I will be deleting off topic posts without comment. Go to the general COVID thread for subjects not related to school in the fall.
And yes, I won’t catch everything right away because I can’t sit here all day.
It is important to note in this context that all the important undergrad teaching with the exception of labs, takes place in small groups (“supervisions”) of 1-3 people with a teaching fellow (generally a “professor” in American terminology) in their office. Given the small size of these groups, distancing may well be achievable (though some professors might want to conduct the meetings somewhere other than their office) and that is the real question which remains unanswered. In addition, almost everyone has a single room so the other major challenge will probably be in catering (presumably via extended hours to permit more spacing and offering to go food to take back to your room).
Many people in arts subjects have traditionally regarded lectures as optional and even in science, the benefit of attending in person as opposed to online is very limited - it is not a two-way discussion, and most students would probably be happy to stay in bed if they could stream the lecture. So in that sense it is a pretty easy decision. But it is not one that most other UK universities will be rushing to follow, because they don’t have a small group teaching focus.
Some of you guys can’t read…
OK people are purposely ignoring my instructions so I’m giving warnings. This is not the “light moderating” thread. Please act like adults.
Clearly not. The off topic rants just keep going and going.
One user has been banned.
Looks like NYU may be offering a third tuition free semester.
Resumption of classes, Fleming said, will include “rigorous measures” to ensure student safety, including making sure all campus spaces allow for social distancing as well as requiring and providing masks for everyone on campus.
The strategy also includes robust virus and antibody testing and contact tracing in addition to reduced density for student housing and the creation of “more flexible formats” for student activities, Fleming wrote.
Fleming said the university will also offer increased flexibility for students, including allowing the option to participate in classes in person or remotely. Options for students to spread classes over two or three semesters without additional tuition costs are also in the works.
Fleming wrote that the university is also developing a “Go Local” option, under which students who live close to an operating campus or site in the university’s global network will have the option to study there for the fall.
“The Go Local option is available to individuals who hold citizenship or residency rights in the country that is home to a selected campus or site (for example: if a student with Italian citizenship were unable to come to NYC to study because of ongoing travel restrictions, we may enable that student to study at NYU’s site in Florence, or elsewhere in the EU),” she wrote.
I do not see Williams or any other school dropping tuition in a model like this, they may say full tuition is now 9 credits vs 12 in the past ( I do not know Williams credit hours for full tuition) they may drop the numbers of credits needed to graduate , but tuition , no they are a business like 99% of colleges. It could be argued and may well be by them and others that their cost will go up with this plan.
D’s private LAC just announced there will be no study abroad permitted for fall 2020. Not at all surprising of course, but it does mean more students than usual would need to be safely accommodated on campus for an in-person start. I think that increases the odds for an online fall.
Just wanted to share, in case it is helpful to people considering options. My daughter came home from freshman year mid March and has been sitting at home since then. She has been a real trooper. Very sad when she first came home, but she has since rallied and no complaining. She and 5-6 of her friends from her dorm are going to rent an airbnb and spend the summer together. It is not near us, and not near the school. They picked a place with cheap rent. It is near one of the friend’s parents. They all have remote work/research to do. They are planning to get groceries, and perhaps takeout, but basically stay in. These aren’t partying kids. So basically she will be doing the same thing as she would here, but with her friends. It makes me a little nervous because she will be far away, but I think it is a mentally healthier place for her to be. She had money left over to pay for this since her expenses basically dropped to zero when she came home. (I would have been willing to pay, considering the prorated room charges I got back, but she is an independent sort). If school is online in the fall, it may make sense for her to just stay there, at least til her money runs out!
@TheGFG The students who would have been studying abroad in fall (and spring, for that matter, because many students may not want to commit to spending an entire semester abroad in this situation, even if they allow it) may be counteracted by students taking a gap semester/year. I have heard that some of the varsity athletes at Amherst are considering a gap year, because fall and winter sports (at least in Division III) are probably not happening, and spring sports are iffy (but a decision on spring sports probably wouldn’t be rendered until after the semester began, and at that point, it would be too late).
Though, I have heard that NESCAC is considering having one mega-sports season in the Spring 2021 season with all the sports that usually occur over the course of all three sports seasons. But nothing is certain.
I agree that we all have to tolerate some degree of risk, but that’s an easy statement to make in the abstract. How will schools, students and parents react when the first student at a given university dies of COVID-19? What about when the second one dies? And the third? Even if the death rate among 18-22-year-olds is tiny – let’s say 1 in 5000 – a big school like the University of Arizona could see 5-10 student deaths if the virus spreads widely (and it will, at some schools). I can’t imagine that parents won’t panic once a bunch of students at their kid’s school wind up on ventilators, or worse.
All this said, I generally favor reopening campuses this fall. But I’ll have two kids in college, and I’m going to worry every day, because I don’t have much confidence in the ability of young adults to adhere to safety guidelines, and because even the ones who do take proper precautions won’t be able to do so all of the time.
You will be reassured by looking at the CDC data. The death rate for 15-24 year olds is well below that.
Please stay on topic!
I deleted a few posts.
Rate of other bad results?
If the risk of both death and other bad effects is very low, would you suggest summer time variolation for residential college students to help protect the rest of the college community when they go back to college?
The more I read about the “hybrid” models for returning to campus in the fall, the more I think my own kid would choose to be home online. Obviously, much can change in the coming months.
Does anyone think it is possible not to have the choice to stay home and take classes remotely if the campus is open?
@MaineLonghorn what kind of posts are considered off topic. I’m just curious and certainly don’t want to say anything that will need to be deleted. Can you clarify?
Some types of lab or art courses may be difficult to do remotely.