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BACK IN SESSION: A UNIQUE TIME FOR HIGHER EDUCATION By Maura Keller
Walk through college campuses in the Rochester area and you’re bound to see students sitting side-by-side in classrooms or studying on blankets spread under the springtime sun. Others may be enjoying a casual game of basketball or sharing a meal together in the dining hall. A year ago, this same walk would have looked vastly different – with few students on campus, and those that were, donning masks and socially distancing. In the face of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the
Photo Credit: Winona State University - Rochester
Winona State University - Rochester found that mental health services were essential to supporting students and employees during the pandemic.
face of higher education changed dramatically as schools shifted to online learning, and students and professors had to alter the entire college experience. So how have higher education institutions in the Rochester area faired during the pandemic, and what does the future hold? According to Jeanine Gangeness, Ph.D., Associate Vice President – Rochester, Academic Affairs Dean for the School of Graduate Studies at Winona State University (WSU), the COVID pandemic reinforced what we knew already: Good teaching is good teaching. “It doesn’t matter whether teaching is delivered online, in-person, or a combination, it’s the quality of the instruction that matters. What impacted faculty and students when COVID hit wasn’t moving instruction online, it was moving instruction online quickly,” Gangeness says. “Higher education didn’t have enough time to prepare properly. What was done during the early days of COVID should not be considered ‘online instruction’ but ‘emergency remote instruction.’”
Although we were still impacted by COVID earlier this year in terms of masks and distancing, students were excited to again interact face-to-face in the classroom. That said, students, faculty, and staff also were negatively impacted by death or long-COVID challenges of friends and family members, as well as other issues. “As a result, mental health and wellness support services have been essential to supporting students and employees at Winona State University,” Gangeness says. The Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, under the leadership of Fredric Meyer, M.D., Waugh Executive Dean of Education, mobilized remote learning modules to sustain excellence in learning at all five schools at the onset of the pandemic. The college pivoted rapidly to ensure uninterrupted enrollment and matriculation. Specifically, the college converted more than 400 courses online and activated a hybrid learning module within six weeks to enable students and learners to graduate on time. As the pandemic
Advantage Magazine | 5
May 2022
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