The campus adjusts to a COVID-19 world

Ripon College’s annual Commencement ceremony had been held in late May or early June for 153 consecutive years, sending young people out into the world as new graduates. Until the coronavirus of 2020.

Neither the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic nor World Wars I or II stopped Ripon’s Commencement. It took 154 years for the College to encounter something so monumental that Commencement was not held.

Commencement, of course, was not the only tradition to be cancelled or dramatically altered when the College and much of the rest of the country suddenly went black in mid-March. Ripon initially announced March 16 that it was extending spring break a week to provide time for the faculty to prepare for online teaching and learning. Classes resumed online March 30 so students could finish the semester.

Now, the College is preparing to re-open for in-person classes Aug. 17. With an adjusted calendar, the fall term will end before Thanksgiving, assuring that students don’t go home for a long weekend, encounter the virus and bring it back to campus. Even the opening could change if the health situation around the country dramatically changes.

The College leadership team announced June 1 that Ripon would re-open, primarily,

President Zach Messitte says, “because our students told us overwhelmingly that they want to be back at Ripon. It’s their home, they like it here and they want to see their friends and be back in in-person classes. They want to interact with their professors and be involved in student activities.”

A task force of administrators, faculty and staff has mapped out a safe and phased-in return to campus this summer.

The goal of the re-opening, Messitte says, “is to retain Ripon’s residential experience that we treasure and, at the same time, make sure our students, faculty and staff are healthy and safe.” It has been challenging, Messitte admits, “to balance that line between a personalized education known to be high touch while maintaining health and safety guidelines. There’s no bigger challenge than that.”

Of the baptism by fire into online learning, Messitte says, “Ripon faculty and staff are resilient, thoughtful and creative. We are prepared to be flexible and deliver the highest quality education no matter whether it is online, in-person or in some combination.”

Literally everything on campus has been impacted by the coronavirus — nearly every employee was disrupted and asked to work from home, and this required technological assistance that was extended through the summer; the residence halls were closed but for a few international and other students who were unable to travel home. Likewise, food service was shut down, all campus-sponsored events were later canceled through May 15 and then through August.

Ripon lost an estimated $200,000 from summer conferences when, for only the second time in its history, Badger Boys State was cancelled, Alumni Weekend went on hiatus and the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual fly-in in nearby Oshkosh, which brought paying guests to Ripon’s residence halls, was not held.

Students were given options in March about returning to campus to clean out their rooms while trying to keep physical distance and other Centers for Disease Control guidelines in place. Some waited until mid-May to complete their departure.

Zoom, little-known by many among the faculty and staff before March 2020, became a workplace and household necessity with in-person meetings replaced by this online video conferencing technology.

“The faculty did a completely heroic job with our Information Technology in moving online so quickly and with teaching virtually,” Messitte says. They did so in 10 days.

So what will students and faculty return to in August? First, Messitte says, there will be a mix of in-person, online classes and some courses that blend both methods. There will be limited extracurricular activities and sports “within safe and healthy guidelines.” He adds, “We will take every precaution that’s being recommended by national, state, county and local officials. We are sharing and learning from the best practices of similar schools in Wisconsin and across the country.” Prevention education will be mandatory.

Most likely, most students will live in two-person rooms (CDC says this is appropriate) and will be encouraged to follow CDC guidelines for everything from where they sit in class to where they eat their meals in the Commons. Masks

Incoming Class:

256 Paid deposits

Registered for Virtual Orientation:

256 Incoming students

States Represented in Class: 24

Retention of Current Students: 80%

Student-Athletes: will be required in all campus buildings and outdoors when appropriate physical distancing cannot be maintained. Physical distancing of 6 feet from others will be required in classrooms, dining facilities and public spaces and encouraged everywhere. Cleaning between classes and meals will be carried out by College personnel. Individuals will be asked to play a role in cleaning their personal spaces.

167 incoming students involved in one or more sports.

Ripon has spent the summer getting prepared, Messitte says, envisioning possible scenarios for the fall that include how to deal with the virus, including quarantine and isolation areas and working with local health care providers on testing and emergency care.

One of the most difficult topics has been maintaining physical distances in the large number of small classrooms that Ripon uses. Unconventional spaces like Great Hall and Demmer Recital Hall are being considered as possible classrooms to accommodate larger classes. Other large classes may be offered fully online.

Class schedules have been altered on the start and end times to keep numbers of students in hallways fewer and to assure that the food service can accommodate them with physical distancing requirements.

Considerations in athletics are complex as the NCAA will leave many of the decisions around competitions to the athletic conferences and colleges and universities themselves, Messitte says. Messitte, who is the chair of the Midwest Conference this year, says fall sports (as of July 21) will be conference only, but that the situation remains fluid.

Also impacted are athletic practice schedules, locker room occupancy, body contact among players and renewing training routines so athletes are in gameday shape after a three-month timeout.

Finances

One of the biggest question marks that has impacted a score of decisions is not knowing the number of students Ripon will have on campus in the fall. “No one knows,” says Andrea Young, vice president of finance and director of strategic initiatives.

Those who do attend Ripon in the fall will find a campus ready to engage them and further their education in the personal way for which Ripon is known, she and others add.

Young says that Ripon is in a better financial position now than when the pandemic first hit because of the Payroll

Protection Program, much of which will not have to be paid back, the CARES Act funds and the $2.1 million raised for the Emergency Assistance Fund from alumni, Trustees and friends.

Within one week, Ripon distributed $454,000 of the CARES Act funding to 445 students at an average of $1,300 each. Many students, Young says, “told us in their application that their experiences at home after spring break were challenging.” She says students talked about parents being out of work, others had to tend to siblings and others had to find work to help with family expenses.

Academics

Academic decisions being made are based on learning last spring, says Rebecca Matzke, interim dean of faculty and a history professor. “She says that faculty noticed ‘how much we lost when we (faculty and students) weren’t in the same space together’ in the spring. In response, faculty are eager to see students in person again but also are working to enrich online classes so that they still provide the personalized Ripon experience.”

Ripon has invested in a new Learning Management System called Canvas which will “give us a uniform system for students to be able to find resources for their classes, communicate with their professors and better prepare us for a student who needs to self-quarantine” but still make progress in their courses, Matzke says.

In academics, everything went virtual including the Catalyst Curriculum Day and Awards Convocation. On Commencement day, May 17, all graduates were recognized in a 13-minute video on Facebook. Faculty meetings were hosted on Zoom, which may continue in the fall.

Student Life

Vice President and Dean of Students Chris Ogle says flexibility and substantial change are reflected in much of what has happened since March and will happen this fall. “We had to change the Ripon tradition of being high-touch when we were forced online,” says Ogle.

Student life activities got complicated in the online world.

• Counseling continued via Zoom but only for Wisconsin students as the counselors are only licensed in this state. Other students were referred. It was difficult to diagnose health issues virtually.

Catalyst Day became a virtual event April 22. Student presentations can be viewed at ripon.edu/ catalyst-day/presenters. Catalyst Day — held each fall and spring — showcases the Catalyst curriculum and celebrates the achievements of the students completing the capstone seminar in Applied Innovation. Students are tasked with developing solutions to prominent real-world issues outlined by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

• Some student organizations met during the hiatus via Zoom.

• Ripon is transitioning its food service provider this summer and, in the process, will address all physical distancing and safety issues. SAGE Dining Services is the new provider, which specializes in smaller colleges.

• Residence life will be substantially altered in the fall. Move-in was scheduled to be staggered with a limited number of family members allowed.

• Campus life, Ogle says, in the fall will be different. “Young adults feel immune to a lot of things and say it won’t happen to them. Students will take a chance.” He says lounge social gatherings and student get-togethers will need particular guidelines.

Admission

While moving classes online in March and the shift to working from home pretty much closed down the admission operation for a short time, a solid class has been recruited. Despite predictions of smaller first-year classes around the state and country, Ripon will have more new students than a year ago, says Jennifer Machacek, vice president of enrollment.

Everything admissions could put online went online during the hiatus, Machacek says — campus tours, Accepted Student Day and virtual meetings with admission and financial aid counselors, faculty and coaches. They also had virtual sessions that included a panel for residence life and a session with faculty about the Catalyst curriculum. The admissions web page is peppered with virtual offerings.

“We have to run in a virtual world,” Machacek says, “and we’ll need to be in that world going forward.”

COVID-19-related funds received

$910,000 CARES Act

$2.76 Million Payroll Protection Program Loan

Funds raised

$2.1 Million Emergency Assistance Fund

Funds saved

$964,000 Saved in campus-wide spending freeze

Additional COVID-19 related costs

$1.4 million Refunds/credits to students

$50,000 Cost to move courses online

Lost revenue

$200,000 Summer conferences

Substantial YTD impact on the endowment principle

Advancement

One of the most successful elements to come out of CORVID-19 was the $2.1 million raised for the Ripon Emergency Fund. In addition, Ripon’s #OneDayRally brought in more than $1.9 million, more than doubling the previous year’s contributions. Much of that, 52%, was designed for the Emergency Fund while 44% went to the Ripon Fund, says Shawn Karsten ’09, vice president of advancement.

The fund will be used to help students with emergency needs and also help offset college expense incurred during the pandemic.

Messitte reminds everyone that all the planning that has taken place could — just like it did in March, April and May — be changed should the health status of the country change.

LOREN BOONE FORMER DIRECTOR OF COLLEGE RELATIONS