School in the 2020-2021 Academic Year & Coronavirus (Part 1)

[shuttlebus]

Some of my son’s friends at his school were looking at renting a house off campus. The college had a town hall meeting for students today and said that other than the small cohort of students who are living in the traditional off-campus apartments (very few of those and are booked years in advance), a student must live in on- campus housing if they want to step foot on campus.

The kids will also be assigned a family pod and won’t have to practice social distancing when they are only with their “family”

[twokids2go]

@socaldad2002

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is that it might actually be safer to be in a bubble at college than in your home town?

For example, D20 lives in Los Angeles County and we have had 97,000 cases (highest in the nation) and 3,300 death from CV-19. Contrast that with Durham County with 3,500 cases and “only” 61 deaths.

And then when you look at that rate per 10,000 residents you realize that Los Angeles County has 99 cases per 10k residents vs. 116 cases per 10k residents in Durham. I think they are about the same risk at the moment.

[gotham_mom]

@shuttlebus Is your son still planning to go back in the fall? My D will be a first year and will likely defer a year. I’m disappointed that they haven’t scheduled any first-year specific town halls or sent first-year specific communications. Between mostly online classes and limited social opportunities, it seems like it could be a very isolating experience for new students.

[socaldad2002]

@twokids2go

@socaldad2002

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is that it might actually be safer to be in a bubble at college than in your home town?

For example, D20 lives in Los Angeles County and we have had 97,000 cases (highest in the nation) and 3,300 death from CV-19. Contrast that with Durham County with 3,500 cases and “only” 61 deaths.

And then when you look at that rate per 10,000 residents you realize that Los Angeles County has 99 cases per 10k residents vs. 116 cases per 10k residents in Durham. I think they are about the same risk at the moment.

Correct, but when you factor in all of the safety precautions colleges will take with on-campus students (e.g. daily symptom monitoring, contact tracing, etc) I’m thinking that it might just be safer for the students than being “out” in the general public where we currently live?

[Happytimes2001]

I guess anything is possible. Maybe someone living in NYC who send their kid to ME for college is less worried. Having seen the virus rip through our state (MA) and having one of the highest mortality rates per 100K, I have a different perspective. I honestly think the virus is going to continue to circulate until we reach herd immunity or a vaccine.

I think there is very little likelihood that it can be contained on a college campus, of all places. It spread from a Bio-gen meeting in Boston across MA in about 6-7 weeks. Those towns which had workers at the meeting had huge numbers of cases in that county. Others had very few. Once it takes hold in a community/county it has to burn out to some degree. Staying in for 3-6 months at a time isn’t going to work again.

Think about it, if you were planning to spread a virus where are the best places? College and the military. People are in small close groups and have frequent contact.

[socaldad2002]

@Happytimes2001

Think about it, if you were planning to spread a virus where are the best places? College and the military. People are in small close groups and have frequent contact.

Actually a crowded subway, train or bus would be a very good place to spread a virus. College campuses will be putting in very strict protocols for students, faculty, admin, workers and staff. It’s not going to be a free for all like a year ago. A much, much different environment will be in place this fall. Now, do I think there will be some small outbreaks on campus, yes, but they might be able to contain the spread if/when this does happen.

This is all unprecedented in recent memory, we will see if it’s possible to have students attend classes and live on a college campus during a pandemic?

[roycroftmom]

Of course it is possible. Students lived and attended university in London during the Blitz.

[privatebanker]

We don’t seem to be having these same concerns about the mostly poor, young people attending boot camp or flying in troop transports. Or coal miners, people building our new deck or hospital workers etc.

I’m not saying it’s not worthy of debate. But it really feels we have lost a little of the American fighting/frontier spirit.

These young people are safe. 100 percent. Of course not. That’s not life.

We need to protect professors, staff and students who are really vulnerable.

[MarylandJOE]

University of Maryland just sent out a housing addendum.

As I read it, “we’re probably thinking about not coming back after Thanksgiving but if we don’t you won’t get a prorated room and board payment.”

“If we shut down early for any reason you won’t get a refund on housing or meal plans”

So they could have an outbreak that shuts things down two weeks in and everyone has to leave but the students still have to pay for everything…insane

This is absolutely ridiculous.

http://reslife.umd.edu/fall2020/addendum/

[wisteria100]

The difference is, there will be so much testing and tracing on a lot of campuses, that the spread hopefully can be contained to some degree. Back in Feb, no one was looking for it, back in March it was quite hard to get a test. Come fall on campuses with good plans for testing and in states where there are also good protocols, there is hope that the virus can be controlled

[roycroftmom]

One could pursue off campus living. One would still be responsible for the lease cost, but could remain in the apartment in the event of an outbreak.

My guess is colleges have to enter into semester long food contracts to get the employees and suppliers to come to work.

[MarylandJOE]

@roycroftmom

One could pursue off campus living. One would still be responsible for the lease cost, but could remain in the apartment in the event of an outbreak.

My guess is colleges have to enter into semester long food contracts to get the employees and suppliers to come to work.

My guess is they’re suddenly going to find themselves with less room and board income as families discover there is a real chance something could easily happen and they would still be on the hook for a semesters worth of room and board.

Ugggggh.

[taverngirl]

@roycroftmom

One could pursue off campus living. One would still be responsible for the lease cost, but could remain in the apartment in the event of an outbreak.

My guess is colleges have to enter into semester long food contracts to get the employees and suppliers to come to work.

Not possible for a junior at a residential only college and freshman at a small university :neutral:

[TS0104]

@“Cardinal Fang” I feel like an important factor in your decision is housing. I’m going to guess that (because of covid and housing density) on campus housing is not an option for him. When does his current lease expire? Can he extend it month to month?

[spazzycat]

Swarthmore just announced its plans for the Fall:

https://www.swarthmore.edu/presidents-office/plans-upcoming-academic-year

Return to Campus

Ideally, all students who are able and willing to return to campus this fall would be able to do so. Unfortunately, in light of the measures we must take to adhere to guidance from public health experts and ensure proper physical distancing, we cannot pursue that option at Swarthmore. Instead, we will invite separate cohorts back to campus for the fall semester.

In close consultation with the Facilities Planning Group, we have determined that we can accommodate approximately 900 students on campus this fall. Typically, we have about 1,500 students on campus. That 900 figure is based on factors such as the number of rooms available to house all students in single bedrooms, the ratio of students to bathrooms in the residence halls, necessary cleaning protocols, our capacity to observe physical distancing in our dining facilities, and our ability to reserve housing spaces in the event that students need to be quarantined and isolated.

In consultation with faculty, and considering numerous factors such as the impact on curricular progress and socioeconomic circumstances that may disadvantage certain students, the following groups of students have the option to return to campus this fall:

First-year students
Sophomores
Incoming transfer students
Resident Assistants
Students whose ability to learn remotely is severely challenged by various personal circumstances and who are not included in one of the cohorts above may apply to return to campus this fall. We will soon share details on how to do so.

International students may face unique challenges in returning to the United States. We will follow up with guidance and information specific to international students and their families in the days ahead.

Please note that if you are not in one of the cohorts listed above but choose to live in nearby off-campus housing this fall, you will not have access to campus facilities.

We know that our juniors and seniors will likely be disappointed by this approach. We did not arrive at this decision easily. Our goal is to return to full enrollment for the spring semester. If, based on the course of the virus and what we learn about operations during the fall semester, we are unable to return to full enrollment in the spring, we will prioritize inviting juniors and seniors back to campus for the spring semester, which would give all students an on-campus experience during the academic year and allow seniors to spend their final semester on campus.

[homerdog]

@shuttlebus

Some of my son’s friends at his school were looking at renting a house off campus. The college had a town hall meeting for students today and said that other than the small cohort of students who are living in the traditional off-campus apartments (very few of those and are booked years in advance), a student must live in on- campus housing if they want to step foot on campus.

The kids will also be assigned a family pod and won’t have to practice social distancing when they are only with their “family”

That’s the same as Bowdoin. Off campus kids are considered “remote” even if they are a block off campus. Won’t be part of the testing protocol or offered the board plan and not allowed on campus. Their explanation was that they are running a tight ship and want to test their plan to see if it will work for spring so they need it to be only kids in dorms and faculty and staff. Nothing is open anyway. Sounds like gym is closed. There’s even a question as to whether the library will be open.

[homerdog]

@spazzycat

Swarthmore just announced its plans for the Fall:

https://www.swarthmore.edu/presidents-office/plans-upcoming-academic-year

Return to Campus

Ideally, all students who are able and willing to return to campus this fall would be able to do so. Unfortunately, in light of the measures we must take to adhere to guidance from public health experts and ensure proper physical distancing, we cannot pursue that option at Swarthmore. Instead, we will invite separate cohorts back to campus for the fall semester.

In close consultation with the Facilities Planning Group, we have determined that we can accommodate approximately 900 students on campus this fall. Typically, we have about 1,500 students on campus. That 900 figure is based on factors such as the number of rooms available to house all students in single bedrooms, the ratio of students to bathrooms in the residence halls, necessary cleaning protocols, our capacity to observe physical distancing in our dining facilities, and our ability to reserve housing spaces in the event that students need to be quarantined and isolated.

In consultation with faculty, and considering numerous factors such as the impact on curricular progress and socioeconomic circumstances that may disadvantage certain students, the following groups of students have the option to return to campus this fall:

First-year students
Sophomores
Incoming transfer students
Resident Assistants
Students whose ability to learn remotely is severely challenged by various personal circumstances and who are not included in one of the cohorts above may apply to return to campus this fall. We will soon share details on how to do so.

International students may face unique challenges in returning to the United States. We will follow up with guidance and information specific to international students and their families in the days ahead.

Please note that if you are not in one of the cohorts listed above but choose to live in nearby off-campus housing this fall, you will not have access to campus facilities.

We know that our juniors and seniors will likely be disappointed by this approach. We did not arrive at this decision easily. Our goal is to return to full enrollment for the spring semester. If, based on the course of the virus and what we learn about operations during the fall semester, we are unable to return to full enrollment in the spring, we will prioritize inviting juniors and seniors back to campus for the spring semester, which would give all students an on-campus experience during the academic year and allow seniors to spend their final semester on campus.

Very very close to the Bowdoin plan. Just has freshmen and sophs returning with those other groups instead of just freshmen. Plans for spring are close to the same as well. Bowdoin said either seniors or soph, juniors, and seniors if things go very well with their testing program this fall. And no one living off campus can be on campus.

[Cardinal_Fang]

This is why Susan Dynarski is saying no on-campus college in the fall:

https://abc3340.com/news/local/university-of-alabama-students-who-knew-they-had-covid-19-attended-parties

[jagrren]

@chmcnm

A local HS just announced fall plans. Freshman and Juniors will be on-site. Sophomores and Seniors will be online. At least they made a decision instead of waiting a week before school starts.

Did they say that if all goes well, they will have the sophmores and seniors back on campus? or is that the plan for the whole year?

[jagrren]

@me29034

There are currently increased cases in the area where my son’s school is and an email was sent out to all student’s yesterday reminding them to wear masks and socially distance. The email stated “Students who have COVID-19 positive test results and have been on campus in the last 14 days must report test results to Student Health Service.” This makes it sound like they don’t even know if people have been on campus with it or not and they are just scrounging for information. The email also advises that if you have symptoms you should contact your healthcare provider. Nothing about the school providing testing. It seems like night and day compared to what other schools are doing. I really think the Vice President of Magical Thinking is in charge.

Is it a big school? My daughter is at a big state U and is living in her off-campus apartment. The administration would have no way to know if she was on campus or not.