Colleges tell students to work remotely, a dream come true for most

Colleges around the country are moving all classes online.

In doing so, students could be getting exactly what they want, according to one poll.

As dozens of colleges and universities across the country move classes online amid ongoing coronavirus concerns, one poll suggests that’s exactly what today’s college students prefer. 

A College Pulse poll released in November revealed that when it comes to full-time employment after college, the majority of college students said they would prefer to work remotely rather than from a traditional office or workplace environment. When 22,970 undergraduate students were asked, “Would you rather have a job at an office or a fully remote job where you can work from anywhere?”, an overwhelming majority said they would prefer to work a fully remote job while just 27 percent said the opposite. 

[RELATED: Colleges nationwide respond to coronavirus by canceling in-person classes]

While it’s true that most students prefer to work remotely, the question then becomes, is that strategy as productive as the traditional model? 

Recent data from Gallup suggests that it is. 

[RELATED: Students block street, jump on cars after in-person classes canceled over coronavirus fears]

According to Gallup research published in January, employees are most engaged with their work when they work remotely 60 to 80 percent of the time or roughly 3-4 days per week. Employee engagement dropped by about 4-5 percent among those who worked 1-60 percent of the time. The lowest level of engagement occurred when employees worked remotely either all of the time or none of the time. Employees who worked remotely 80-100 percent of the time were slightly more engaged than those who worked remotely all of the time or none of the time, but less engaged than those who worked remotely 1-80 percent of the time. 

Already, dozens of colleges and universities have moved classes online, but some, including Harvard University, have taken the extra step of moving all classes online for the remainder of the spring semester. While some students will be allowed to continue to live in the dorms and campus housing, others will be asked to move out and complete their coursework remotely from a different location. 

Campus Reform will continually update a list of colleges and universities that have canceled in-person classes for one week or more. 

Check back regularly for updates. If you know of a college that has canceled in-person classes for one week or more that is not on the list, let us know by emailing contact@campusreform.org

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