Reopening College Campuses During COVID-19

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic this election season, Morgan State University President David Wilson says it’s even more important to prepare students for civic engagement and active participation in voting. In this bonus episode of our series, hosts Philip Rogers and Sherri Hughes ask Wilson about how he encourages students on his own campus to engage in the political process and discourse and how other leaders can prepare their students, campus, and community for life after this election. Jenzabar [https://jenzabar.com/] has worked with 1,350 universities to develop, launch, and scale online course offerings. Here are some of the links and references from this episode: Civic Engagement and Democracy: Special Focus on the 2020 Election [https://www.acenet.edu/pages/voting-civic-engagement.aspx] Morgan State University Designated As 2020 Early Voting and Election Day Voting Center [https://news.morgan.edu/2020-voting-center/]

ACE President Ted Mitchell joins hosts Philip Rogers and Sherri Hughes to wrap up the series, summarizing what they've heard from their guests and other higher education leaders and looking at the changes they've seen in reopening strategies and outcomes over the past three months. The fall 2020 semester has taken on many different forms depending on the context of the institution, and one thing all Engage Conversations guests have made clear is that when it comes to the mode of education delivery during COVID-19, one size does not fit all. Mitchell and the hosts discuss the challenges to leadership and decision-making structures, the importance of looking at who your students are and how to help them succeed, the need to protect and advance the gains in equity and access over the past 20 years in the midst of this crisis, and more.

In the scramble to move all-online during the early days of the pandemic, most colleges and universities had systems already in place to deliver courses electronically. But replicating the rest of the myriad processes that institutions rely on—as well as the organic experiences that are central to the college experience—was not easy. Jenzabar's Jeff Elliott talks with Sherri Hughes and Philip Rogers about the challenges campuses have faced as they work to improve all of their systems and bring the student experience into this new world, as well as some of the more promising solutions.

The campus of Benedict College, a private liberal arts HBCU with 2,100 students, has been open for the fall semester since early August. President Roslyn Clark Artis shares why she believes remaining all-online was not an option, how to help students succeed in the current environment, and the dual impact of COVID-19 and the demands for social justice over the past months.

Bates College President Clayton Spencer discusses how COVID-19 has impacted the value proposition of liberal arts colleges. She also explains the key elements of Bates' fall reopening plans and shares her primary concerns and leadership lessons from the return to campus. This series is sponsored by Jenzabar, a leading expert in higher education enrollment and digital transformation solutions.