COVID: Five Years Later | Trinity College

Five years ago, this spring (March 11, 2020, to be precise) Trinity College joined institutions around the world to quickly adopt ways to teach and learn remotely during the Covid-19 global pandemic.

The early restrictions on face-to-face interactions quickly gave way to faculty and students who chose to hold classes on campus or virtually retain classes, but have evolved government rules regarding masking, testing, social distancing and vaccination. In the rearview mirror, (below).

Though undergraduates who were registered at the start of the pandemic have graduated, some of the important changes and lessons learned during the Covid-19 pandemic continue to be felt in Trinity today.

Ready to face a crisis

Trinity’s Emergency Management Team (EMT) was introduced long before 2020, but it was not facing the challenge as a sustainable or full-scale challenge like the pandemic. As global threats became more clear, the university met daily with administrators, staff and healthcare professionals meeting daily to address urgent questions and develop plans to safely guide the Trinity community through the pandemic. “Then there was a spirit of friendship, a need to share ideas and a more clear communication within the university community,” he says. “Relying on each other is important in that scenario, and that’s a continuing lesson. Now we really know what kind of practices to implement and how to support each other in a crisis.”

Rob Lukaskiewicz, dean of community life and standards and co-chair of EMT, says the team has met several times in the semester. “There are some meetings planned for training purposes, but others will be held for issues that require urgent or temporary solutions, including burst pipes and harsh weather conditions,” says Lukaskiewicz. “We also engage in tabletop exercises for each academic year, which presents scenarios such as emergency evacuation, chemical spills, threats of violence, health crisis.”

Dichristina adds: We are always looking for something more aggressive and ready. For example, the university provided training employees this year on preventing violence on campus. The idea that emerges from COVID that sticks to us is, “What do we need to do to create a healthy community?” ”

A new level of care for students

Trinity’s partnership with Hartford Healthcare (HHC), which began in 2019 and provides students with comprehensive healthcare services and access to sports medicine, has become more important as the university followed HHC’s best practices on masking and testing policies, as well as HHC’s best practices on quarantine and treatment of sick students. As Dichristina puts it, “We relied on their healthcare expertise to keep our communities safe and later worked with the HHC to distribute the vaccines to campus.”

MPH, MPH, Demetra Eleftheriou, and medical director of campus care at Hartford Healthcare, Trinity College Health Center, said the center adopted several policies that remain today five years ago. “We ask students to wear masks immediately if they come to the health centre with cold symptoms or fever. We have learned to alleviate spread spreads as quickly as possible and have established relationships with local public health officials,” says Eleferio. “I think we’ve also learned the importance of quickly communicating the right information to our campus community. Education is key to alleviating fear and preventing misinformation.”

LCSW, director of Haben Abraham ’10, Trinity’s Counseling and Wellness Centre (CWC), says the centre provided telehealth sessions to students who were remote or isolated during the pandemic. She notes that students still have access to Telehealth sessions and online support when needed. “The CWC also partners with student life, campus safety and health centres to communicate student needs and continue to solve problems collaboratively,” Abraham says.

In 2022, our partnership with HHC expanded to include student behavioral health services through Trinity’s CWC. “To improve accessibility, the CWC will add daily outreach times to enable students to obtain same-day appointments, including emergency appointments,” says Abraham. “Another area of ​​improvement was the employment of clinicians per DIEM to help increase the demand for counseling services. We include clinicians from a diverse racial/ethnic and expertise background.”

Abraham adds that the pandemic demonstrates the importance of care coordination to ensure that students have access to services as well as alternative wellness initiatives. “The lessons learned from the pandemic have helped CWC develop programming that focuses on psychoeducation, skills building and community learning across campus, not just one-on-one sessions at the center. The pandemic encouraged the term ‘wellness’ and expanded accessibility to all students,” she says.

Digital functions expanded

The use of Zoom meetings and other virtual gatherings became popular in the spring of 2020 has become widespread. Dichristina said last summer, the new student orientation provided about 15 virtual sessions to help students and their families meet with various members of the Trinity community to answer questions. “Five years ago, we never did that, but it is clear that students live that way, and families appreciate it.

Alumni around the world are also enjoying an increased connection with their alma mater through virtual long walks that have provided dozens of online webinars, lectures and discussions since Covid Hit.

The expanded digital communication tools adopted during the pandemic are still affecting academics who are offering more options and accommodation for both academics and faculty. Geographical restrictions have become a thing of the past. Teachers regularly invite long-distance guest speakers to the classroom via Zoom, while Trinity students can attend January term and summer courses from anywhere in the world.

Sheryl Cape, who retired in July 2024 as a senior instruction designer in Trinity’s Library and Information Technology Services (LITS), says she has gained experience in teaching remotely. “We’re used to teaching via Zoom when necessary, and students are used to taking classes via Zoom. Also, if students need to isolate, faculty can record lectures, and students can watch it live,” she says.

Cape adds that online learning management systems, such as the use of Moodle and digital projects, have become more popular since the pandemic. “Students can create “non-disparity assignments” such as story maps, timelines, websites, podcasts, and more, and add them to their digital portfolios to share with their potential employers,” she says.

Dave Tatem, head of digital learning and scholarships, says faculty and students continue to benefit from using Windows virtual desktops and cloud-based applications that are accessible everywhere. “Teachers want to maximize the time they have in their classrooms as much as possible,” Tatem says. “The ‘flip classroom’ model is not new, but during remote learning, teachers performed the most meaningful activities in person. I think they are more conscious of spending time in class now, answering questions and experimenting. They understand how valuable the lesson time is. ”

“The lesson we’re taking away from Covid is that we’re invested in the right technology in the right space and are always ready to adapt,” Tatem said.

Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean Sonia Cardenas emphasized that instead of simply moving towards offering remote courses, Trinity has seen faculty explore how teaching and learning can be maintained in digital form.

“Trinity’s faculty and staff responded with agility and resilience to the global pandemic and modeled the best model of liberal arts education,” says Cardenas. “We created a flexible academic calendar that supports all students and revised our academic policy to accommodate the full range of student needs. It was an incredible job in a short time and under the opposite stress. But we have become stronger and much more agile as an academic community.”

read more:

How Trinity College was apart: Oral History

Trinity Community continues through the Covid-19 pandemic

Trinity Teachers: How to Teach During the Pandemic

In the rearview mirror