By Nora-Kathleen Berryhill
August 10, 2020
New work-study positions will soon become available to students for the fall semester, President Manion announced in a July 23 email.
The positions are intended to ease the burden on professors and ensure that “students and faculty have the flexibility to join classes remotely depending on their individual circumstances,” Manion said in the email.
The work-study students will be tasked with “handling the day-to-day management of technology in a blended classroom.”
Students interested in the program will apply for the position, then be assigned to different classes as needed. Work-study students will not be assigned to the classes they are already enrolled in, Manion told OTE.
Manion said that the work-study students will utilize video conferencing platforms like WebEx, Microsoft Teams or Zoom to help remote faculty or students participate in classes.
“Their job will be to help with things like making sure the camera is focused where the instructor wants it, monitoring who wants to speak during discussions, contacting the TAC (Technology Assistance Center) if anyone is having tech problems, and other class management issues so the instructor can focus on teaching the subject matter.”
Manion hopes that placing work-study students in charge of directing camera angles will help “remote students feel more like they’re in the room” during class discussions and lectures.
Throughout the summer, over 40 Edgewood professors have had the opportunity to participate in test classrooms and practice incorporating the new technology into their teaching, Manion said. Over the next few weeks, around a dozen training sessions will occur and classrooms will remain open to faculty for further practice.
Manion is confident that this training coupled with the spring semester experience prepared Edgewood professors to deliver “an excellent flexible format experience this fall.”
Professors can decide whether they need a work-study student in their classes. This information will inform how many students are needed for the work-study program, he said.
Political science professor Steven Davis, who attended the training and plans to teach in-person this fall, said that the new positions will be most helpful for classrooms with remote instructors.
“None of this is going to be easy, but overall, I’d say the college has done a really good job in figuring all this stuff out and making tremendous logistical efforts to prepare rooms to be safe and match them to everyone’s needs,” Davis said.
While the compensation schedule is still being finalized for the work-study program, Manion said that these paid positions are an asset to students struggling financially because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We recognize that the pandemic may have reduced the amount of money some students were able to earn over the summer, so this may be a way for students to make up for some of that.”
Interested students can apply at this link
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