Adrian Guerra is cleaning his apartment before heading in for his 3 to 10 p.m. shift as a customer service rep at Publix. During his first two years as an integrated business major at 麻豆原创, Guerra would do his best to squeeze 10 hours of work between classes and studies each week. Since spring break, though, he鈥檚 been clocking 30 hours per week. He also started an internship with 麻豆原创 Athletics, serves as a committee chair for the student ambassador program in the College of Business, and is heavily involved in student government.
Enrollment at 麻豆原创 in the offbeat summer of 2020 is up over the routine summer of 2019. There are 6.6 percent more students taking 11.4 percent more credit hours than a year ago.
Oh, and there鈥檚 this: 鈥淚鈥檓 taking more credit hours than usual this summer.鈥�
From her home in Kissimmee, Sabah Qureshi accepts a call on a Tuesday morning. Qureshi, a biomedical sciences major, has become remarkably productive from this very spot.
鈥淚 just finished a Zoom meeting 鈥� or class,鈥� says the pre-med student. Qureshi鈥檚 instructor, after polling students at the beginning of the term, decided to set aside three hours to meet with them virtually six days a week. Qureshi is in as many of those as possible.
Like Guerra, she鈥檚 taking a bigger load of summer credit hours 鈥� a total of 12 between Summer A and Summer B terms 鈥� than normal. The Organic Chemistry II class from which she鈥檚 just logged out? It鈥檚 being offered as a summer class for the first time ever.
Qureshi and Guerra are part of a rising trend that鈥檚 also raising eyebrows: Enrollment at 麻豆原创 in the offbeat summer of 2020 is up over the routine summer of 2019. There are 6.6 percent more students taking 11.4 percent more credit hours than a year ago. The increase spawns from a convergence of factors, including, of all things, the campus going quiet for the past three months.
鈥淲hen we abruptly had to transition to remote instruction in mid-March, we were heading into uncharted waters. One concern that was top of mind was future enrollment,鈥� says Theodorea Regina Berry, 麻豆原创鈥檚 vice provost of Student Learning and Academic Success and dean of the College of Undergraduate Studies. 鈥淲e learned that the 麻豆原创 community is resilient. We banded together to create an environment focused on student success. Our approach worked; enrollment for Summer 2020 is up.鈥�
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Guerra envisions himself being a human resources specialist for a resort in Florida sometime in the year 2022. You could say he鈥檚 wired for details. On March 10, hours after ending his shift at Publix, he was using online to update his academic route toward 鈥渟ometime in the year 2022鈥� when he received a text from a friend. Then another. 鈥淒id you hear? 麻豆原创 is closing campus.鈥�
鈥淢y first thought was, 鈥極h no. This will set my plans back 鈥� maybe way 产补肠办.鈥欌赌�
Qureshi heard the news while working in the office she uses as a teacher鈥檚 assistant in the biology department. 鈥淚 figured the closure will be just a week, right? So I left a lot of my belongings in my cubicle.鈥�
Those belongings are still there.
Berry was barely two months into her new position at 麻豆原创. 聽During initial meetings with stakeholders across 麻豆原创, a topic of conversation was how to transform education by 鈥渟upporting initiatives to take learning outside the classroom.鈥�
鈥淲e learned that the 麻豆原创 community is resilient. We banded together to create an environment focused on student success. Our approach worked; enrollment for Summer 2020 is up.鈥�
鈥� Theodorea Regina Berry
Reminded of this in early June while the classrooms remain empty, she laughs easily and says, 鈥淭his is not what I had in mind.鈥�
During the early days of responding to COVID-19, Berry dealt with the urgent tasks of getting students who were studying abroad home and determining how undergraduates would continue internships and co-ops.
鈥淲e realized that we were changing students鈥� learning plans and began to contemplate what that would mean for future enrollment,鈥� says Berry. 鈥淲e asked ourselves, 鈥榃ould students return to 麻豆原创 or transition to colleges closer to home?鈥� 鈥�
Normally, Admissions, Enrollment Services, Institutional Knowledge Management, and the Registrar鈥檚 Office can predict shifts in advance. 鈥淚n the midst of the pandemic, predicting was difficult,鈥� Berry says.
麻豆原创 was ahead of the curve. It has more than 20 years of experience providing online courses. The university also made sure that students and faculty felt heard and supported.
Through conversations, common messages arose: Make classwork more flexible. Use simulcasts, webcams and livestreams. Make lessons available on dedicated YouTube channels. And, while you鈥檙e at it, why not offer more summer classes?
鈥淓verything has led to creating more platforms for learning, so we are able to raise the bar to yet another level,鈥� says Berry. 鈥淭hat does not mean we鈥檒l stop doing what works for certain students. Some of them need the interaction in person. We happen to be working right now on ways to meet the needs of all students. We鈥檙e learning a lot and making adjustments to teaching and learning, and if we鈥檙e creating a better student experience, they鈥檒l be permanent.鈥�
***
Three months after wondering how deep into the 2020s he might be finishing his required classes, Guerra has a very different outlook: 鈥淚鈥檓 actually ahead of schedule.鈥� Until this summer, two of his classes weren鈥檛 available online: Quantitative Business Tools II and Accounting for Decision Makers. 鈥淚鈥檓 working more hours. I don鈥檛 have to worry about rent. And I have more control of my time and my own path.鈥�
鈥淚t can be challenging, but I have to look at it this way: By taking more classes now, I鈥檒l have more time to focus on my internships and volunteer work after things open back up.鈥�
鈥� Sabah Qureshi
Qureshi is also using the availability of summer classes to expedite her track to medical school 鈥� and, eventually, to opening her own family clinic.
鈥淚t can be challenging,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut I have to look at it this way: By taking more classes now, I鈥檒l have more time to focus on my internships and volunteer work after things open back up.鈥�
The progressive actions taken as a result of conversations point to the factor that provides momentum in the flexibility-plus-availability equation. Berry noticed it when she came to visit 麻豆原创 during a house-hunting trip in November 2019.
鈥淚 was struck by the relationships between the colleges and divisions and the dedication to student success,鈥� Berry says.
When one instructor initially struggled to set up her remote lessons, Qureshi helped the instructor figure it out. Guerra鈥檚 professors, knowing he relies on his own electronic notes, are providing pdfs so he can mark them up and fully comprehend the material.
Enrollment is up. In the days after March 10, who would have thought?
鈥淚n hindsight, I think about the devotion of these students to 麻豆原创 and vice versa,鈥� says Berry. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 clear to me that no one wants to give that up. Perhaps we never should have doubted.鈥�
