Daily Lumina News 031721

One-way signs, sparsely furnished classrooms, and empty faculty offices are the norm now, but they won’t last forever. Still, the pandemic may have permanently altered campuses in other ways, accelerating changes that began years before.
Architects, campus planners, and leaders in student life and housing paint a picture of future campuses that are more adaptable, perhaps smaller, and focused on what’s most valuable about seeing one’s peers in person.

Before the pandemic, women who resigned from their jobs at Development Centers, a Detroit non-profit, usually did so for a new position that advanced their careers. But since COVID-19 hit, they’ve left the workforce altogether to manage child care or family issues.
Nationally, the percentage of women who are working or looking for work has fallen to its lowest level since 1988, according to the National Women’s Law Center. In September, when students returned to online school-from-home, 865,000 women dropped out of the workforce—four times more than men. And the trend continues.

Many colleges have canceled spring break this year in an attempt to curb student travel and keep coronavirus cases down. As an alternative, some institutions are offering smaller, shorter breaks or wellness days.
But these campus health efforts have hit a major roadblock: The rise of online classes means students can now do college from anywhere—even next to a pool with palm trees gently swaying in the background.

The ideas making the rounds last week at the virtual SXSW EDU conference—usually hosted in Austin, Texas—weren't anything new. Higher education experts and college officials spoke of the need for digital equity, unbundled degrees, and better alignment between credentials and the skills employers are seeking.
A year into the coronavirus pandemic, however, these ideas have taken on more urgency. Without accessible and flexible credentials, experts suggest, the country will struggle to meet workforce needs during the economic recovery and well into the future.

When college campuses closed because of COVID-19, students experienced waves of loneliness, fear, upheaval, and grief. Some lost loved ones; others saw their parents lose their jobs and their families sink into poverty. Nearly all experienced a degree of depression from being apart from their friends and missing important milestones. Even students who thrived with distance learning endured periods of frustration and sadness.
But some advocates foresee schools and colleges adopting permanent changes in the way they address students’ mental health needs, leading to long-term improvements in campus climate and students’ overall well-being.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute announced on Monday that it will adopt a “test-blind” admission policy. Starting this fall, the institution will no longer consider ACT or SAT scores for all applicants as part of an eight-year pilot.
WPI's Andrew B. Palumbo is a vocal critic of testing requirements. In this interview, he discusses why the institution reached its decision to ditch the ACT and SAT altogether, how the pandemic has changed the standardized-testing debate, and the questions he thinks institutional leaders should be asking themselves about their admission requirements.