A Missed Opportunity to Engage Students During a Crisis

COVID-19 • student engagement • institutions of higher education • educationIn March of 2020, mere hours after the fi rst cases of COVID-19 were discovered in the state of Michigan, the University of Michigan announced it was canceling all in-person classes for the remainder of the academic year.Th e next week, on-campus students were asked to leave their residences, causing thousands of students to go back home.Many college students reported feelings of frustration and guilt -they wanted to help, but their hands were tied by the choices of university administration.Despite being required to watch from afar, students around the nation stepped up and played a crucial role in serving their classmates and communities. MASCUP! InitiativeAt the University of Michigan (U-M) and 59 other universities nationwide, students fought against COVID-19 by serving as leaders and volunteer observers for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Mask Adherence Surveillance at Colleges and Universities Project (MASCUP!). 1 Th e goal of the initiative was to collect real-time mask usage data that institutions of higher education (IHEs) could use to adjust training and messaging to improve student mask usage on campus.At U-M, after merely 3 days of recruitment through the School of Public Health, Medical School, and undergraduate population, all student observer positions were fi lled.Over AuQ2