^Williams may not have the infrastructure for quarantining large numbers of students. It’s built for 2000 healthy students and not a lot of wriggle room.
@shuttlebus curious if there was any info on how sports fit into this, such as fall sport athletes being on campus in fall, or if the expectation is no fall sports at RPI.
Also, if MIT is truly planning on not reopening until they find a vaccine, they could be closed to undergraduates for a LONG TIME. I know the government is trying to be optimistic and insist a vaccine will come in 12 to 18 months, but my doctor dad who possesses both an M.D. and Ph.D. in Biology says that is “a best-case scenario”. Everything little thing would have to go right for it to come out that quickly. I believe I read an article the other day saying the world-record time for a vaccine for a widespread illness was FOUR YEARS. It shocks me a lot, honestly, because MIT is arguably the BEST SCIENCE RESEARCH SCHOOL IN THE COUNTRY! They have to know that a vaccine is far away. Unless they know something we don’t, or unless they think one of their researchers is on the verge of a major breakthrough. My guess is that they’re just citing it as a reason because it is an easy reason to give.
Deleted.
^^Vaccines may be far away, or even never materialize, but that doesn’t mean the threat of the virus won’t diminish over time, as more people gain immunity and the toxicity of the virus wanes.
Nowhere in the letter reprinted in the thread did the MIT representative say anything of the kind.
Rather, MIT said they were trying to figure out what to do, in a situation of great uncertainty, and did not expect at this time to be able to bring the entire MIT community to campus in the fall, although it’s clear from the letter posted that they have not made a decision yet.
“It does not appear very likely that we can all be on campus together this fall,” is a very different statement than “We will not reopen until there is a vaccine.” Trying to lump those different statements together elides all nuance and complexity in a complex situation. I can easily imagine many different ways that MIT could “reopen” partially or fully before a vaccine is available. Let’s not reduce what they said to a misleading slogan.
What they understand is basic operational engineering, what an enormous challenge it is to reengineer an entire university, the extent of what remains unknown about this virus, and the asymmetrical nature of the risk-reward ratio for colleges themselves. It’s truly an “MIT-hard” problem, as the president rightly points out.
@“Cardinal Fang” “returning to campus before an effective vaccine is broadly in use will pose too great a risk.”
The correct quote, not the snippet clipped out of context, is “Our first priority must be protecting the health and well-being of our community and the many communities we touch, including respecting the needs of those individuals for whom returning to campus before an effective vaccine is broadly in use will pose too great a risk.”
That statement is compatible with a future statement two weeks from now saying something like, “After careful consideration of all alternatives, the Trustees of MIT have decided to bring all students back to campus in September. To ensure the safety of individuals in our campus community at particular risk, we have <set up=”" ways="" to="" teach="" and="" learn="" online,="" set="" for="" isolated="" students="" interact="" with="" faculty="" who="" are="" in="" face-to-face="" classes,="" other="" things="">…"
Considering that there is still much that is unknown about the virus (although we are learning more as time goes on), it is likely that both colleges and pundits are making mostly-poorly-informed guesses about the future, and colleges are trying to leave as many options open as long as possible in case of new information later.
@“Cardinal Fang” Isn’t that the same thing? Or am I just confused?
MIT is obviously not committing itself to any particular course of action right now. You might not have as much as experience as those of us who are older at reading statements that are intentionally uncertain and non-committal.
I can shed some light on where the authority to open a school comes from. I have to sit in on the state/local health department teleconference 1-2 times per week. I live in a college town, but I don’t work for the college or represent the college on the call.
The state has models of where we are and where they think we are heading. As the trends get better they open things up with certain restrictions. The models tell (hint?) at what lifting the restrictions will do to the spread. The current goal is to manage the spread to open the economy as much as possible with out overloading the healthcare system.
So the health department tells the school they can open and what restrictions need to be in place. Such as masks indoors. Each school will take the restrictions and develop the best plan they can based on their physical limitations and $ limitations.
If the models show the virus spread trending towards healthcare overload then there will be tightening. The schools and the health department will work behind the scene to balance that out, but in the end the health department drives the bus.
It sounds like Williams doesn’t see a realistic way to meet the requirements. This might be because of their campus facilities, teaching methods, or the limitations of the local healthcare systems.
btw, what is the best real time predictor of COVID prevalence in a midsize and larger city? Testing the sewage before it is treated.
ETA: this is obviously a simplified explanation, but it’s the gist of the process.
I didn’t say Williams said anything about the state being involved in the decision. That was speculation on my part. However, I do think the state will have some influence if what every college does. If a state has a shelter in place order in effect, will a college be able to invite kids back to campus? (I don’t know the answer)
I just read President Reif (MIT)'s letter and it seems very comprehensive, with plans to:
- run a pilot of opening labs on a shift system, across three buildings, in early summer, to see how things go with the kinds of controls they can put in place
- hold meetings/surveys over the next few weeks of interested parties (undergrads, grads, faculty, staff, not sure about parents?)
- use data-driven planning for all aspects of the process
- start a task force and a newsletter to keep things moving and transparent
- make sure that housing communities have ways of staying connected even if they're not together in person as soon as expected (the housing groups are a key part of MIT social life, and are chosen by incoming students). - As an unrelated side note, I've never understood how randomly-assigned freshman housing groups are considered so special when kids didn't choose to be together, but I'm also a P parent so I can't say that too loudly LOL.
I didn’t see it as hiding until there’s a vaccine - in fact, even in the part that @TheVulcan quoted, it is clear from Reif’s wording that there are some individual people who can’t come back until there’s a vaccine, but not that it’s the whole story.
I don’t think it’s anything as simple as “Northeastern solved the problem and what’s MIT’s problem” - I see MIT as coming through, as always, with real science and data-driven decision making. If I were a Northeastern parent, I’d be very nervous right now.
I graduated from UC Davis in 1992 and they have never asked me to help out an undergrad student in 30 years. The only thing they have asked me for is money 
It is interesting. It doesn’t help that the governor of Mass (Baker) is being mysterious and secretive with the state plans. The “big reveal” is happening Monday which is the date the stay at home orders end. He has given ZERO info to businesses on who he’ll be allowing to open and when. Its bizarre. On the other side is the governor of Connecticut who announced the Big Opening Day of May 20th - 6 weeks ago. Which was odd since he had no idea where he would be in 6 weeks. I think the NY approach makes the most sense - give as much info as possible, open by region and with specific metrics. How can Mass colleges decide what to do if they don’t even have a feel from the state as to what is going to happen in May and June? I don’t get the big reality show reveal that Mass’s Baker is pulling here or why.
Re: Northeastern vs Williams. Hate to say it - but NEU is “Preprofessional” - i.e. practical and they are being realistic with the fact that they need to do everything possible to get students on campus to make the numbers work. Williams is a storied LAC who can afford to not be practical.
Protip: start to look at things cynically, or at least without confirmation bias, and your critical reading skills will improve rapidly.
@bluebayou @“Cardinal Fang” Just because I made a mistake in reading something today (my brain is fried because I had a four and a half linear algebra final today) doesn’t mean my critical reading skills our poor. We all make mistakes and misread things sometimes.
The president of Northeastern has said that their reopening “may require” a “mixed approach.” Northeastern is not promising business as usual in the fall. He is being cagey about just what they will be doing. Probably because, like everyone else, he doesn’t know. Their promise is just marketing at this point.
“‘We believe that it is going to be possible, but we have to work hard at that,’ he said."