College class with mask
by Stephanie Hicks-Pass, PhD, MSW, MHR
What have we learned from a year and a half of compound loss and complex stressors? The year of 2020 brought social unrest, a global pandemic, forced isolation, economic shutdowns, financial stress, illness both short-term and long-term for some, death, and toilet paper shortages. It has been a tumultuous year and a half, and unfortunately, the stressors are not done yet. We have all learned some lessons, though. I have learned that isolation and grief are wearing on my soul, that cookies are bad for my waistline, and that my students need a real professor in the classroom environment.
When the universities, schools, and other social settings shut down in March 2020, our students lost their social networks as well as their support networks. They lost communicating with the professors and their peers. A year later, we are still seeing the results of this in the classroom setting. The university where I teach is closing out the spring semester, which operated on a HiFlex model. I chose to teach my courses on a hybrid method, offering both in class and live Zoom methodology. I also recorded the sessions for those who could not or would not attend live classes. Some days, I am one of the few professors in my entire building.
This semester, I also am seeing the highest levels of disengaged students in all my 13 years of teaching, the highest failure rates, and the highest self-reports of stress from my students. For spring 2021, I opted to teach an elective on stress and compassion fatigue. It filled on pre-registration on Day 3, and all the comments at the end were comments of gratitude that I held the class live instead of online. I was one of the few actually live teaching, and the students expressed gratitude for the engagement of having a professor in the classroom. For most, I was one of the few live teaching.
The students stated they were lonely on the empty campus and in their empty apartments. Many abandoned their apartments and dorms and moved home to escape the loneliness. They wanted the social engagement of classes, and online is not enough. So, they sit in my class, obediently socially distanced, wearing masks, speaking of getting the vaccines when available, WANTING the social outlets to be available. ANY social outlet, even a classroom lecture. Talk about desperation! They speak of missing going to the movies, missing seeing their grandparents, missing going on outings. It has been a year and half of loneliness for some, deprivation, and a year we are all ready to put behind us.
Let us as a society find a way to end this cycle of illness and reopen our campuses safely. The students need the professors to teach the courses again, live and in person. We need to come back and do our jobs. This is a call for the professors to teach, to offer engaging synchronous learning activities, not simply read the book and post a response online. If we must continue to teach online, we must get creative in our methods to engage the students in learning, to salvage their college experience. It is a call to action for us to reimagine what teaching is if we must continue online, or we must get back in the classroom, albeit safely. For everyone’s sake.
Dr. Stephanie Hicks-Pass is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and University of Texas at Arlington with master’s degrees in both social work and human relations. She obtained her doctorate in social work at University of Texas at Arlington in 2007. She has been employed at Austin Peay University as Master of Social Work Program Coordinator and Associate Professor since 2008 with her teaching interest areas including ethics, skills practice, compassion fatigue, field education, and mental health. Prior to entering the academic world, she practiced as an LMSW in Texas as a psychiatric social worker in several hospitals and emergency rooms. She is happily married with two children and enjoys teaching, sewing, horseback riding, gardening, hiking, travelling, and working with local rescue groups fostering dogs and cats.