@ak2018 I just asked a source in town government, and they will have full buses (with capacity limits, so not stuffed) since students will be required to wear masks and the rides are fairly short duration. Perhaps they will also have windows open to increase ventilation but that’s just my own speculation. So riding the bus should be doable considering most classes are going online.
Also, related to that, VT is quietly switching sections to online as we speak (and will continue doing so), so keep checking your schedule to see when you actually will need to be on campus.
@ak2018 Looks like they recently pushed out the dates from July to August for when passes will go on sale. It will be interesting to see if the fees have changed from last year. I suspect there will be an uptick in bicyclists (though that doesn’t help much in bad weather). Looks like you’ll have a couple weeks after you learn class structure to pull the trigger on buying a pass:
Were I a student and had the right gaps in class times, I would be planning my shuttle service already. Masks required, Venmo for payment. I wonder what the market would bear on a cold, windy, rainy day in early November?
More info: I also just learned that the HVAC systems on the BT buses are really good at bringing in fresh air. So good ventilation, short rides, and masks should make the buses still a reasonable option for students. You might need to leave home a little earlier since they can’t cram buses as full as before, but again they are expecting reduced usage due to so many online classes.
@rbc2018 Yeah, usage is probably going to dip substantially. If some preliminary info that’s starting to show up on student schedules holds until the official July 13 deadline for announcing individual course structure then I could see ridership dropping by 50% this fall.
This is not official info and may well just reflect the preference that professors have initially plugged into the system (so take with a grain of salt), but there are notes alongside returning student’s courses in HokieSpa and the timetable of classes has updated as well showing some courses that were “lecture” back during course request are now ID’d as “online”.
I think it’s likely that if a student’s schedule now shows a course as ‘Virtual Campus Lecture’ (in the Schedule Type column on the class schedule in Hokie Spa) the class will not meet face to face. They didn’t change those things out of speculation. We don’t know for sure if they will be synchronous or asynchronous, and we also don’t know how many more classes will be changed. Should be interesting. I’m seeing/hearing a lot of disappointment from people who hoped they would at least have a couple of classes F2F but are seeing everything switched to virtual. The reality is, as we get closer to August and there is still so much uncertainty related to covid, faculty do not feel comfortable being in a classroom full of students.
And along with the concerns of faculty not being comfortable in a room full of students, there’s the finite number of larger rooms to move smaller classes into. My kid’s current schedule shows 2 out of 5 have been moved online (and show same in timetable). One of those had around 60 students as capacity and has been split into 2 online sections of 30 in the timetable, while one of his F2F still has a capacity of 60.
@rbc2018 Thanks for letting me know about the classes. I actually just checked and saw that all but two of my classes will be online.
@ShenVal18 Definitely an opportunity to make some cash, if you find people who think it’s worth the risk. Makes me wonder how Uber and Lyft have been doing these past few months.
@ak2018 Don’t rush to judgment re: your classes. While it’s likely that something that is now showing up as online will remain as such, there’s still 3 weeks before classes categorized as in person can be changed.
My son is taking 15 hours (5 classes) and apparently all will be conducted “in person.” He is in a major that probably has comparatively small enrollment and he is coming in with full status as a junior (all of his Early College credits transferred plus some AP credit). Still kind of surprised by that outcome though.
@ShenVal18 Yeah, I actually waited a bit, but I saw that another one of my classes went online, meaning the only class I have in-person is a lab.
@rbc2018 I was also looking into this today and am hoping for the best. A few of my friends are international students, some who have apartments and decided to stay in the states for various reasons, and they are all watching this situation carefully. This is especially a problem for those from countries that are currently placing restrictions on those traveling from the US. The only other option they give us to transfer to a school with in-person instruction, which at this point seems very unlikely.
FYI, the registrar has told chairs and faculty that they can still opt for online instruction instead of teaching face to face (because details about mask requirements, sanitation, etc., are still unfolding). So, keep checking schedules, there could be more changes.
Btw, VT is making it a little more difficult for off-campus students and community members to step foot on campus. Parking used to be open after 5pm on weekdays, but not anymore. Need permits until 10pm, even to visit the duck pond. What a shame.