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Cameron analyzing what it learned from a non-traditional spring semester - The Lawton Constitution

Administrators at Cameron University are analyzing what they learned in spring 2020 as they make plans for a mostly-digital summer semester before heading into a fall semester they will try to keep as close to normal as possible.

Cameron was among educational entities across the state — institutions of higher education and common school districts — that had to adapt distancing learning techniques to complete the spring semester. Oklahoma schools started Spring Break in mid-March fully intending to return to their campuses March 23.

COVID-19 intervened, prompting educators to delay, then cancel, plans to resume classes in traditional classroom settings. Instead, they opted for distance learning techniques that would allow students to complete the spring semester from a safe distance.

For universities and colleges, that meant a host of issues ranging from ensuring students could complete the courses they needed to keep on track for graduation to dealing with practicalities such as where will students live?

Cameron President John McArthur said Cameron weathered the challenge and learned from decisions that were made in about a week, converting almost 500 courses to online or teleconference-type environments while keeping students on track in their disciplines.

Students formally ended the spring 2020 semester and participated in a virtual graduation in early May, a substitute for the commencement that typically takes place in Cameron Stadium. Graduates earned their degrees, but McArthur said campus administrators still are looking at the idea of a traditional graduation ceremony later this year.

“We’ll look at the data in the fall,” he said, of the possibility of holding a real graduation, complete with speakers, for members of the Class of 2020. “We’re in conversations.”

Administrators also continue to look at practical issues, such as life on campus.

Cameron had 19 students remaining in Cameron Village as of mid-May, down from 200 students remaining on campus when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the university to close almost all its buildings. In a normal year, there are about 400 students who live on campus and some of those students remained when the university broke for Spring Break in mid-March, intending to resume classes a week later.

Those students were allowed to remain on campus because they didn’t have alternatives, McArthur said, explaining many were international students who were unable to leave the country or couldn’t immediately find alternative housing. Cameron made special arrangements for those students, moving them to Cameron Village and arranging for campus dining facilities to provide grab and go meals twice a day that students could take to their housing.

“Students in housing are down to 19,” McArthur said, adding the other students made other living arrangements or went home, and college dorms and apartments wouldn’t be open to other students until fall.

McArthur said those students and other students, faculty and staff have continued to use the campus, even though most of its facilities have been closed since March (some reopenings are being planned to coincide with the summer semester that begins June 1). He said a popular site has been the exercise area originally created for ROTC students near the football stadium, while some people are using the campus at large as their exercise yard (he noted the hills around Cameron Stadium are especially popular).

“We (he and his wife) walk at 5:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.,” he said, adding the couple frequently encounters people walking or jogging through a campus that contains a number of well-lit sidewalks.

Other signs of life are beginning to stir as administrators make plans for summer semester and tie up loose ends from the spring.

For example, he said he expects to have hard numbers in June as professors and the university compile about 3,000 grades for courses taken in the spring semester. Noting students still had weeks of class left when the campus converted to a digital format, McArthur said the staff worked to ensure students could complete their coursework without disrupting their progress toward a degree.

Cameron offered spring semester students the option of a letter grade or changing that letter grade to an S (satisfactory) or U (unsatisfactory), “rather than affecting their GPA.” They also could take an I (incomplete) in a course, which means they can retake that course at a later time for credit, at no additional cost.

Enrollment is continuing for the fall semester, as professors are gearing up for the start of the summer session. McArthur said summer enrollment will be about 10 percent smaller than is traditional, saying he believes students are taking a “wait and see”’ attitude and opting to sit out the summer semester. Fall enrollment is down about 20 percent from normal, for a different reason.

“A lot of that has to do with college tours,” McArthur said, explaining some of that may change as Cameron and other universities begin opening up their campuses and allowing students on site.

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Cameron analyzing what it learned from a non-traditional spring semester - The Lawton Constitution
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