Dartmouth College faculty are raising questions about the long-term impacts of the pandemic on teaching and learning, expressing concerns over administrative efforts to return fully to pre-pandemic norms. In faculty meetings and departmental discussions this year, professors have debated how remote learning, health concerns, and evolving student expectations are shaping the classroom experience.
At the center of these conversations is the return to mandatory in-person instruction. Since the resumption of on-campus operations in 2021, Dartmouth has required virtually all classes to be held face-to-face. While some faculty appreciate the renewed emphasis on personal engagement, others question whether the college has moved too quickly to abandon hybrid or remote options that benefited students and instructors with health risks, disabilities, or caregiving responsibilities.
“We learned a lot during the pandemic about flexibility, about accessibility,” said Government professor Lisa Baldez during a recent Arts and Sciences faculty meeting. “Some of those lessons are worth holding onto.”
The college administration has maintained that in-person instruction is critical to Dartmouth’s educational mission. In public statements, officials have emphasized the importance of residential learning and community interaction. However, some faculty members say that the push for standard pre-pandemic norms has overlooked practical challenges, including fluctuations in student health, technology gaps, and increased workloads for instructors.
Several professors cited increased student absenteeism in the past year, often linked to illness or mental health concerns. Others noted that they had continued to informally offer recordings, Zoom options, or flexible deadlines on an ad hoc basis, despite the official return to in-person instruction.
“We’re caught between institutional expectations and what we see our students need day-to-day,” said a senior faculty member in the social sciences who asked not to be named. “That tension hasn’t gone away.”
At the same time, teaching evaluations from recent terms suggest that student satisfaction with in-person classes remains high overall. Some faculty also report improved discussion dynamics and deeper engagement when students are physically present.
Chair of the Committee on Instruction David Bucci acknowledged the complexity of the transition back to in-person classes, especially as faculty juggle new demands while adapting lingering practices from online learning. “We’re in a period of adjustment, and it’s going to take time to figure out what’s sustainable and what meets our academic standards,” he said.
Faculty groups have begun calling for more systematic conversations about what post-pandemic teaching should look like at Dartmouth. Some have proposed pilot programs to explore hybrid lectures or asynchronous modules. Others are asking the college to clarify long-term expectations for teaching modalities beyond current temporary policies.
The Arts and Sciences Faculty Council has invited comments from departments about their ongoing experiences, with the goal of developing clearer guidelines that reflect both institutional values and practical realities.
As departments continue to develop course schedules for upcoming terms, many are approaching the process cautiously. Though in-person instruction remains the default, pockets of experimentation continue quietly across the college, particularly in larger, lecture-based courses.
For now, the question facing Dartmouth is not whether in-person learning will remain central, but how to balance that commitment with evolving norms, varied student needs, and faculty capacity. As the college emerges from three years of disruption, its academic community is still working to define what a stable, equitable learning environment looks like in a post-COVID world.
