Southwestern Magazine | Spring 2021

Most liberal-arts colleges have long resisted the sway of online learning because they pride themselves on strong bonds between professors and undergraduates and the immersive residential experience. So when COVID-19 forced Southwestern to transition rapidly to remote learning inMarch 2020, many faculty and students under- standably balked. As the pandemic surged throughout the fall and into spring 2021, approximately 70% of faculty and students resumed in-person class meet- ings while the remaining community members chose to remain remote. Many professors taught simultaneously to physically distanced classrooms and on-screen learners. Some courses operated according to a hybrid model, with certain class meetings online and others in person. And, inevitably, a few students and professors had to temporarily engage in remote coursework during isolation and quarantine periods after contracting COVID-19 or coming into contact with someone who had tested positive. Nevertheless, the Southwestern faculty, most of whom never taught remotely prior to spring 2020, have worked tirelessly to maintain the close relationships and rigorous classes that are the cornerstones of SU’s reputation. The transition wasn’t easy: e-learning usually requires years of professional training to master, so moving labs, seminars, capstones, and studios online has required immense effort and agility. But, says Dean of the Faculty Alisa Gaunder, “The faculty’s efforts to adjust their pedagogies to fit a remote-learning model were truly Herculean in nature. I am proud to say that our faculty have risen to the challenge.” A BRAVE NEW WORLD A significant part of that challenge has been the extraordinary amount of time required to research best practices, test different digital tools, conduct trial runs, and troubleshoot a variety of issues. Even evaluating student work has become more intensive. Ben Pierce, biology professor and Lillian Nelson Pratt chair, can usually grade all his weekly quizzes in 30 minutes flat. Online, that same task takes three times as long. “That’s the biggest challenge for me,” he admits. “I’mnot as tech savvy, but you also have to be much more intentional.” Another major hurdle is that many faculty are teaching while caring for their children at home. Associate Professor of Psychology Erin Crockett ’05 had to balance helping her young children understand their homework assignments with grading for her own classes. “Southwestern provided me with professional- development sessions to take my classes online, but nobody taught me how to homeschool!” she says with a laugh. But when asked about the most difficult aspect of the transition to remote learning, each professor’s consistent and resounding response has been, as Jessica Hower shares, those “hard-to-qualify-or-quantify things that happen on campus,” such as the exhilaration of an in-person discussion, those light-bulb moments of discovery, the conversations after class, and the serendipitous catch-ups in the hallways. “You choose very purposely a small residential liberal-arts college because it feeds on the palpable energy of the campus environment,” the associate professor of history explains. “As soon as you start to shift away from that, you lose AN A FOR AGILITY STORY BY MEILEE BRIDGES Faculty earn top marks for their transition to remote learning. SOUTHWE S T E RN | 1 9