Yeah I guess there are mandates and there are mandates that are allowing more exemptions. I hope colleges report percent vaccinated.
My prediction is the no masking in dorm rooms will be the culprit if thereâs going to be one for infection spread (aside from parties). Itâs an odd exemption IMO because itâs a small space and the occupants are coming and going every day. I understand why theyâre doing it but it seems like the colleges are just pretending the dorm density issue doesnât matter while worrying about spread in classrooms and dining halls.
On a side note: that Purdue dorm cubicle video was unbelievable. Talk about a vector for infection.
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My sonâs school has required that all be vaxed with an WHO or FDA approved vaccine. If an international arrives without having had access to that (ie wasnât able to get a yet-approved vax or wasnât able to vax at all), they will be given immediate access to one at UC Med. They will then need to be tested weekly and possibly take other measures, in addition to the new universal indoor masking, until they are fully vaccinated.
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Right. Many international students are showing up already having been vaccinated with an approved vaccine.
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I am sure the vast majority will be vaxxed. I am also sure the faculty, staff, and possibly some grad students, will have children under 12 who canât be vaxxed and will get infected at school or daycare or on playdates, and then will further spread to a few other breakthru cases.
Probably seeing dorm rooms like households â it is not considered realistic to expect people to mask at home unless someone is known to be infected, even though within-household transmission is probably a significant vector of transmission.
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Are they moving right into the dorms with others or being quarantined?
The large density converted lounges are no different than some of the sorority 20 person to a room sleeping dorms. Those werenât de-densified last year although there was much more ârandomâ testing of students living in Greek houses than the general Purdue population. It will be interesting to see what covid precautions the university takes for those students living in those larger spaces and how quickly they are moved to traditional dorm rooms.
At least at UIUC, those sorority sleeping arrangements are a little different than whatâs going on at Purdue. Iâm guessing itâs the same for the sororities at Purdue.
Girls still have rooms with desks and dressers downstairs. The attics are just for sleeping. These Purdue 10-person rooms are all those students get. Itâs their only personal space. For Covid purposes overnight, the situation is the same but the overall experience is quite different even excluding the fact that at least the sorority class knows each other and those Purdue freshmen are being put in a room with nine strangers.
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Just as an example of one: last year a friendâs son lived in an 8 person suite (4 doubles) last year. In the fall semester, 7 out of the 8 got Covid and the 1 that didnât spent weeks in quarantine because he had to isolate each time another roommate got diagnosed.
If all 8 are now vaccinated thatâs a better scenario. If the vax status is mixed then itâs less certain.
DH worked for a while at a T10 national university. In our experience, the big decisions were not made by the administration or board of trustees and certainly not by students or parents. The big decisions were made by the Faculty Senate, elected by the tenured faculty, and they pretty much controlled the day to day operations. If profs want students masked, or distanced, they will be. If the campus has any kind of union or faculty governing body, they will be sure to allow profs to enact any kind of mask/distanced/virtual rules for their sections, as they see fit.
Thatâs gotta be fake!
Nope
Nope. Itâs unfortunately true. Purdue did the same thing when my D was a freshman and they over enrolled. They moved people out of those accommodations super quickly though. Hopefully the same happens this year.
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Wow, thank goodness my son will only have 1 roommate at his college! I do hope that the roommate is vaccinated though. His college does allow acceptions.
College students donât interact in a bubble, anywhere.
Any campus near a major highway will have have say long haul truckers passing through who might stop for a break at a coffee shop frequented by students. Any nearby hotel will have business people and tourists who will explore the area and go shopping.
I donât understand how anyone can divorce the college students from the greater continually dynamic community. The students being vaccinated and even the local permanent residents being vaccinated isnât enough to block out the virus.
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Not sure. They may also have to adhere to any local or other travel safety measures as applicable. City of Chicago, for instance, has a travel advisory (downgraded from their Travel Order) that applies to those visiting from other states; not sure if they have an international version. ETA: there may well be timing differences as well with internationals arriving significantly earlier than domestic students.
The school may also grant religious and medical exemptions as well as those temporary exemptions for recent Covid and EUA status of the vaccine. While any authorized exemptions would fall under one of those several categories, each request much stand on its own merits - there are likely no blanket exemptions being granted. The university is really striving for something close to 100% compliance. Any authorized exemption would need to follow the other mitigation procedures.
There is a saying in my house âYou make your own luckâ. I agree with you. Kids that put in the extra work and start early can have opportunities that others donât. Sure the school helps but putting in the time to do the research and making it happen is key to me. Good for him.
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Alas, âshared governanceâ doesnât mean what it once did, especially at public universities that arenât Cal, and even thereâs itâs substantially deteriorated. Our faculty bodies are not powerful against admin or regents. Used to have a substantial, meaningful voice, but that was decades ago.
Here I suspect itâll depend largely on whether staff and contingent faculty simply refuse to go in. There is no union, except for TAs/RAs. But they â we â donât have a lot to lose, are very hard to replace quickly, and are a lot of the contact hours, especially for sections and smaller courses. While I donât think that this will change state or campus policies, I do think that weâll see courses moving online.
At Dâs LAC, there is a push to unionize contingent faculty. The tenured folks support it and are encouraging alumni and students to, as well. It will be interesting to see what happens.