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from the prepare-yourself-for-further-tuition-increases dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
International students will be forced to leave the U.S. or transfer to another college if their schools offer classes entirely online this fall, under new guidelines issued Monday by federal immigration authorities.
The guidelines, issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, provide additional pressure for universities to reopen even amid growing concerns about the recent spread of COVID-19 among young adults. Colleges received the guidance the same day that some institutions, including Harvard University, announced that all instruction will be offered remotely.
[...] Those attending schools that are staying online must "depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction," according to the guidance.
[...] Of particular concern is a stipulation saying students won't be exempt from the rules even if an outbreak forces their schools online during the fall term. It's unclear what would happen if a student ended up in that scenario but faced travel restrictions from their home country, said Terry Hartle, the council's senior vice president.
[...] Colleges across the U.S. were already expecting sharp decreases in international enrollment this fall, but losing all international students could be disastrous for some. Many depend on tuition revenue from international students, who typically pay higher tuition rates. Last year, universities in the U.S. attracted nearly 1.1 million students from abroad.
[...] The administration has long sought deep cuts to legal immigration, but the goal was elusive before the coronavirus.
The BBC notes:
[...] Large numbers of foreign students travel to the US to study every year and are a significant source of revenue for universities as many pay full tuition.
[...] Harvard has announced all course instruction will be delivered online when students return for the new academic year, including those living at the university.
[...] Monday's announcement said foreign students who remain in the US while enrolled in online courses and fail to switch to in-person courses could face "immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings".
The rule applies to holders of F-1 and M-1 visas, which are for academic and vocational students. The State Department issued 388,839 F visas and 9,518 M visas in the fiscal year 2019, according to the agency's data.
According to the US Commerce Department, international students contributed $45 billion (£36 billion) to the country's economy in 2018.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 08 2020, @09:37AM
I don't like this approach at all. I was bothered by iClicker's mobile app using GPS to "verify" that a student is actually physically present in a classroom instead of participating from their dorm or apartment. Using GPS in that manner isn't necessarily effective, either, because GPS can be spoofed. While that was draconian enough, but this seems even worse.
Perhaps assessments should be less about recall and more about higher levels of work than remembering and recalling information [vanderbilt.edu]. Even if classes and exams move online during the middle of the semester, students could be given 3-4 weeks to complete an assignment that tests higher levels of learning and substitutes for the exam.
Another approach for smaller classes is to have an oral final and administer it via Zoom. My PhD advisor used oral finals and released a pool of questions prior to the exam. That way, there's no advantage to taking the exam later and asking students who took it earlier about the questions. It allows the instructor to ask students follow-up questions if they're uncertain, to really assess what the student knows. The instructor can also provide a bit of assistance if a student doesn't remember a detail. This benefits the students because if they get stuck on one small aspect of a question, they can get help and still demonstrate proficiency in other aspects of the question. Such an exam could be administered via Zoom and really isn't prone to cheating because the instructor should be able to tell pretty quickly if the student understands the material or not. It only works for smaller classes, but it seems like a good idea.
Rather than turning to draconian and creepy approaches, instructors should be designing better assessments for their classes.