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2 — Wednesday, September 15, 2021
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ACADEMICS
Students face another semester outside the
classroom with virtual, outdoor classes
Concerns about the delta variant prompt instructors to change course formats
Though 91% of University
of Michigan courses are being
taught in-person this semester,
some students are still learning
in
alternative
formats
—
including online or outdoors —
due to concerns over teaching
in small classrooms as the
more contagious delta variant
continues to spread.
LSA freshman Sam Gomez,
who is taking an outdoors
class this semester, was among
those most looking forward to
getting as normal of a college
experience as possible in the
age of COVID-19.
“I
was
very
optimistic
— when you searched for
in-person classes, most classes
would pop up,” Gomez said. “I
was really excited that I’d be
able to walk the campus and
be able to experience it more or
less in the way that a student
would on a normal year.”
To
Gomez’s
surprise,
“in-person” for English 223 did
not mean learning in Mason
Hall, the class’s location on the
LSA course guide. After first
meeting in the confined space
of a classroom, lecturer Molly
Lynch decided to move the
English class outside for both
creativity and safety reasons,
she told The Daily.
“For the most part, people
would like to be outside in
the nice weather, especially
in a creative writing class,”
Lynch said. “But the COVID
safety aspect of it was my main
motivation, because I don’t
know how well ventilated each
classroom is.”
Over the past two weeks,
Lynch has made use of spaces
available throughout Central
Campus, teaching her courses
across from Hill Auditorium,
outside the North University
Building
and
even
in
the
University Museum of Modern
Art.
“There’s
plenty
of
opportunity
for
outdoor
classrooms,” Lynch said. “Our
campus has a lot of spaces
where that can be done and
done in a way in which teachers
just kind of use what appears
to be available.”
Learning
in
these
unconventional
locations
has
helped
Gomez
grow
accustomed to campus while
tapping into his creative side
— something that is much
more difficult in a windowless
Mason Hall classroom, he said.
“I feel like I’m a lot more
in touch with things,” Gomez
said. “I know that for some
situations, being outside can
make a classroom environment
more difficult, but in a creative
class such as this one, it feels
like you’re in your element a bit
more.”
The
only
downside,
Gomez said, is the occasional
interruption, whether it be
the bell tower’s quarter-hour
chime or a friend unknowingly
disrupting the class.
Though
Gomez
and
his
classmates are tackling school
in a brand-new setting, others
have returned to the all-
too-familiar Zoom calls for
hybrid and virtual classes this
semester.
Despite
having
the
option to teach in person,
Anna Edmonds, lecturer of
philosophy, opted for virtual
lectures
with
in-person
discussions
due
to
space
limitations on campus.
“Given that it seemed like
a pretty high possibility that
we would end up with a much
worse lecture time in possibly
not a very good space, I elected
to stay online,” Edmonds said.
Edmonds said the return
to virtual instruction is not
a setback but instead offers a
variety of ways to keep students
engaged
during
lectures.
Edmonds said the chat function
has been especially helpful
for facilitating participation
during lectures.
“I really love being able to
glance over at the chat and
see the kind of comments and
questions people are asking
there,” Edmonds said. “It’s a
pretty low bar for entry into
class participation … I already
know that the person who’s
written in it has something to
say, so there’s no sort of danger
of scary cold-calling.”
Students have so far enjoyed
the freedom that comes with
recorded lectures, Edmonds
said.
“It seemed fairly plausible
that
having
the
recorded
lectures to be able to go back
and watch, as well as taking
exams in a setting where you
were by yourself and not elbow-
to-elbow in the auditorium,
were helpful,” Edmonds said.
Edmonds
and
Lynch
emphasized the importance
of continuing to prioritize
students’ mental health.
“I acknowledge the kind
of
awkwardness,
difficulty
and challenges that we may
potentially be facing,” Lynch
said. “I put a huge amount of
emphasis in my teaching on
student mental health — it’s
very prominent in my syllabi,
so students are aware of the
services that are available to
them.”
Engineering
junior
Anna
Kilts
said
virtual
classes definitely have their
advantages when it comes to
freedom and time management.
“It’s really nice to take my
class wherever,” Kilts said.
“I don’t actually have to go
anywhere, so my Tuesdays are
very relaxing.”
On other days when she has
hybrid classes, Kilts said she
loses this luxury of working
wherever is convenient.
“The only difficulty with
hybrid (classes) is scheduling,”
Kilts
said.
“My
discussion
section is ten minutes after
my lecture, so I have to do the
online lecture somewhere on
campus to get to my classroom
time.”
Still, Kilts said she hopes
students stay safe and follow
the
University
COVID-19
protocols set in place so that
next semester is more similar
to
a
pre-pandemic
college
experience.
“I just hope that, as a whole,
the student body continues
to be safe and smart with the
decisions that they’re making,”
Kilts said. “Obviously, being in
person is really exciting, but
we’re only going to be able to
continue to have in-person
classes
and
in-person
opportunities as long as people
are making smart decisions.”
Daily Staff Reporter Evan
DeLorenzo can be reached at
evandelo@umich.edu.
EVAN DELORENZO
Daily Staff Reporter
Associate Editor: Julia Maloney
MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily
Senior Ashley Lau competes in the Wolverine invitational Sept. 13, the first time since 2012 that this invitational has been held.
PHOTO
“I literally lost so much sleep
those nights because I didn’t
know if they were going to put
me in a hotel,” Webb said. “They
weren’t telling us. Just recently, I
decided I couldn’t do it anymore.
It just felt like a game, because
I’m sure that they know that the
move-in dates couldn’t happen
on those days. But they were still
giving us false hope.”
Organizers are requesting that
the University issue a statement to
The One regarding its treatment
of U-M students and that the
University cut its advertising ties
with The One by removing ads for
the complex on the off-campus
housing website Beyond the Diag.
Conrad
Kosowsky,
fourth
year PhD student and one of the
organizers of the letter, said he
felt that the University shouldn’t
be
advertising
housing
that
doesn’t exist.
“I think it’s really bad of
the University to be providing
a platform for an apartment
complex when that complex is
treating university students so
incredibly poorly.”
They are also asking the
University to provide tenants
with meal swipes at dining
halls. According to the letter,
“a
representative
survey
of
tenants” showed that over 50% of
respondents have skipped meals
and/or school-related events to
save money.
“It appears that hundreds of
students have not yet received
their promised stipends from The
One and therefore cannot use
that money to purchase food,” the
letter reads.
Webb said that when she
contacted the Dean of Students
to obtain meal card swipes for
tenants who were living in hotels,
she was met with unreasonable
options
and
little
support,
especially for students given
hotels in farther cities.
“‘The One is giving you $50 a
day. You can use that,’” Webb said
the Dean of Students told her.
“But for some people who were
out in Canton and Livonia, that’s
not really a viable option because
they have to use that $50 a day to
get to campus.”
Other
requests
included
encouraging faculty to create
virtual learning opportunities for
students who are commuting to
campus or staying in hotels due
to their housing displacement,
as well as providing alternative
transportation
resources
for
tenants. The One has provided a
shuttle service to get to campus;
however,
organizers
say
the
shuttle timing is unreliable.
“The
One
has
offered
inconsistent and poorly timed
shuttle service to its current
tenants, with long, unscheduled
wait times and some routes
taking well over an hour to arrive
on campus,” the letter reads.
Given
these
and
other
difficulties,
70%
of
survey
respondents reported that “the
emotional
distress
from
the
delay will affect their academic
performance,” according to the
open letter.
“At this difficult time, we need
you to advocate for us,” the letter
reads. “University students were
pressured (78% of respondents);
given
inadequate
information
or insufficient time (98% of
respondents); and had days when
they didn’t know where they
would stay (70% of respondents).”
Kosowsky said the University
should provide transportation
resources like Blue Buses or
parking passes for the students
who commute 20-30 miles away
from campus. So far, Kosowsky
said the University hasn’t been
helpful with regards to parking.
“One of the students who
helped deliver the letter today
tried to get a parking pass,”
Kosowsky said of a commuter
who was ineligible for a parking
pass and was unable to get special
permission from the parking
office. “So now he doesn’t have a
great place to park his car when
he drives to campus, which he
needs to do because the shuttles
don’t run frequently.”
The letter currently has 312
signatures,
and
organizers
reported that around 250 tenants
have contacted each other on
social media to support each
other.
Daily Staff Reporters Christian
Juliano and Justine Ra can be
reached at julianoc@umich.edu
and rjustine@umich.edu.
THE ONE
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