Ole Miss Parents And Students Voice Concerns Over Different Instruction Methods In Wake Of Covid 19

OXFORD, MISS. (WCBI) – Some Ole Miss parents and students say measures to curb the spread of Covid 19 by the university have negatively impacted the quality of education.

Patrick Tucker and other parents of Ole Miss students are concerned about how classes are being taught.

Tucker’s son is a senior.

Before the fall semester started, the university released its plans to have a combination of face to face instruction, in the classroom, and hybrid instruction, with at least 50 percent in class, and the other half by remote, such as zoom.

Tucker’s son says that’s not how things played out for his schedule. Now, the parent is claiming four of his sons are not taught by an instructor. Tucker claims no one shows up to teach those virtual learning classes.

“That’s not what we paid for, we are paying very good money for him to teach himself,” Dr. Tucker said.

An Ole Miss spokesman wanted more information before commenting on this claim.

Tucker says he’s taken in complaints to the university and didn’t feel like he got a good response. That’s why he created the a Facebook group called “Keep Mississippi Universities Open.”

As The University of Mississippi began to plan for its fall semester, a resolution from the Institutions of Higher Learning encouraged universities to offer as many in person classes as possible, while taking steps to keep students, faculty and staff safe. The IHL also said class size and location would remain fluid.

Tucker believes many professors and instructors are properly teaching class.
However, he wants something done about those that he claims are not showing up or responding to students.

“There are many, that, when they receive an email from students, with a question and don’t get back to those students within three weeks, they don’t deserve to be a professor at Ole Miss,” Dr. Tucker said.

Jim Zook chief marketing and communications officer for Ole Miss. He says the university has heard from parents and had a plan in place.

“Our overarching goal was to enable our students to stay on track while earning their degrees, while at the same time, protecting the safety and well being of everybody in our campus community, we think we got a lot of things right and we’ve learned some lessons along the way,” Zook said.

Zook believes recent mid-term results show some students are making adjustments successfully.

“Academically, the student Body as a whole, performed better at mid term, grade wise, then the Student Body had in either of the previous two falls, that doesn’t mean everybody is doing well, we know there are students for whom this environment is not conducive to learn effectively,” Zook said.

Covid numbers have been low through most of the semester on campus. This week, two students and one employee have tested positive. University officials will say that’s because of protocols in place, while concerned parents and students say it’s a good indication it’s time to open the classrooms for more in person learning.