DS19 is a rising sophomore physics major at a research intensive university where the majority of students attend away from home. On campus residence is primarily 1st year students and then the majority move into nearby off campus student housing for their upper years. His school has announced that with a few exceptions (like nursing) the fall semester will be online. He has a signed lease for a house being shared with 7 other students for this coming year so he can go live there if he chooses. He doesn’t yet know how many of his roommates will choose to move in but I am a little concerned with the density if the majority did. My preference would be for him to stay home for the semester but it’s his choice. Apart from the loss of the social aspects of school away from home and the opportunity for personal growth, obviously our main concern is academics. His school announced their decision for the fall semester at the end of May which should give them plenty of time to develop the online courses. They’ve been providing their instructors with a variety of technological and pedagogical resources and supports to help them develop effective content. I’m not too concerned with the quality of the lectures and as ds19 is a strong self-directed learner I’m sure he’ll have relatively few problems adjusting to an online delivery model. What does concern me is:
loss of in-person labs
loss of opportunity for peer collaborative work
reduced opportunity to connect/network with faculty
potential loss of research opportunities both during the school year but especially during the summer (this summer all on campus student research was cancelled. I am hopeful they will be able to go ahead this coming summer)
In their announcement the school indicated that part of their focus will be to be able to provide students with opportunities to interact with each other and their instructors. If they can do that effectively then I will be far less concerned with the disruption especially if it is only for one semester.
@“Cardinal Fang” and @CheddarcheeseMN I was asking what the rule is, not what it should be. You both seem to think the campus should be on lockdown on Thanksgiving- no classes but no one can leave. Well, I live 30 miles outside of Boston and if my kid were there I’d probably be driving in to pick him or her up for the day unless it was forbidden.
@TheVulcan and @ucbalumnus - Labs and lab classes are scheduled to be in person at D’s school. Fabrication shops, collaborative maker spaces, printing labs, etc… are also slated to be open. Heck, they are even saying the rec center is going to be open albeit with capacity restrictions.
D’s department is adding sections to all her chem e courses so they can be live and in person. The department sent out a letter last month saying that junior year courses are essential elements of the major and would not be offered online.
I think there are a lot of sweeping generalizations being made on this thread, both about students and different schools.
Rice also does the 2 day Thanksgiving break. I think they were planning to add in a 3rd day this year but that doesn’t matter now since it seems classes will now end the Friday before.
^^If a college decides to end in-person classes before Thanksgiving, it’s much better those classes end on the Friday before than on the day before Thanksgiving to avoid the biggest crowds at the airports and expensive flights on that day.
