Daily Lumina News 041720

Across the country, students are rethinking their choices in a world altered by the pandemic. And universities, concerned about the potential for shrinking enrollment and lost revenue, are making a wave of decisions in response that could profoundly alter the landscape of higher education for years to come.

The stark economic losses of the past few weeks have people comparing today to the era that started with Black Tuesday. How did colleges weather those events? What could they learn from the past? Could they reinvigorate on the other side?
John R. Thelin, a professor in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky and the author of A History of American Higher Education, offers his thoughts on how higher education suffered and sustained itself during the Great Depression and what might unfold for colleges today after the coronavirus.

A new podcast tackles the unprecedented challenges posed to higher education by the pandemic and recession, with a particular focus on lower-income students.
Episode One features a discussion of how colleges and universities are scrambling to distribute roughly $6.3 billion from the federal government for emergency aid aimed at students whose lives and educations have been disrupted.

These days, college leaders are thinking ahead to autumn and developing plans for how to proceed if the current health crisis fades by summer’s end—or if it persists.
To prepare for a possible reopening, the University of Central Oklahoma is constructing plexiglass walls in the building where students register for classes and placing tape to mark how much space students should maintain from each other. Nearby, the University of Oklahoma is considering three possible scenarios: return to regular classes in the fall, delay them until the spring, or offer courses online both semesters.