WEBVTT - Trinity College President on Return to Classes

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason

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<v Speaker 1>Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. So that is a perfect segue

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<v Speaker 1>to our next guest. Joann Burger Sweeney is the president

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<v Speaker 1>of Trinity College, joining us on the phone from Hartford,

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<v Speaker 1>and I had the pleasure of meeting her several years

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<v Speaker 1>ago through one of their key alum from the private

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<v Speaker 1>equity world, Paul Raither. He and I went up to

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<v Speaker 1>do a little session. Joanne is amazing, so happy to

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<v Speaker 1>have you here with us. How are you doing? I

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<v Speaker 1>am doing well. Thank you for asking. I'm doing well

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<v Speaker 1>because I do think this is a time of hope

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<v Speaker 1>and a time of potential change. It is we hope

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<v Speaker 1>and and tell us why tell us why you're you're hopeful?

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<v Speaker 1>Because I have to say, Joanne, you are in the

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<v Speaker 1>midst of so many things in the world of higher education.

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<v Speaker 1>Just to start, when you're thinking about coming back to school,

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<v Speaker 1>let's start there. What is that like right now for

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<v Speaker 1>students at Trinity Right So, we are planning for a

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<v Speaker 1>robust experience for our students, taking into consideration health and

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<v Speaker 1>safety as a priority. Our students will be meeting regularly

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<v Speaker 1>and have safe interactions with their professors. We think with

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<v Speaker 1>coaches and staff, we are also ready to pivot if

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<v Speaker 1>we need to again to have remote learning. So we

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<v Speaker 1>are preparing to engage our students in new and interesting ways,

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<v Speaker 1>even if that needs to be remote. UM. We're planning

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<v Speaker 1>to support them because they need help in figuring out

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<v Speaker 1>how to navigate this new normal. And then, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>on a practical basis, of course, we are planning to

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<v Speaker 1>have face covering, physical distance, reminders of hand washing, self

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<v Speaker 1>monitoring of symptoms, and mandatory public health education for when

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<v Speaker 1>they come back to campus. But you're going to be

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<v Speaker 1>on campus. It is certainly our plan to be on campus. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>We were very fortunate to determine that we had seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>hundred individual beds behind doors. Now sometimes it's off of

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<v Speaker 1>a suite, but we had seventeen hundred UM individual bed

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<v Speaker 1>spaces here at Trinity, and generally we have two thousand students,

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<v Speaker 1>so that allow will allow our students to come back

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<v Speaker 1>and UM also have UM private or individual rooms. And

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<v Speaker 1>we thought, with those circumstances, and with the guidance that

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<v Speaker 1>we've been provided by the State of Connecticut, that we

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<v Speaker 1>are planning for a reopening. You know, recognizing of course

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<v Speaker 1>that if conditions are such that we cannot open UM,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, will have to then pivot to remote learning.

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<v Speaker 1>And so, what are you hearing from students, especially incoming

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<v Speaker 1>students sort of news? The first year students, I would imagine,

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<v Speaker 1>I have to think they're the most both apprehensive but

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<v Speaker 1>also maybe the most eager at the same time, Joanta,

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<v Speaker 1>what are the conversations like there with them and their parents? Right,

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<v Speaker 1>It's it's amazing how eager they are to come to college. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>We had one of our largest classes, more than six

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<v Speaker 1>hundred students who accepted Trinity College, which we thought was

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<v Speaker 1>surprising given the pandemic. But I think that people really

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<v Speaker 1>want to come back. We did a survey of students

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<v Speaker 1>and even before we had given them you know what

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<v Speaker 1>health and safety measures were going to look like, it's

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<v Speaker 1>just what's your likelihood of coming back? And eighty five

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<v Speaker 1>of our students and parents said they were either very

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<v Speaker 1>likely or likely to come back. And then there was another, um,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, almost ten percent that said, well, we're waiting

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<v Speaker 1>to see you know what health and safety measures you have,

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<v Speaker 1>so people want to come back. UM, And I'll share

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<v Speaker 1>with you that I'm the parent of a college age student.

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<v Speaker 1>He wants to go back, and I want him to

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<v Speaker 1>go back already. So are our students to go back,

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<v Speaker 1>aren't we? So as you know, Jason has two teenagers

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<v Speaker 1>UM and also a little one, but two teenagers. He

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<v Speaker 1>and I both have UM kids who are going to

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<v Speaker 1>be seniors in high school. And I gotta tell you,

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<v Speaker 1>I cannot. I love my daughter, I cannot wait for

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<v Speaker 1>her to kind of be back within school and she

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<v Speaker 1>misses it a lot. So we totally get it, absolutely.

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<v Speaker 1>You know. When I talked to parents, they all get it,

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<v Speaker 1>and they laugh when I say, oh no, no, no,

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<v Speaker 1>everybody one, yeah, no, no, you're right there, wagon for sure.

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<v Speaker 1>All right. One interesting sort of pivot point is the

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<v Speaker 1>s A T and standardized test because in the midst

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<v Speaker 1>of this pandemic that's obviously been turned upside down Carol,

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<v Speaker 1>as she alluded to, and I are very aware of

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<v Speaker 1>this UM having rising seniors, But there are bigger questions

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<v Speaker 1>about standardized tests and the s A T as it

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<v Speaker 1>relates to access and diversity of candidates and fairness. Tell

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<v Speaker 1>us how you've come down on that, right, So UM

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<v Speaker 1>Trinity College is test optional, which means that you don't

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<v Speaker 1>have to turn in either an S A T or

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<v Speaker 1>an A C T. And now the majority of our

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<v Speaker 1>students do not turn in standard dive test um. One

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<v Speaker 1>of the reasons we decided to eliminate the necessity for

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<v Speaker 1>standardized test is because of the very, very high correlation

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<v Speaker 1>between your test scores and your income level. So it's

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, think about it. If you can take the

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<v Speaker 1>S A T three or four times and your family

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<v Speaker 1>can afford a tutor um, do you think that you

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<v Speaker 1>have a greater likelihood of having a higher S A

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<v Speaker 1>T or someone who has to come in take it

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<v Speaker 1>cold gets to take it once, you know, at their

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<v Speaker 1>high school for free, and that's it. So how long

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<v Speaker 1>before most colleges and universities get rid of it? Because

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<v Speaker 1>when you say that, like, then why would you why

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<v Speaker 1>would any university or college want to keep it? Right?

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<v Speaker 1>You know, it's interesting because people originally thought it was

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<v Speaker 1>an equalize when there was such a variation across in institutions,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, about what courses you could take or what

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<v Speaker 1>does the NAIM mean at this school versus that school.

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<v Speaker 1>But so we instituted the standardized tests and now we're

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<v Speaker 1>finding that they are as problematic. But what I want

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<v Speaker 1>people to understand is there are ways that you can

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<v Speaker 1>determine um a person's likelihood of succeeding in college, and

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<v Speaker 1>the best is great and their teacher recommendations interesting. So

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<v Speaker 1>it just requires a little bit. It sounds like it

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<v Speaker 1>requires just a little bit more creative thinking. So Joanne,

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<v Speaker 1>I have to ask you. You know, I mentioned at

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<v Speaker 1>the end of the last segment, you're the first black

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<v Speaker 1>and first female president of Trinity College. I'm sure you're

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<v Speaker 1>getting questions like this all the time. What do we

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<v Speaker 1>do to make this more than a moment? M hm um.

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<v Speaker 1>I think already it is more than a moment, And

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<v Speaker 1>somehow people are listening to each other in a different

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<v Speaker 1>manner than happened six months ago. Now, I believe that

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<v Speaker 1>here at a place like Trinity College, where we offer

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<v Speaker 1>a liberal arts education, it demands that people have a

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<v Speaker 1>sense of humanity, a true understanding and compassion comes from

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<v Speaker 1>listening to one another with an open heart and empathetically

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<v Speaker 1>imagining what it's like to experience the world through someone

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<v Speaker 1>else's perspective. And I think that then demands that you

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<v Speaker 1>act empathetically. So I think what is happening right now

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<v Speaker 1>is people are listening differently than they did six months ago.

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<v Speaker 1>I suspect it's something to do with the interaction between

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<v Speaker 1>COVID people being stuck at home, um, maybe not being

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<v Speaker 1>able to go out and interact in the same way.

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<v Speaker 1>And that meant that every single person saw that George

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<v Speaker 1>Floyd video, and think about it, that may not have

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<v Speaker 1>happened if everybody hadn't been sitting at home right and

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<v Speaker 1>we would have all been so quick to rush off

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<v Speaker 1>to the next thing, which is which which is if

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<v Speaker 1>you think about it, like if you get kind of whoa,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, where we are in this world, like on

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<v Speaker 1>a grand scale like this amazing you know that these

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<v Speaker 1>two things crossed one another at the same time. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>so how do we how do we be better off

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<v Speaker 1>of this? Then? Okay, so we have you know, we

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<v Speaker 1>we've been able to experience this unfortunately altogether. But if

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<v Speaker 1>it does get us to a better place, But how

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<v Speaker 1>do we make sure we get to a better place

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<v Speaker 1>and that we're not having this discussion in another year

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<v Speaker 1>or two years or five years. Yeah, that's a great question,

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<v Speaker 1>and thank you for asking. I think we have to

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<v Speaker 1>agree to act, And so yesterday I sent out a

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<v Speaker 1>letter to the entire Trinity College community, everyone on campus,

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<v Speaker 1>but also our entire alumni network, and I made some

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<v Speaker 1>commitments and some action steps that I was going to follow.

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<v Speaker 1>Um I talked about requiring all campus members, trustees, all

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<v Speaker 1>key volunteers to complete anti racist, unconscious bias equity education.

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<v Speaker 1>In the fall. I asked our Education Policy Committee to

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<v Speaker 1>create special opportunity hires because we need to increase our

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<v Speaker 1>faculty diversity. Our students of color need to see themselves

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<v Speaker 1>here in the academy. Um I decided to fund particular

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<v Speaker 1>activities that students were requesting us to do, and more

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<v Speaker 1>than anything, our board of trustees, over a two day retreat,

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<v Speaker 1>spent approximately four hours discussing these issues, listening reading the

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<v Speaker 1>comments that the students of color had unfortunately going to

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<v Speaker 1>be different. Yeah it is. We could talk to you

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<v Speaker 1>for the rest of the night. Uh. We hope you'll

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<v Speaker 1>come back, especially as the school year hopefully gets underway.

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<v Speaker 1>Joann Berger Sweeney, President of Trinity College, joining us on

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<v Speaker 1>the phone from Hartford. Such a thoughtful conversation