Online Tools Iterate College Experience

The New York Times: "The disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic has prompted cobbled-together responses ranging from the absurd to the ingenious at colleges and universities struggling to continue teaching even as their students have receded into diminutive images, in dire need of haircuts, on videoconference checkerboards. But while all of this is widely being referred to as online higher education, that’s not really what most of it is, at least so far. As for predictions that it will trigger a permanent exodus from brick-and-mortar campuses to virtual classrooms, all indications are that it probably won’t." "There will be some important lasting impacts, though, experts say: Faculty may incorporate online tools, to which many are being exposed for the first time, into their conventional classes. And students are experiencing a flexible type of learning they may not like as undergraduates, but could return to when it’s time to get a graduate degree. These trends may not transform higher education, but they are likely to accelerate the integration of technology into it." "Real online education lets students move at their own pace and includes such features as continual assessments so they can jump ahead as soon as they’ve mastered a skill ... Conceiving, planning, designing and developing a genuine online course or program can consume as much as a year of faculty training and collaboration with instructional designers, and often requires student orientation and support and a complex technological infrastructure."

Colleges Amplify Enrollment Incentives

The Washington Post: "Free classes! Free parking! Prime dorm rooms! More cash! The more they worry about whether students in this year of the coronavirus will show up in the fall, the more admissions officers responsible for filling seats at colleges and universities" sweeten the pot. “The gloves have come off ... You’re talking about a scenario where colleges need to enroll students at any cost,” says Angel Pérez, vice president for enrollment and student success at Trinity College in Connecticut. "All of this is driven, of course, by the existential danger that too few students will sign on for college this fall because of the pandemic, which is wrecking family finances and raising fears that campuses will not reopen anyway, forcing a continuation of online teaching." "In a twist of timing, some of the inducements are a consequence of a Justice Department action that forced college admissions officers to drop key parts of their professional code of ethics, which prohibited many of these kinds of appeals and banned colleges from pursuing each other’s students ... The ethics rules had blocked colleges from offering inducements to anyone who had committed to another institution or from trying to get students already enrolled at one to transfer." "About a quarter of high school seniors who already picked colleges are reconsidering where to enroll, a survey by the higher education research firm SimpsonScarborough has found; 20 percent say it is likely or highly likely that they won’t go at all ... Even before this year, institutions were collectively handing back more than half of the tuition they collected from their full-time freshmen in the form of discounts or financial aid, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers ... Many colleges are already making overtures to students who had applied in earlier years but went elsewhere, asking them whether they would like to transfer and offering much more generous financial aid and no loss of credits."

College & Careers in the Arts

Vanderbilt: "What you do in college has a surprising impact on your ability to sustain a career in the arts long-term, according to a new report coauthored by Alexandre Frenette, assistant professor of sociology and associate director of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy ... He comments: “While many arts majors said they wished they’d gotten more training in business and entrepreneurship in school, those with a second major outside the arts were much less likely to remain in an arts career later on overall. On the other hand, participating in arts-related clubs, paid internships and other related co-curricular activities makes you much more likely to stay in the arts, thanks to the networks they help you develop when you’re just starting out.” "The report noted that choice of field also mattered: Architecture and design students were most likely to have durable careers in the arts, while theater, dance and arts management majors had the lowest odds. There is also no escaping the social inequality that pervades the broader economy, either." Frenette explains: “The odds of women staying in the arts after starting a career in a creative field were about 15 percent lower than they are for men. The odds of a person of color staying in the arts after starting such a career is 24 percent lower than they are for whites." "Many artists have 'day' jobs as well. Frenette found that having a second job outside the arts reduces an artist’s odds of remaining in the arts in the long run ... Overall, Frenette said, the report’s findings highlight the importance of cultivating artistic networks while still in school and reinforcing artistic goals with complementary artistic work."