Pandemic-Related Resources (& Humor)

With the ongoing nature of the pandemic and the related upheavals in teaching, the PDC wanted to focus this post on resources (both humorous and serious) that normalize and speak to some of the challenging experiences we have been facing as faculty at UCSC.

On January 13, The Chronicle of Higher Education crunched the latest student enrollment numbers for the fall of 2021. Using data published by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, the report shows that undergraduate enrollment is down across the board, at an average of 3.1 percent from the previous year. Community colleges have been the most impacted, with an estimated 700,000 student loss since 2019. Why the continued enrollment drop? Reporting by NPR’s Morning Edition suggests that young people are choosing to work since minimum wages are on the rise in many states, and online classes remain relatively unpopular. This supports reporting done earlier in the pandemic by other organizations, including Inside Higher Ed, that financial concerns are a primary concern for students returning to campus.

– Kate McQueen

Colleen Flaherty synthesizes some of the research about the impact on faculty caregivers during COVID, including a March 2021 study which indicates that more women have suffered from job loss and/or have left the workforce due to lack of support. Similarly, a Stanford study of employees found that 45% of respondents were spending at least four more hours a day as primary caretakers, and that 50% of those respondents identified as women and 33% identified as men. Focusing on the intersection between gender and caregiving, Flaherty unpacks the research in helpful (and non-essentializing) ways. Although childcare is clearly an important facet of this issue, the article frames this crisis for caregivers in more robust terms to address the at-home working conditions of many faculty during the pandemic.

At UCSC, the group Academic Mamas formed to address some of these concerns and find ways to support faculty caregivers during the pandemic. The group recently helped secure an out-of-network option for back-up family care with Bright Horizons.

– Madeline Lane-McKinley

And for some “fun,” a brief compilation of sardonically humorous articles on teaching during a global pandemic, complements of McSweeney’s:

Meme shows Steve Carell, as his character Michael in The Office, with mouth pursed shut, with the title: "When a teacher is asked to reflect on their time during distance learning." Michael's response is captioned: "I knew exactly what to do. But in a much more real sense, I had no idea what to do."