The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research
Volume 9 Issue 1 Article 5
2022
Faculty Perceptions of Safety and the Impact of Online Classroom Faculty Perceptions of Safety and the Impact of Online Classroom
Modalities During the COVID-19 Pandemic Modalities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Mary E. Ogidigben
Kennesaw State University
, mary[email protected]
Ernesto R. Rivera
Kennesaw State University
, [email protected]
Robert S. Keyser
Kennesaw State University
, rkeyser@kennesaw.edu
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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation
Ogidigben, Mary E.; Rivera, Ernesto R.; and Keyser, Robert S. (2022) "Faculty Perceptions of Safety and the
Impact of Online Classroom Modalities During the COVID-19 Pandemic,"
The Kennesaw Journal of
Undergraduate Research
: Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 5.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.62915/2474-4921.1228
Available at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/kjur/vol9/iss1/5
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Faculty Perceptions of Safety and the Impact of Online Classroom
Modalities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Mary E. Ogidigben, Ernesto R. Rivera and Dr. Robert S. Keyser
(Faculty Advisor)
Kennesaw State University
ABSTRACT
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected a number of institutions – one of which is
Kennesaw State University (KSU). In the fall 2020 semester, KSU implemented safety protocols
following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the University System
of Georgia (USG) guidelines. A cross-sectional survey was sent out for faculty to complete at their
own will regarding their thoughts on how the new guidelines are affecting their work as well as
their safety while on campus. The survey consisted of 18 Likert-scale questions and eight free
response questions. The survey results showed that 60.42% of faculty members reported that they
were trained regarding their new work requirements and that while faculty generally felt safe, they
had concerns about specific areas on campus. As most in-person classes across the KSU campus
were forced to become fully online, faculty reported that their relationships with students changed
as their class modalities changed. KSU faculty and students alike tried their best to adjust to the
new environment and will continue to do so to promote safety and stop the spread of COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, descriptive research, survey, Kennesaw State University
Introduction
Reports of COVID-19 first surfaced
in December 2019 (Borowiak et al., 2020)
but gained worldwide attention in January
2020 when the World Health Organization
(World Health Organization, 2020) declared
the COVID-19 outbreak a “public health
emergency of international concern”
(Kennedy, 2020). In February 2020, the
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) provided
guidelines on how to protect yourself and
others. These guidelines included wearing a
mask, maintaining a 6-foot distance from
others, avoiding crowds, washing hands,
covering coughs and sneezes, disinfecting
frequently touched surfaces, and monitoring
daily health (Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention [CDC], 2019). On March 11,
2020, the Director General of the World
Health Organization characterized COVID-
19 as a pandemic in his opening remarks at a
media briefing (World Health Organization,
2020).
COVID-19 has had a profound impact
on the world at large including college and
university campuses during the Spring 2020
semester, over the summer, and leading to the
Fall 2020 semester, the beginning of a new
academic year. With new COVID-19 cases
ramping up over the summer months, many
questioned why colleges and universities
wanted
students
to
return
to
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campus in the fall. Many schools took the
position that Northeastern University
assumed, that students wanted to return to
campus and their parents wanted them on
campus as well (Auon, 2020). Conversely,
institutions of higher learning face enormous
financial pressures to bring students back on
campus (Nocera, 2020). However, the return
to campus did not come without many
inherent risks. For example, many faculty
members across the U.S. expressed grave
doubts regarding their institutions’ ability to
safely bring students and staff together
(Marek, 2020).
Many universities, such as The
University of Alabama, The University of
Southern California, The Ohio State
University, and universities in Britain (Ivy.ai,
2020) rolled back campus reopening plans
due to COVID-19 outbreaks. Some
universities, such as The University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Notre
Dame, and Michigan State University allowed
students to move back on campus and then
immediately asked students to leave campus
due to a COVID-19 outbreak (Camera, 2020;
Grayer & Stuart, 2020; Nadworny, 2020a;
Raimonde, 2020). Examples of outbreak
countermeasures implemented by universities
included asking students and faculty to self-
quarantine (Diep, 2020), providing mobile
phone apps that allows users who test positive
for COVID-19 to upload a magic key to alert
other people. This system pings people who
are dangerous and those who are not
(Nadworny, 2020a). Finally, some
universities have implemented moving all in-
person classes to fully online for the coming
academic year (Vaghela, 2020). Many
universities view testing students for COVID-
19 as the only safe way to bring students back
on campus (Court & Lorin, 2020). While
several schools have provided COVID-19
guidelines for a safe
return to campus, the concern that some
schools may not follow the plan is prevalent
(Goldman, 2020).
Despite such countermeasures, there
has been an increase in new COVID-19 cases
at institutions around the world. Although the
University of Illinois conducted a mass
testing for COVID-19, hundreds of
asymptomatic cases have surfaced, mostly
among undergraduate students (Nadworny,
2020b). Virus clusters have appeared at
universities in France (Corbet & Siegel,
2020). Fall COVID-19 outbreaks have been
linked to student fraternities and sororities
(Reilly, 2020).
Issues that have surfaced on college
campuses during the COVID-19 pandemic
include modifying facilities such as libraries
(Dixon, 2020), addressing the needs of
college students with special needs (Gould,
2020), and managing the mental health of
students (Aufderheide & Gondles, 2020).
Additional COVID-19 issues include athletes
(Roetert, Bell, & Hainline, 2020), people in
general (Shuja, Aqeel, Jaffar, & Ahmed,
2020), protecting the safety and well-being of
the student LGBTQ+ community (Weissman,
2020; Wood, 2020), and the effects and added
responsibilities absorbed by the faculty
(Alexander, 2020).
The COVID-19 pandemic has come
with an abundance of uncertainty, including
whether students should be allowed to return
to college campuses. The University System
of Georgia (USG) determined that if Georgia
schools followed the safety guidelines set
forth by the CDC, students should be given
the opportunity to return to campus for the
fall semester of 2020. As a part of the USG,
Kennesaw State University (KSU) made the
decision to allow students to return to campus
while
working
with
faculty
members
to
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determine the safest way to deliver classes.
This resulted in most professors delivering
online and hybrid (50% online, 50% in-
person) classes with very few traditional in-
person classes. This descriptive study used a
survey to provide insight as to how faculty
members have responded to changes in the
classroom for safety during COVID-19 and
will explore faculty perspectives on KSU’s
new policies concerning COVID-19.
Literature Review
In response to the COVID-19
pandemic, plans to protect students, faculty,
and staff from the virus resulted in several
schools making the decision to deliver classes
online. This online transition came with a lot
of uncertainties as to how students and
faculty would respond to such a big change.
A main concern was how faculty and students
would adjust to the new class modality.
Mouchantaf (2020) concluded that
most faculty members were able to transition
well and mostly mentioned “students missing
lectures, technical complications, and a lack
of institutional help and training” as areas
that could improve. A medical college in
North India also found that teachers were
satisfied. However, contrary to Mouchantaf
(2020), the students at the medical college
reported feeling engaged and excited to learn
(Khan, Patra, Vaney, Mehndiratta, &
Chauhan, 2021).
Technological competence among
faculty members would certainly contribute
to student engagement (König, Jager-Biela,
& Glutsch, 2020). While many classes are
taught online at KSU, most classes are
usually taught in person. If faculty members
do not feel comfortable maneuvering the
technology necessary to teach online courses,
they may not be able to effectively
communicate with their students, leaving
their students feeling unengaged. This issue
may be overcome by allowing a safe space
for faculty to ask questions and address their
concerns with online learning as suggested
by Justis, Litts, Reina, and Rhodes (2020).
This study will focus on faculty
perspectives as they adjust to their new
classroom modality. The following research
questions (RQs) will be explored:
RQ1: Were faculty members able to
implement the safety guidelines put in place
by Kennesaw State University?
RQ2: How did faculty members
respond to their new environment?
RQ3: How did the changes to the
school environment impact faculty members’
classroom modalities and their relationships
with students?
Method
Participants
The participants in this study
consisted of faculty members and staff at
KSU on the Marietta campus. Faculty
members at KSU have a wide demographic
in both age and race. While every faculty
member registered with KSU was given a
chance to complete the survey, only 48
responses were recorded. A total of 52 faculty
members began the survey, but four members
did not complete the survey questions beyond
the online survey consent questions.
Materials
As researchers, we deliberated over
potential questions to generate survey
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questions that would directly answer the
research questions that were driving the study.
Once satisfied with the question pool, the
survey was submitted to and approved by the
Institutional Review Board (IRB) at
Kennesaw State University. The survey
consisted of eight free response questions and
18 Likert scale questions where:
1 = Strongly Agree
2 = Somewhat Agree
3 = Neutral
4 = Somewhat Disagree
5 = Disagree
6 = Strongly Disagree
All questions were directed towards
faculty members and were focused on
subjects that pertained to classroom modality,
COVID-19 safety, and challenges faced in
their new environment (see Appendix A).
Procedures
The data collection method was an
online survey that was created using
Qualtrics XM and then posted in the KSU
system for posting announcements, KSU
Today. As a result, faculty members and staff
could complete the survey at their own will.
At the end of the survey period, Qualtrics XM
generated a report with the 52 responses that
were
received.
Only
48
responses
were
useful
as four of them had no data beyond the online
survey consent questions. To interpret the
responses, descriptive statistics generated by
Qualtrics XM were used to analyze the
answers to the Likert scale questions while
the answers to the free-response questions
were grouped by similar answers and served
to provide more detailed responses for the
researchers. The Likert scale questions were
used in the Results section to quantify the
research questions set forth above, while the
free response answers were used to provide
quotes as additional proof of the conclusions
drawn by the researchers.
Results
At the end of the ten-day survey
period, Qualtrics XM provided the survey
responses to all questions as well as
descriptive statistics for the Likert scale
questions. Considering both the Likert scale
questions and the free response questions, a
full view of faculty members’ thoughts and
perceptions of safety, the new school
environment, classroom modality, and
faculty relationships with students were able
to be collected. These questions and responses
were categorized into three sections that
served as research questions one, two, and
three.
RQ1: Were faculty members able to
implement the safety guidelines put in place
by Kennesaw State University?
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Table 1
Responses to Research Question #1: Were faculty members able to implement the safety guidelines put
in place by Kennesaw State University?
Question
Number
Question
Strongly
Agree
Somewhat
Agree
Neither
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
3
Have you been
provided with
training regarding
changes to your
job due to
COVID-19?
17
12
8
6
2
4
Are you required
to wear a mask
during the course
of your work?
29
11
3
1
3
5
Have you heard of
KSU's
Presidential Task
Force?
30
11
4
1
1
6
Have you taken
the COVID-19
Self-Assessment
provided by
KSU?
14
4
3
1
15
7
Have you taken
advantage of the
on-campus
COVID-19
testing?
5
1
5
0
23
8
Did you receive a
branded KSU face
covering?
39
4
0
1
2
9
Do you feel that
KSU has taken
the appropriate
steps to ensure
multiple
cleanings
of high-traffic
areas?
19
14
6
4
2
5
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12
Regarding Social
Distancing
Guidelines, do
you know what
"rules of the road"
means?
21
9
0
1
11
Table 2
Descriptive Statistics for Research Question #1: Were faculty members able to implement the safety
guidelines put in place by Kennesaw State University?
Question
Number
Question
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std
Deviation
Variance
Count
3
Have you been
provided with
training regarding
changes to your
job due to
COVID-19?
1.00
6.00
2.42
1.44
2.08
48
4
Are you required
to wear a mask
during the course
of your work?
1.00
6.00
1.81
1.38
1.90
48
5
Have you heard
of KSU's
Presidential Task
Force?
1.00
6.00
1.65
1.09
1.19
48
6
Have you taken
the COVID-19
Self-Assessment
provided by
KSU?
1.00
6.00
3.75
2.11
4.44
48
7
Have you taken
advantage of the
on-campus
COVID-19
testing?
1.00
6.00
4.78
1.68
2.82
46
8
Did you receive a
branded KSU face
covering?
1.00
6.00
1.45
1.22
1.48
47
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Do you feel that
KSU has taken
the appropriate
steps to ensure
multiple
cleanings of
high-traffic
areas?
1.00
6.00
2.19
1.38
1.90
47
12
Regarding Social
Distancing
Guidelines, do
you know what
"rules of the road"
means?
1.00
6.00
2.90
2.12
4.51
48
Based on the survey results (see
Tables 1 and 2), 60.42% of faculty members
reported that they were trained regarding their
new work requirements, 85.42% of faculty
reported they were made aware of the
Presidential Task Force, and 90% of those
who responded to the survey were
administered a KSU face mask and were made
aware of the requirement to wear the masks.
While most faculty members had not taken
advantage of the on-campus COVID- 19
testing, about half of the faculty had taken the
COVID-19 Self-Assessment quiz provided by
KSU. Based on free response questions #7 and
#8, three out of eight faculty members
reported that they were provided with
cleaning supplies and seven out of eleven
faculty members reported using them
regularly as well as reported that there were
cleaning supplies in the classrooms. However,
there were two responses stating that no
cleaning supplies had been provided as well
as the following response:
I see cleaning supplies around the
building. I also see someone come
into my office which only I use and
clean the door handle to a closet that
has not been used in years every
single day. Why? Seems like a waste
of resources (Response to free
response question #8).
This suggests that while each faculty
member may not have been provided
cleaning supplies, the maintenance staff still
made an effort to clean each office and
classroom.
RQ2: How did faculty members
respond to their new environment?
Based on the survey results (see
Tables 3 and 4), 70.83% of faculty members
reported that they felt comfortable and safe
on campus overall, but when asked about
specific places on campus, the results varied
greatly. Due to differing results/comments
when presented with sanitation effort
questions in the survey, the results are
inconclusive as to whether faculty are
satisfied with the new cleaning/disinfecting
efforts. Two responses from free response
question #6 also revealed concerns over
students and faculty alike who do not follow
the guidelines as well as the lack of required
testing. One faculty member reported being
“scared of colleagues who appear to forget
their mask or don’t want to wear it and don’t
seem to believe they should while wanting to
speak with [them] in a single office setting.”
This faculty member continued saying, “I
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have felt ‘hostage’ to two different (male)
colleagues who didn’t think they needed to
have a mask on for one-on-one interaction.”
It is not just faculty who are not following
CDC guidelines. Another faculty member
stated that they have “stress and anxiety of
worrying that [they are] in an unsafe
environment because students are not being
careful.” While these responses and two more
like them point to a fear of being on campus,
the Likert scale questions must also be taken
into consideration. Looking at all the
evidence, while faculty are unsure about their
safety in some areas, 70.83% are somewhat
confident about being on campus.
Table 3
Responses to Research Question #2: How did faculty members respond to their new
environment?
Question
Number
Questions
Strongly
Agree
Somewhat
Agree
Neither
Somewhat
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
1
Do you feel safe
coming to work at
KSU?
19
15
1
5
6
2
10
Do you feel safe
eating at Stingers?
9
4
18
0
7
10
11
Do you feel safe
using the Wellness
Center?
6
2
21
3
4
11
13
Do you find it easy to
stay 6 feet apart from
everyone while
indoors?
13
15
2
5
4
9
14
Do you feel that the
high-touch surfaces
are being cleaned
often enough to
prevent COVID-19
from spreading?
14
10
8
8
5
3
15
Have you seen people
indoors who are not
wearing a face
covering when they
should?
15
11
5
2
3
11
15a
Are you likely to
approach that person
and correct their
behavior?
5
7
6
7
7
15
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Do you feel safe
using the Owl Bus?
3
3
28
2
4
8
17
Do you feel that the
Owl Bus is being
cleaned often enough
to prevent COVID-19
from spreading?
1
2
38
0
3
2
Table 4
Descriptive Statistics for Research Question #2: How did faculty members respond to their new
environment?
Question
Number
Questions
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std
Deviation
Variance
Count
1
Do you feel safe
coming to work at
KSU?
1.00
6.00
2.38
1.58
2.48
48
10
Do you feel safe
eating at Stingers?
1.00
6.00
3.46
1.76
3.08
48
11
Do you feel safe
using the
Wellness Center?
1.00
6.00
3.64
1.63
2.66
47
13
Do you find it
easy to stay 6 feet
apart from
everyone while
indoors?
1.00
6.00
2.98
1.88
3.52
48
14
Do you feel that
the high-touch
surfaces are being
cleaned often
enough to prevent
COVID-19 from
spreading?
1.00
6.00
2.77
1.57
2.47
48
15
Have you seen
people indoors
who are not
wearing a face
covering when
they should?
1.00
6.00
3.00
1.98
3.91
47
15a
Are you likely to
approach that
person and correct
their behavior?
1.00
6.00
4.04
1.76
3.10
47
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16
Do you feel safe
using the Owl
Bus?
1.00
6.00
3.52
1.38
1.92
48
17
Do you feel that
the Owl Bus is
being cleaned
often enough to
prevent COVID-
19 from
spreading?
1.00
6.00
3.17
0.87
0.75
46
RQ3: How did the changes to the
school environment impact faculty members’
classroom modalities and their relationships
with students?
Table 5
Responses to Research Question #3: How did the changes to the school environment impact
faculty members’ classroom modalities and their relationships with students?
Question
Number
Question
Strongly
Agree
Somewhat
Agree
Neither
Somewhat
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
2
Has COVID-19
impacted the way
you do work at
KSU?
32
11
0
0
1
4
Table 6
Descriptive Statistics for Research Question #3: How did the changes to the school environment
impact faculty members’ classroom modalities and their relationships with students?
Question
Number
Question
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std
Deviation
Variance
Count
2
Has COVID-19
impacted the way
you do work at
KSU?
1.00
6.00
1.73
1.45
2.11
48
From the Likert-scale survey
questions (see Tables 5 and 6), 89.59% of
faculty members reported that COVID-19
impacted the way they do work at KSU. One
major difference shown in free response
questions #1 and #2 was that the staff held
office hours almost exclusively online rather
than
in
person,
and
while
more
students
attended the office hours, faculty found it
difficult to connect with students both on and
off campus. For on campus meetings, one
faculty member reported “indoor air quality
and not wanting to be in close quarters” as a
challenge of interacting with students on
campus. This concurred with another
response stating “students gather outdoors
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with no distance at all thus contributing to
increase virus spread [and] also when indoors,
in general people do not wear face masks
properly not covering their noses” as a reason
why face-to-face interaction was difficult.
Another major difference shown in free
response questions #3-5 was classroom
modality and attendance. While not all classes
had to change their class format in response to
COVID-19, some face-to-face and hybrid
classes were forced to go fully online.
Because of this switch in class modalities,
faculty had to adjust their class content to
accommodate for demonstrations that would
have required student involvement and class
exercises that would be difficult to monitor
online. For those classes that remained on
campus, one of the faculty members reported
50% less enrollment and another reported
using rotational schedules to determine which
students would be in class each day.
Discussion
The results related to safety on
campus were inconclusive. In contradiction
with our initial thoughts, while faculty
members claim to feel safe enough to be on
campus, it appears that not all faculty
members believed enough safety precautions
were taken. However, this is not uncommon
as many faculty members across the United
States had doubts about their schools keeping
them safe on campus (Marek, 2020). Faculty
members at KSU mentioned multiple
different reasons why they felt unsafe on
campus, and most of them point to safety
precautions not being enforced in the way
that faculty members expected. In relation to
faculty members’ relationships with students
and their overall classroom environment,
while not all faculty members are content
with their class modality, most of the faculty
were
able
to
transition
to
online
classes
smoothly. Faculty members were probably
more receptive to teaching online classes
because it was a commonly-used
countermeasure in preventing outbreaks on
campus (Vaghela, 2020). Changing class
modality to online instead of face-to-face
likely also brought solace to those faculty
members who felt they would be unsafe on
campus.
Limitations
One of the major limitations of the
study is that it only looks at faculty members
from KSU’s Marietta campus and does not
include faculty from the school’s Kennesaw
campus. Another limitation is that
demographic data was not collected, which
means that we cannot know how well our
findings reflect the general demographics at
KSU. Also, the survey was only open to
faculty members for ten days. For the next
study, researchers should allow faculty
members at least 30 days to fill out the survey
as well as include demographic data
questions to determine how well the survey
results reflect the faculty population.
Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic required
institutions such as KSU to drastically change
the way they operate on campus as well as to
change the way their classes are delivered.
This descriptive article used a survey to
explore how faculty at KSU responded to
these changes and to get their thoughts on
their new environment. While most faculty
tried their best to adjust to fully online classes
and the new safety protocols on campus, they
were not able to connect with students as they
usually would. This was as a result of not only
the online class modality, but also due to fear
of catching COVID-19 on campus. This was
indeed a
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concern among many faculty members in
colleges across the U.S. (Marek, 2020). KSU
faculty’s feelings of safety on campus were
overall positive, but there were some faculty
members who were unsure of whether they
felt that the school did an adequate job of
cleaning/disinfecting certain areas and
providing cleaning supplies to students and
other faculty members.
Overall, this study showed that
faculty members were concerned about their
students’ learning environment as well as
everyone’s overall safety. Faculty were
aware that KSU was trying to keep staff and
students safe but felt there was a need for
more instruction about safety guidelines as
well as implementation of the guidelines.
Many institutions tried to keep up
with the guidelines provided by the CDC. For
example, the University of Illinois
announced that rigorous mass testing would
identify those students who had contracted
the COVID virus before it became a crisis
(Nadworny, 2020c). KSU followed all the
safety protocols from the USG and the CDC
to the best of their ability. Faculty and
students alike tried their best to keep up with
the many changes that came with the new
school year. The Fall 2020 semester served as
a good trial run as changes are always being
made to improve the quality of education at
KSU while still maintaining the safety
guidelines to stop the spread of COVID-19.
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Appendix A: Survey Questions
Likert-Scale Survey Questions
#
Questions
1
Do you feel safe coming to work at KSU?
2
Has COVID-19 impacted the way you do work at KSU?
3
Have you been provided with training regarding changes to your job due to COVID-19?
4
Are you required to wear a mask during the course of your work?
5
Have you heard of KSU's Presidential Task Force?
6
Have you taken the COVID-19 Self-Assessment provided by KSU?
7
Have you taken advantage of the on-campus COVID-19 testing?
8
Did you receive a branded KSU face covering?
9
Do you feel that KSU has taken the appropriate steps to ensure multiple cleanings of high-traffic areas?
10
Do you feel safe eating at Stingers?
11
Do you feel safe using the Wellness Center?
12
Regarding Social Distancing Guidelines, do you know what "rules of the road" means?
13
Do you find it easy to stay 6 feet apart from everyone while indoors?
14
Do you feel that the high-touch surfaces are being cleaned often enough to prevent COVID-19 from
spreading?
15
Have you seen people indoors who are not wearing a face covering when they should?
15a
Are you likely to approach that person and correct their behavior?
16
Do you feel safe using the Owl Bus?
17
Do you feel that the Owl Bus is being cleaned often enough to prevent COVID-19 from spreading?
15
Ogidigben et al.: Faculty Perceptions of Safety and the Impact of Online Classroom Modalities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Published by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University, 2022
Free Response Survey Questions
#
Questions
1
Has anything changed about your office hours?
2
Is interacting with students more of a challenge now? If yes, how so?
3
What kind of format is your class being delivered? What kind of format was it supposed to be?
4
What changes to your class content/schedule did you have to make to accommodate your new
format?
5
If time is spent in-person, how has social distancing changed your class size?
6
What changes have impacted you the most due to COVID-19?
7
Are cleaning supplies available in every classroom? If yes, are students using them?
8
Have you been provided with cleaning supplies?
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DOI: 10.62915/2474-4921.1228