This qualitative study explores the impact of the emergency transition to remote education (ETRE) during the COVID-19 pandemic on instructors and students through the lens of self-determination theory (SDT). A modified thematic analysis of narratives from a cross-sectional survey revealed eight themes: Sense of loss/grief, Role conflict, Helplessness, I had no choice, This felt impossible, Lost connections, Am I safe, and They don’t care about me. Sub-themes expound on their associated themes. Participant narratives shared feelings of trauma and crisis as they related experiences of higher education during the mandated global shutdown. The stories of these experiences are indicative of loss of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, tenets of self-determination. These experiences, for the majority of students, led to a loss of motivation to learn, participate, or produce meaningful work. For most instructors, the experiences led to a similar lassitude and frustration. The authors conclude that the experience of the ETRE negatively impacted both teaching and learning in the higher education setting. Recommendations include further development in higher education to support both instructors’ and students’ self-determination during catastrophic change.

In the Spring term of 2020, nearly 90% of higher education institutions in the United States were forced to transition from primarily face-to-face (F2F) instruction to various modes of remote or online instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. State-funded colleges and universities in Georgia were mandated to do the same in April of 2020, which led to a system-wide hiatus in face-to-face instruction while instructors prepared to return to all-remote teaching. This study examined the effects of this transition to Emergency Remote Instruction (ERI) at six institutions in Georgia, using a survey completed by 910 instructors who made that transition in at least one course in the Spring term of 2020. 65% of the instructors taught remotely or online for the first time after the transition. Instructors reported accessing a variety of institutional, collegial, and internet resources to aid in the transition, leading 53.4% of them to express that they were adequately prepared for ERI. Once classes resumed online, instructors found themselves to be needing much more time for remote instruction than their previous F2F instruction. From a one-word summary description of their experience, instructors reported that it led them to be challenged, stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted.