The Challenges of Emergency Online Instruction at a Small HBCU

Abstract

In Spring 2020, South Carolina State University, like most institutions of higher learning across the United States, faced a sudden transition to remote instruction due to the global pandemic, a transformation that affected instruction methods throughout 2020-2021. This paper discusses how the Department of English and Communications (EAC) at SC State addressed this abrupt paradigm shift and what lessons were learned. The sudden switch to remote teaching methods imposed an acceleration of group dynamics in a department most comfortable with the Kurt Lewin Model of Change. Nevertheless, the department faculty evolved into a unit with a greater understanding of their abilities and of student needs.