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COVID-19 Journal March 17, 2020
Confusion in the office and concerns about the future.
What follows is a lightly edited version of a journal I wrote periodically to document the Coronavirus pandemic as it was developing across the United States and the world. I was working as an Assistant Professor at Glenville State College in Glenville, West Virginia. This is two of seven. Links to all current entries are at the bottom of the page.
3.17.2020. It’s the second day of spring break. I went into work this morning at around ten. I sent out a message about my spring break office hours and started the process of converting my face-to-face classes to online classes. I am very concerned about the ability of my students to thrive in an online learning environment, but this is the best thing for them with the epidemic worsening throughout the country.
The college administration’s reaction to the COVID-19 crisis has been fragmented and confusing. President Nelson sent a message about self-quarantining that threw my colleagues into confusion. Faculty had already been told that they could teach from home if they moved fully online, but President Nelson sent a message that seemed to say that they had to indicate that they were self-quarantining and submit a detailed plan of how their classes were changing. The…
