, who discussed the academic aspect of the plan at the forum.
Starr pointed out how the University is hoping faculty members will be flexible with students experiencing any sort of illness, and allow them short-term excused absences. One or two “brief student absences,” as the University describes it, will not require a physician’s note to be considered excused.
The Office of the Dean of Students will provide documentation for students who may need to take a longer excused absence, or undergo quarantine, according to Starr. Faculty are expected to prepare asynchronous versions of the material for those students who may need to be away from the class due to a positive test or exposure.
As for changes to the modality of instruction for classes, faculty may need to switch to online learning for one or two class sessions but must get approval from their school’s Dean before changing it long term. Starr stressed that the University hopes to stay consistent with the residential experience of teaching, and noted that a hybrid approach simply “does not work.”
In the conversation, Fanta Aw, the Vice President of Campus Life and Inclusive Excellence, emphasized that faculty will not receive a list of those students who are or are not vaccinated.
“It is important to understand the confidentiality around those different elements of information,” Aw said.
For any long-term or permanent changes to the modality of courses, the decision will be made on a University-wide basis, and in accordance with the D.C. Department of Health.
According to the forum, for someone on campus who tests positive for COVID-19, a contact tracing team will work with the individual to determine who has been exposed, through a series of interviews. If they discover that others may have been exposed, those individuals will be contacted via a phone call. This contact tracing policy does not only apply to the classroom, but to any space on campus.
Dan Sirota, a sophomore in the School of Communication, said that he is relieved for the return of in-person instruction. He noted that as a student in the SOC, a lot of his classes rely on “hands-on crafts,” and that it has been difficult to perform them behind a screen.
“I am just relieved that I am going to have a legitimate educational experience, where I get to learn in a more normal setting,” Sirota said.
He said that above all, he is most excited for the return of the social component of in-person learning, noting that he is looking forward to being able to interact with his peers outside of the classroom.