Applying Resilience Theory to'Bounce Forward' from COVID-19 for Environmental Engineering Programs

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted higher education in numerous ways. As COVID-19 spread worldwide in the spring of 2020, most colleges and universities closed their campuses and transitioned to remote learning platforms. As uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 persisted into 2021, many colleges and universities continued to employ remote learning or transitioned to hybrid in-person/remote learning approaches to prevent further outbreaks on campuses. While COVID-19 has been devastating, we propose that the pandemic also presents an unprecedented opportunity to reflect, reassess, and 'bounce forward' to become more efficient, effective, and resilient. The National Academy of Sciences' definition of resilience has spurred a theory of resilience that centers on four successive stages surrounding a disruptive event, such as COVID-19: (1) plan and prepare, (2) absorb, (3) recover, and (4) adapt. In this paper we propose a framework that environmental programs can employ to 'adapt' (stage 4) and 'bounce forward' to a more resilient modus operandi long-term. The framework first identifies each activity a program executes, and then bins them into one of four categories based on importance relative to the program's outcomes: critical, essential, enhancing, or ancillary. Critical and essential activities are those that are necessary to achieve the program's educational outcomes and remain ABET compliant, or those that directly underpin and enable achievement of outcomes and accreditation, respectively. Enhancing and ancillary activities are those that substantially elevate or noticeably enhance, respectively, a program's educational experience; however, if they are not executed, do not result in a failure to achieve a program's educational objectives. Once activities are identified and binned, opportunities for 'bouncing forward' are identified and explored. While the results of this assessment will inevitably look different for each environmental engineering program, our program found opportunities to immediately 'bounce forward' in several areas, to include integrating remote teaching and distance learning best practices and streamlining administrative practices. We also identified opportunities to 'bounce forward' over the next three to five years, to include eliminating low payoff activities and reassessing the way we do laboratory work. However, continual clear-eyed self-assessment is required to fully realize the 'bounce forward' opportunities available post-pandemic.