Engaging with Students and Faculties Online in the Era of the Corona Virus Pandemic: A Higher Education Perspective

Higher Education institutions are not strangers to sudden shocks or dips in the economic environment that sneaks upon them and create budget cuts and job losses due to poor enrolments, but quite often these situations have been gradual rather than abrupt, and in most circumstances had provided higher education the space to weed out unviable courses and unsustainable practices. The same cannot be said of the Corona Virus pandemic that has befallen much of the world currently. It came in quick and fast and spared none in its deathly grip. Higher education institutions scrambled to move students and faculty engagement and learning and teaching online. What are some of the effects of this abrupt move, and how has this impacted institutions and international students? This paper will attempt to provide some insights into the ways in which faculty and students are adapting to this new environment amidst anxieties, bereft of the usual campus camaraderie and day to day engagement in person.