Source: The Trace

Amid the mass shootings occurring in the United States on a more frequent basis, each university should be on alert. The university at which I work is not immune to threats or scare. As finals week was approaching, the following image appeared on Social Media (Twitter) shown below:

As indicated in the photo above, the threat was for last Wednesday -- December 12th. The university does have protocols for such threats. Although, exactly how to deal with threats which are still uncertain and remain a moving target. The uncertainty which surrounds such events are a result of past shootings -- Las Vegas (2017) and Thousand Oaks (2018). These events have raised awareness to such threats and have changed the dynamics behind the usual procedures of how to deal with them.

University President's Message

December the 12th was Wednesday, the beginning of 'final exams' at California State University at Northridge. We received the following e-mail:

To the Campus Community,

While law enforcement does not believe there is an imminent threat to campus, I recognize the extreme stress and anxiety the recent threats of violence have caused our community.

To further ease the anxiety students are understandably experiencing that may affect exam performance, finals on Wednesday, December 12, will only be offered in alternative formats. For final exams on Thursday, December 13, through Tuesday, December 18, faculty will provide alternative exam format options and accommodate students who are not comfortable coming to campus. Students should contact their instructors to request alternative arrangements. Any student requesting such an accommodation will not be subject to any instructor-imposed penalty. This decision was made in consultation with CSUN's Faculty Senate Executive Committee.

The campus will remain open during the remainder of the semester. Employees concerned about reporting to work should contact their supervisors.

Again, as I shared in this morning's communication, CSUN Police and partner law enforcement agencies continue to investigate the threats and maintain their increased patrols across campus. Anyone with any information should contact CSUN Police immediately at 911 or 818-677-2111.

Hate has no place on this campus, and we are working to bring any perpetrators of these cowardly acts to justice. We are resolute in our duty to not allow these threats to derail our students' education. We make these accommodations entirely in the interest of our students and their success. I appreciate the dedication of faculty and staff who have exhibited extraordinary flexibility and empathy in service of our students, as well as the tireless work of CSUN Police. I ask everyone to come together as a community, supporting one another through this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Dianne F. Harrison, Ph.D.

President

The above statement was sent out to employees and students after other notices from President Dianne Harrison indicating that there would be not change in the finals scheduling. Additionally, the following letter was found on Monday adding to the threat of violence on campus:

Source: Twitter

With the two threats on deck, the university administration decided to let the faculty arrive at 'alternative methods' to end the semester with. Which created a large amount of uncertainty. After various departments starting hashing out plans which fit their curriculum, the university administration decided that some plans would work while others would not. Ultimately, this has led to total confusion at every level from the administration down to the department level. Not good.

Students Are Capitalizing On Chaos

On top of all the the confusion lay the the students with a large amount of uncertainty on their hands as to how to handle the different instructions which arrive in their e-mail boxes hourly. Now, faculty and students are receiving updates very frequently with different instructions in each. Confusing to say the least.

Students are afraid to come to campus. As a result, the ultimate hope is to take a 'final exam' online. Which creates a large amount of difficulty to come up with an exam which might be acceptable in an online format. Different subjects have different restrictions. Not all subjects can immediately translate their content to an online format. For instance math, if an instructor would like the student to plot a graph and then shade with a pencil part of the graph, the programming behind such a question might take time to develop.

In chemistry, the translation to an online format might pose difficult for certain senior level faculty who have refused to use an online format. This confusion can quickly turn into anger and frustration and create tension in the administration within the department. This is not restricted to chemistry alone. Other departments are up in arms as well. Each department is contacting others asking how (frantically) to deal with the current chaos.

The result of this has been to empower the students to not accept the 'alternative' method offered by the faculty. According to the letter by President Harrison, a school of 40,000 students would have at least 40,000 unique - alternative solutions for final exams. Which is why departments have scrambled to come up with a uniform system which all department faculty agree upon and is accepted by the university officials. That remains a daily challenge.

Solution?

Ultimately, there are two options for students who are not able to make the exam in person. Either take the grade that they had prior (up to) the final exam or come to campus and take the exam. This solution is currently being adopted by most departments. Although, the following questions naturally arise:

1) What happens if the students are already traveling for the holidays? i.e. their final exam was on Wednesday only.

2) What happens to the students who lost loved ones in either Las Vegas or Thousand Oaks who might have PTSD but would like to take the exam in person?

3) Why can't online or take home exams be offered?

4) Why are students not showing up for exams after the 12th of December?

The threat is real for some more than others. If anyone has lost a loved one in either the Las Vegas shooting or the Thousand Oaks shooting, showing up to concentrate on an exam in a locked room might simply trigger PTSD and cause a breakdown -- i.e. trouble. Furthermore, we live in a society where some of our students are here in the United States 'illegally' and have stress with showing up to school where there is a strong police presence for a shooting. They might feel like the likelihood of unwanted questioning might increase and choose not to show up. This is real.

Although, I would state that the university is giving each student a fair chance not to be penalized for not showing up to the final exam. As a result, if you had a B or a C (or an A) in a class prior to the exam, then skip it and take the grade. Get a head start on the Christmas Holiday vacation.

Right now, the students who seem to be complaining are the one who are not performing optimally (well - i.e. bad students) in the class up to the final exam. These students might hold out hope of scoring an 'A' on the final even though the chance at doing so is very small. Especially, based on their past performance.

Conclusion...

Regardless of the excuse (or explanation), the university has an obligation to have every student voice/concern heard and treat them accordingly like a respected person. The conversation has only just begun amongst students, staff, and faculty along with university administrators. Each university will have to develop a plan to deal with such threats during trying times such as 'finals week.'

At the same time, the world we live in is changing all the time. Our expectations will have to change too. Events like this bring up the question regarding the overall purpose of academic testing (i.e. final exams). Each side of the problem -- students and faculty members -- are standing their individual and collective ground to deal with a terrible event. It will be exciting to see how this event is resolved. Hopefully, any solution will involve a safe route without any further unnecessary violence. The last problem that any society needs is more unnecessary violence spreading across various districts within it. Help us be proactive on the issue. Leave suggestions in the comment section below.

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