Bad News, Bad Ideas, & Bad Press – TGIF! (Eduvation Insider for July 17, 2020)
Good morning, TGIF, and apparently, happy World Emoji Day too! ;-)
I started out planning a fun, feel-good Friday issue – but unfortunately wound up with too many pressing – and DEpressing – stories we all need to hear.
There’s bad news from Alaska to Alberta to Australia – and political, medical, and social hints of more bad news to come. There are people out there with incredibly bad ideas – setting us up for unprecedented town-gown tensions and potentially some major humanitarian disasters in small college towns. And then there are a couple of examples of bad news stories that just won’t go away…
At least, if you make it to the end of this issue, I’ve got a fun video about WFH, just #ICYMI!
Bad News
uAkron Lays off 1/4 of Faculty
Since the pandemic began, the University of Akron (OH) has laid off 23% of its unionized full-time faculty. This week the board voted to eliminate another 178 positions, including 96 unionized faculty. uAkron reports the staff reductions have saved $16.4 M in this fiscal year. The layoffs are still subject to a union vote and potentially arbitration. The union has proposed instead cuts to athletics, furloughs, and more incremental budget cuts. Chronicle
500 Job Losses at UNSW
The U of New South Wales, one of Australia’s largest universities (and one heavily dependent upon international enrolments), is planning to embrace WFH and lifelong online learners to radically reform its campus in response to the challenges of the COVID19 pandemic. An estimated $370 M shortfall next year will require UNSW to eliminate the equivalent of 493 full-time positions, or 7.5% of its workforce. It also plans to eliminate 4 senior admin positions, merge 8 faculties into 6, and streamline other units. THE
40 Programs Cut at uAlaska
The uAlaska system has decided to discontinue 39 academic programs and reduce 4 others to save an estimated $25 M across its 3 universities. (Alaska’s governor announced $70 M in state funding cuts prior to the pandemic.) The cuts affect some programs in environment, geography, geology, sociology, theatre, welding and nondestructive testing. More than 600 students currently taking the programs will be allowed to complete. The board is still deliberating the merger of uAlaska Fairbanks and uAlaska Southeast. AP
Demolishing Old Buildings at uAlberta
With about 1.8 million square metres of infrastructure and 11,000 hectares of land, uAlberta has a physical footprint 50% larger than its peer institutions – and its new president plans to eliminate some buildings to reduce the $150 M in annual maintenance and utility costs. (You may recall UofA already announced about 1,000 layoffs.) Likely on the chopping block: the 1957 Admin Bldg, the 1946 Nurses Residence, and perhaps the 1972 Humanities Centre or 1967 Human Ecology bldg. Edmonton Journal
Bad News to Come
Less Campus Life at uRegina
uRegina normally brings 20,000 people together in just a few city blocks – and that density is an unacceptable risk during a pandemic. Nearly all classes will be offered online this Fall, and residences will be operating at 56% capacity. The number of international students registered is up from last year, mainly due to returningstudents: applications from new international students are down nearly 75%. Campus life will be “extremely limited” but “students will still find ways to socialize off campus.” Regina Leader-Post
China Won’t Like This…
Canada may have little choice but to (further) offend the Chinese government by following Australia, the US, and likely soon the UK in declaring Huawei and ZTE “national security risks” and banning them from our 5G networks. The US FCC believes Huawei is tied to Chinese intelligence and racketeering, and may support Chinese espionage operations abroad. A new report from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre is expected to trigger a complete ban of Huawei there. And Australia has already banned Huawei and ZTE – contributing to veiled threats of an international student boycott from China. “If Canada does something that China doesn’t like in regards to Huawei, it kidnaps citizens.” (This kind of geopolitical tension is bound to have implications for Canada’s recruitment of international students.) Global
COVID19 can be a Long Haul
Health authorities have long believed that patients will recover from mild COVID19 in about 2 weeks, and from severe cases in 3-6 weeks. But so-called “long-haulers,” those who have struggled with lingering symptoms of COVID19 for months, provide proof that in some cases, the virus takes a toll for 5 months or more. Some report persistent neurological and cognitive symptoms, ranging from brain fog, fatigue and headaches to skin rashes, shortness of breath, or “permanently fizzing” limbs. Some Toronto SARS patients experienced physical limitations as much as 5 years after release from hospital. National Post
Birthday Candles are Gone for Good
A Clemson U professor of Food Safety believes that one birthday tradition will soon be extinct thanks to COVID19: cakes with candles. He co-authored a 2017 study that found 1400% more bacteria on cakes after candles were blown out. “If someone blows on your food just before you eat it, then you’re likely going to get exposed.” He suggests “waving” the candles out, or using a blow dryer, as more “sanitary” alternatives. CTV
Bad Ideas
Too many college officials in rural towns believe that it will be safe to bring thousands of students back to campus this Fall, because their community has few cases of COVID19. But the bigger danger is that those students will bring a pandemic surge with them (just as students did after March Break across North America), infecting the staff and surrounding community and overwhelming small-town hospitals…
Football is Essential?
The head football coach at Louisiana State U told the US vice-president and others this week that the college football season “must” take place, despite the fact that Louisiana has one of the fastest-growing COVID19 infection rates in the country (and 30+ LSU football players were placed in quarantine earlier this summer). The virus, he said, “can be handled.” But, “we need football. Football is the lifeblood of our country… We need to play.” VP Mike Pence (who is chairman of the White House coronavirus task force) reportedly applauded. ESPN
Reopening “A Recipe for Disaster”
uVirginia plans to offer “as many in-person classes as we can” starting Aug 25, but the mayor of Charlottesville calls the plan “a recipe for disaster.” Already, officials are getting reports of house parties and large gatherings. “I, for one, do not understand why the students are coming back into the community from all over the globe, and why we would take that chance.” The condensed semester will end in November, and “when they leave… we’ll be left cleaning up the fallout from that decision.” Daily Progress
An Uphill Battle Off-Campus
uMass Amherst plans to deliver the majority of its classes online this Fall, but it still plans to open campus residences to students. The town manager of Amherst has publicly expressed concern about open dorms and enforcing codes of conduct at off-campus parties. “These two decisions will endanger the health and, perhaps, lives of those who live in and around the town of Amherst.” He is concerned that a massive spread of COVID19 could overwhelm the local hospital, EMTs and paramedics: “Your decisions mean that we all face a tremendous uphill battle.” He is hoping uMass will perform testing, daily screenings, and contact tracing for students both on- and off-campus. Daily Hampshire Gazette
Doubling the Population of Antigonish
St Francis Xavier remains one of a handful of CDNpse institutions determined to bring students back to campus in 6 weeks. (The others include Bishop’s U, Redeemer U, and Providence UC). StFX officials held a virtual town hall this week to describe their plans to bring 4,500 students back to campus in September, effectively doubling the population of Antigonish. 40% of those students will come from outside Atlantic Canada, so they will need to self-isolate for 14 days. StFX requires off-campus students to submit a self-isolation plan, will be subject to random checks, and will be issued a green wristband once their self-isolation is complete. Violation of pandemic protocols is subject to a $1,000 fine in NS, and is a major offence under StFX’s revised code of conduct. The Telegram
Bad Press
Bad news gets worse when it isn’t quickly resolved, but instead resurfaces day after day with controversy and confusion…
StFX Waiver to be Reworked
Nova Scotia’s Advanced Education minister says St Francis Xavier U will reword the student liability waiver circulated last weekend. StFX intends to offer 72% of undergrad courses in person this Fall, but wanted to students to waive any and all claims for illness, expense, injury or death to the student or their close relatives – whether due to negligence, breach of contract, or any other duty of care. Student leaders are reportedly negotiating to have the waiver revised or replaced with a code of conduct. Global
International Students are US Pawns
In the past few months, a series of xenophobic and nationalist policy proposals from the Trump Administration has made the US far less attractive as a study destination for international students, from Muslim bans and annual renewals of student visas, to threats against post-graduate work permits and H1B visas, and then the threat to deport international students taking a purely online term this Fall. The number of new and enrolled foreign students in the US has been declining for several years, and a new study forecasts that many US colleges will lose 63% to 98% of new international students for the upcoming academic year. THE
#ICYMI
Obviously I can’t leave you for the weekend without something a bit more fun…
Apple released a fun 7-min video this week about “the whole working-from-home thing,” and if you’re not already one of the 13 million viewers, you might want to check it out. It nicely contrasts the WFH experience of single managers and single parents, of attempts to collaborate via Facetime, and our collective inability to keep track of what day it is… I think I can guarantee it will make you smile a couple of times in the first few minutes. YouTube
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Ken Steele is Canada's leading higher ed futurist and strategic consultant, through his company Eduvation. He delivers virtual presentations and facilitates virtual retreats or workshops centred on emerging trends, enrolment management, pedagogical innovation, and strategic planning.
Ken has developed 9 new topics specifically to help institutions cope with the post-COVID19 “new normal.”
For more information, please reach out to [email protected]