Sounds like an opinion piece – and a bit of click bait. In their reopening plans all schools placed caveats and used words such as “planning to open” or “hope to open” or “working hard to open.” But unless the author can foresee the future he can’t say with any certainty that schools in fact won’t.
He did fine first semester and second semester until the online learning. Both parent and student put the blame on the online. He’s a super hard worker and sought out help both before and after being sent home. Seems he didn’t have all the same options at home. This is our large instate uni.
Again, don’t take this personally, but I disagree. I think many are open to lots of different approaches. I know I am. Look, my son had an ideal environment at Stanford. Until covid. He came back in March, finished his winter term and is at this very moment in an online class. He’s taking 18 hours including his final senior project. He graduates with BS on June 14 and will be 12 hours into his MS studies that WILL begin this fall. He’s also actively working in a Stanford lab and will soon be submitting a paper (his 4th) to a conference (will be held online too). He’s also working online part time with a startup and will begin his summer internship (also online) on June 15. He’s kept engaged and busy (way busy) all this time - all online. So I know it can be done. He’s doing it.
I think most students and parents are fully prepared for a variety of necessary changes and inconveniences. Most of us aren’t selfish or unreasonable. However, let’s establish that there can be a huge difference in quality between a course designed from the start to function online, and one that was forced to go virtual last minute. Venerable professor or not, classes suffered significantly in quality this spring in the experience of many students.
What I would expect is that there be a concerted effort on the part of the school and faculty to restore the educational quality that was lost in March. I expect them to find solutions, or at least improvements, for what didnt work well. I expect employees to make any necessary personal and professional arrangements so that they are able to perform well–just like everyone else in the society has had to do. University employees are not some special protected class of citizen merely because they work in education or have a PhD. Of course, they shouldn’t be less protected either.
Xavier universe in Ohio just announced their fall dates, first years start 8/10 and rest of students 8/17 done on campus by Thanksgiving, they said they are planning rooms for students who will get Covid while on Campus and if necessary if they go all online and campus must close in the fall refunds for R&B will be given.
Some various thoughts on parts of this thread:
1-My D17’s school (LMU) has let students know that they are doing lots of changing of schedules, classrooms, etc, and not to take any notifications of schedule changes or cancellations as final…things could look a lot worse while t all gets figured out and finalized, so just hold tight.
2-Both of my kids attend mid sized schools with honor codes, and I would expect that adherence to social distancing would be a part of the honor code. S19s school (Elon) has said that there will be mandatory summer online training sessions on the new policies and procedures. I wonder if campus police and/or local law enforcement will have a much stronger role this fall, and if the consequences for breaking SD (social distancing) would/could be high enough to deter?
3-I expect that opting in to contract tracing via phones could be a requirement to be allowed to come back to campus. For K-12, I doubt this, but it would be handled like it is now, with lice, strep throat, etc.
4-I hate to read about the above articles that point out that having plans doesn’t necessarily mean that on campus opening is a given. But I need to accept this and warn my kids, too.
NOT all parents. If my kid was complaining just a fraction of what posted here, I would totally lose it. Thankfully she embraced it and makes the most out of it.
@socaldad2002 A residential college experience is a luxury item as well. I know on this site it is often seen as a “need” but it is a luxury.
As for the doctors on board and medical staff, it does not change how easily a virus spreads in a community close-quarters living environment. Obviously the age and health of students will place them at lower risk of complications from Covid19 but they also will be able to spread it more easily to their community beyond the college by simply going for lunch or having a drink at a bar. Are you saying that Covid 19 is less likely to spread in a dorm during a semester than on a cruise ship where guests are for a week or two?
Speaking purely about viral spread and not additional resources to treat those infected, I fail to see a huge difference.
I honestly don’t even care at this point. If my D20 has to start online, I hope her professors have had ample time to make it the best it can be. She is a little lucky in that she already has a few kids she has met and knows from her team. I really want her to go but it is what it is at this point.
Let’s keep in mind that an Associated Press-NORC poll revealed roughly 50% of Americans would refuse to be vaccinated.
Just because I’m feeling cranky about this, I would like you to know that not every student hated their experience this spring. These are representative quotes from the very high student evaluations (written anonymously) that I received last week. I hate to sit here and brag (sort of, lol!) but I just think (some of) you think we are some rote machines putting in our time:
• The instruction was done really well and the topics used for this class were pretty interesting, and professor X was a great professor, I was really lucky to have her for 106.
• The professor made writing enjoyable and interesting throughout the semester and taught students practical skills to improve themselves as writers. This was my favorite and most helpful writing class that I have taken.
• The instruction very nice and she very caring and she did tech very well.
• This was by far one of my most favorite classes. The professor was very engaging and encouraged us to share our ideas with the class. I will definitely miss this class and professor.
• The professor did a fantastic job even under COVID situations!
• Professor X created a fun and safe learning environment and encouraged discussion and family within the classroom. She was always willing to help a student out, and her ability to communicate properly and promptly during this pandemic is outstanding. This woman is kind and compassionate.
• I would just like to thank Professor X for being so thoughtful and understanding during these tough times.
• With the help of the professor, I was able to take a lot away from this course. Firstly, I learned how important it is to understand a concept first to write about it. I also learned how to properly cite and analyze a piece of literature, and have that literature relate to a more significant part of life. Lastly, I was able to learn how important it is to work hard and to believe in myself even in the midst of a pandemic, all due to the professor’s encouraging words.
I know this is shameless, but I just feel a real need to defend. 
@garland My son wasn’t upset with his online classes. In fact, he said they ended up being more rigorous than the in person classes. He certainly would prefer in person classes this fall, but he’s going to school no matter what.
FYI, my Brooks Brothers masks just arrived. They are way too large for my face. I’d need to clip the elastic loops together behind my head to make the mask fit my face correctly.
My understanding is that many faculty (perhaps lecturers/sessionals?) are only paid for 10 months a year. If that’s true then they aren’t paid to work during the summer and won’t have time to create well designed online content for the fall.
Totally agree with this. Maybe the Big Ten just rocks?!? The amount of learning was great and honestly I was told things were actually harder. They loaded the kids up with work. Yes, somethings worked and some did not. I know our school is very hard at work trying to come up with innovated ways to do a hybrid. Every school will be a hybrid to some degree. To me the school that can pivot to quality online learning quickly will be the most successful and their students the less stressed out.
It’s a requirement at my D20’s college to live on campus at least 3 years. There are many colleges with similar requirements. She applied ED and committed last Dec. well before CV-19. She also pulled all of her applications to all other colleges.
Taking a cruise is 100% optional, totally a luxury for fun, and really frivolous. A cruise ship, in total, is going to be more densely populated with more people per square feet than a college campus. I’ve been on cruise ships and everywhere you go, restaurant, show, even on the deck, its wall to wall people. Most kids on campus will leave their dorms frequently and go outdoors. For example, D’s campus is 8,000 acres. The population of residents on campus are very young and generally healthy. I really don’t see wanting to go on vacation on a cruise ship as very similar to students on a college campus.
Same, mine said she can watch/re-watch the video in triple speed. Any mishaps with zoom during class is a fun dinner conversation. She just rolls with the punches. She said to me the other day, something along the line of …I have to decide what I SHOULD be, not just improving the current version of myself. She is taking 2 online summer classes from her college, and working 20 hours/week and still manages to work on her own charity work. Online or in-person, doesn’t matter, whatever her school offers, she is going to college in the Fall! No stinking virus is going to stop her from taking classes.
@garland - Kudos to a job well done! Thank you for sharing those comments!
Our experience through our D is that the vast majority of professors are pretty darn amazing and go way above and beyond for their students. (My experience was the same back in the day).
AFWIW, as a big aside, my D liked “meeting” her profs’ kids and pets during video lectures and sessions. Made if feel even more like a family. I think for one study session, everyone brought their pets in to be introduced ; )
Having been a department chair and program coordinator, and having worked on academic schedules myself, I know that just because you come up with a theoretically “perfect” schedule does not mean that students will sign up for the classes when you want them to! You have to know student and faculty needs and preferences well in advance. Academic scheduling is a minor art form.
There is also the question of how much money the institution would have to shell out for the “latest technology” for a function like scheduling. Perhaps it’s really not worth it if it doesn’t improve the quality of instruction or the student experience in a meaningful way. Right now I frankly think a better use of my university’s money would be to subsidize student access to instructional technology rather than administrative convenience.
This is the kind of thinking I referenced earlier. I hope college administrators are smart enough to fix that. If not, their schools will suffer.