What Went Wrong For Colleges To Deserve Nationwide Litigation?

University campuses are closed around the globe, students are encouraged to stay home and take their classes through a computer screen, attendance is not counted, assignment deadlines are extended, and professors only offer take-home quizzes and exams. This was once the greatest dream for every student, when the weekend comes to an end and Monday comes around. It turns out to be one of the worst nightmares for both students and colleges in the COVID-19 reality.

Current Situation

Students of both public and private colleges in the United States are pursuing a class-action in filing lawsuits aiming for the reimbursement of partial tuition and fees. Online learning has been promoted here and there over the past several years in the form of smartphone apps and web pages, such as Duolingo, Coursera, Skillshare, Masterclass, and of course Khan Academy, one of the most widely used resources by students. However, due to the occurrence of the Coronavirus, universities and colleges are forced to extend their spring break, close their campuses all together and go digital in the attempt of delivering the education they have promised their students.

Online Classes Do Not Replace Interactive Learning

The switch between taking classes on campus and taking classes online changes not only the way that each class is taught and learned, but more importantly, the students' experience in their education as a whole. It includes their learning environment, the communities they are a part of, and the life skills that are necessary to a student's growth that are not taught in textbooks. These aspects are what make students so adamant in paying for a college education even when it puts them in debt and keeps them away from home three quarters of the year.

This is what students paid for; the value of the classes and the quality of their learning environment is what differentiates the range of their tuitions and fees. Now students are not getting the full value of what they paid for. A student at Sonoma State told VICE News upon her decision to sue the Cal State system,

"These schools have contractually agreed to provide us with certain services that we're not being provided with, and it's not fair to be charged for that if they're not holding up their end of the contract."

Some other students at the University of Pittsburgh are suing the university on the grounds that the "online teaching offering is a materially-deficient and insufficient alternative", and according to a recent article on Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it is described to be "sub-par" to what students paid for.

Colleges: Our Hands Are Tied

Many students are suing for partial tuition and fees refunded and these include housing, meal plans, mandatory facility fees, tuition difference between online classes and in-person classes, etc. However, colleges are claiming that they have done nothing wrong, in fact they are doing the best they can, and even if they wanted to refund, they cannot! This makes us wonder, how could this be? An organisation as big as a college, a university, even a state system, how is it possible that they cannot do a simple rightful refund?

"Universities aren't set up or prepared to give money back because the dollars that they bring in are pretty much already spent the moment they arrive," the higher education expert and economist, Carlo Salerno, explained.

Although the CARES Act has distributed a $14 billion lifeline fund to colleges during such a precarious time, many colleges have stated that it is not nearly enough to make ends meet. To see more about the distribution of the CARES Act and its influence, check out an article discussion on NPR, Congress Gave Colleges A $14 Billion Lifeline. Here's Where It's Going.

Why Is This Happening?

This is happening because of inadequate change management. Change management is "preparing, equipping, and supporting people through the changes," according to Prosci's research-based methodology. There is a technical side and a peoples’ side that make the change possible. "The technical side is about designing, developing, and delivering technical solutions that are also embraced, adopted, and used by people." Colleges and universities switching from in-person classes to online classes in an attempt to provide a technical side of change did not meet the expected quality.

Lack of Resistance Management Plan

The lack of a contingency plan broke the trust in students who had faith that the schools are equipped to take care of them and lend a helping hand in times of difficulties. The sudden closing of schools for the spring term and the opaque depiction of what fall term is going to look like exacerbate fear and confusion for students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Without a contingency plan, schools are unable to accommodate the whole student body, especially international students and undocumented students, despite being protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Rolling With The Punches

Yes, perhaps looking backwards and suggesting that colleges should have had a plan prior to the pandemic may sound like an unfair statement. However, didn't our professors warn us, at the beginning of every term, that we should come up with a study plan for our exams, as procrastination and leaving studying until the last week before exams are behaviours of an irresponsible student, and will only result in failure? Similarly, how are colleges and universities unprepared to deal with challenges such as the Coronavirus pandemic?

This resulted in colleges resorting to react to the changes caused by the pandemic instead of responding by getting ahead of the changes and having strategies ready for implementation before the pandemic happened. This causes more problems because there is no plan in place, and with nothing to fall back on, students will no longer feel secure and safe and well taken care of by the school.

Better Late Than Never: Plan B

So, what can be done now, when colleges and universities across the nation are facing similar lawsuits with the same nature? Has it reached the point of no return? No. In order to alleviate fear and confusion, schools can do the following:

Be Transparent and directly address students' concerns during the Coronavirus pandemic. To get people to listen, one must put down their pride and speak from their truth. I would suggest that colleges start by telling students what they are going through during COVID-19, letting students know even though campuses are forced to close, it does not mean no work is being done to make things better. And although students are not able to use the facilities they have paid for, it does not mean that colleges can stop paying these fixed costs to maintain these facilities. Be transparent with your students about where their tuition is spent. Demonstrate effective communication skills to show students that “we are all in this together”.

Take Responsibility for the lack of preparation in effectively responding to the pandemic and come up with a reasonable solution that will ease students' worries about being taken advantage of, whether these solutions are immediate or in the foreseeable future. One possible suggestion is when the situation has hopefully been resolved in the best possible way, perhaps during the next school term or the term after, colleges and universities can lower tuitions for students as a form of refunding for this term. This will bring about a sense of trust in students that their school is doing everything they can to balance what students have paid for and what they are providing. Zoom conferences in replacements of classes are no longer sufficient to students' expectation of quality, which means there must be an upgrade in this particular aspect.

Be Proactive in assisting students, because this is the time to give and give and GIVE. Especially now that students are back at home, there is a higher chance that students need help adjusting to the environment. Consider the case of Savanna Navarro Kresse, a student at Washington State University. She shared with Insider Higher Ed that she was taking her exams from her car in a parking lot because that is her only access to reliable WiFi. She explained,

"Looking at your books or notes while holding your laptop on your lap [in the car] can be awkward, too. It can be worse when your tests have a time limit and you're trying to hurry and look through notes."

Understand the struggles students go through during this difficult time and provide as much help as possible, even if it is through a computer screen. Show compassion for students' situations and bridge the gap between technology and humanity during #socialdistancing.

"Compassion is to look beyond your own pain, to see the pain of others." - Yasmin Mogahed

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Reference

Duerson M. Lindau J. 2020, College Students Across the Country Are Demanding Schools Give Back Their Money, VICE, viewed 18 May 2020, <https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/5dzmaz/college-students-across-the-country-are-demanding-schools-give-back-their-money>

Flaherty C. 2020, Reserved: Internet Parking, Inside Higher Ed, viewed 18 May 2020, <https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/05/08/parking-lot-wi-fi-way-life-many-students>

Nadworny E. 2020, Congress Gave Colleges A $14 Billion Lifeline. Here's Where It's Going, NPR, viewed 21 May 2020, <https://www.npr.org/2020/05/18/853788067/congress-gave-colleges-a-14-billion-lifeline-heres-where-it-s-going>

Ove T. 2020, Students sue Pitt for refunds over 'sub-par' online instruction due to COVID-19, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, viewed 20 May 2020, <https://liber.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2020/05/09/tuition-lawsuit-university-of-pittsburgh-covid-refund-students-sue/stories/202005090047>

Prosci, What is Change Management and How Does it Work?, Prosci, viewed 19 April 2020, <https://www.prosci.com/resources/articles/the-what-why-and-how-of-change-management>