No campus means administrators and students are finding new ways to foster school spirit.

WHEN CAMPUS LIFE SHUT DOWN IN MARCH AT THE MIDDLEBURY INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN MONTEREY, student groups took activities online, creating someplace for members to stay connected and encouraged. One group, Queers & Allies at MIIS, launched a Zoom book club and since then they’ve read and discussed three books with an LGBTQ+ focus, with participants joining in from all over, including – for the first time – students from MIIS’ parent campus, Middlebury College in Vermont.

“Clearly there are things we’re giving up,” QUAAM President Lawrence Garber says of the switch to virtual life, which includes movie nights using Netflix Party, that lets users sync video and comment on a group chat. While it’s hard to replace the energy of face-to-face interaction he’s seeing some positives: “I have been truly seeing the benefits around breaking down the geographic barriers.”

Geographic barriers are exactly what colleges and universities are up against in the era of Covid-19. With students engaged in remote learning this fall, administrators and student leaders at MIIS, CSU Monterey Bay, Monterey Peninsula College and Hartnell College are devising new ways to keep students engaged with the greater campus community virtually. Connection is, as one administrator says, critical to students succeeding academically.

“We continue to keep all offices operational and supporting students remotely even if they are at a distance,” says Leslie K. Williams, CSUMB’s associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students. “While I know this is a unique situation, we are attempting to maintain services for students in a virtual way that is as engaging as if they were in person.”

CSUMB already held its New Student Otter Orientation for incoming freshmen and transfer students ahead of classes beginning on Aug. 17. The orientation included eight live synchronous sessions. The annual Otter Days – the kickoff of the new year with student-faculty mixers for the different colleges within the university, and a chance to meet friends and interact with other new students – is taking place over Zoom with events between Aug. 21-23.

Williams says they’re encouraging students to check the CSUMB dashboard that lists online activities and will be restarting a weekly email newsletter called Otter Be Involved once classes resume. Clubs, fraternities and sororities have a whole array of activities queued up.

“Honestly, there is so much happening and planned for the fall semester the activity level feels normal – just all of the activities look different,” Williams says. “Even the colleges and other departments across campus are planning events that will be happening virtually for all to participate.”

Community colleges are actively engaging students online, including inside athletic departments where teams aren’t allowed to practice for now.

“It’s a challenging time, no doubt about it,” says Wendy Bates, the women’s basketball coach and recently named athletics director at MPC. Coaches are using Zoom to meet with their teams both to further learning and for social gatherings to foster team spirit.

Student engagement for the fall started over the summer at MIIS around the Black Lives Matter movement and the issue of systemic racism, says Student Council President Madeleine Smith. There were organized online conversations among students, alumni, administrators and staff members. “People have been very inclined to engage in that way,” Smith says.

Social media channels continue to be a way colleges and universities are engaging students. Smith says MIIS created its own Facebook-type online channel called MIcommunity that is well used. While it won’t replace the natural “hubs” on campus where students gather to converse and share ideas, MIcommunity does offer a place where more “organic conversations” can take place.