Michigan's COVID Response (or Lack Thereof)

In simple terms, UMich has NOT been a leader in the fight they are facing with the virus. They are behind, pure and simple of what other universities have done. Universities that are not as prestigious!

Is UMich a great University yes, but in these conditions NO, they are not. They are failing their students. If ANYONE thinks an online education for OOS or frankly anyone is worth full price tuition has rocks in their heads. Seriously folks, come on, it is NOT the same. Sorry, if a kid goes to a County College for these first years THEN transfers to UMich or other University, I say THEY have it right, save your money and come back when we are out of this crap!! You will be the smart ones!!

Sushiritto and Knowstuff you have older students and they are settled in, but if you are a freshman or someone who is just coming in, it is hard. My D will have great stories to tell but right now is the University worth the cost…sorry no it isn’t…will she stay, yes…unfortunately she is on the treadmill and scared to get off of it…and frankly I am NOT happy because the University is NOT USING THEIR BRAINS or the resources in their students to come up with ways to engage their customers, their STUDENTS while keeping people safe! UGH!!!

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Very true–in state it’s a great deal. OOS it’s certainly not. And this applies to a lot of universities (UCs and UVA too).

For many people, it’s the haves and have nots. OOS is definitely more like a private school–except private schools often give a lot more aid.

100% agree with you. I would add in wastewater testing.

This is on the university. I don’t believe the City of Ann Arbor has law enforcement functions on campus; just off campus–that’s on the University Police Department, which is part of the state Division of Public Safety and Security. Washtenaw County Dept of Health works with the university, but the university has the responsibility to keep students and staff safe–that’s even more important than education, believe it or not. To say it is more on the individual is a bit too “Ayn Randian” to me.

The university makes 5-10X more off of its investments in one year than the City of Ann Arbor’s entire General Fund. It’s their responsibility to fund and enforce.

@Knowsstuff Thanks for the tip about coop housing. Is this the one you are talking about: “Michigan Socialist House was founded in 1932 by a group of students in the University of Michigan Socialist Club as an experiment in putting socialist values into practice…In 1939, the members of the house voted to change the name to Michigan Cooperative House”?

https://icc.coop/

Look through but like now. These are considered off campus even though a few are steps away from the diag. Some are in Kerry town. My son’s at Echard on North Campus. Just behind some dorms but very chill and woodsy. Did I mention it’s all inclusive and they have a chef. Breakfast like cereal is included? There is enough extra food for lunch. Never really have to go shopping if you didn’t want to. Not all are like this but many are very affordable also.

https://news.umich.edu/a-sewage-surveillance-effort-to-track-covid-19/

They have been and how they determined one of the dorms was getting infected.

I think the message to students was loud and clear through all the emails, texts, phone applications, tracking measures that are actually in place. Where I feel they fell very short was not enough daily testing till now. Also not asking off campus kids like my kid to get tested. Sure he did isolate before coming up. But he’s in one of the coop housing and they could of easily just had him test. Could he do it on his own? Yep. But they repeatily said it wasn’t needed.

He also works for the university even though it’s through zoom but all employees have to get tested think once a week now. Hopefully he does. He is around others but really not a lot. Standing in line getting food then back to his room. So yes it sucks.

He is also the house manager for his section. He puts everyone on a cleaning schedule. They do it together. Even the toilets. Remember it’s a Co op. No one has had covid yet. No one. So taking personal responsibility is definitely part of this. This is as much like a dorm as the dorm they are behind. Yes, mostly older students, graduates and researchers so more mature students.

They have picnic tables outside (hammocks also) and lots of green space. Looks more like a summer camp ground with tons of trees and woodsy. You don’t even think your on a college campus. His walk to classes is actually beautiful…

Anyway, Now Michigan has the protocols but the dorms have gotten out of control. My son stayed on campus last year when everyone went home. It was great for him. It was very quite on campus but it allowed him to focus on this classes also. He’s adaptable and just wants to graduate at this point.

Yes, being a freshman would kinda suck. My daughter went to a Lac and graduated last year but didn’t have a ceremony. She said if she was a freshman she would of taken a gap year.

As an aside for financial aid… There are many OOS kids getting between $20-30,000 from Michigan that’s close to half costs. Everyone’s situation financially is different. There is more to the story of the why. I know many that asked for reconsideration due to covid and got it. Know a few that got an extra $10,000… So I think it’s an unfair comparison since we don’t know all of the facts financially. If you have to… Ask again…

Not sure what is going on with Truth but they have 16 openings now and that is at the end of South University street. 5 minutes to the diag walking and like $700 /month. Rent ends in May when class’s are done. You can rent from Jan - May. This is one example. Plus…

https://housing.umich.edu/off-campus-housing/
These are who the university has a working relationship with. Many houses that rent a single room kinda thing and apartments.

Nice to see that at least some U of M alumni are completely aligned with the administration in their disinterest in the fate of the locals. Life in sunny California with those Maize and Blue sunglasses must be good.

Stickying this

For those staying on campus The state of Michigan on Wednesday no college students can go to classes so only remote… FYI.

We’ve been inundated with COVID emails from the administration all semester as has my kid. I’ve been receiving one from various admin people every week.

D18 took a Covid test today. No exposure but went along with a friend. There was a wait, but the answer a negative.

First, I’m not an alum.

Second, your fate is in your own hands. Wear a mask, socially distance and wash and/or sanitize your hands. It’s not complicated. The risk of transmission is small.

We’ve been following these simple guidelines in my CA county for a very long time.

I went for a run on the trail today. Nearly all wore masks, even outside with no crowds.

sushiritto – You are vastly downplaying the risk. As the incidence and prevalence increase, your chance for encountering coronavirus in the community increases exponentially. Masks, social distance, and hand-washing can only go so far. The amount of circulating virus in the community also must stay low in order to reduce overall transmission. This is not limited to individual actions. What I do affects you.

I know what works here. I go to work. I go to the gym. I go to the store. I run. I walk the dog. Well-ventilated places. Etc. etc.

If an individual isn’t doing what is suggested, then that’s on them. But if you practice washing your hands, wearing a mask and social distancing, then I know that works really really well. Period. It’s pretty darn effective.

Don’t go near people and, if you have to, then you wear a mask and make sure you’re in a well-ventilated area. Otherwise, don’t do it.

I’m moving on. And on that note, just posted on Friday, UMich will begin distributing Covid vaccine:

I posted this on the UMich 2025 EA forum. I now realize that positing it here would probably been more appropriate.

My son is a freshman this year, and he had a lot of fun this semester. I believe his positive experience was primarily due to two factors. The first is that he already knew a lot of incoming freshman prior to attending. He loves the kids and has already made a lot of new friends.
The second is that he also knew some upperclassmen who are members of fraternities. That helped him during rush, and he is now pledging one of those fraternities. While he could not experience football at the Big House, you can’t miss something you’ve never known. And, maybe that was for the best, given how dreadful the football team was this year.

My son’s positive experience was both facilitated and hindered by the UMich administration’s approach to Covid. It was facilitated because the administration chose to take a flawed strategy towards Covid. My son already had the virus during the summer, and as a result, I was not worried about him becoming infected at school.

While UMich did implement some rules and “voluntary” testing, they really did not do all that much to enforce those rules. They chose an “education” over “enforcement” strategy. In my experience, adults don’t even follow laws, rules or regulations without the threat of enforcement. The administration’s belief that 18 to 22 years would follows Covid-related rules, with relatively toothless enforcement and a Covid mortality rate (for their age group) of about 0.001%, is laughable. By the time the administration and the town came to the realization that off campus parties and Greek life were major contributing factors to the spread of Covid in and around campus (as opposed to in-person classes or those living in dorms), it was too late, and the damage had been done. Yes, even though my son benefited from this strategy, I would have preferred that they had taken a harder line from the beginning. If they had, the administration might not have then overcompensated for their poorly conceived initial strategy.

In the second week of November, the administration overreacted by summarily cancelling all housing contracts for the second semester leaving freshmen (and others) very little time to find off-campus housing in Ann Arbor; a housing market that typically requires students to lock in leases 8 or 9 months in advance. The only reason my son had a good experience this semester was because he was in Ann Arbor. Staying home for the second semester was not an option. After a lot of stress and expense, he was able to lease a house with some of his pledge brothers.

The UMich administration’s handling of Covid clearly did not embody the University’s “Leaders and Best” mantra. It was pretty pathetic, and history will not treat them well. Sorry for the rant, but I’ve been waiting to get this off of my chest for a while. I will try to end on a positive note. Hopefully, all of the negative experiences during 2020-21 academic year will fade into oblivion once a majority of the country is vaccinated. And, if the AD sees fit to make some big changes, maybe my son will be watching winning football in the Big House next fall. Hope springs eternal.

I am very curious to get some perspectives here if people continue to look at this topic. My daughter was just accepted and really wants to attend. She has also been accepted to other great colleges who have managed covid much better. I am hopeful that things are better in Fall with vaccine rollout. However, I am very worried that being from oos we’ll be paying a lot of money for a bad year. I’m assuming there will not be a summer orientation which is fine. But I wonder if the dorms will even reopen in Fall.

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No one really knows. Many of our kids are on campus in apartments. My son’s a senior. No way was he staying home. He was there also in the spring on campus. With the vaccine rolling out better depending on where you live and the idea that teachers /professors should be vaccinated by the fall, I think next fall will be improved. I think we will all be wearing masks for group activity, on busses etc but think other restrictions will loosen. Time will tell.

I think UMich is going to do everything possible to have the dorms open in the fall. If for no other reason, UMich is losing a ton of money with the dorms being closed and students not using meal plans.

For whatever it’s worth, my freshman son is having a great second semester so far (at least socially). Instead of living in the dorms, he is living in a big old house in AA with 6 other guys who pledged the same fraternity as him. It stinks not having in person classes. Hopefully, all professors will be vaccinated before the end of the summer and that will allow for in-person learning in the fall.

They sent out a newsletter to students and parents about 3 weeks ago saying they intend to be in classes but with precautions. So I do think things will get better but bet there will be some hybrid also.

Hint :some of the coops houses are interesting with many on Central campus and they start and end with the school season… FYI