Colleges need to be thinking now of sanctions and rules for Fall in writing, even those rules which are not fun, harsh and unfair. Things to consider are ban on fraternities/sororities for the semester or year, ban on freshman joining Greek life, ban on freshman off campus housing, obviously ban on off campus parties, maybe even a nightly “curfew” to stay in the dorms and RAs will have to be extra vigilant. It’s hard to weigh the outcome of the kids feeling like prisoners versus the outcome of not having any live classes. My #1 hope is live classes.
1 Like
Wow. That’s what schools should be doing now. And I’m still holding out hope that fall will be closer to normal if all can have vaccines.
3 Likes
@annoyingmom21: Colleges need to be thinking now of sanctions and rules for Fall in writing, even those rules which are not fun, harsh and unfair.
@homerdog: Wow. That’s what schools should be doing now.
It amazes me the liberties people are willing to give away so their kid can have the luxury of attending residential college. Let’s NOT teach kids that those in authority are justified in creating “harsh, unfair” laws. A better idea is to punish the people who are actually breaking the rules.
2 Likes
As far as I’m aware, most schools that have students on campus aren’t having restrictions like this now. Why would they start implementing them for next year when hopefully a good percentage of the population will be vaccinated? It seems that you would be relaxing the rules for next fall , not making them harsher.
2 Likes
I heard that too. UMASS Amherst in lockdown after almost 350 cases in first few days of onboarding. In the Daily Collegian press states there were large fraternity parties weekend before opening.
People have been verbally and physically assaulted when trying to enforce Covid-19 restrictions. A retail security guard was murdered trying to enforce a store’s mask policy. It’s a lot to ask of college students. IMO, campus security should handle enforcement.
3 Likes
Others have answered this one well. I’ll just add that schools really can’t effectively ban off-campus activities or housing. Public universities would probably run afoul of free association rights. 18-22 yo’s are perfectly capable of making good choices. They should be given the information they need, invited into the planning and the announcements, and then held to the expectations laid down for the benefit of all.
Agree. If the contact tracing is good - and there is no reason to expect it not to be - then schools have the ability to find out quickly who was exposed via infraction vs accident. And a system of reporting will help move that even faster (that’s how the party at the B-School got found out last fall - numerous concerned students reported it). Blanket policies such as switching to remote should only be used to protect the student body, not to punish everyone for the actions of a few bad eggs.
2 Likes
I meant specifically for curfew enforcement (if dorms enacted a curfew), but you are right it is too much for an RA and better for campus security. All of this is more than anyone could have ever imagined handling when they took the job, from security to professors to janitorial staff to mental health counselors. I feel bad for the college administration being in a no win near impossible situation, just like my school district admin and School Board are overwhelmed and exhausted and still don’t have full time in person school.
My recollection was that contract tracing didn’t work very well last semester in many schools because kids weren’t willing to give the necessary info for a variety of reasons. It seems that more schools are implementing surveillance testing of off campus kids which should help track the clusters.
The question is what should the penalty be for off campus infractions. NEU tried dismissing kids who broke the rules and ended up with a threatened lawsuit. Restricting access to campus should be first go to…no access to in person classes, gym, library etc… perhaps a fine? As far as free association goes, civil liberties have been trampled for the last year so not sure that argument holds much water. But I don’t think there’s much universities can do to enforce quarantines in non university housing. Ultimately it’s primarily up to the students to follow the rules. Hopefully most will, many will not.
That’s fine for little schools. Most schools only have room in dorms for freshmen. At many big schools, the frats and sorority houses provide a big portion of the housing close to campus. Some of the Greek houses are owned by the universities and students pay room and board to the university, not at a private organization.
BC has the requirement that students live off campus at least one year as they just don’t have the capacity to house everyone. Many students used study abroad as their ‘off campus’ year, but that’s not possible now.
Frats and sororities that have meals don’t have the ability to have everyone pick up food and eat elsewhere (many restrict eating in their rooms because of bugs and mice). They are designed for group living. Some honors housing is like that too.
3 Likes
My ds is a freshman and just moved up there 2 weeks ago. It’s a total mess of parties and lack of supervision or enforcement. Because of these fraternity parties, kids who have been following the rules now can’t even go outside for a walk or to exercise alone and masked. They are “sequestering”, and can only go out for grab and go dining, 2x weekly covid testing, or medical care. Despite testing negative 4x since arrival and as recently as Friday, we aren’t allowed to pick my ds up and let him ride this lockdown out at home, or he forfeits housing for the semester. We’re getting to the point where we’re fine with that.
He is basically locked in his room, listening to kids in the hallways partying, and has seen kids gathered unmasked despite the elevated risk level and new rules. He’s uncomfortable using the bathroom for fear of getting sick because he’s living on a floor with kids not following covid safety and going to off campus fraternity parties. Oh—and he has no RA because they are understaffed, so he has a “peer mentor” who doesn’t even live on campus he can email if he has issues or concerns. It’s like Lord of the Flies.
We are beyond unimpressed and disappointed, and he is most likely coming home this week and applying to transfer.
2 Likes
What???! Yes, yank him and transfer. This is so beyond unacceptable.
4 Likes
How an individual defines a harsh or unfair rule is very subjective though.
As an introvert I have been more than happy to quarantine at home for weeks on end and not have to spend time with my more unpleasant colleagues. Others have been going insane with the solitude.
3 Likes
This is horrible! Please keep us posted. This is one of my real concerns with an incoming college freshman next year. I am very interested to hear how this works out for you.
3 Likes
@CTCape I hope you are going to write a scathing letter to everyone you can think of who could be responsible for this mess. They need to know.
1 Like
Yup. It’s so disappointing. We were so hopeful when they invited freshmen and students with in-person classes to campus this semester. We were told that there would be RAs, so we were shocked when we got to campus to drop him and there wasn’t a living soul on his floor. No welcome sign, no names on the doors… We knew there was a modified quarantine upon arrival, so we assumed people were following those rules and were in their rooms or were yet to arrive. He was told that there was a female RA 2 floors down if he needed one, and the RD for his 3 dorm “cluster” is one dorm away. Neither of these people has been spotted on his floor.
We are leaving it up to him and trying not to influence his decision, and he is currently on the fence. He knows he traded more freedom for more independence, and I know he’s hopeful that things will get better, but he’s a smart kid. To be honest, I have a feeling campus will shut down regardless. If kids are running around maskless despite the new lockdown rules, I don’t see the numbers going down. There’s no higher level of containment for them to elevate to, so the next step is sending kids home.
2 Likes
Oh, it’s been taken care of, lol. Parents are flipping their lids. When he called me yesterday to say that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to stay if he couldn’t go outside for a walk or a run, my suggestion was to give it 48 hours to see if the parent backlash resulted any backtracking on the forced sequestering of covid negative students.
He fully understands the need for distancing, masking, and not gathering—he’s super responsible. But even prisoners have yard time. A full 14 day lockdown for people who have tested negative repeatedly makes no sense scientifically.
8 Likes
Oh yeah, surveillance testing works well. I think you need both (at least I’ve seen both implemented). UIUC did a 2x/week surveillance test of everyone but they still had contact tracers on the job. The cases still got out of hand in the beginning (at least by their standards). Kids weren’t returning contact tracer’s texts and calls, etc. I think their system has overall been a major success with perhaps just a rough start that couldn’t necessarily be avoided given what time of year they were opening and the size of the student body. Let’s face it: UChicago’s epidemiology team did a great job with the planning but they were also helped by being on the quarter system which is shorter duration. You can start later (and they do) and end earlier. And you are so busy that you have little time to party!
1 Like
And yet if you are a new-to-the-job mental health professional your services were probably in high demand and you got hired right away. I’m sure many colleges and universities beefed up their mental health and other services. There are found opportunities even in adversity.
1 Like
The argument “holds water” even if those liberties have been trampled upon. Universities tend not to enjoy legal hassles. But the simple way to think about it is how you are: there is no practical way a large university can monitor off campus behavior. They can respond to violations with appropriate consequences, of course - that’s typically the best way to encourage good choices. NEU went overboard and I knew that would backfire. They never should have threatened suspension up front. Again: give the students the information they need, explain what is expected, and let them be mature about it. If they screw up, make sure there is a way for that to reach the ears of the administration (it will as people realize over time that a few bad eggs and their thoughtless behavior are endangering others . . . ). Make sure that there is a way to identify the infractors accurately, and then dole out APPROPRIATE consequences. Yes - they are off campus. That’s a minimum. But usually it needn’t go farther unless they did something repeatedly grossly negligent. At UChicago the kids kicked out of housing were likely just sent home to do their quarter remotely or withdraw and start again next time. Having mom and dad come get you is punishment enough, IMO 
1 Like