Connecting in Isolation
As we self-quarantined, the unusual became usual. We began peering at each other in tiny squares on computer screens instead of face-to-face. We stayed in our houses, worried about friends and family, and wondered when the pandemic would end.
Faculty and staff had the additional responsibility of maintaining student attention and connection through that same screen. It was not easy, but as they plunged in, they found new ways to connect and support their students.
On with the Show
Extraordinary times called for extraordinary efforts. Events, large and small transitioned online as a result of manpower, ingenuity and speedily overcoming the learning curve for virtual events.
When the New York Business Plan Competition went online, so did the Capital Region Semi-Finals, bringing an unprecedented number of UAlbany students. Read the story here.
The 48-hour Small Business Competition matched MBA students across the country with local businesses to advise them during the pandemic. Read the story here.
Virtual open houses provided incoming freshmen with an opportunity to connect with admissions and career staff and representatives from each academic department.
The Department of Information Security and Digital Forensics held virtual town halls to answer student questions related to the rest of the semester, such as changes in policy and technology issues. Faculty and staff were able to see how students were doing and to provide resources.
Little Things Mattered
Some of the efforts were personal. Faculty members shared their lives with students. One professor’s cat was a regular classroom visitor, another began each day’s lesson with a “How are you doing?” check-in. Another shared a photo of a famous TV house, asking them to guess where it was.
One accounting professor engaged students with photos on Instagram, where she shared course prep challenges, reminders, and a glimpse into her home life raising two small children during the pandemic, while another shared meditation resources to alleviate pandemic stress.
Other undertakings were related to helping students manage life outside of the classroom. Faculty helped students with obtaining free internet service and provided resources to a student in danger of eviction.
Learning Never Stopped
Every class went online. With less than two weeks’ notice, faculty transitioned their syllabi to virtual platforms. A faculty office was converted into a video recording studio to film lectures.
Besides using Blackboard, the standard teacher-student connection platform, Zoom became ubiquitous. Faculty used a variety of additional tools, including Slack, to enhance learning and maintain connection.
Office of Career Services platforms went totally online; students researched careers, searched for jobs, had their resumes critiqued, and practiced interviewing through virtual career platforms. Read story here.
Alumni became an important component of remote learning. Marty Feinstein ’80 conducted a Zoom-based Excel tutorial for 120 finance students on structuring a municipal bond issue to fund a public infrastructure project. Recently retired from Citigroup, Feinstein was in charge of the firm’s bond-analyst training program. A week later, Neil Flanagan ’84 presented to the same finance students, and left indelible lessons about managing their careers and maintaining perspective in times of crisis. Flanagan is Joint Head of Municipal Finance Investment Banking at Jefferies.