Student Attitudes Towards Policies In- Place to Stop the Spread of Covid-19 on College Campuses
Cicely A. Dunaway
Department of Sociology, Longwood University
Abstract
Literature has shown social distancing and wearing face masks helps preventing transmission of covid-19, but it only works if people are willing to adhere to those techniques. The purpose of this study is to assess students’ attitudes towards policies put in place on campus and whether they believe they are beneficial in stopping the spread of covid-19. 433 Longwood University students took an online survey asking questions about how much they support specific policies and how the institution is doing in preventing the spread of covid-19. This is a mixed method study with the independent variables asking about attitudes towards the guest policy and face mask policy. The dependent variable is whether students believe these policies are beneficial or not. After analyzing data, major themes including, mask and social distancing, guest policy, and policy dissatisfaction. Most student supported the face mask policy but wanted to change the guest policy. Analysis showed no significant results to show whether student support of specific policies will predict if they believe all policies on campus to be beneficial at stopping the spread of covid-19. Future research should look at other policies and attempt to get data from faculty and graduate students.
Key terms: policies, student attitudes, covid-19, coronavirus
Introduction
Policies have been put in place across the nation to help prevent the spread of covid-19. A few of these include wearing a face mask, social distancing, and quarantining. States have mandated the number of individuals who can be in an area, some even going so far to instill a curfew. With the fall approaching, students were going back to college and a new way to learn needed to be figured out, the best way was to have students attend online classes and follow strict guidelines throughout the semester. Universities created task forces to come up with all the guidelines students and faculty would follow in order to keep case numbers and transmission low. There has been a gap in the research that does not explain if students are willing to follow guidelines and if that willingness will make policies more beneficial on campuses. Researching college students allows for data to collected on a group that influences many other individuals, so knowing their attitudes towards changes being made will help researchers understand how others will react. This study hopes to fill this gap and show if students support and agree with specific policies instilled on campus it will help make the policies more beneficial at preventing the spread of covid-19.
Literature Review
The CDC has done extensive research on the coronavirus and has kept the public informed on the details of what the virus is and does. The virus effects each individual a little differently depending on health status, but main symptoms include respiratory issues (Dousari et al., 2020). Since there is no vaccine developed yet, there can only be prevention plans put in place. These include quarantining and isolating as well as the social distancing and mask wearing policies that campuses are putting in place (Kelly & Columbus, 2020).
Within the last six months there has been an epidemic across the world created by the coronavirus disease. This disease has accounted for the disruption of learning specifically within higher education and led to many institutions sending students home before the semester was over. With this many attitudes have been formed by college students towards their university with how the virus is being dealt with. Sahu (2020) researched attitudes college students formed towards policies put in place on campus and found it was mainly negative. This seems to be true for majority of college aged students. When returning in the fall universities must put in place a task force which provides policies and guidelines that all faculty, staff, and students follow to ensure safety across campus. These policies include the mask wearing guidelines, how social distancing will work on campus, and how classes will resume (Kelly & Columbus, 2020).
Coronavirus
The coronavirus was recently identified in a 60 year old male residing in Wuhan, China. The virus is found in bats and has mutated to begin affecting humans (Dousari et al., 2020). It is been researched that the virus is mainly transmitted through close contact through the air. Most symptoms do not appear until about 14 days, these symptoms include fever, fatigue, cough, and loss of taste. as of right now there is no vaccine, so the best prevention technique is to stay isolated and social distance (Dousari et al., 2020). Research conducted on a swiss army base agreed that an effective prevention measure was social distancing (Bielecki et al., 2020). Bielecki et al. (2020) conducted research on the army base by separating individuals into barracks as soon as the first case was identified. They then put in multiple policies including social distancing and found after retesting participants that being separated from one another helped to prevent the spread of the virus (Bielecki et al., 2020).
With campuses opening in the fall, many must have a task force in place specifically for creating regulations and guidelines for the faculty and students to follow in their return (Sahu, 2020). These task forces will look at the many aspects that returning to campus involves such as, the mask policy, social distancing requirements, and how classrooms will be set up. Kelly and Columbus (2020) stated universities were attempting to answer these questions and arrive at guidelines that will be followed amongst everyone on campus. Since schools have recently being going back to school there is not much research conducted on how well these policies have helped stop the spread of covid-19. Research has shown that the policies being put on campuses should be beneficial as long as all persons on campus follow them strictly.
Attitudes Towards Online Classes
Attitudes from college students towards having classes being moved online or hybrid have become a focus on campuses to measure. Apostl and Netedu (2020) researched these attitudes by sending a survey sent out to students attending the University Al. Ioan Cuza. The survey was first sent out in March then again in June to help compare the differences in students’ views of online classes. Many students replied to the first survey stating online classes were good and they felt as if they were learning the material, but by the second survey in June their views were completely different because it more accurately represents what the students actually learned while being online (Apostl & Netedu, 2020). This research is supported by a collection of surveys sent to student in universities and colleges across the United States that was reviewed by Kelly and Columbus (2020) by stating students were not excited for the change in course teaching style. Along with this, students believed there would be more stressors through online classes outside of learning the material, mainly focused on health issues (Kelly & Columbus, 2020).
Data and Methods
Sample
College students attending a small, liberal arts university in central Virginia received a google questionnaire sent via internet. The questionnaire consisted of questions pertaining to policies put in place, involvement on campus, mental health status, and demographics to assess the attitudes of college students towards covid-19. The questionnaire was sent through convenience sampling, to students who are currently enrolled in the Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice departments through their respected faculty. Along with this, the questionnaire was sent to individuals in Greek life that researchers are involved in, the athletics department, club sports, and posted on individual class social media pages.
Quantitative Data
The close ended questions analyzed included “what are students attitudes towards new policies put in place by Longwood University due to covid-19?” and “Longwood requires all students, faculty, and guest to wear face masks on campus with few (stated) exceptions. Do you support the face mask policy at Longwood University?” The questionnaire included closed ended questions that are analyzed by charts showing descriptive data.
Qualitative Data
The open ended questions analyzed included “what seems to be working well this semester?” and “is there anything you would like us to know related to Longwood and changes due to COVID-19?” The questions are analyzed by an open coding technique that analyzes themes, including attitudes towards mask wearing, social distancing, and the guest policy, and those who had no input. Descriptive statistics showed that ___% of individuals who completed the questionnaire answered the open ended questions.
Findings
Quantitative Findings
The dependent variable is how beneficial students perceived policies were at preventing the spread of covid-19 on campus. This is asked on a 0 (not beneficial) to 10 (most beneficial) scale. The independent variable was measured by if students supported the guest policy and face mask policy. Respondents answered, “yes”, “no”, “maybe”, “does not apply”. The hypothesis was the higher percent of support from students of the guest and face mask policies would show the policies put in place are more beneficial to stopping the spread of covid-19 on campus.
Dependent Variable
The mean score for how beneficial policies put in place are to stop the spread of covid-19 was 6.43. The standard deviation was 2.41. This means 68% of the data falls between 4.02 and 8.84. This shows that answers for this variable varied greatly.
Independent Variables
Table 1 shows the percent of students supporting the guest policy. The majority of respondents reported they do not support the guest policy (42.03%). Out of the 433 respondents 5% did not answer the question. There was a similar percentage of students that answered “yes” (21.48%) and those who answered with “maybe” (20.79%).
Table 1.
Percent of students supporting the guest policy
| Guest Policy | Count | Percent |
| Doesn’t apply | 46 | 10.62 |
| maybe | 90 | 20.79 |
| no | 182 | 42.03 |
| yes | 93 | 21.48 |
| Missing | 22 | 5.08 |
Note. N=433
Table 2 shows the percent of students supporting the face mask policy. The majority of respondent reported they supported the face mask policy (83.37%). Only 2.48% of respondents did not answer the question.
Table 2.
Percent of students supporting the face mask policy
| Mask Policy | Count | Percent |
| maybe | 26 | 6.45 |
| no | 31 | 7.69 |
| yes | 336 | 83.37 |
| missing | 10 | 2.48 |
Note. N=403
Bivariate Comparisons
Table 3 shows the comparison between respondents’ support of the guest policy and whether they found policies put in place to be beneficial to stopping the spread of covid-19 on campus. The data showed little variation in support for the policy and if students found the policies to be beneficial.
Table 3.
Average support of guest policy on how beneficial policies are
| Support of Guest Policy | Means |
| Doesn’t apply | 6.46 |
| maybe | 7.09 |
| no | 5.74 |
| yes | 7.15 |
| missing | 6.57 |
Note. N= 433
Table 4 shows the comparison between respondents’ support of the face mask policy and whether they found policies put in place to be beneficial to stopping the spread of covid-19 on campus. The data showed students who supported the face mask policy agreed with the policies being beneficial the most (6.75).
Table 4.
Average support of face mask policy on how beneficial policies are
| Support of Face Mask Policy | Means |
| maybe | 5.50 |
| no | 3.55 |
| yes | 6.75 |
| missing | 6.44 |
Note. N=433
The original hypothesis stated the higher percent of support from students of the guest and face mask policies would show the policies put in place are more beneficial to stopping the spread of covid-19 on campus. The data showed this to be true regarding both the guest and face mask policies, but the support of both policies did not strongly affect if students found policies put in place to be beneficial at stopping the spread of covid-19 on campus due to the means of all answers having little variability.
Qualitative Findings
The open ended question were asked to assess students attitudes towards specific topics by allowing them to give their own answers. After analyzing these questions three major themes stood out consisting of the face mask and social distancing policies, guest policy, and overall policy dissatisfaction. Longwood has put in place many policies to keep their students safe and healthy throughout the school year, by doing so campus life is arguably drastically different from years before. On campus students are wearing face masks and staying distant from one another as to adhere to the face mask and distancing policies. Within campus owned housing students must follow the guest policy which creates for social interaction to decrease in the comfort of student’s individual spaces. With all changes there will be individuals who think policies are working and those who think the policies do not work. The questions asking what students think is going well and if there is anything else researchers should know, help create a better understanding of the overall student’s attitudes towards the changes made this school year.
Mask and Social Distancing
When reviewing the question about what students think are working well on campus many have positive feedback regarding the face mask and social distancing policies. Longwood has put in place a mask policy that states mask must been worn in buildings and around campus if social distancing can not be achieved, this is exemplified by student 208 stating, “I think for the most part students are wearing their masks and remaining 6 feet apart from others while on campus.” Along with the face mask policy students are pleased with individuals following the social distancing guidelines. Student 069 stated, “Face mask signs all over campus are good. The social distancing stickers remind people too.” Longwood placing stickers on the ground and on doorways it gives students constant reminders to follow policies designed to keep them and others healthy. In response to this question, most students showed to have positive attitudes towards Longwood’s face mask and social distancing policies.
Guest Policy
Students frequently brought up the guest policy when asked if they wanted to let us know anything else. Many students want the guest policy to be changed and hold negative views such as student 257 that says, “it’s like a jail and they would like to be able to have guests.” Longwood’s guest policy states students are not allowed to visit any residence halls in which they do not live in. This means many students living in campus housing are not able to hang-out with their friends unless it is outside on campus. Students realize other individuals are not following this policy as student 299 said, “Guest policy is not working. People are still going places and sneaking people in.” Along with this, students that do not live in campus housing do not have to follow a guest policy creating unequal enforcement of this policy. Having inconsistencies and individuals not adhering to the guest policy it makes it difficult for Longwood to manage the spread of covid-19 within living quarters.
Policy Dissatisfaction
Both questions asking students about what they thought was going well and asking if there was anything else they wanted researchers to know showed that some students were overall dissatisfied with policies put in place by Longwood. Many answered “no” to these questions while others expanded such as student 184 who stated, “Nothing actually, I don’t like the way the school approached covid-19” and student 318 who responded, “Honestly, nothing. This school has been such a disappointment to me after they promised for 6 months everything.” in response to what is going well on campus. Longwood has made many changes to campus lifestyle which has made several students upset with the school. Some of these changes have left students thinking they “should’ve just stayed home” (student 132). These negative attitudes from students shed a bad light towards Longwood and their attempts to prevent the spread of covid-19, but there were a few students who gave negative input as well as advice for how they would like things to change. By taking advice straight from students it allows the university to accurately make adjustments to better the student morale and make proper changes to preventing the spread of covid-19.
Conclusion
Through analyzing student responses from a questionnaire asking about students’ attitudes towards policies and how beneficial they are at stopping the spread of covid-19, it was shown students’ support towards specific policies cannot predict whether they found policies to be beneficial. Many students agreed with the face mask policy and supported it in wearing masks around campus, but this was not true for the guest policy. Majority of students reported the guest policy should be changed and that it is not followed. After analyzing both the quantitative and qualitative data it was shown there was little variability between both policies thus showing students’ attitudes cannot predict how beneficial policies are around campus. Previous research has shown that if all students support the policies and follow all guidelines then the spread of covid-19 on campus should be minimal. This is disproven by the results from this study because even though students agree with the face mask and social distancing policies it does not show they think the policies Longwood has instilled will be beneficial. Along with this, analysis of qualitative data has shown that student morale has decreased due to all of the policies put in place which may contribute to why attitudes cannot predict how beneficial policies are.
References
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