Daily Lumina News 102620

Students are showing a deep interest in the contentious 2020 election, lobbying administrators to make Election Day an academic holiday on their campuses and creating viral “Tok the Vote” videos on TikTok to encourage others to cast their ballots.
Countering that enthusiasm is a brewing anxiety that some would like to see students’ collective voice silenced. In response, many colleges are using an arsenal of new tactics to ensure students exercise their right to vote.

From professors to advisers to career counselors, many people are responsible for coaching college students on how to meet their goals. But students don’t always take advantage of this personalized guidance.
With the pandemic pushing many of these meetings into virtual spaces, some faculty and staff members say more of their students are showing up—remotely—to office hours and advising meetings. That has some higher-ed leaders contemplating making virtual appointments a permanent option, even after the health crisis has passed.

As the health crisis continues to rage across the country and more temporary job losses become permanent, a small but growing number of laid-off and working Americans in hard-hit industries like restaurants, retail, and travel are switching to new careers or occupations.
Retail associates are parlaying their customer service skills into jobs as medical assistants. Hotel front desk clerks are becoming loan officers. Oil field roughnecks are turning into truck drivers.

On top of adjusting to a completely different academic framework with remote learning, many Latino students across the country face a stark reality as their communities are disproportionately affected not only by COVID-19, but by the devastating economic downturn.
Some college administrators have scrambled to protect thousands of students from the fallout of the epidemic, approaching the unprecedented shift online with an assumption that their community is under-connected.