@katliamom @GMgiant My parents were talking about polio last week. It was a fearful time. No cure and the mortality rate could be high. They also remember having quarantine signs put up on their door for scarlet fever when my mom was very young.
No doubt that they would agree, but from a practical matter, usage would drop off within a few weeks IMO. Kinda hard to play beer pong in a mask. 
^Only if you’re bad at it.?
@bluebayou That’s why I think you would need harsh penalties for not complying with the mask-wearing order. I also wonder how they will enforce the staying-on-campus thing, since Biddy said it is very possible that if we return we would have to commit to staying on-campus.
Touche!
@homerdog I bet they all think and strongly hope they will return, but they really want to plan in case they have to stay online, because pivoting to in-person classes would be easy, but managing online classes will be much harder: this is why schools are telling faculty members to plan for online, because it is much easier to plan for the dramatic change and go back to (semi) normal than the other way around. Not to imply that this upcoming semester will be anything close to normal. Also, they have to work on their online instruction anyway, because most are planning on giving all students the option of learning remotely as well as giving all professors the option of teaching remotely, so they have to plan out how to do online instruction regardless.
@homerdog the large schools that I know of are certainly not saying “come on down schools open.” My D’s school (former school) has online summer sessions and they are very clearly telling people that they are following guidance from health officials and infectious disease experts etc, and they are currently exploring different options. They go on to say they although they hope to open up, the decision has not been made, and the campus will be very, very different than in the past…regardless of how classes are taught.
My D’s friend (current senior at her large school) has been meeting with her professor and 2 peers regularly to work on their research project, etc. There is a tremendous lot of sensitivity going around…trust me.
Everybody is stressed and feels like this is a crappy experience. We can’t make it worse by making comments like this…as though larger schools are so impersonal that it doesn’t matter what goes on…home, school…it’s all the same so who cares. Clearly, that’s not true. People are coming together and really helping one another out through this difficult time…I am really seeing the best in people…regardless of their work/school environment and size.
Sorry…don’t mean to be nasty…but it’s hard and incredibly stressful all around.
I work in a very small school. I am not sure if schools will open in the fall, and if they do…we anticipate staggered sessions, social distancing, a hybrid approach etc.
My older D works for the DOE (10,000 students). She has visited (and will continue to visit) each and every one of her students by standing outside their building and saying hello. Large doesn’t have to mean impersonal.
Caltech’s provost David Tirrell sounded similarly reserved during their townhall:
"Q: What are the chances that we continue to teach online in the Fall term? Should instructors of large lecture classes in the fall be thinking about ways of teaching them online?
DT: I think the probability is high that at least some of our instruction in the fall will be online.
…
Q: Do we expect to have students in residence in the fall?
DT: Repopulation of the houses could be our greatest challenge."
Regarding gap years, I’ve had a couple of kids take gap years and they were phenomenal experiences. I would absolutely recommend them to the class of 2020 to avoid a funky freshman start of the year while having an amazing year of growth. Obviously I am not picturing 15 months in their parents basement watching Netflix.
What could you do from September 2020 to May 2021 that would be amazing? I think it seems likely by September that national parks will be open—so many parks are already starting to open. Why not hike the Appalachian Trail or work on another incredible outdoor achievement? Domestic travel is likely to be happening by this fall. Why not camp in California or Hawaii while becoming a surfing expert? A cross-country road trip with your best friends, staying in tents when hostels won’t work. Volunteer on your preferred presidential candidate’s campaign, volunteer in some way to help the COVID19-vulnerable populations. Spend a month or two living with your grandparents who live far away from you—document their stories and help them out, maybe do a big project with them. What a cool thing to do without your parents around—lots of kids don’t get a chance to spend alone time with grandparents and age 18 is a great age to really appreciate their grandparents’ stories. Become a contact-tracer and learn about global health issues and management. Learn a new skill (take cooking classes, learn to make beautiful wood furniture. Take a crack at writing the novel you’ve dreamed of writing. For the artistically inclined, throw yourself into new painting techniques, learn to throw pottery on a wheel, etc. ). By this fall, surely there will be ways to do these things in small groups/socially distanced. Kids can do this away from their parents’ houses to optimize growth (cheap Airbnb’s or rentals should be available by fall; my teenage son is already earning money at a local restaurant bringing curbside orders out to cars—while unemployment is high and plum internships and careers are in jeopardy, gap year kids can definitely earn some bucks while living somewhere on the coast doing their passion project).
By January, there may possibly be a vaccine, who knows. But there is a large possibility that international travel on some level will resume. So January to May could be spent backpacking overseas. You could select the safest/most accommodating locations. Right now Australia and New Zealand and other locations look like they’ve banished the virus. At some point, they will have to open up to tourism again. Obviously that would mean some risk of virus coming back until there is a vaccine, but levels would likely be low there—if they allow travelers again, they could be appealing. Even if they have a 14 day quarantine rule, if you are planning to travel for 4-5 months, it could be worth hunkering down in a lovely airbnb for 2 weeks to earn the right to travel afterwards. Take language classes in a foreign country—likely to be an option for spring 2021. Anyway, the possibilities are vast—maybe some of these options will end up being more possible than others, only time will tell.
But kids could have an incredible gap year and then start college in Fall 2021, hopefully at a point that college has resumed more normal operations. I would think this would really appeal to more kids than typical vs going to a sub-optimal social situation in college this fall (obviously not for everyone!! But I would think more than normal). For the colleges, it wouldn’t hurt their revenue to allow it if they can fill spaces from their waitlists (and the kids on waitlist may be delighted enough to get into their dream school off the waitlist that they will happily attend the online classes this fall). So yes, it would seem that the only unhappy campers could be the high school class of 2021. But most Americans aren’t daring enough for gap years, so although I do bet there will be MORE than usual, I doubt it will be a HUGE number, with dramatic implications for the following class. Good luck to all, I hope all these kids manage to have amazing experiences over the course of the next year no matter what!!
People have been talking about schools mandating quarantine housing for those who test positive or are exposed to a positive person. I keep thinking of issues with that idea . . .
What would the policy be for those who have already had the virus? It would be hard to tell them they have to move to a quarantine dorm for two weeks because their roommate, teammate, girlfriend or lab partner tested positive. If you exempt people who have had the virus, it would create pressure for kids to get it and get a positive antibody test so they would no longer need to worry about the disruption of quarantine.
If you quarantine suspected cases (some or maybe all of whom are actually negative) with positive cases, you’re going to infect more people. (This happened in quarantine facilities in China, and also by default on cruise ships.) So you need more separation. Will everyone have their own room and private bathroom in quarantine? Where will they eat? Can they exercise? Completely isolating kids for two weeks sounds like a bad idea. (Two Air Force Academy cadets tragically committed suicide when isolated due to the virus.)
If you only test symptomatic people, you might not need to use quarantine much, but you’d also have no idea of the extent of infection on campus. If you test the asymptomatic, at some point you’re most likely going to end up with big numbers needing quarantine, which would be very difficult to manage.
I don’t envy the college administrators as this is such a huge challenge and the landscape could change at any time with a new decision from the state, or new research results. I hope that new preventatives and/or treatments will make their jobs easier.
from twitter
@twogirls there are big schools (USCarolina being the latest) saying they will be open with students on campus. That’s what they are saying. How can any school say that right now when most other schools have not made that decision and are waiting for more clarity?
“It’s our intent…” means that that is what they want to do, but does not guarantee success.
I agree that there are schools that say this…but not all, or even most. I firmly believe that there are wonderful people at larger schools who are going above and beyond to help their students…I see it now.
Schools have to get it right, regardless of size. I believe they are all doing their best. I also agree 100% that they should not be announcing their plans right now.
USC doesn’t surprise me TBH. I believe the state is opening up now…or very soon.
The way it was explained to me is that there will be a tracking app and quick tests. If you’ve come into contact with someone who’s tested positive you will need to be tested immediately (on campus) - and only quarantine if you test positive. https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-google-announce-new-privacy-features-for-coronavirus-tracking-tech/
I think this will work will in colleges because it can be MANDATORY if you want to be on campus.
Yea but she’s talking about an 18 year old. Newton was 23… Duh ?
Wayne State and Michigan State already announced fall online but something tells me they jumped the gun.
South Carolina says “will resume in person” with no qualifier.
https://sc.edu/safety/coronavirus/index.php#Messages
I just wonder - does a school like this know something that the smaller schools do not? Are they further along in planning? If they can announce this now then why are lots of other schools taking more time to decide. So, USC, if you know some secret that allows all kids to come back to campus, you might want to share that info. Otherwise, I think you’re just saying this now so that kids enroll.
USC is a public school. I assume that if the governor wants to open, then the public schools will open (?).
I am not convinced that they have any kind of spectacular plan…but maybe they do. If that’s the case…please share!
The suspected cases have to be isolated from the infected and from each other. Services have to be provided by trained staff wearing PPEs. It is the most significant challenge the schools face in their planning for the return of their students.