Shifting to remote learning: An American 'Rust Belt' university challenged by the pandemic

Mari Alschuler

doi:10.1921/jpts.v19i3.1840

Authors

Mari Alschuler Youngstown State University, Associate Professor of Social Work https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3289-7401

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1921/jpts.v19i3.1840

Keywords:

COVID-19, higher education, pandemic, Rust Belt, deindustrialisation

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic reached the U.S. in March 2020. This prompted an abrupt shift from face-to-face to remote instruction in universities globally. In one hard-hit urban region in the Midwestern Rust Belt, a public four-year university, its faculty, students, and staff struggled logistically, financially, academically, psychologically, and otherwise in order to create a working educational community during the pandemic. The social work department and its field education program were severely impacted and developed flexible options so that students could succeed in the classroom as well as in field.

Author Biography

Mari Alschuler, Youngstown State University, Associate Professor of Social Work

Dr Mari Alschuler is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Youngstown State University in Ohio, USA. She is also a supervisor, psychotherapist, and poetry therapist in private practice.

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