I Don't Know What To Say

I posted about the University of California system going test-optional way back on April 2nd - over six weeks ago. Since then, and as a result of COVID-19 impacts, the list of institutions removing the SAT or ACT from their application requirement has grown exponentially. So, you would think that, given my track record on the topic, I would be following those stories closely - and occasionally writing about it.

You might have noticed that since March there has been a lot going on in the spaces of higher education and college admissions (not to mention every other sector in the world!). The short version is that I haven't had the chance (or, frankly, the energy) to keep up with it.

In the beginning of the remote-work period for me in mid-March there was a lot of chaos in our operation. We were all trying to figure out how to approach this new way of working. As a result, every weekday morning at 8:00 am I have a check-in with the other directors in our unit. We use this time to check-in and talk about what things are on the proverbial front burner, and plan for things to come. Inevitably, we chat about the latest institution to prematurely announce that classes will resume in-person instruction in the fall, the latest institution to announce that classes will be online in the fall, or even the latest institution to announce that classes won't resume in-person until next summer. We chat (aka, speculate) about what will come next for us at Penn State (and honestly, I don't know), and how different eventualities will impact our work.

That's how I start every day with work.

Additionally, throughout each work day these topics also come up in nearly every meeting that I attend. I get regular email updates from The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, the NACAC Exchange, and others - all of it packed full of stories and conversations about our current environment. If I'm not in meetings or doing work-related stuff, I find that I'm usually reading something about the impact of coronavirus on our profession.

I don't write about all of this to complain. Recent weeks have, strangely, brought me closer to people in my life from whom I had started to drift. The past couple of months have also challenged me professionally - some good, some bad - in a way that I would not have been able to grow without the pandemic's effects on my work.

Rather, I say all of this to say that the "Admissions" and "Higher Ed" sections of the site have been pretty quiet. While I would love to write and write and write some more about all of it, at the end of each day I'm at a loss for what to say. Perhaps the energy and motivation will return eventually, but for the immediate future you are likely going to be seeing more and more about movies, television shows, comic books, and music, as these are my way of escapism from so much uncertainty.

Plus, I'm a nerd and way into that stuff too.