ONLINE CLASSROOMS CONTINUE TO BRING LONG HOURS & STRESS FOR CAPU FACULTY Faculty claim that the switch to online learning has demanded an overhaul of classes that increases work hours and for some, leads to burnout BRIDGET STRINGER-HOLDEN Associate News Editor JOHN PACHKOWSKY Illustrator
Although Communication Studies instructor Kym Stewart is grateful for her job, working online has its challenges— like spending about triple the time on course delivery. Although this may not be a widespread issue among faculty, it’s important to highlight the struggles that faculty like Stewart and anthropology instructor Bob Muckle are experiencing. Certain pre-planned group projects and resources are no longer available online. “Definitely no field trips, which is really sad, because the field trips that instructors coordinate are to help connect the university students with the community,” said Stewart. “There’s ways around that, but it’s very different than going out into the community and connecting.” Online delivery was also a major transition for Muckle. “My lectures and my classroom time was relatively
“Obviously, we have learning outcomes—everything needs to be addressed—but we’re really worried and concerned about the students and we want them to have this engaging time with us, because the world is so chaotic. There’s so much stress and so much going on,” said Kym Stewart. “I think a lot of us have become teachers because we enjoy being with young people who are thinking and engaging and full of life.”
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unstructured; I’d do a lot of storytelling, and I just sort of go with the flow and discuss current events,” he said. However, the CapU Library helped him access materials to ease the transition. “For me, because I didn’t use online technology at all, it was a major switch. My job now is substantially different than it used to be.” Muckle’s workload has increased with the amount of structure required for online classes. “I estimate that I probably have been spending an average of 60 to 70 hours a week since April,” he said, up from the 35 hours per week prepandemic. “I was just barely staying ahead of the students. It was a lot of work to start from scratch—preparing lectures from scratch and finding videos and creating the assignments.” Stewart notes that her weekends are now spent answering emails and marking. “The students might not know all of the background that we have to do to get the courses launched,” she said, estimating 12-hour workdays. “There were so many times last term where I would just crash out on my [office] floor—I was just so exhausted, I was like I can’t function, and I would just be out for like an hour,” said Stewart. “I’ve never done that before in my life, yet it was so often last term—I just needed a way to get away.” Like Muckle, many instructors are restructuring their classes to fit online learning. “We made major changes,” said Stewart. “I think everyone I spoke to has completely changed their course. It’s not just this pivoting, as I hear everywhere—I hear the university saying pivoting, I hear [the] media saying pivoting—it’s
