GUIDING OUR STUDENTS IN THE TIME OF COVID

As I write this, it is Saturday.  Monday is a holiday.  We have had two weeks of college with a lot of restrictions and the students are getting restless.  Are my students being safe this weekend?  Are they taking care to avoid engaging in unnecessary risks?

As anyone who has ever lived in a dormitory knows, bad influences are constantly present.  There is always someone on a college campus who has a bright idea that probably is not a smart idea.

What is our role as teachers?  Should student guidance be left solely to college administrators?  Have we abdicated our responsibilities to be positive influences for our students? 

This morning, I wrote the email below to the faculty at my school.  Will they take me up on my suggestion?  Yes, I think some will although I am not sure how many.  Will those messages influence our students to be careful?  I certainly hope so.  College students are young adults and they are always looking for guidance.  If they don’t get it from you, they will find it somewhere else.  We need to tell our students what we believe they should be doing.  We need to encourage them to be safe and stay well.  We don't need to hold their hands but we do need to tell them what we believe is the truth.

An email takes about 90 seconds to send to your students.  The cost approximates zero but the benefits can be huge. 

You can let someone else do it or you can do it.  I want my students to know what I think.  I believe in transparency and I believe students and the faculty both have a lot of responsibility for the well being of the university.

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To the faculty at my school:

Our students have been here a couple of weeks.  It is a weekend.  It is a holiday.  I suspect they are all ready to break loose.  And, we know what happens next.  Just ask some of the schools like UNC and JMU that have had to send their students home.

The students are probably getting a lot of bad advice within the dorms.  They need as much positive support as they can get.  We are their teachers.  We are their guides.  

A few people know that I send my students a lot of emails.  It is just my operating style.  I sent them a special one this morning.   You might consider doing something similar.  The wording can be short and sweet, but they need to hear this message from their teachers not just from the administration.

Here's the email I sent to my students (after I had told them about how wonderful learning accounting really is):

 

"And, finally, stay safe over the weekend.  We are all depending on YOU to keep us old folks healthy.  I absolutely and positively understand how difficult it is not to run wild.  Despite being elderly, I well remember my four years living in a college dorm with 99 other students.  As I remember, none of us were saints.   Nevertheless, these are critical times, and we are very much dependent on each other to make this learning experience (and the ability to stay alive and well) work.  It kind of breaks my heart to say this but:  Please, follow the rules.  The university is counting on you."  

Being a Mentor

First:   this blog went over 59,000 page views a couple of days ago.   I am always amazed by the number of people who find this site.   My guess is that many of those readers discovered the site because someone else mentioned it to them.   As always -- thanks a million (and a half) to everyone for passing along the information to anyone who is interested in teaching and anyone who is interested in thinking about how to get better as a teacher.
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I have made the point previously that I believe a college education would be more valued (rather than being under a full scale attack as it currently is) if more faculty members worked as mentors for the students rather than just teachers.   Several of my blog entries this summer have talked about going beyond the conveyance of information to a relationship where you help the students grow as people (my story about best books and attending the opera, for example).  

Consequently, here is an email that I sent out today to my 73 accounting students for the fall (yeah, accounting students -- not political science students).   To paraphrase the late great singer Ricky Nelson, if all I did was teach accounting concepts to college students, I'd just as soon drive a truck.  


To: Accounting 302 Students


From: JH

I had figured that I would not send out any more emails to you before class starts. I’m always concerned that I will overwhelm you before you even meet me. However, I was reminded of something this morning that I did think was worth mentioning (and I do realize that this will not apply to everyone in my classes).

My younger daughter (age 19) is getting ready to go off to college this fall for the first time. This morning she mailed in her application to get an absentee ballot so that she will be able to vote in the election this November. I was very proud of her for wanting to cast her first ballot (and for thinking ahead to get the absentee ballot before she left the area).

If you are eligible to vote in the upcoming election, I think you should strongly consider doing so. Freedom works best when people vote for their leaders.

I honestly don’t care which party you vote for or which candidate you support. However, I think every citizen should study the issues (not just listen to the opinions of others but actually study the issues) and vote for the person or party that you believe will serve the country best. I believe that is your duty as part of your transition from being a child to being an adult. I first voted in 1972 (I just missed being old enough to vote in 1968) and I’m proud to say that I have voted in every presidential election since that time. I’ve always had an opinion and I always wanted to vote to support my opinion.

I do not know how you get an absentee ballot in your state but I would bet that you can go to www.google.com and find out very quickly. If you have not done this yet, I would urge you to get on the ball and get it done.

Look forward to seeing you in about 9 days.