Baruch College students have spent the first few weeks back on campus in disarray, as they struggled to navigate sudden changes in class modality guidelines.

This comes after several Baruch classes changed their course modality from in-person to online or hybrid.

Students were notified of these changes merely days or, in some cases, minutes before the decision was implemented, causing much confusion and distress.

“I didn’t really expect it because my current schedule was pretty steady at first, until it went online,” freshman Tajaé Showers told The Ticker. “It happened last minute, so I ended up waiting in front of class for like 20 minutes and nobody was there.”

Showers said the email announcing the change in modality was only sent out approximately 25 minutes before class was scheduled to start.

She also noted that the situation was worse because of other administrative issues first year students had been facing.

“A lot of us still get stuff sent to our personal emails, so I just kept checking Outlook for my Baruch email and it wasn’t there,” she said. “A lot of us didn’t know.”

Baruch’s administration also announced that students unwilling to get vaccinated by Sept. 23 may be subject to academic withdrawal from their classes, with exceptions made for religious and medical reasons.

Still, students believe class modality changes have been implemented haphazardly and should have been handled with more concern for students’ off-campus life.

Economics major Josephina Gjonaj explained that her BLS 3014 class was supposed to be fully online, but was later turned to a hybrid mode. Eventually, its modality was changed back to online later in the semester.

“International students could’ve potentially dropped this course when they first found out about the change to hybrid but now it’s back online, and they can’t enroll back in because the change was made in the middle of the semester,” she said.

The indecisiveness of Baruch’s changing policy seems to cause much frustration among the student body.

“Baruch needs to be more transparent about their intentions,” Gjonaj said. “I want to know why they changed my classes modality mode twice, and I want to know why they changed it in the middle of the semester.”

Many have expressed concerns about scheduling issues, commuting problems and safety concerns.

“It is a little bit difficult for me, at least, with having to be in class right after,” freshman Kaycie Hernandez said.

“Now I have to stay home for those classes that went online. And then after, I have to leave my house really quick in order to get here on time,” she said. “Like today, I got to my class late because I didn’t have enough time in between.”

Alexandra Ruzic, a sophomore majoring in economics, shared her opinion on how Baruch could have handled the situation better.

The college should have “been more transparent prior to registration that many classes would change modality,” according to Ruzic.

Ruzic was not the only student to share this sentiment.

Sophomore Emma Sassouni noted that Baruch should have offered alternatives to students who needed special accommodations.

“Offer honors class in two modes. Or they can have the class in person and have the zoom available in classroom,” she said.

While the sudden changes have caused much agitation among the student body, some students are confident they will overcome the challenge.

“I’ll get used to it,” Hernandez said while laughing.