Due to its resource offerings, a college campus is a “homogenizing” factor for undergraduate students, according to Georgetown University Provost Dr. Robert M. Groves.
However, that access to internet, technology, study spaces and housing were lost as institutions shut down in-person courses, events and meetings last spring due to COVID-19.
“The pandemic was a shock to everything,” said Groves, who is also the Gerard Campbell SJ Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and Department of Sociology at Georgetown. “All of us had to invent ways to do our work with a completely dispersed constituency of faculty, staff and students.”
Hosted by Georgetown University, the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities’ 2021 Conference on Information Technology Management examined the lessons learned from the pandemic and the current state of higher education.
With the pivot to online learning, many students faced time-zone challenges while others lacked access to laptops and broadband.
In many cases, the pandemic also created social isolation and reduced engagement levels.
In an attempt to create a sense of community, Georgetown plans to host a month-long immersion experience for rising sophomores next week to take courses on campus and engage in social bonding as a class.
