The message we hear from the SUNY college administration, in their strategic plan, is to improve enrollment and retention. How can we improve enrollment and retention? Well, the answer is pretty clear: if SUNY colleges can offer solutions that benefit both traditional and nontraditional students, we will be ahead of the game. SUNY was proactive in the delivery of beneficial solutions to student engagement in the classroom. Through an IITG grant in 2022, SUNY faculty were encouraged to participate and implement the Hyflex modality in their classrooms in a Course Resiliency and IITG grant. The Hyflex modality has its pros and cons. This modality fosters Student Empowerment. However, it comes with a cost. Faculty need additional resources to implement this modality, such as teaching assistants. Having a teaching assistant for each faculty member would most definitely eat up the budget resources that SUNY administers. But what is most important? We need the students to boost our enrollment and retention numbers. How can we boost these numbers? By empowering students in their learning. It is a double-edged sword. There is a tight balance whose outcome we are yet to see.

The definition of a Hyflex modality is that “A Hyflex course provides both a classroom and at least one online participation option, or mode, to students. Students are free to choose which option to use for each class section.” www.hyflexlearning.org. A more elaborate definition was proposed by AI (Brian Beatty of the Hyflex Learning Community provided the prompts to AI): “Hyflex courses are courses that offer flexible learning options to students, allowing them to choose how they participate and engage with learning. Students have the option to attend on-campus, participate online, or a combination of both. The goal is to provide students with the most convenient and beneficial learning experience possible.” (Beatty, 2023)

Donna Shelton, the SUNY Polytechnic Institute project manager for the grant prepared the Course Resiliency Initiative Report in June 2023 (Shelton, 2023). Goal #3 for the resiliency project was to retain more students in redesigned courses in comparison with the same courses offered in previous semesters because of increased flexibility and resiliency (Shelton, 2023). An end-of-semester survey of students in Hyflex courses was conducted. With 79 students responding in the Fall of 2022, and 96 students responding in the Spring of 2023, the following findings were noted (Shelton, 2023):

1. 52% and 64% of students in the Fall of 2022 and Spring of 2023 respectively were very likely to take another Hyflex course if they had a choice between Hyflex and a traditional face-to-face course.
2. 68% and 65% of students in the Fall of 2022 and Spring of 2023 respectively were very likely to recommend a Hyflex course to another student.

Beatty, B. (2023). What does Open AI say about Hyflex Course Design?
EDUCAUSE. (2023). 2023 Students and Technology Report - Flexibility, Choice, and Equity in the
Student Experience.
Shelton, D. (2023). Course Resiliency Initiative Report for Faculty Participants.
www.hyflexlearning.org

The EDUCAUSE report of 2023 highlighted students' perspectives on flexibility, choice, and equity concerning IT and technology-based college offerings (EDUCAUSE, 2023). There were 2000 respondents from 10 US institutions of higher learning. A key finding that I thought was worth noting, was that “When students are permitted to choose their own modality for engaging in course activities, they are significantly more satisfied with their hybrid course experiences than students who are not permitted to choose.” (EDUCAUSE, 2023) Also, “Students who are empowered to “choose their own adventure” with their course modality engagements are more satisfied with their course expectations than those who don’t get to choose.” (EDUCAUSE, 2023)