I would also think there is going to be some bending of the rules for this fall. Something has to give.
Dr. Fauci has said that when things start to go back to normal, it will be a new normal. Will higher education transition to a new model altogether - with the new factor of COVID-19 and the potential for other future pandemics? Colleges need a sustainable model. What does sustainable look like? It seems to me that the aspect of college that is the least sustainable in an age of pandemics is on-campus high density dorm living. Students could theoretically attend classes and meetings on campus wearing masks during flu season. But there would be no way to contain a virus with students living in dorms on campus. One idea is that colleges could move to admitting more local students who can live at home and come to campus under some form of social distancing during flu season. Public (and private) universities could open more satellite locations to provide access to more students. A more local focus would also reduce the corruption and elitism in college admissions. There is the added benefit of less air travel, reducing the carbon footprint created by higher education.
Re: #782
Most colleges already have a primarily local focus, and most college students are already local commuters.
It is mainly more selective privates, state flagships, and some specialty colleges that are heavily residential, and for whom changes like you mention will be bigger.
@ucbalumnus That sounds right.
Stanford & Cal, for example, could easily fill their freshman classes with highly qualified local students from San Francisco, Oakland and the Bay Area. Attending college across the country is really not necessary.
Colleges can define ‘full time’ as they like. Colorado College does the block system and their students get federal FA. WPI has a 7 week course system. Some schools with the quarter system figure out study abroad schools with semester systems and adjust the FA.
Am I missing something? Why would professors/staff be any more vulnerable on a college campus, than those same people would be working in any office in the country, which will surely have reopened by then? If anything, college campuses can provide less interaction with co-workers than the millions of American workers sitting next to each other in cubicles or factory floors. The ones not distancing, students in dorms, are at greater risk of catching COVID-19, but much less risk of serious complications.
Students in dorms may be at lower risk of complications, but a virus will spread quickly among them and they will carry the virus into the community.
^^Not necessarily more vulnerable, but more irreplaceable, I suppose.
I’ve said it b4, but I’d love to think that for small colleges there could be a path toward students returning end of Aug / early Sept.
Assumptions:
- The local/state stay at home mandates have been relaxed and workplaces are re-opening
- Local hospitals are not at risk of exceeding capacity
- The college can purchase and administer significant number of COVID tests with rapid results.
- The college could figure out how to support students being tested PRIOR to returning to campus (not sure how that would work, TBH, but if there are plenty of tests by Aug this should be able to happen I would think?)
- Set up an isolation floor/floors in dorms for any students with symptoms or who tests positive.
Policies:
- Test all students, faculty and staff prior to return – both test for COVID and, ideally, also for antibody (we’re seeing prelim research showing immunity lasts for a least a period of time and these tests should be avail soon)
- After students arrive, close the campus – students don’t leave, no visitors, and no sports. Granted, not easy nor w/o pain, but these are not normal times.
- Keep practicing social distancing on campus. No large gatherings. Set chairs farther apart in classrooms, encourage students to wear masks, etc.
- Of course, faculty and staff will be leaving every day so you can’t keep be sure to keep the virus out. Therefore, have an app in place to help with contact tracing if anyone tests positive. These are currently being developed.
Could students sign something saying they accept the risks of returning?
This seems hard for a big school – but maybe feasible for LACs where everyone lives on campus?
A challenge is that colleges need to make this decision end of May / early June which really isn’t that far away. Sigh.
@AlmostThere2018 This is interesting. But, I do feel a bit alarmed by the idea that students could be restricted to campus once they arrive. The idea to try to make a campus an impermeable bubble is scary! That would be something students should really have a chance to know about and agree to before committing to a school, which is impossible, since schools are acting like it will be business as normal come August, probably because deposits are due in a couple of weeks.
Also, the only test that makes sense is an antibody test. I could test negative for coronavirus and then contract it 5 minutes later. Would this mean that students who have never been exposed won’t be allowed on campus? The scenario becomes more and more dystopian.
I have zero faith in any kind of antibody testing for the gen pop. I am amazed it keeps getting bandied about. The schools and society will open back up when it is decided a tolerance for a certain death rate is OK (as it is now, for gun violence, medical induced addictions, road trauma etc. etc. ) and that personal responsibility re social distancing for the vulnerable will be on individuals. The kids will be alright. The profs? Hmm.
Yes, students would have to agree to the closed campus idea b4 coming back. If they don’t like the rules, they don’t come. Exceptions for a few things like medical appointments and maybe the grocery (though they could have delivery)
Now that I think about it, maybe they get tested for COVID and antibody when they arrive on campus. B/c you’re right, they could test negative at home and then catch it on the plane ride to school. Of course, it incubates too so a test is not going to immediately be effective… Hmmmm…
Yes, the contact tracing and limited movement does feel like something out of a bad movie. But hopefully they’ll be a vaccine in early 2021 that will put all of this behind us.
Agree, this is a way to give false hope to the students (and their families) that after the first 7 weeks, 1/2 semester, the college will be “on-campus” November 1 - December 18th for the second 1/2 of the semester. I don’t see this happening. They are going to move all students back on campus the week of October 26th? I wish they would just be honest that no college is going to be “on-campus” next fall.
But don’t be surprised if the college administration keeps stringing us along so they preserve their full year tuition for 2020/2021.
There is no way to make a campus a bubble. They will need to go to stores, faculty will go home, people in the town will still be traveling. There is no way to control that many variables. Heck at most schools a large majority live off-campus- how will that work at those schools? What about if a student falls and breaks a bone and comes into contact with it at the local ER? There is no way this works.
nm
This is not the age of pandemics, it’s the age of A pandemic. I don’t think colleges are going to change their dorm process for the future, just like I don’t think will be less apartment living in condensed cities. Something will have to be done for this year, both at schools and in society. New normal. Testing has to be a part of it. Masks. I think 3 weeks from now will be very different than 3 weeks ago (remember, we said no one would follow the rules or want to wear masks).
Colleges with a bad financial model will close. Others will stay open and deal with it. We will be ok.
But I just heard the Govt might try to “open up the country” on May 1. This is basically 3.5 months before the beginning of school. I would like to see how this is really going to play out.
@Boomer1964 is that “news” from the press conference? Governors will likely decide how to handle this since it’s a local issue. Los Angeles will be announcing tomorrow that the stay in place order will be stretched out to May 15. I expect the same here in Illinois after hearing the governor speak today. The country is not “opening” on May 1.
The entire country may not reopen at once, but large parts of it will, in places where the peak has passed. Just a month ago there was no COVID in my county, now there are 200 cases, but in another month there may be almost none. The projections predict it will drop sharply after peak.
The UK expects to reopen with workers aged 20-30 returning first, in the near future, since they are lowest risk. They calculated the additional deaths likely from this, about 600, was a risk worth accepting.
@roycroftmom true. But “opening” is complicated and there could easily be some trial and error with some weeks of social distancing mixed in. I’m not sure how everyone else feels but I’m not going to be rushing to a big party right away. I don’t know if I’ll let our kids be around more than one or two kids for a while. It will be touch and go for a long time.