How These International MBA Students Are Coping With COVID-19 Restrictions
SAINT JOHN – When physical distancing measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 reached universities, staff at the MBA program at UNB’s Saint John campus moved fast to accommodate changes.
In about a week, some 93 students and six instructors had been moved to alternative delivery method platforms, ready to begin the third of five modules of the academic year, said program director Shelley Rinehart.
“What we wanted to do was really mimic the classroom experience but use technology to do that,” she said. “There are lots of virtual classes, as well as online tutorials that you can watch at your own pace to get comfortable with the technology for either teaching or learning.”
Using a combination of Microsoft Teams and Zoom Pro, instructors can create virtual classrooms, including “break-out rooms” for group work on business cases, for instance.
The schedules for classes remain the same – classes are in four-hour blocks and student’s schedules are about four to eight hours, three to four days a week. Students can then watch the video supplements at their own time.
With many students and faculty already familiar with various virtual team platforms, the change has been relatively smooth, and most issues were ironed out in the first week, Rinehart said.
Although so, there were some challenges with workspaces at home.
“We’re used to working at home, we’re just not used to working from home,” she said. “When you’re at home, you curl up in the chair, you work on the dining room table, and I think for the first little while, that’s what everybody was doing until their backs hurt and their necks hurt.”
But soon enough, students were helping each other find ways to elevate their laptops, take breaks from the screens of their devices, or find deals for ergonomic chairs.
“It was kind of cool to see how they came together and were really trying to troubleshoot together.”
Rinehart is optimistic the challenges that come with COVID-19 are also opportunities for her students to prepare for the new normal.
“We see more and more organizations that operate in global environments where people are expected to be able to work at a distance, to work remotely, but also manage virtual teams,” she said.
“While those skillsets usually tend to be acquired on the job, I think our students are getting a really good learning experience in addition to their MBA learning, in how to do all of those things.”
Supporting Students
Moving classes to the alternative delivery method was one thing, supporting students, especially those coming from abroad and are here without family, is another.
Staff uses everything from Whatsapp, a Facebook page, weekly Zoom meetings, to email to keep students in the loop and share tips on how to deal with social isolation.
“I think the contact also really helps when we have a Zoom meeting,” Rinehart said, adding some students now use Zoom to socialize too.
That support is helpful for Rohit Purushothaman, who is from Kerala, India. He’s lived away from his family for many years, but this time it’s different.
“The fact that there’s a pandemic going around the world, it gives me sleepless nights sometimes. But the fact that we have technology and I can reach [my family] in the blink of an eye puts me at ease,” he said. “Anytime I feel like I need to talk to them, I just give them a video call or a voice call. Thank God.”
Kerala, where his mother lives, has been hailed for being able to effectively flatten the curve.
In Saint John, Purushothaman lives with three other MBA students. He said he’s doing okay because MBA team member Sarah Craig checks in with them often and is easy to reach when they need her.
Regular updates from federal, provincial and municipal governments and the low number of cases in New Brunswick also put him at ease.
“I’m always informed with what’s happening in the province and around me,” he said, adding he’s been staying home except for grocery-runs, which gets hard.
“But it’s a group effort. We have the government working, the university people working, and then us, who live here.”
A former analyst for JPMorgan in India, Purushothaman is used to having virtual meetings. It’s the staring at a screen for hours on end that’s new, he said.
But it helps that his classes still have the same schedule, with faculty and students giving the same amount of effort. He also still has teamwork, discussions and deadlines.
“We still have the flow of work that happens…it’s just that it’s not in the classroom right now,” he said. “It got off to a rocky start since we’re not meeting in person, but we’re adapting to that as well.”
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Maria Tofowomo, from Lagos, Nigeria, has a different set of challenges. She lives with her two children. Her husband, a musician who was traveling just as the effects of the pandemic became global, was supposed to join them mid-March.
But plans changed when borders closed around the world. The shutdown was a “rude shock,” she said, adding her husband now has to wait out the situation in Nigeria.
“Now we have a time scheduled to call each other. When WhatsApp is not working, we switch to Facetime…we have all the apps,” she said.
Studying at home with children, amidst the uncertainty, can get overwhelming. But she says she’s adjusted to the situation, figuring out routines and times when she’s most productive to do schoolwork.
She says having positive people around and putting the same energy at home as she would in a physical environment helps her tackle work better. She also reaches out to her classmates for moral support.
“I wasn’t shy to tell people around me I was overwhelmed. I have to talk. I told my friends who are in the same class that I’m going crazy,” she said, laughing. “So that support helped as well.”
When times get tough, Tofowomo also relies on her network and church community.
During Easter, she and her children were able to attend church online and take part in making a video alongside other members of the congregation. The week prior, her pastor’s daughter dropped off some cookies.
“That was quite touching,” she said. “They all know my husband is not here, so everybody’s just trying to give us the support that they can.”
Both Purushothaman and Tofowomo say they’re hopeful that their education won’t be negatively affected, even if work placements in upcoming modules may have to be done differently.
“The management has been really open to suggestions and open to listening to students’ concerns, so I’m not worried about my education,” Purushothaman said.
He’s also grateful for the continued hard work of frontline workers, university staff, and government representatives.
“I don’t have a job. I’m a student right now. So, my surrounding right now is putting me at ease. I’d like to thank everyone that’s part of that environment,” he said.
For those struggling with the current situation, Tofowomo encourages them to share.
“Talk to people. Everybody is going through the same stage,” she said. “[Sharing] is like opening your curtain, and you see light coming. I realized that it helps my mood.”
This story was sponsored by the MBA program at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John.