I just feel that the recent upticks in cases across the US may have influenced some of the recent decisions from colleges. But then I don’t know for sure.
I worry about the older people that live in these college towns that are going to be inundated with kids from all over the country. The kids aren’t going to get nearly as sick as these older folks.
This makes sense BUT very few people I know are going back to their offices. If they are, they have their temp checked before they enter the building. Some are being tested regularly. Almost everyone I know who works in downtown Chicago sees no way to go back to the office. So, are universities going to do temp checks before entering every building? Of course they can’t do that. That’s why most classes will be remote.
Eventually, those Chicago workers will return to the offices or those office buildings will just close. Already many commercial tenants are not paying their rent. How much longer will that space be maintained empty? How long can a college go without students on campus?
And people say “protect the vulnerable “. My mom at 89 is one of the vulnerable. I feel more sorry for her through this than I do for my college kid, because my mom has maybe 5 years of life left, and probably only another 2 where she can walk because of underlying issues. So for her, saying it will be better in a couple of years doesn’t really help because it’s too high a percentage of her remaining years, especially good remaining years.
CNN: Millions of people may have had coronavirus in the past without knowing it, CDC says.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/health/us-coronavirus-friday/index.html
I post this here since I am not sure if this is a positive or a negative. Not trying to be coy. If like everyone already had it. (personally I think many people do. That cold that wouldn’t go away for months kinda thing).
Would this make things easier or harder to go back to school?
Spikes in states that opened early and governors that don’t believe in mask wearing… Duh… No question why we are seeing spikes. The more we open up the larger the spike will be. In Illinois we were doing well and now that we have opened up more now a higher spike.
I know office buildings in Boston have started to open up. I don’t work in Boston so I don’t see how its actually working but I think they are allowed to go to 50% capacity now. I have seen reports that rush hour traffic into the city has increased quite a bit. I do know several people who work in a large company in western MA who have started to go back. I know masks and social distancing are required but haven’t heard anything about temperature checks and testing.
Yeah I guess. A friend of mine works on the 64th floor of a building. Just waiting for an elevator that can be social distanced would take all morning she said. Even before this, she would wait for three or four elevators before there was space to squeeze in. She sees no way to go back to work until social distancing isn’t a thing.
Well, without wishing to hijack the thread, I think it’s because the state permits lawsuits against them. At the end of the day, it’s a political decision whether to do so.
@roycroftmom wrote:
I think this is probably more to the point. Ultimately, it’s the taxpayers that are going to have to pay for court judgments arising out of covid-19 claims against a state flagship. That’s a deep pocket that LACs don’t have.
Add me to the people who are puzzled by the colleges making different decisions on dorm density!
Here are 3 interesting examples of 3 schools, med, med-large, large, 3 areas of the country, in size order: Elon NC (my S19’s school), allows doubles, must keep the bunks on opposite wall, and has singles. They maybe never had larger than doubles in the first place, not sure. About 60% live on campus. Loyola of Chicago: All singles. Returning students were asked to voluntarily give up their dorm assignments and move off campus. Traditionally about 50% off campus. Ohio State (where I live): Changed housing assignments to doubles or singles. Used to require fresh and soph to live on campus, obviously waiving that requirement now for at least soph. Traditionally about 70% off campus.
I guess I’m glad that colleges are making their own decisions based on their circumstances, however these dorm decisions are leading me to believe that it isn’t due on any evidence-based health recommendations…I believe that decisions are being made on a combination of finances and health, and the virus status and current restrictions in their area.
My D17 attends LMU in LA but she’s off campus so I don’t know the dorm situation. It happens to be a campus that really could be a bubble…gates at the only two entrances, due to geography (up on a bluff) and a wall, it really kind of is walled in.
They haven’t released super specific plans other than calendar changes and hybrid format. There is no way they will bubble the campus kids in though…not enough dining options on campus, and a large campus-managed apartment building a few blocks away, and it’s not a small, nearly all on-campus school. They could feasibly require temp checks and health screenings at the gates I imagine, like coming into work at an office. Elon will have daily health screenings yet but no word on if or how they are submitted or tracked or required.
@circuitrider Most state flagships are becoming increasingly privatized, and it’s gotten to the point where some state universities have less than 3% of the operating budget coming from the state. With anti-higher education sentiments rising in the United States and public universities becoming largely privatized, I’m not sure how much of a “deep pocket” they truly have.
While I am certain the funding received from the state is inadequate and likely will be cut further, there is no threat to state flagship’s continued existence
The mortgage still needs to be paid.
Many public flagships are hardly a safety net in terms of admission for in-state residents, and many of them are hardly a safety net in terms of affordability for in-state residents (just ask a Pennsylvania resident about PSU). The trend toward defunding state universities has meant that affordability in particular has been declining, and COVID-19-related state budget woes leading to budget cuts may make it more difficult for the state universities (flagships or otherwise) to maintain what affordability they have for broad ranges of in-state residents.
I wouldn’t rely too heavily on the phrase, “privatization”. It’s a legal fiction. An entity isn’t really private so long as the state is responsible for for its debts. A good question to ask your mother is whether UConn or UMass would be allowed to file for bankruptcy?
If there eventually is a widely available vaccine and office workers return to “normal”, the new “normal” will likely include much more acceptance for working remotely. Previously, working remotely was widely seen as mainly for occasional days, rather than frequent days or almost all the time. That could affect how employers of office workers decide how much office space they need and how it is arranged. While “hot desking” was generally seen as undesirable before, those who work remotely almost all the time may not mind so much. Of course, companies that own office buildings may be left holding the empty bag.
With colleges, adding distance education to a college built around an in-person business model just adds cost. Distance education costs less if the business model is built around it (needing fewer buildings and the like). But if a college owns its campus buildings, it owns the costs of such, so shifting to a distance education business model may not save as much.
Of course, if there is eventually a widely available vaccine, there will still be a market for luxury-class residential college experiences bundled with the basic product of academic and/or pre-professional instruction. But the economic losses to many households means that this will be a smaller market than it was before.
Would it be faster to walk up the stairs if her employer wants her to go back to the office?
^64 floors!?
Another thing we don’t know is what are the insurance companies telling the private schools? Self insuring for a pandemic outbreak might be a bridge too far.
Hamilton’s plan is out:
(Edited to include a better link.)
Town Hall Q&A next Wednesday