As registration season winds down and finals are upon us, the next semester may not be the first thing on some students’ minds. But others may be curious about the status of classes and how things are going to operate at Sonoma State University for the spring 2021 semester. Will Zoom classes remain the norm? Is there any hope of returning to campus if COVID-19 cases decrease? What can students expect from the University? 

The California State University system, the largest system of four-year higher education in the country, was one of the first school systems in the nation to announce that they will continue with distance learning for the spring semester. Former CSU Chancellor Timothy White, announced on Sept. 10, that in order to give students and faculty time to plan ahead, they would be making the call to remain almost entirely online going forward at all 23 campuses across the state. 

Interim Public Information Officer Robert Elyer said, “Short of some big change, [next semester] will be more or less of the same…. We will be operating under the same rule book as the fall, following local public health orders.” 

On-campus activities are currently under extreme limitations with the library, campus dining, the bookstore, and most campus buildings closed indefinitely. Only about 30% of faculty and staff are on campus and they will continue to have a rotating schedule to limit the number of individuals on campus at any given time. 

Eyler said that if things looked promising, specifically with a decline in local cases, SSU might re-evaluate the situation during the spring break. There would also have to be a potential loosening of local and state public health orders. 

“Things might change if things get better from a COVID standpoint… if [Sonoma County] starts trending more normal we might be able to see labs [at school] opening up. But overall, things will be very similar to this semester for equity reasons, access reasons, etc. We want students to have the same access for paying the same amount of money,” he said. 

Eyler brought up access issues because many students at Sonoma State do not live full-time in Sonoma County, but travel from all over California or the U.S. to attend school in Rohnert Park. Opening up labs may seem ideal for some students, but it also poses a potential equity issue if not all students can feasibly have access to on-campus services. 

In an email to students on Nov. 13, the University confirmed that for the semester starting on Jan. 25, no more than 5% of classes will be conducted face-to-face on campus. Face-to-face classes will include multiple classes from the Nursing Department, masters degree thesis programs, research-based classes, and advanced Arts department classes, such as Advanced Etching and Woodcutting, or Advanced Ceramics.

Overall, there will be 5 different categories for how classes will be taught. Modes of instruction will be: asynchronous, synchronous, bisynchronous, face-to-face, and hybrid online/face-to-face. When students are registering for classes, there will be a distinctive category showing the type of instruction that will occur for each specific class, located in the mySSU portal. 

Students of all levels have been struggling with remote learning since the pandemic began. According to CBS Bay Area, 37% of high school students in Sonoma County are failing at least one or more courses. 

The survey, conducted by YouthTruth, a nonprofit organization by the Center for Effective Philanthropy, found that of the 4,500 Sonoma County students surveyed, “feeling anxious about the future” was the number one barrier to distance learning. In comparison, distractions at home and a lack of focus was the main obstacle to distance learning of the overall 20,000 students polled from 9 different states. 

Professors at Sonoma State also reiterated seeing a lack of focus in their online classes. Astronomy professor Thomas Targett said, “It is undoubtedly harder than ever for students working remotely to maintain clear focus on their studies without the physical infrastructure of campus.” He recommended that students, “Wake up more than 30 minutes before your class, eat something, take a shower, and sit anywhere else other than bed for your classes, if you can.”

Anthropology major and fall 2020 graduate, Sky Flores, corroborates the difficulty to remain engaged during remote learning. “There is something difficult about being in a classroom that isn’t there. Lack of motivation isn’t just from us as students, but also from the professors. I can feel the frustration growing as we get deeper into the semester and it’s shocking–I always think about how people said they’d love online school or would do so much better with it. But now that we’re here, people are wishing for the classrooms and face-to-face contact back,” she said. 

She also said, “Each professor seems to be handling it differently, and there seems to be little consistency across the board in terms of what to expect. I am only taking 9 units this semester, yet its been one of the most difficult semesters I’ve ever taken.”

With things remaining relatively the same for the spring semester, faculty and students will have to balance health and safety, while also finding ways to stay engaged and focused. The novel Coronavirus only seems to worsen as time goes on. According to the New York Times, almost 2 million new cases have been reported in the last 2 weeks alone. At SSU, 14 cases were recently reported off campus and 1 case reported on campus, with an assumption that cases may worsen if individuals visited with family and friends for Thanksgiving break. 

While the University may not know how COVID-19 will shape the ultimate format of the spring semester, SSU is working on coming up with a plan for graduation and commencement. In an email, SSU said, “We are still exploring different options for how the ceremony will be conducted, including virtually, a physically distanced in-person gathering, or drive-through celebration.”

Flores, who is graduating in 2 weeks, said, “I am staying hopeful that commencement will happen. I’ve been working for 5 years for this degree and have spent 4 years of my time as a college student working for the University–so I think I deserve to walk. Hopefully people can do their part in wearing their masks, social distancing, and staying safe to make it a more realistic goal.”

Overall, things will remain close to the same for the spring semester. The University and the CSU system will announce any big changes and for now students will have to be patient and see how everything plays out.