Hi, I am the parent of a CC student. Last year our child “attended” CC. I put “attended” in quotation marks because out of 8 block classes, only 1 was “in person “ and it was only partially in person (2 hours a week in the lab).
All the other classes were delivered via Zoom. It appears that this is likely to be the case this year, as CC’s Threat Level chart (posted on their website) indicates all classes will be instructed 100% by Zoom if there are 10 or more positive tests in 1 week. This is certain to occur, as even vaccinated people are testing positive.
We are trying to get the school to provide more clarity on the testing policy and whether or not classes will move back into in person if the testing allows, but the school is not forthcoming with their policies.
There are many unknowns, but one thing is certain- CC is no longer offering the level of instruction and education that it is known for. There is practically no opportunity to have immersion learning - like they once had - through the computer screen. I don’t think it’s worth the premium they are charging. Alternate opinions are welcome. Thanks
I’m wondering what you expected with an on campus experience last school year. This is not a problem specific to CC. Not many colleges offered their usual standards last year.
Breakthrough cases of covid are still uncommon. The more people on campus who are vaccinated, the less likely it is that there will be issues.
Not sure what opinion you are looking for. The situation is evolving daily. Colorado College doesn’t have a crystal ball. They don’t know if there will be an issue or not. I’m guessing they have hired epidemiologists and other professionals to advise them on possible scenarios, as are probably most colleges.
Alternative ideas: gap year, community college (excellent value), transfer to a different college with more relaxed covid protocols. Or ask your child what he wants to do and let him choose.
It really isn’t worth it. A lot of parents are finding themselves paying for exhorbant tuition bills for prestigious universities and the kids are basically doing classes online stuck in a dorm. You may as well do a community college for a couple years and save the money.
Not sure that’s an option for a second year. We would consider suffering through another semester- but there is heavy messaging coming from the school that masks, social distancing, remote classes are the “new normal “ . I hope their goal is the old normal, because that’s what attracted us to Colorado College in the first place.
I totally get where you’re coming from. You’re paying a lot of money for a certain experience, one that your student chose specifically, and they didn’t get it last year and may not get it this year.
It’s really unfortunate, but CC is in a city and county where vaccine rates are pretty low.
We are not returning to Colorado College. We expect 100% Zoom at CC even though the vaccine rate is predicted to be near 90% (including my kid). The “medical advisory board” does not appear capable of making independent decisions
If Colorado Springs and El Paso County had done a better job getting vaccinated and taking other precautions, Colorado College might not be thinking about 100% Zoom. My Colorado city is highly vaccinated and (until CU’s vaccine mandate) worried about the college students driving Covid surges. I imagine for Colorado College, it’s the other way around.
see if you can convert that to a leave of absence, for ease of return later on, if your child wishes, once things have returned to “normal”
the president of the US cannot order a national lockdown nor specifically in Colorado. However those can be decided locally, in relation to the % of vaccinated people. If the area where the college is has 90% 70+, 70% 50+, 50% 18+ vaccinated then the area should be safe.
the Delta variant is really messing things up. Vaccinated people can spread it, as can kids, though much less than unvaccinated people, and of course risk almost nothing. Fortunately being vaccinated is still protective. I think we can safely envision a policy that impacts vaccinated people differently than unvaccinated people since they transmit and risk much less.