{"id":1191364,"date":"2022-01-05T16:04:36","date_gmt":"2022-01-05T21:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1191364"},"modified":"2022-01-05T16:04:47","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T21:04:47","slug":"colleges-move-to-remote-classes-over-omicron-after-taking-coronavirus-relief-funds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/colleges-move-to-remote-classes-over-omicron-after-taking-coronavirus-relief-funds\/","title":{"rendered":"Colleges Move to Remote Classes over Omicron After Taking Coronavirus Relief Funds"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcolleges-move-to-remote-classes-over-omicron-after-taking-coronavirus-relief-funds%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1191364&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1041857530-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">The Biden Education Department handed over more than $76 billion in coronavirus relief funding to U.S. colleges and universities, yet many of these schools are beginning the new semester with remote classes only, even after mandating all students take COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.<\/p>\n<p>In July, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ed.gov\/news\/press-releases\/us-department-education-announces-32-billion-additional-higher-education-emergency-relief-funds-support-students-historic-and-under-resourced-institutions\">announced<\/a> an additional outlay from the federal <a href=\"https:\/\/covid-relief-data.ed.gov\/\">Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund<\/a> (HEERF), via the Democrats\u2019 American Rescue Plan, which increased the funding to more than $76 billion:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The American Rescue Plan provided critical funds to make sure our nation\u2019s institutions of higher education \u2013 particularly those that serve students most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic \u2013 receive the resources they need in order to provide students with a high-quality education and the social, emotional and mental health supports to earn their degrees and thrive. These institutions have a long history of serving our students\u2014particularly students of color, first-generation college students, and other students who are underrepresented in higher education\u2014and the Department stands ready to support them so they can expand their vital services.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Despite the funding and its purpose, however, many schools that accepted it are not using it to provide students with that \u201chigh-quality education.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brad Polumbo, opinion editor at the Foundation for Economic Education, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/colleges-shutting-down-spring-semester-are-betraying-students-opinion-1664988\">wrote<\/a> Monday at <em>Newsweek <\/em>the move to revert to online learning amid the rise of \u201cOmicron,\u201d which has largely been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/life-style\/health\/1544921\/omicron-symptoms-headache-runny-nose-evg\">associated<\/a> with mild, cold-like symptoms, \u201cis no small matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cA May 2021 College Pulse survey found that a majority of students believe they learned less during remote classes than in their previous years. 81 percent said it was difficult to concentrate during online lectures,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brad_polumbo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@brad_polumbo<\/a> writes in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Newsweek?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Newsweek<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wvgR4Ir8sa\">https:\/\/t.co\/wvgR4Ir8sa<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 College Pulse (@CollegeInsights) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CollegeInsights\/status\/1478745612485115911?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 5, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s nothing short of a betrayal of students,\u201d he asserted. \u201cAnd it\u2019s one that has no legitimate basis in science or public health.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Polumbo said college students blocked from in-person classes, extracurricular experiences, and necessary social\/networking interactions will ultimately encounter the harms associated with a forced \u201claptop\u201d college education.<\/p>\n<p>He added a College Pulse survey <a href=\"https:\/\/reports.collegepulse.com\/student-voice-student-success\">released<\/a> in May 2021 found a majority of college students believed they learned less with remote classes, with 81 percent stating they experienced difficulty concentrating during online lectures:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The ugly truth is that in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in tuition, these students are getting a virtual education that resembles what they could get at a cheap online university or local community college. (In fairness, they\u2019ll still get the fancy name on their degree, which is what many truly care about. That\u2019s probably why not many students dropped out in 2020 despite the \u201cvirtual learning\u201d calamity.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>As Fox Business <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/politics\/american-colleges-shift-to-remote-learning-despite-taking-millions-from-the-in-coronavirus-relief-funding\">noted<\/a> last week, Yale University <a href=\"https:\/\/president.yale.edu\/president\/statements\/update-plans-spring-semester\">announced<\/a> before Christmas its undergraduate and graduate classes would be held remotely through February 4, despite having been awarded over $5.2 million from HEERF.<\/p>\n<p>Peter Salovey, the school\u2019s president, and Scott Strobel, its provost, noted \u201ca recent, worldwide surge in COVID-19 cases, driven by the highly infectious Omicron strain, has prompted us to raise alert levels on campus and adjust our plans to best protect our community.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAs always, our priority is the health and well-being of everyone on campus and those in our surrounding community,\u201d the officials wrote. \u201cYale College and GSAS courses will be taught online from January 25 through February 4.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the <em>Yale Daily News<\/em> Facebook account:<\/p>\n<div class=\"fb-post\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/YaleDailyNews\/posts\/10160274226740190?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCX-7s85u0_EKnIIhbeTwuTy1wLgbGcIJG4dDj9qCXlokzN3_LZ7DyaaeYWZLhJ2esydGZGPSrnU8jUtLrxbhsshHD_ezhRAwaGGC2BSAKgh3zACHXQ93EcqN4PMLVIWQvR08W7SrEbD1hAvhVRvlT_nIt_C1IpE-ggVxk4pa0YElCOZZIB8VrhpTGb5klk-oFWvkGJ7rKT4CynW38v9xYDJXR3k2wdmjKM1RuI0VVwGyiVY32nf4HAmbndewIXfSREa9Jk_KYjBrlCn2t-YdSk-iY4O-U_w3i7GbVOvg0CMPY\" data-width=\"640\">\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/graph.facebook.com\/70714390189\/posts\/10160274226740190\/\" class=\"fb-xfbml-parse-ignore\">\n<p>Yale announced its plans for the start of spring semester in an afternoon email. Students can return to campus anytime\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Posted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/70714390189\">Yale Daily News<\/a> on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/graph.facebook.com\/70714390189\/posts\/10160274226740190\/\">Tuesday, January 4, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>Similarly, officials of Duke University, which had been awarded over $26.8 million from HEERF, <a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.duke.edu\/2021\/12\/dec-31-update-to-plans-for-start-of-spring-semester\/\">announced<\/a> December 31 they \u201chave all watched with great concern the extraordinarily rapid spread of the Omicron variant in our communities and around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The announcement read:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>All undergraduate, graduate, and professional school classes will now be remote until&nbsp;Tuesday, January 18 instead of January 10 as earlier announced.<\/strong>&nbsp;During this time, no hybrid or in-person classes will be permitted.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Other schools that received HEERF funds yet announced a return to remote classes or a delay in the start of the semester included <a href=\"https:\/\/news.temple.edu\/announcements\/2021-12-22\/spring-22-semester-covid-readiness-plan\">Temple University<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washington.edu\/coronavirus\/winter2022\/\">University of Washington<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.vanderbilt.edu\/2021\/12\/30\/spring-2022-health-and-safety-updates\/\">Vanderbilt University<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.miami.edu\/updates-and-messages\/index.html\">University of Miami<\/a>, as Fox Business cited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Biden Education Department handed over more than $76 billion in coronavirus relief funding to U.S. colleges and universities, yet many of these schools are beginning the new semester with &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1191364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1191364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1191364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1191364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1191364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1191364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1191364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}