The University of Vermont will allow students to choose whether they want to attend classes in person or virtually next fall.
The plans, which the university emailed to students and families on Thursday, outlined new protocols, including altered dining hall practices, reduced on-campus dorm capacity, and a mandatory “green and gold promise” in which on-campus students must commit to social distancing.
But if college officials assumed that providing both online and in-person options would quell objections, they were wrong.
Faculty union president Julie Roberts said input from professors had not been considered in the decision-making process, and she voiced concern about increased workload for faculty. Students criticized the school for not lowering tuition for online learning and described the challenges of making a host of living and schooling decisions within less than two weeks.
Under the new plans, students have until July 15 to decide whether they will take classes from home or return to campus in late August. About 40% of UVM’s classes will be available for students who opt to learn from home, including some live-streamed, in-person classes, said UVM spokesperson Enrique Corredera. Some classes will also be virtual for those who attend UVM in person.
The university will offer housing only in singles and doubles, and will reassign students who had planned to live in triples or quads. The college will also rethink dining protocols — eliminating self-serve options in favor of plated food, adding more grab-and-go options, and sanitizing after every meal. The semester will run from August 31 to Thanksgiving, without a fall break.
The college is requiring on-campus students to self-quarantine upon arrival. Each student must sign a “green and gold promise,” pledging they will follow social distancing and public safety guidelines. Those who violate the promise could be removed from campus or barred from certain facilities, Corredera said.
Tuition will remain the same, $16,400 a year for Vermonters, and about $41,000 for out-of-state students.
Monty Cunningham, a rising senior from Rochester, New York, said the college’s unchanged price tag is “a giant middle finger to all students who are struggling in this time.”
“Three years ago when I decided to go to UVM, the school offered me a certain learning experience at a certain price,” he wrote in an email to VTDigger. “Now, they’re changing the learning experience without … any change in price.”
Sara Klimek, a 20-year-old environmental studies major, said she’ll attend in person to ensure she gets the credits she needs to graduate in December. But she feels the new policies are unfair to classmates who don’t have that luxury.
“It seems like the administration is putting profits before students, because they’re not offering any sort of tuition refund for online classes, which are less superior,” she said. “For people who do have health concerns, it shouldn’t cost them their academics.”
UVM administrators did not consider decreasing tuition for those who remain off campus, Corredera said. “Students will receive a high-quality educational experience regardless of mode of delivery,” he said. Those who opt to learn virtually will receive a free three-credit class for the summer of 2021, he added.
Students don’t have much time to decide whether to attend in person or online, Cunningham said. The updated class schedule will come out on July 13, and students must register for classes by July 15, he said.
“Students have 12 days to look at all the information that has been given so far and make a huge decision regarding their health, their education, their financial situation, [and] their social well-being for the fall semester,” Cunningham said.
Noah Wells, a master’s student at UVM’s Larner College of Medicine, said he was immunocompromised and would not return to campus in the fall. He praised the faculty’s efforts to move classes online, but risk remain, despite the precautions.
“At the end of the day, we’re talking about bringing tens of thousands of students from all over the country with varying levels of Covid exposure to our community in Burlington,” he wrote in a message to VTDigger. “Sounds like an epidemiological nightmare.”
Roberts, a linguistics professor and president of the faculty union, said she wasn’t confident UVM students would follow social distancing rules. “We only need to look around to what’s happening at other places around the country,” she said. “Our students are no different.”
Students in Alabama have thrown Covid parties, competing to get the virus first. A psychologist at Temple University said college officials are “delusional” if they expect students to follow social distancing rules, according to a New York Times op-ed.
Roberts hoped professors would have a similar option of teaching classes in-person or online. She’s over 65 and would opt for the latter, she said. Being obliged to offer both would essentially double the workload, she said.
Last week, the faculty union filed an unfair labor complaint, claiming the university had not involved them in planning discussions. “I think the administration is doing what it needs to do as the national situation with corona worsens,” Roberts said. “On the other hand, this is the kind of thing they should have talked with us about.”
Corredera said the university convened a working group with faculty and student representatives. “The consensus was that offering students and families both at-home and on-campus options for this semester would meet the diverse needs of our community members,” Corredera said.
Students have also turned to legal action against the school.
In April, student groups circulated petitions asking for tuition refunds and a return of student fees after the college transitioned to online learning in March. When UVM officials declined, they filed a lawsuit.
Others were more optimistic. Elena Tall, a rising senior, said she planned to be on campus this fall and would navigate the changes as they come. “Students like myself and staff and faculty will need to extend grace and patience as we navigate this new terrain,” she said.
