I’m curious if anyone has heard anything about study abroad for fall. I don’t have anyone in my family that had one of these planned and there has not been much discussion here. Have they all been cancelled?
@katliamom , I think you said your husband was in that business. Any insight into what colleges are doing?
I think colleges can enforce their rules if they choose to. Also, I’d like to think that most students will follow the rules. Privilege, it appears, comes in many forms.
Students are going to be students…and that means parties and gatherings without masks and social distancing. Some will comply, many will not. Students hold much responsibility in how their school year unfolds.
Professors are going to be professors, and that means that if they return to campus…they may expect students to wear masks and maintain social distancing in order to enter their classroom. Public health officials have repeatedly said that these measures will help.
How will all of this pan out? Time will tell. Yes…professors want to return to teaching, but they do not want to jeopardize the health and safety of their families…and they should not be expected to.
It takes a village.
Students will be partying and gathering no matter what. My D is a high school senior and last night showed me several stories on her Snapchat of fellow seniors having parties INSIDE with 30+ kids. No masks, little SD. This is in a New England state that barely just reopened and was extremely affected by Covid. And you know what, I get it. They cannot continue on like this, knowing the risks are low, for the next 12-18 months. They have NOTHING TO DO. Most have lost their jobs, camps, summer plans. I’m disgusted with the parents, but I get it. Knowing what we know now, I think the safest thing is to have kids together on campus vs driving around drunk and sneaking parties in the woods at home.
I understand and do not entirely disagree. I went for a walk and saw recent college grads outside partying…no masks and no social distancing.
Students can’t have it both ways. If they want their school to be open they are going to have to work at it, and that means adjusting their behaviors accordingly. If they engage in risky behavior then they have to accept the consequences…and that might mean closing the school again.
The professors have a right to remain safe…to the best of their ability.
The UCs announced this week that fall study abroad has been suspended:
https://uceap.universityofcalifornia.edu/coronavirus-notice
@suzyQ7 I was very uncomfortable, but I was the only one who was. We went with 3 of our adult children and dil. They were all perfectly comfortable with it. Dh was fine and thoroughly enjoyed himself. (Going out to listen to music is his all-time favorite weekend evening activity, so he was thrilled to be back out.) It was the first time I had been out like that and it was rather jarring compared to how we have been living. No masks in the entire area except for the waiters. No social distancing. Tables were 6 ft apart, but large groups were going over to each other’s tables and talking, a group of women were up dancing near the music, large groups were hanging our around a large outdoor fountain, etc.
In terms of will I go back, not anytime soon. I have got to work mentally through what I am comfortable with and what I am not. As for the rest of my family, I am sure they will. (At which pt, it probably makes how I feel moot b/c I am going to spend time with my family, regardless.) It was just not what I was expecting bc it is not what we are supposed to be doing. Obviously, I was the only one who cared!
I guess I’m in the camp that every little bit can help. Yes, college kids will be getting together to socialize without masks but they will follow the rules in class, in campus buildings, in cafeterias. If they are six feet apart in buildings, that will help too. If testing is good then kids with the virus (at least ones showing symptoms) will quarantine. When professors are around the kids, there will be masks and social distancing so, even if a student is asymptomatic, they shouldn’t be transmitting the virus.
All of these changes are better than nothing.
I do agree that this opening up right now will be very interesting in terms of virus cases. Our town opened yesterday. Restaurants had tables outside, six feet apart. Pretty sure the people at each table, though, were not family members. If you sit at a table together, you’re very close. These tables ran for blocks and blocks. I get it but it still worries me. I told our kids that their socializing can’t include going to a restaurant in town. They’ll stick with what they’ve already been doing.
Haverford has also said that fall study abroad is suspended.
I don’t think any college will have a study abroad program this fall.
About 20%, judging from the link I posted (page 5).
https://www.cupahr.org/wp-content/uploads/CUPA-HR-Brief-Aging-Faculty.pdf
The data in the CUPA report are only for TT faculty though, which is less than half of the total. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/10/12/about-three-quarters-all-faculty-positions-are-tenure-track-according-new-aaup
It would be good to have age data for all faculty!
Schools may allow self tours, but high school kids won’t be allowed to spend the weekend with another student and probably won’t be allowed to sit in on a class. Of course they could easily join a zoom class.
For the people saying kids will party, hang out in cramped dorm rooms, etc, that ends in the school being shutdown or on lockdown. Go back and read about the graduation parties at Lovett HS in Atlanta, and remember Duke mentioned repeatedly they will all be subject to local, state, and federal guidance. Lovett’s parties caused enough spread for the area to be a national hotspot, and when that happens the local and state officials will deal with the source.
Just like the high school students partying at home, the college kids once back at school will have nothing to do but go to class. Some schools aren’t planning to open rec centers or have sports (intramural or varsity), no clubs, no concert or speakers, no theater or dance performances. Do people really think students are going to stick to their 4 person suites or study groups, taking nice walks or getting together to play a video game (after having sanitized the handheld things)? Unless schools open up MORE activities or sports, kids are going to leave campus.
Will colleges be any more of a hotspot than the local K12 schools? I doubt it, and many of the kids will be asymptomatic anyway. I don’t think closing will happen in the future.
Schools have got to figure out how to have the rec centers open. Gyms across the country will be open. College kids need exercise. My understanding from Bowdoin is that clubs will meet. Not sure why they would not have clubs meet - it would just be within the rules if they meet on campus - but I get that they won’t be able to plan big events so that’s a downer for sure.
As for parties, they will likely just be smaller, no? Get togethers of 50 people will be ok by then (maybe they are now in some states?).
I agree that there will be less to do in general but also I think colleges know that and will try to preserve as many activities as possible for the general wellness of the student body.
Local K-12 schools don’t seem to be hot spots, perhaps because younger kids don’t seem to transmit the virus very well. But as we saw from the Lovett grads, older kids apparently do transmit the virus.
So yeah, I do think colleges have much more of a potential to be hot spots than K-12 schools.
@“Cardinal Fang” Well juniors and seniors in high school aren’t that much younger than a college student. Wonder where the cut off is for not transmitting the virus as well. Plus, plenty of adults in the high school, too, who could spread it. From the very-early plans I’m hearing about. All teachers could be in school every day M-F and that’s a lot of possible transmission via adults.
I think we are going to have to wait and see how this opening up goes and I bet we won’t have to wait long. In a few weeks, we will either see hospitals getting hit hard or not. Remember, cases are going up in some places too because there’s more testing. The vast majority of those cases don’t require hospitalization.
UC San Diego’s Return to Learn program which involves testing students now (those who are still on campus or nearby) has been mentioned on here already. Very interesting initial report of their findings here: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/story/2020-05-29/uc-san-diego-student-coronavirus-tests?fbclid=IwAR0QKIiu8-TAtInVYwwNgCEYtl9EYak4y1vsLM1MrcQTY8YdeKWeo42uUxQ
tl:dr is 1300 students tested, NONE tested positive. It was a self-selected group of course - they offered it to 5,000 students but they got fewer volunteers than they hoped to. They think that’s because of the discomfort of the nasal swab. However, UCSD said the results from this initial test confirmed the school’s belief that the virus isn’t widely present on the huge campus. And also said that “[the] pilot program proved that it could conduct mass testing, which might make it easier for the school to resume in-person classes this fall”
My older daughter attends UCSD and they have already had first pass at class registration. There is supposedly a hybrid approach of in person and online but most of the classes my daughter has seen look to be planned for online. They said any class with over 50 students would not be in person. I don’t know if the results of this testing will change anything but it’s interesting.