COVID-19 response and Spring Semester

My D22 is making her list of potential colleges to research. She is interested in chemistry (green chemistry/material science). She really likes the idea that Emory has redesigned their chemistry curriculum. She also likes the size of Emory - student number and campus - and that it is near a city. On paper, it looks to be a really good fit.

But as a parent during these times, I look to see how Emory is handling COVID-19 and I am not impressed. Most of Emory’s peer institutions have more than First Years on campus with some having all students who wished to return.

I realize that Atlanta was not doing well in terms of number of cases when the decision for the Fall had to be made. But to limit the Spring Semester to just First Years again appears that Emory is not even trying to move forward with coping with the virus.

Tufts and Rice seem to be making it work. It is not ideal for anyone but at least they are trying.

@bernie12 , @ljberkow and others, what do you think of Emory’s Covid response? Is this due to a new president? Lack of money for testing? Unwillingness to be innovative?

She won’t be taking Emory off her list as hopefully things will be better by 2022… but it is interesting to compare different universities responses.

Hi, my S is a junior living off campus. Here’s my take–Back in the summer when the decision needed to be made, Atlanta’s cases were exploding, there were no mask mandates, etc. An elaborate testing plan was put in place but by July they realized the number of tests they would need to implement the plan for all students and staff could not be guaranteed. (Remember, it’s not just undergrads–half of Emory’s students are in the law/medicine/public health schools, etc).

Emory usually guarantees housing for first and second year students. So that each student could get a single, and they could reduce the number of students sharing the communal bathrooms, they limited housing this year to freshman and transfers. Yes, a LOT of people were upset. Some students stayed home, others rented apartments off campus, even though all classes were remote. By doing it this way they did not have a huge number of cases like some other schools did, did not have to send students home in the middle of the semester or change from in person to remote, etc. They also loosened regulations for students who wanted to take a gap semester. While most freshmen on campus have been satisfied, I have seen some complaints about a lack of social activities.

For the spring the plan is much the same. Anyone who was on campus in the fall keeps their housing for the spring. They are also inviting to campus freshmen who chose to stay home in the fall, international students, and others who need to be on campus for various reasons, so the on campus population will increase. Most classes will once again be remote. On the other hand, they just announced that there will be an in person commencement this year (there wasn’t last year). They are trying. For each parent who is angry that classes are remote, there is another parent that is grateful.

Emory has a renowned school of public health, and the CDC is across the street from campus. I believe they were following the advice of all these medical professionals. (Remember, they treated Ebola patients only a few years ago.) Their approach may be slightly more conservative than other schools. I don’t think it has anything to do with the new president.