Our state government disagrees with him. All NYS colleges operate under authority granted by the NYS Board of Regents, and both answer to our state leaders. The shut down plans are being required for a reason.
Given how politicized COVID-19 and the response to it now are in the US, it is less of a public health issue than a political issue now in the US. Of course, colleges have to operate within the constraints of political decisions made by applicable governments. But otherwise, colleges have their own “political” constituencies (students, faculty, staff, community members, endowment, government for public schools) to satisfy.
So he is saying that any level of government should not have gathering limitations (which would apply to in-person classes), social distancing requirements (which would apply to classes as well as activities that residential college students often do), or restaurant limitations (which would affect dining halls)?
Hybrid classes do give the students (or instructors) attending in-person the option of staying home and doing the class remote if they get sick (not necessarily of COVID-19) for a few days or weeks. They also allow students who have travel difficulties (whether getting to the college as a residential student, or commuting to the college as a commuter student) to attend remotely instead of not being able to attend at all.
Yes. Some schools are requiring students to live on campus. My DD’s school requires all freshmen to live on campus. I am sure there is some protocol for an immuno compromised students but it is not being shared publicly. Choosing to defer a year would cause a student lose their scholarship (I assume that this does not apply to immuno compromised students but that is just conjecture).
Oh, I thought hybrid classes involved being on-line some days, and in-class other days. What is the term for that then?
@MBNC1755 are the students going to be required to sign liability waivers? Seems like the students at your kid’s school don’t have much of a choice about going back. I know some schools didn’t give prorated room and board money back, but I think most did. I think whichever ones did last semester will do so again this year if they close the dorms. What did your kid’s school do?
@melvin123 No, what Amherst said is they will guarantee students who take a gap year the ability to come back when they wish, they just may have to find off-campus housing (will not be guaranteed on-campus housing).
You may be thinking of me talking about what Princeton is doing.
@ucbalumnus No, he thinks they can allow gathering limitations, social distancing requirements, and restaurant limitations in general, but they should not be saying that colleges can’t reopen to students nor should they be forcing them to shut down in any scenario.
@austinmshauri You have also stated that your governor can take away the ability of any public or private institution within the state to grant degrees, which does not sound accurate to me. I mentioned it to my mom, who is a lawyer, and she says she finds it very hard to believe the state government has any legal ability whatsoever to take away a college’s ability to grant degrees. Could you please link something saying the New York state government has this ability?
“All degree-granting institutions that have a physical presence in New York must be authorized by the Board of Regents to operate as a college or university.”
And the state can take that authorization away.
However, general gathering restrictions and social distancing requirements can significantly limit in-person classes at colleges within that government’s jurisdiction, so they will definitely affect if and how a college reopens. Obviously, general restaurant limitations will affect a residential college’s dining halls. To the extent that such restrictions can change as the more information about COVID-19 and its prevalence becomes known, the changes can affect the college’s operations (e.g. if the gathering limit starts at 20 but is reduced to 10 during the semester, some in-person classes with 10 to 19 students will have to move at least some of the class participants remote).
It appears to me that all higher education in the US may grow to look a lot more like higher education in the rest of the world. Students living in singles, off campus, commuting from their parents’ houses. No sports, many fewer ECs, much less of the personal touch, emphasis on the classes as opposed to the full experience. It may just be a historical blip, or some changes might be permanent.
It may be that all that makes a US college education so special is getting lost, but it may also shake up the sky rocketing tuition model.
Is there anything positive that people feel might come out of this in the long term, the way people have realised that working from home is much more feasible and enjoyable than thought previously, that a lot travel really can be replaced by online conferences, and that a slower pace of life has its benefits?
I think some positive things have come out of this… I like how more and more cities are closing streets off to cars. Some are doing this to allow for more foot traffic for local businesses and outdoor eating areas for restaurants, but others have embraced the relative lack of cars in their neighborhoods, which in turns encourages walking and bike riding.
My own neighborhood has become more social – residents have reached out to older neighbors, and we all howl in support of healthcare workers at 8 PM… all of us, children included, howl and then chat while respecting distance. It’s a bit ironic that it took a quarantine to bring us closer together, but it did.
As for colleges, I think you’ll still see the classic college experience at many state flagship schools and the richer privates. I do think we’ll see college closings - there have been some already - but IMO covid was simply the final nail in the coffin… there are many schools barely hanging on, and with fewer families able to afford the steep tuition and fewer available international students, the writing has been on the wall for many of them.
This is where I am at now with my sophomore. She matriculated with a lot of credit and will be taking all of her classes this semester with juniors and seniors.
Her fellow classmates have been invited back to campus and will be able to attend these classes in person and participate in study groups. The sophomores were not invited back to campus, so my D will be taking these classes online with no ability to participate is these study groups.
FWIW I think the quarantine in advance of classes starting is a very good idea and probably necessary to have a chance of keeping things under control. S18 went back to his college town two weeks ago to stay in an apartment and do his DC internship remotely over the summer.
He had a COVID scare this week when his summer roommate tested positive. This appears to have due to contacts with someone who subsequently tested positive just before leaving home to fly across the country (though being forced to sit in a middle seat on a full flight was another risk factor). It is unclear if a test upon arrival would have picked this up, and there were no symptoms at all, the reason for testing was simply due to being notified that a previous contact was infected.
Surprisingly my S tested negative despite them sharing a 1 bed apartment for the last 2 weeks (without any specific precautions to avoid infecting each other before his roommate found out about the test, even after that he assumed he would have already caught it if he was going to do so). But they are isolating in the apartment together with Instacart food delivery etc for two weeks, before going to be retested.
It is unclear why he hasn’t been infected although we are now wondering if the “flu” he had in late Feb (along with a different roommate who was much sicker) was actually COVID.
When they go back for retesting he will do the antibody test to see if he did have it in Feb. So will be interesting to see if it already went round their dorm without anyone realizing at the time. Or if the virus just isn’t that infectious amongst asymptomatic patients (like his current roommate) as some recent studies seem to be tentatively indicating.
I’m hoping not but I’m expecting spikes this fall. I think that’s a pretty safe bet. However, we’re still sending our son. He wants to go and you can’t wrap them in a bubble for their entire life. The kids know about washing hands, social distancing, etc. and at some point you have to trust them to use their judgement (yes…I was a teen once too and that’s why I’m expecting spikes).
@shuttlebus If she has a lot of credit she may be a Junior. Mine is going into her third year, but has Senior status based on her credit hours.
@shuttlebus Im so sorry your kid is going to be in that position! Are they still going to go “back” on-line or take a gap year, or if they have enough credits maybe you can get them to be recognized as a Junior?
I guess it depends on your philosophy. Does the state control everything? Where you can go? How many kids you can have? It’s a slippery slope.
Also, colleges could be more careful and restrictive than some government entity and close in-spite of some government entity saying it’s OK to stay open. Sometimes the adults need to step in and I don’t always see the government acting like adults.