Purdue has said distance learning for two weeks after break is a possibility but no official word. My D is planning on bringing home all her course materials just in case. Engineering is another discipline not very conducive to distance learning. Not sure how they will manage their group projects and labs but they’ll adjust as necessary.
At this point D said there are lots of rumors.
Did MIT and Hopkins announce anything?
I am curious about that too. My D is a senior Dance major and all but one of her classes is a Dance class 2 she’s taking and one she’s teaching (that is a beginners class for non-majors and Musical theater students). She does have her capstone she can work on. She begins her DPT program in May so that will be interesting as well. I believe if she can finish her capstone she has plenty of credits to graduate which she needs to finish her requirements for grad school. Her school currently hasn’t cancelled anything but we will see.
I am also curious if there has been any confirmed cases on college campuses. It doesn’t seem to have been rampant if there have been. It would seem the students themselves would be in a low risk category, however, the Professors etc. could be higher risk.
Rice started Spring Break a week early and is saying online learning is possible after that point. My kid is a flight away and coming home tonight. We are telling her to bring home ALL her school work but besides that, she can only fit so much into a suitcase. We’ll have to go back later for her stuff if necessary. Plus, she has no idea where she’s living next year, etc. so she still has some unfinished business in Houston! But a ton of her friends are staying on campus for this break. Some can’t afford to go home and many are international kids who can’t go home. More than 1/2 the kids at Rice are from out of state and about 11% are international. It’s not easy to just tell the kids to go home.
My D is an Engineering major with 2 lab classes. I wonder how they will handle those if they move on an online format…
I think schools are just playing it safe. Vanderbilt tried to not cancel. Let kids come back from spring break and then, just two days later, went online and is hoping most kids go back home. Even if there are no confirmed cases in Maine, I’m still betting on Bowdoin keeping kids away after spring break for a time. (They are officially on spring break now until 3/22.) I really want life to go on as normal but that’s just not a thing now. I’m not dying for S to go back to campus and then have to turn around a few days later and come back home. No updates from Bowdoin yet.
We watched a UCLA Livestream COVID-19 information session yesterday. It was such a disorganized mess, and just showed how unprepared they are. They did not have any plan in place, couldn’t answer simple questions, and it just showed that there was no leadership in place to deal with this crisis. Very disconcerting.
Now that UCSD has said they are going online for Spring Quarter, I would think they may just do the same.
UCSD, UCB, San Jose State, San Francisco State and SCU all transitioning to online classes.
Also, the local community college here in SoCal where both my daughters take dual enrollment courses sent out an email this morning that it will be working toward putting as many classes as possible online.
@Mwfan1921 I know that Amherst College mentioned that students are able to petition to remain on campus and that classes are cancelled Th & Fri so that Professors can meet and discuss alternate modes of delivering courses. So many questions.
The Chronicle of Higher Education twitter account has a thread that is continually updating as colleges announce decisions for online learning, move out dates, etc.
Will COVID-19 accelerate the move to distance / online education?
With many colleges (including “prestigious” private colleges and state flagships) doing emergency shifts to distance / online education, if that becomes successful in terms of meeting student learning goals, will that accelerate the interest and offerings in distance / online education even after the COVID-19 threat has passed?
Columbia, which cancelled classes yesterday and today, just announced that classes will resume virtually, and will continue to be virtual for the week after Spring Break:
https://preparedness.columbia.edu/news/update-covid-19-and-community-member-status
FSU preparing to possibly move to online learning after Spring Break next week.
I’m sick thinking that my D’s graduation might be cancelled. All that hard work and probably no celebration.
That may not be the worst of it for graduating seniors. If a sharp economic downturn occurs, many graduating seniors who accepted post-graduation job offers may encounter the offers being rescinded, or the companies or divisions closed.
Sophomores or juniors looking for summer internships may also have difficulty, which can impact their future post-graduation job prospects if they are unable to get anything this summer.
I.e. a potential replay of 2009 and past economic downturns, where those graduating into an economic downturn will have diminished job and career paths, possibly lasting a decade or more into their careers.
But different majors will be more or less impacted. This time, it looks like petroleum engineering will be hard hit as oil prices fall, while some health professions may be more recession resistant.
@Lindagaf – I know. I’m hopeful if they cancel graduations they will reschedule them for late summer or Fall. It could be her first college reunion!
After all, they want happy alums will will donate $$ down the line, lol!
@ucbalumnus I am thankful my D has a job lined up postgrad. And yes, there are many bigger problems out there, but I’m not going to feel guilty by being selfish about my kid and wanting her to be rewarded for the last four years of hard work. I hope to goodness that this is not the start of a major recession.
And yes, great points, @AlmostThere2018 !
Florida Tech has cancelled/changed graduation for May 9. Instead of the big graduation in the gym (which was always packed tight), they will now hold mini graduations (I assume by department or major) in the much smaller auditorium (probably about 300 seats) and only those graduating can attend. Each ceremony will be broadcast (always has been).
They’ve announced it so early because about 1/3 of the students are international and they don’t want their families traveling.
The school has also cancelled all staff/faculty international travel. I don’t know if that includes the Maymester which is 4 weeks in Oxford, England and I think a few programs in Germany.
So Midd is going on break early, and then starting teaching online until April (for now). Only students who cannot travel home will be allowed to stay on campus, and they are setting up the dining halls so that there will be food for this small group. These students will also likely be taught online.
Even though Middlebury itself is pretty isolated, many of the students are from NY, and it would be difficult to isolate students from their families. Even if they canceled spring break, at least a few of the parents would come to pick up students, and all it needs is one sick parent who doesn’t take care, and the entire community would be exposed.
We’re driving out to pick up D19 at the end of the week. One of D19’s friends at Midd will be staying with us, since the friend is from New Rochelle.