Andree K. Louissaint
Abstract
COVID-19 has disrupted schools across the world, from K-12 schools to colleges and universities. This report examines measures taken by SUNY New Paltz during the 2020-2021 academic year and focuses upon the first-year experience.. To examine this topic, the report uses data from surveys and interviews. The data analysis shows what a small group of first-year students truly experienced on campus. In addition, recommendations are made about SUNY New Paltz’s approach to future semesters.
Introduction
The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a significant loss of life around the world, and it posed an unprecedented threat to public health, food systems, and the workplace. It has been more than a year since the virus first appeared. To contain the pandemic, many nations have declared restrictive measures such as lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, and social distancing rules. These guidelines have led to a more virtual existence, both personally and professionally. The pandemic has changed how we work, learn, and communicate. In response to the outbreak, universities around the world and in the United States were forced to cancel classes, close campuses, and shift to online learning. Starting the 2020-2021 school year, SUNY education officials came up with several guidelines, restrictions, and protocols to allow students to live and study on campus and to keep them safe. As college is an important milestone for many students, the high school graduating class of 2020’s first college experience was altered by the pandemic. This report asks, were universities, specifically SUNY New Paltz, able to give their students a successful first-year college experience despite the pandemic?
Limitations of Study
There is a limitation to this study. This limitation concerns the limited access to data.
There are 2000+ students in SUNY New Paltz’s first-year class, with some international students, and students who stayed home. I was able to collect data from only a small sample of first-year students who live on campus. About 30 students took the surveys, and I interviewed two students.
Annotated Bibliography
Wedenoja, Leigh. “Computing the New College Experience.” USA Today Magazine, vol. 148, no. 2900, May 2020, pp. 20–22. EBSCOhost, search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=a9h&AN=143732372&site=ehost-live.
In the above article, Leigh Wedenoja asserts that Covid-19 is changing the college experience. As the states and federal governments enforce social distancing rules, stay-at-home orders, and other measures taken to stop the spread of Covid-19, the lives of college students have drastically changed. Transitioning to online learning can lead to students and professors having feelings of isolation. Wedenoja has done research into how online classes can be organized, taken, and seeks to contribute to a better online experience. She points out that it is most likely that first-year students will experience difficulties transitioning to an online experience in college.
Leigh Wedenoja is a Policy Analyst at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. She has previously been a postdoc in the Department of Education at Brown University. She has a Ph.D. in Economics from Cornell University. This makes her credible because she claims that her “research focuses on using the tools of economics and econometrics to evaluate and design effective and equitable public policy for New York and the nation as a whole.” The author addresses the impact of the pandemic on college students, and she presents ideas for designing a new online experience for them. Because this article contains relevant information about this medium, it provided me with insight into how much this can affect students.
Strange, C. Carney. “College and its Effect on Students.” Encyclopedia of Education, edited by James W. Guthrie, 2nd ed., vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2003, pp. 332-340. Gale eBooks,link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3403200123/GVRL?u=newpaltz&sid=GVRL&xid=3 54fae3a. Accessed 19 Feb. 2021.
James W. Guthrie explores the impact that college has on students. He discusses the underlying differences between adults who have completed college and those who have not. He writes about all the different effects such as between-college effects, within-college effects, direct/indirect effects, short/long-term effects, and conditional effects. He argues that college education can contribute to a range of intervening results that can have a long-term or permanent positive impact on student lives. He makes the conclusion that the impact of college depends on how well the institution fits the student and asserts that the experiences encountered along the way frame their character.
James W. Guthrie is a Professor of Education Policy at Lynn University in Florida. He started his educational career as a science teacher and for 27 years was a professor at the University of California. He is the author or co-author of over 200 academic publications and 20 books. He is credible because he has experience and is knowledgeable on the topic of education. He poses many questions in his article, but I found two remarkably interesting.
First, he asks “Can changes be attributed to the college experience itself, rather than other potential influences?” I thought this was important to ask as the high school class of 2020 has faced drastic changes in their first semester in college. He also asks if the effects of college will be evident in the lives of students after graduation. This made me think about Covid-19 disrupting the college experience and what impact this will leave on students long-term. This source contains relevant information as it explains the importance of college in people’s lives. This article provided me with various reasons why students benefit from a positive college experience and deserve such an experience, even in the face of a pandemic, as those years impact character.
Context/Background
Before the pandemic, SUNY New Paltz provided first-year students with a range of opportunities. EOP students were able to attend a summer program in person. Orientation and other in-person activities included the welcome barbecue, yard shows, fall convocation, glow party, etc. Move-in day activities included activities like a drive-in movie night (Liaa Bee). Most classes were held in person with only 148 online classes and 198 hybrid classes offered (Office of Institutional). For example, in fall 2019, 89% of freshmen were living on campus, and 45% of undergraduates were living on campus (Office of Institutional). All clubs and social activities were in person.
After the outbreak, SUNY New Paltz underwent many changes. For one, orientation for EOP spanned only 4 days and was held online. Regular orientation was also online and much shorter. There were little to no orientation activities that allowed students to socially connect and all clubs and social activities were held online. A huge shift occurred in the way classes were delivered. A total of 1,522 classes and 262 hybrid classes were moved online (Office of Institutional). The percent of first-year students living on campus was 19% lower than the percentage of first-year students living on campus in fall 2019. Only 25% of undergraduates were living on campus in the fall, dropping the number by almost half compared to the Fall 2019 semester (Office of Institutional).
Despite the impact of the virus and its severity, many first-year students still came to live on the SUNY New Paltz campus for the fall 2020 semester. According to the Office of Institutional Research, the number only dropped by 19% compared to fall 2019. The college experience is more significant than people realize. Despite the pandemic, many first-year students were enthusiastic about their first year and were ready to head off to college. After all, students and families pay for more than just academics; they are paying for experience (Bogost). Students chose to live on campus and pay extra, even knowing their college experience was going to be different. If education were the only factor in choosing and going to a college, students would simply go somewhere closer to home and commute, or not attend college at all.
Methodology
As part of my research, I used surveys and interviews to help me conclude whether SUNY New Paltz successfully provided their first-year class with a positive experience. The surveys were conducted online, and participants had unlimited amounts of time to answer each question. A convenience sampling method was used, which type of non-probability sampling method where the sample is taken from a group of people easy to contact or to reach. The survey was taken by students who took ENG170/Writing & Rhetoric, as they were easier to reach.
Findings/Results of Survey and Interviews
Note: The following charts only include some questions from the surveys, not all.
The surveys were taken by mostly first-year students. About 30 students took each survey. The first of the surveys asked students about their first-year experiences and had 13 questions; and the second survey, which was about residence life had 12 questions. The third survey, which was about financials consisted of 9 questions. All three surveys consisted of multiple-choice questions and well as true/false and short responses questions.
Regarding orientation and move-in day, many students were not satisfied. According to the survey, 37.036% of students disagreed or strongly disagreed that summer orientation was enjoyable and lived up to their expectations, compared to 22.221% who agreed. One student said, “The orientation was so unbelievably boring that I didn’t even go the second day.” Many students agreed that orientation should have been held in person, applying social distancing rules, and SUNY New Paltz could have figured out a plan to make that possible.
When asked what SUNY New Paltz could have done to make Move-In Day better. One student said, “They could’ve had the RA’s outside with balloons and [that would have been] more welcoming.” According to the survey, more students did not find Move-In Day enjoyable than those students who did. For a sizable percentage, it just did not live up to their expectations.
In terms of living on campus, one person remarked, “As a student who lived on campus this year, I can say that the RA staff have made me not want to live on campus again and have made moving off campus sound like an extremely smart idea.” Another wrote, “Life in the residence halls is incredibly quiet and isolated. I thought that students would be more involved or making connections with others, but everyone seems to stick to themselves.” Survey results show that students feel SUNY New Paltz could have done a better job at making sure first-year students were socializing. Just over forty percent of students either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that SUNY New Paltz has done an excellent job of providing ways for first-year students to make friends and socialize, compared to only 25.925% who agreed. Sixty-eight percent of students agreed that they would have made more friends if there were no social distancing restrictions in place in the residence halls, compared to only 4% who disagreed. Consequently, more students said that they did not feel part of a tight-knit community in their residence hall. With so many restrictions, limitations, and not being able to fully experience all that the university has to offer, 33.34% agreed that they are paying too much, double those students who disagreed. This group of students clearly felt that the experience of living on campus was not worth the price of room and board.
Another aspect of the college experience that students were not satisfied with was the dining experience. According to the survey, students agree that the meal plan does not provide students with enough food. In addition, they reported that they felt there should be more food options, and that dining services could have had some indoor seating in Peregrine with tables 6 feet apart for students who did not want to take their food back to their dorm to eat. Students also mentioned that grab and go meals were depriving students of the full dining experience. Also, not offering breakfast in the Spring 2021 semester lowered the quality of the dining hall, as breakfast “was the best than lunch and dinner meals,” said a student. But the biggest negative aspect about the dining experience was that the limited food options, the early closings, the low number of swipes and dining dollars, and the no breakfast in the dining hall led to students spending money on food outside of the campus.
In addition to collecting survey data, I conducted interviews with two SUNY New Paltz students. Ms. Madramootoo, who currently lives on campus, was not satisfied with the orientation that SUNY New Paltz provided their first-year students. She says the orientation felt rushed. “There were still many things that I didn’t know,” she said. Ms. Madramootoo explained that when she arrived on campus, she did not know where many buildings were located. On the academic side, she did not know how the grading system worked. She also mentioned that she was not successfully taught how to properly navigate the Blackboard site, and even still sometimes struggles with using it today. She noted that classes have been easier to manage this semester because she has adjusted to online learning. “I was excited for last semester because it was my first time getting to live on a college campus, [but] this semester I see nothing to be excited for,” complained Ms. Madramootoo.
Ms. Mills, on the other hand, felt satisfied with the orientation provided and wants to come back for the Fall 2021 semester because she felt SUNY New Paltz put their students’ safety first.
Ms. Mills is a freshman who lives on campus. She currently takes five classes. One piece of advice she would give the university that would have improved her experience is to provide students with a higher amount of dining dollars since the dining hall is only open for dinner. In addition, she said the campus administrators could have planned more inclusive events for everyone on campus. “Having a few more would have allowed more people to get acquainted,” Ms. Mills said.
Discussion of Findings and Recommendations to SUNY New Paltz for Future semesters
The pandemic has impacted universities, not only in terms of the way students learn but also in terms of the way students attend college, the way they live, and the way they interact with others. Having online classes is one thing, but the dorm limits, the in-person restrictions, the weekly Covid test, the grab-and-go meals, the online socializing (Heim) and the pressure to succeed despite the instability and uncertainty can feel suffocating at times. Because of this unanticipated experience, many students feel robbed of their first-year college experience, which is an important milestone. As I discovered through my research, the college experience clearly affects students and will influence their future, from the social aspect of living in a residence hall to even the way courses or events are delivered. College can assist students tremendously in exploring their personal identity and making lifelong decisions.
In “Computing The New College Experience,” Wedenoja affirms that “Fully online courses also may limit students’ ability to expand and diversify their social network.” In addition, in the article “College and its Effect on Students,” Stange asserts that two generations of researchers have discovered that positive individual effects of higher education are related, both directly and indirectly, to a variety of variables such as peer involvement, faculty engagement, and learning time, and overall engagement. With Covid-19 suppressing these variables, students are at risk of encountering a negative college experience.
It is not too late for SUNY New Paltz to give their soon-to-be sophomores and incoming first-year students a better experience. One of the things SUNY New Paltz should improve on is move-in day. For example, a student said SUNY New Paltz could have “required parents/family members that wanted to help students move in on move-in day to have a negative Covid test prior to move-in day instead of making students do it by themselves.” Another aspect of campus life that the university could improve on is food served in Peregrine Dining Hall. When asked what SUNY New Paltz dining services could have done to improve campus dining for students, both residential students, and commuter students, the students who were surveyed suggested that they should “still offer the same number of options in the dining hall as previous years.”
The last aspect that the university should improve on is its penalties for breaking Covid guidelines. The majority of students agreed or strongly agreed that the penalties for breaking social distancing rules in the residence halls at SUNY New Paltz are too harsh. The way we have had to live due to Covid is new to all of us. Students are not used to wearing a mask at home, only when they go out in public, so for many they accidentally forget to wear a mask as they feel “at home.” Going through an entire judicial process because you forgot to wear a mask while going to the bathroom is a bit too harsh. With 74.073% of the first-year students who took my survey planning to return to the university for their sophomore year, it is important that the administration and staff fix their concerns and offer them a second-year experience better than the first one.
While there are many aspects that SUNY New Platz could improve on, there are other things administrators and staff did well. SUNY New Paltz did an excellent job in protecting students. In fall 2020, there were only 75 positive cases on-campus. And of those students surveyed, 81.481% agreed or strongly agreed that the faculty and custodial staff have made them feel safe when attending in-person classes, and the majority of students felt Residence Life did a respectable job of making them feel safe.
Conclusion
To conclude, college is where you make connections, find your identity, interests and grow not only intellectually but as a person. I believe SUNY New Paltz should assure us in the same way that Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania has assured their first-year students. In an article about the strange first semester of college, author Fazio says Gettysburg College “assured that they would make up first-year traditions that had been skipped during orientation, like walking to the spot where President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.” I believe that SUNY New Paltz should also give the sophomore class a chance to experience some normal college traditions in the Fall 2021 semester, even if it is technically not our first year. The future that all students work for all throughout high school should still be prioritized, even in the middle of a pandemic. Thank you for reading my report. I hope you take my recommendations into consideration.
Works Cited
Bogost, Ian. “America Will Sacrifice Anything for the College Experience.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 2 Nov. 2020, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/10/college-was-never-about-education/61 6777/.
Fazio, Marie. “The First Semester of College Has Never Been Stranger.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Oct. 2020,
Joe Heim, Nick Anderson. “For College Freshmen, Pandemic Results in a First-Year Experience Unlike Any Other.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 18 Dec. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/education/college-freshmen-pandemic/2020/12/17/b7a5cb00- 3659-11eb-a997-1f4c53d2a747_story.html.
Liaa Bee. YouTube, YouTube,www.youtube.com/channel/UCTpehibAHUrNND6mmp3Bpdw.
Madramootoo, Tiffany. Personal Interview. 8 March. 2021.
Mills, Jada. Personal Interview. 8 March. 2021.
Office of Institutional Research. “SUNY New Paltz 2019-20 data.” Received by Prof. Rigolino, 10 Feb. 2021.
Strange, C. Carney. “College and its Effect on Students.” Encyclopedia of Education, edited by James W. Guthrie, 2nd ed., vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2003, pp. 332-340.
Gale,eBooks,link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3403200123/GVRL?u=newpaltz&sid=GVRL&x id=354fae3a. Accessed 19 Feb. 2021.
Wedenoja, Leigh. “Computing the New College Experience.” USA Today Magazine, vol. 148, no. 2900, May 2020, pp. 20–22. EBSCOhost, search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=a9h&AN=143732372&site=ehost-live.
