Higher education in a “post” - pandemic era: lessons learned for faculty and administration

Abstract

The COVID-19 global pandemic greatly impacted education systems across all age groups and grade levels. Teachers, students, parents, administration, academic advisors, and other stakeholders experienced varying levels of distress, trauma, and a multitude of academic and personal challenges. This article focuses on the positive lessons learned in higher education as a result of this tumultuous and transitional period in history. As the world gradually progresses into a post-pandemic era, it is necessary to utilize lessons learned to improve the overall educational experience for learners and teachers of all ages. At the higher education level, many implications emerged for managing crises, improving online and remote instructional management systems and teacher training, expressing flexibility to accommodate learner needs, enhancing advisement procedures to include greater course delivery options, incorporating student and faculty wellness screenings, considering socio-cultural development, and introducing needed community resources. A robust post-pandemic educational institution models and offers opportunities for regular self-care, mentoring, professional development, and constructive supervision experiences. Student and faculty needs are often most easily identified by administrators and academic advisors, because their roles inherently result in developing a vast knowledge of university resources and communicating regularly with students and nearly all campus facilities. Every academic organization, and particularly administrators, is best served by reflecting on the lessons learned during the pandemic to evaluate current practices and implement necessary improvements that result in optimizing academic advisement, student achievement, and overall satisfaction with student services.