UCR administration has decided to allow only a small portion of university students live and learn while on campus, largely keeping the campus closed and continuing with remote learning in response to COVID-19. In preparation, UCR has created a corresponding training module for all incoming students, regardless of living situation or proximity to the school campus.
The mandatory tutorial is around twenty minutes long, and is due by Sunday, Oct. 8. Taken through iLearn, it is designed to inform students about the best practices for remaining safe and preventing the contraction and spread of coronavirus. The module is broken up into seven sections, including an introduction, conclusion and a final quiz that must be completed at the end. It covers the basics of COVID-19 information and the many specific changes that UCR has had to implement in order to ensure student and faculty safety in-person. One example being, now that there are freshmen occupying the dormitories, they are required to complete a Daily Wellness Survey everyday for the remainder of fall quarter.
In an interview with The Highlander, Bella Leibovitz, a first-year education major, did not express too much worry over the new information and protocol given in the module. Instead, Leibovitz stated that she is more troubled over being able to “keep up and meet people without having face-to-face time.” She is confident that in spite of the pandemic and all of the extra precautions that are being put into place, most of her concerns will be eased as the school year progresses.
Fourth-year linguistics major, Debbie Lee, shared a similar concern in regards to being estranged from friends and other people. However, Lee also added that though the school was doing the best it could to inform students about preventative measures, the effort could not help but fall flat. “With a pandemic like this, a module can only do so much to address the numerous concerns people have,” stated Lee.
COVID, COVID-19, Coronavirus, Coronavirus training, training module, mandatory, iLearn, UCR, UC Riverside.
