Students, professors comment on the lasting impact of the pandemic in professional settings
By RACHEL GAUER — features@theaggie.org
A world permeated with mask mandates, the “six-feet rule,” superspreader events and social distancing began five years ago this month. Many Americans name Friday, March 13, 2020 as the start of it all — the day President Donald Trump declared COVID-19 to be a national emergency within the U.S. — which also marked the final business day of “normal” operations.
For many, this day symbolizes the last time students would see their peers and teachers in a traditional classroom setting, the last day some employees set foot in the office and the final moments of pre-COVID-19 life. What seemed to be an extended spring break for students quickly turned into a global pandemic and left everyone in social isolation across the globe.
Five years later, the social impacts of COVID-19 remain present in many of our institutions, including in university settings like UC Davis. Countless workplaces have shifted to work-from-home options and academia has increasingly utilized Zoom and other online communication methods for teaching. Meetings, discussions and other face-to-face interactions are now often replaced by emails or online meetings, diminishing the small talk and human interaction that come with being in-person.
Seth Frey, a professor of communication at UC Davis, teaches a mix of both online and in-person courses in the Department of Communication, including CMN 152V: Social Science with Online Data, an online cross-campus course, and CMN 151: Simulating Communication Processes, an in-person course.
Frey commented on the importance of face-to-face communication in an academic and work setting both for students and faculty.
“[Something] that I’m most interested in is the social conversation, still very much alive, around the importance of showing up in person,” Frey said via email. “We seem to agree it matters a lot and yet it’s harder now to expect it. This isn’t just about students meeting professors’ expectations for physical attendance.”
Frey also discussed the obstacles that faculty have faced following the pandemic.
“Among ourselves, faculty are still navigating the challenge of establishing shared norms, values, and expectations for when we think physical meetings are most important, and how to go about making them happen reliably,” Frey said.
Undoubtedly, remote options for meetings and other academic activities have brought many elements of convenience to students and faculty. Online, asynchronous courses allow students to self-pace, while remote office hours allow professors to meet with students more frequently and at more convenient times.
Sacha Chickering, a second-year mechanical engineering major, commented on this element of accessibility with online courses, emphasizing the importance of interpersonal interaction.
“Courses that offer hybrid or online options can offer some advantages to people living far away from school, but also I personally miss being more in person,” Chickering said. “I think in person is better — something about being online makes it feel less connected and like you could be doing it from anywhere in the world.”
Though many current UC Davis undergraduate students experienced the start of the pandemic prior to their time at Davis, students at the time could follow their courses from truly anywhere in the world, as schools were exclusively online.
Margaret Lonergan, a fourth-year human development major, began her undergraduate studies in September 2021 following a year of remote learning for her fourth year of high school. She reflected on the difficulty of forming connections with other students prior to moving to Davis, which she said were solely made on social media and reflected the online nature of relationships at the time.
“Making connections solely with technology was really hard — some people aren’t great texters and some people just aren’t great at communicating virtually,” Lonergan said. “It’s hard to know if you’re getting the real personalities of people online.”
Lonergan has opted to take some online classes despite the lack of social interaction and highlighted aspects that have drawn her to online classes.
“It’s easier to ‘get by’ in a lot of the virtual classes, since they tend to be a lot of busy work,” Lonergan said. “But, it’s easier to zone out when classes are virtual and there is no one holding you accountable. I think I prefer the social interactions, which you don’t really get from virtual classes.”
Though the pandemic eliminated some elements of valuable social connection, some elements of online teaching and learning have allowed for increased productivity for some, as less time is spent for commutes or other time consuming work-related activities.
Henry Bandettini, a fourth-year psychology major, noted that the skills he gained from online learning during the pandemic during his fourth year of high school were crucial to developing his time management. Now, he said the effects of online learning have transferred over to tangible skills in his workplace and in academic settings.
“I’m an account executive [in] Downtown Davis, and some days I work remotely and some days I’m in person,” Bandettini said. “I think the flexibility that I’ve been given throughout high school with [COVID-19] and then taking some remote and hybrid classes at Davis has taught me to manage my time in a way that I can be productive and get stuff done, but at the same time, I have flexibility and take time off when I can. I didn’t expect the time management that came with [COVID-19] to play such a big role in not only my college experience but overall career.”
COVID-19 has certainly had lasting impacts on professional settings and interpersonal connection over the past five years and continues to have health impacts worldwide. Though the flexibility and online options have eliminated unnecessary time spent, the social implications of previous social distancing may be more implicit — yet nevertheless prominent.
Written by: Rachel Gauer — features@theaggie.org
