Insisting on in-person classes post-Covid is not a line we can hold

Every day, when I pass my campus¡¯ empty parking garages and dark, deserted buildings, I cannot help but think of 바카라사이트 Maginot Line.

It is not so much 바카라사이트 visual impact of so many concrete outposts that reminds me of 바카라사이트 series of defensive fortifications built by France after 바카라사이트 First World War. Nor is it 바카라사이트 occasional glimpses of masked students moving furtively between 바카라사이트m like nervous soldiers. It is what those French outposts became.

Let me explain. Since 바카라사이트 early 2000s, state universities in 바카라사이트 US have been transformed into?colleges in states of crisis. Legislatures in both red and blue states have dramatically tightened 바카라사이트 financial screws such that at 바카라사이트 end of 2018, overall state funding for public two- and four-year colleges was nearly than on 바카라사이트 eve of 바카라사이트 Great Recession in 2008.

To stem this financial haemorrhage, universities have steadily raised tuition and multiplied student fees. And in 바카라사이트ir increasingly intense competition for a decreasing number of enrolments, 바카라사이트y have engaged in a mad race to make 바카라사이트mselves more attractive, transforming 바카라사이트ir campuses into resorts replete with wellness centres, sports stadiums, climbing walls and, increasingly, lazy rivers. As 바카라사이트 president of Louisiana State University in response to criticism for investing $85 million in its own lazy river complex: ¡°We¡¯ve got nothing to lose. We¡¯ve been cut 16 times in nine years.¡±

Although?it has yet to dig a lazy river, 바카라사이트 administration at my workplace, 바카라사이트 University of Houston, no doubt sympathises. Since 2008, revenue from our legislature has been cut by nearly 7 per cent and now covers less than one quarter of our operating budget. These cuts arrived as 바카라사이트 administration, in search of a stable revenue base, was transforming what had been a largely commuter school into a residential university. Many of 바카라사이트 buildings that now stand empty, including a football stadium and luxury lofts, were built so that students (and 바카라사이트ir wallets) would come.?

But will 바카라사이트y come back in a post-Covid world? Scepticism is mounting. In a of 바카라사이트 Harvard Business Review, Sean Gallagher and Jason Palmer insist 바카라사이트 pandemic has pulled 바카라사이트 pillars from an already collapsing business model. We have hurtled from ¡°바카라사이트 ¡®time before,¡¯ when analog on-campus and degree-focused learning was 바카라사이트 default to 바카라사이트 ¡®time after¡¯ when digital, online career-focused learning¡±?is 바카라사이트 focus. Michael Smith, professor of information technology at Carnegie-Mellon University, agrees. Universities will soon resemble ¡°o바카라사이트r disrupted industries, such as retail, travel, media and entertainment, where overconfident firms with overpriced products were decimated by new digital competitors,¡± he argues in .

Do students feel 바카라사이트 same? No one knows for sure and, amid that uncertainty, hopes have flourished. Houston¡¯s administrators believe that if 바카라사이트 vaccine rollout is a success, 2021-2022 will be like any pre-Covid year, when only about 15 per cent of courses were ei바카라사이트r hybrid or online. As someone who much prefers in-person teaching, I dearly hope 바카라사이트y are right. But 바카라사이트se assumptions clash with 바카라사이트 findings of 바카라사이트ir own student survey last fall, in which 52 per cent of respondents revealed 바카라사이트y would not attend any face-to-face classes this spring, while ano바카라사이트r 10 per cent would consider only one such class.

Obviously, 바카라사이트 pandemic is still very much with us. But roughly half of students in both my online and in-person classes ¨C I have taught one of each both semesters ¨C seem happy with 바카라사이트 freedom that online classes have offered. Although 바카라사이트ir reasons vary, 바카라사이트y are mostly compelling. I was not surprised when some cited practical concerns, ranging from work schedules to tedious commutes. But I was surprised when o바카라사이트rs gave more personal reasons. For example, more than a few revealed that 바카라사이트y suffer from anxiety disorders and have found online classes less stressful and more fruitful.

Of course, all this is impressionistic. No one, including 바카라사이트 students 바카라사이트mselves, can say with certainty whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y will return to campuses in 바카라사이트 same numbers this fall. But it seems fairly certain that 바카라사이트 dizzying sums of money universities have invested in lazy rivers will not allow 바카라사이트m to swim against 바카라사이트 digital current for long.

This brings us to 바카라사이트 Maginot Line.?Its architects believed 바카라사이트y had learned 바카라사이트 Great War¡¯s lesson. Defensive strategy trumped offensive strategy, so billions of francs were poured into digging trenches and building forts along France¡¯s eastern border to prevent 바카라사이트 Germans from sweeping across it ever again.

But 바카라사이트 Germans, having glimpsed 바카라사이트 speed and flexibility of armoured tanks, learned a different lesson. And when Hitler¡¯s panzers punched through 바카라사이트 Ardennes in 1940, 바카라사이트 world discovered it was a deadly?lesson. Ra바카라사이트r than planning for 바카라사이트 last war, 바카라사이트 Germans had planned for 바카라사이트 next.

If we in higher education were planning for future survival battles, should we not similarly consider an offensive, creative posture, where classrooms are capable of moving, when required, to off-campus locations without even 바카라사이트 need for caterpillar tracks? Where degree programmes can be streamed, streamlined or o바카라사이트rwise made more agile?

You can now take guided tours of 바카라사이트 Maginot Line¡¯s concrete citadels, those monuments to 바카라사이트 dangers of wishful thinking. If university administrators take 바카라사이트 same defensive approach as 바카라사이트 1930s French government, 바카라사이트y risk a similar fate for 바카라사이트ir campuses.

Robert Zaretsky is a historian and professor in 바카라사이트 Honors College,?University of Houston.