Education notebook: Turkey hangovers won't stop Abilene students from returning to campus
Timothy Chipp
Abilene Reporter-News
In the interest of getting college life back to normal, Abilene's universities and colleges have been focused on a return to pre-pandemic ways this year.
Throughout the semester, there have been attempts at eliminating online options for students enrolled in in-person classes.
And though masks remain a key component for some, they've not been mandatory the entire year. McMurry University began the semester with a mandate, while Abilene Christian implemented a temporary order for two weeks in September.
But other than that, the focus has been on being together as much as possible and getting back to how things operated before the term "COVID-19" was in our daily routine.
And that trend continues coming out of the Thanksgiving holiday. The tradition of college students coming back to campus for one week of classes and a few final examinations, just to pick up and leave again, continues.
COVID-19 robbed students of the experience last year.
"Being back in person allows professors to have the flexibility to conclude their courses with group projects or presentations that are often best accomplished in an interpersonal setting," McMurry University President Sandra S. Harper said. "For students who are completing written final projects and examinations, the ability to access the library and their professors for guidance is also beneficial in order to achieve optimal student learning outcomes."
The situation is the same around the city, whether talking about the three private universities or the two-year technical schools: Everyone's getting back to "normal."
And with active cases of COVID-19 continuing to decrease, why not?
Many restrictions on travel were also lifted for those headed out of Abilene for the five-day turkey break. That said, the universities also expected safety and caution to make sure those infection numbers stay low.
"We encouraged students, faculty, and staff to be personally responsible for regulating their individual safety measures and to get vaccinated," Hardin-Simmons University said in a statement. "We provided opportunities and offered incentives to do so. As a result, we have continued to see fewer than a handful of active cases on campus at any one time."
Timothy Chipp covers education and is general assignments reporter for the Abilene Reporter-News. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.