Students have begun a petition at UMich. I think UMich may eventually cancel, but they’ll be coming “kicking and screaming.”
@sushiritto The Purdue students aren’t happy either.
Our local community college district with a number of campuses (Northern Virginia Community College) is transitioning to online learning.
Villanova going on line
Boston area colleges & universities…
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/10/nation/list-area-colleges-canceling-classes-sending-students-home-due-coronavirus/
Tufts sent an email saying room & board will be refunded on a pro rata basis.
New to this thread and apologies if it has already been asked, but does anyone think with every thing possible on many campuses going remote that schools might move up their decision release dates?
My kid’s math professor (at UMich) stated that for every cough in class, he reserves the right to penalize the student a third of a grade for each cough made during a math function this week. 
It surprises me that some people care more about the “college experience” that their kid is getting than about the distinct possibility of an outbreak of a novel viral illness which does not yet have a specific treatment nor a vaccine. They also seem to be delusional about the possibilities of quarantining a group of 1,500-6,000 legal adults, many who are still fairly immature, not to mention another 2,000-10,000 faculty, staff, workers, as well as their families and friends. That is not to mention the fact that these of these colleges are smack in the middle of towns, suburbs, or cities.
What do people think the colleges will do? They would need to quarantine the college. However, to do that, they would need to quarantine the faculty, the staff, and the various workers, and their families. They would also have to quarantine the elementary schools and high schools attended by the kids of the faculty, staff, and other employees of the college. That would then require quarantining the faculty, staff, and employees of those schools. It would also require a quarantine on the workplaces of all the spouses and partners of each of the faculty, staff, and employees, etc.
If you want to quarantine a rural college like, say, Williams, you would need to quarantine the entire county, at least.
That also ignores the difficulty of quarantining 18 and 19 year old students. Even military units have difficulty in keep these age kids on base, and military bases are surrounded by fencing and guards. Moreover, there is no legal way to keep parents away from their kids, and no practical way either. Do people think that the colleges should hire armed guards and surround the colleges with barbed wire fences and guard towers?
People who throw around terms like “quarantine the college” do not understand how contagious diseases work, how colleges work, OR how quarantines are able to work. They are also incredibly self-centered and selfish.
Yes, it sucks for the students and parents whose lives have been upended, but colleges are doing this to protect the students, faculty, and staff, NOT to cover their own behinds.
I don’t agree with suggestions to keep kids on campus for spring break. We saw how well quarantining passengers on the cruise ships worked in that it didn’t work at all - the virus continued to spread. I fear that is exactly what would happen if this was attempted. Unless you prevent professors and staff from leaving campus also, someone is going to go home, pick up the virus from someone they interact with and bring it back to campus. And are you going to keep kids from leaving their dorms to go to bars, restaurants and stores off-campus?
If my D’s college kicks out students from dorms, my D will be coming back to the epicenter of COVID-19, Seattle. How would that be a good idea??
But seriously, I don’t know why it is safer to send kids home and let them come back later on? Many kids have to fly back when people are discouraged to travel.
The cold, hard truth is that at times like this decisions aren’t made with the individual in mind.
This just came through from Purdue:
A Personal Message to the Students of Purdue:
It was no surprise, but just the latest reason for pride in our student body, to see the news report last night entitled “Purdue students worried about education more than health amid Coronavirus.” A variety of students, while expressing proper caution and concern about the epidemic, told the reporter in various ways that they are “focused on their education.” He should have expected answers like that; it’s indubitably clear that Boilermakers as a group are a couple notches more serious and academically purposeful than most of their contemporaries elsewhere.
Those of us serving as stewards of your university are firmly focused on your education, too. We never lose sight of the fact that providing you a top-quality, rigorous, useful education – “higher education at the highest proven value,” as we say – is the reason this institution exists. We came to yesterday’s decisions with great reluctance and regret, and only after the most careful deliberation about their necessity and about alternative courses of action.
Many students have noted correctly that all evidence to date says that the COVID-19 strain poses very little risk to young people. But that leaves the problem of protecting that significant portion of the Purdue community who are in the more vulnerable categories, such as those staff or faculty in older age brackets or with preexisting medical conditions. And, given the nature of our particular institution, with more than 50,000 people in close proximity every day, we have an important public health duty to help minimize the spread of this disease in society at large.
So, while the present circumstances, uncertain as they are, demand that we err on the side of caution, we are determined to do all we can to ensure your steady progression toward your chosen degree. On this point, I want to stress that here, too, there will be limits to our ability to do so.
First, while digital delivery of education is progressing rapidly, it is not (and, many of us believe, may never be) a complete substitute for the learning that comes from effective in-person teaching. As one student said in this morning’s article, “There’s nothing that can compare with being there and learning from a professor in person.”
We could not agree more strongly. In fact, Purdue has been a national leader in innovating and deploying “active learning,” which emphasizes even more the interaction between teacher and learner. We will continue to put safety and public responsibility first, but we are eager to return to the normal business of Purdue as soon as it is medically and scientifically justified. In the interim, please be patient and cooperative; our faculty will do their very best to help you continue mastering the relevant content, and to measure that mastery fairly.
Regardless when we can resume regular activities, there will be additional regrettable decisions to make. As just one major example, we will be forced to rethink plans for this spring’s commencement. Purdue is one of the few schools our size that still honors each graduate individually, a process that takes six ceremonies involving some 6,000 people in each session, in the same facility. Needless to say, such events are considered highly inadvisable right now, and it’s far from clear that this guidance will change sufficiently in the next few weeks to permit commencement as usual.
Last night at Ford Dining Court, I enjoyed one of my frequent dinners with students. I came away inspired, as I always am, by their commitment to their studies, but also their levelheadedness and thoughtfulness about the recent decisions we have all had to make together. If I had needed any further proof, your fellow students furnished it, that together we will make careful, data-driven decisions, together we will look out for each other, and together that we will get through this problem, however large or minor it ultimately proves to be.
That’s what Boilermakers do. Have a great Spring Break. Boiler up.
Mitch
Boston university has stated that dorms and at least some dining halls will remain open. They will likely be spardely populated.
The CUNY and SUNY system will hold classes remotely starting next week
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/nyregion/coronavirus-new-york-update.html
@momofsenior1
I love everything about that Purdue statement…the best I’ve read so far. 
I heard one person yesterday say…
This is not an I situation, this is a WE situation. I may not be at high risk, but WE are at high risk. We need to do what we can to protect the more vulnerable people in our communities.
TAMU is delaying classes 2 days after spring break. I can only assume it is to get their ducks in a row for the inevitable. . U of Utah will announce tonight whether the rest of semester is online.
Penn will extend spring break by a week and will move to online instruction for the remainder of the semester beginning March 23. Students currently off campus for break are advised to remain off campus and all on-campus students must move out of their college houses by Sunday, March 15th.
Ivy League cancels spring sports:
For students who are on spring beak this week I assume that most left their books and notes on campus. That will put a crimp in remote learning.