There are a lot of people that come and go from campus on a daily basis.
My daughter was charged $2600 per semester for all you can eat food at her school. Freshmen had no choice of plans, you just paid it. There is no way in the WORLD she ate $2600 in food. In fact second year the same food plan was $1700. I guess sophomores just eat less?
Her boyfriend bought a meal plan that was about $900 when he lived off campus. It was lunch only. He could each as much as he wanted between 10:30 and 3:00 (or stay as long as he wanted after 3) and he ate a lot. Often went at 10:30, 12:30 and slipped in just before 3. Good deal for him. He is truly the faster eater I’ve ever seen.
For her last 2 years, she got all her $1800 (price went up) as dining dollars and could pay for cafe entrance, go to deli, smoothie place, etc. There was also a grocery store where they could buy all kinds of stuff, cooked or not. TP, cleaning stuff, steaks, canned good. She’d get stuff there, pay for people to go into the cafeteria with her, bought food for her boyfriend’s dinner every night, bought supplies and she still couldn’t spend that $1800.
^Tuition may not go up next year, but you can bet the cost of room and board will.
@homerdog Oh I suppose you’re right in the case of Bowdoin, considering they have one of the best dining halls in the nation. Allow me to amend my previous statement: I don’t think food will be a large consideration for schools that aren’t known for amazing food offerings. Amherst College food is not exactly notorious for being amazing.
D’s school (Haverford) isn’t known for great food, but they are known to have a good variety of vegetarian and vegan options, as well as the option to eat at Bryn Mawr (with better food). If they switch to boxed meals I really hope they continue to offer meals for different dietary restrictions and students can still dine at both campuses- sometimes my D would have missed lunch altogether if she had to go back to Haverford to eat between classes at Bryn Mawr.
My D16 was living in an off campus apartment this year when everything shut down. She just stayed in her apt and didn’t come home. In April they got a notice that someone in their building had tested positive and was sheltering in place. In this case, classes weren’t affected since they were all online anyway, but I think the notice about the positive test came from the city, not the school. Once you are off campus I think the city health department has responsibility, not the school.
So students in campus housing will be no joke forced to stay inside and their counterparts off campus would not? Likely there will be someone watching the kids on campus and they really won’t be able to leave their room. 14 days in one room? That is not going to fly when kids off campus can be out and about. It’s either a rule or it’s not. Can’t be enforced for some kids and not others.
@twoinanddone Bowdoin is $4000 per semester for board. No choice. They really cannot say kids can’t eat as much as they want for that price. If dining changes a lot, they’ll have to discount that.
I think those kids will be identified and maybe food will be brought to them. Staying in means staying in. There needs to be or should be a way the school health department /hospital can follow up with them.
@Knowsstuff well it’s just a new question I thought of so it will be interesting to see if colleges call out how they will handle off campus virus cases.
With the COVID-19-related issues in the meat supply chain, it would not be surprising if students who have a strong taste for meat will be more affected than students who prefer or are ok with vegetarian or lower meat meals.
Student 1: “They would only let me have one pork chop! They weren’t rationing food this way last year!”
Student 2: “I haven’t seen any problem. They let me have as much kale-tofu-blackbean-mushroom-quinoa salad as I want.”
Tulane had a webinar today. They are contracting with local hotels to offer more single rooms. Doubles will be allowed on campus but no triples. One dorm will be designated as an infirmary. Everyone (students, faculty and staff) will be tested as they arrive on campus and at least once per month after that. they are building a temporary structure to offer more dining room seating. Classrooms will be allowed to have half as many students as normal so they will be using the larger ones more often. Class times may be staggered to avoid rushes of students in the corridors. They have announced the date when classes will start but not dates for move in or orientation, because they are still working on the testing piece and how many can be tested in a day. So move in will be staggered at that number per day. Also, they are working on what the students do in between testing and getting the results. Overall it was impressive and it seems they are on top of many variables.
Exactly. Students living in dorms can be forced to adhere to strict social distancing rules, and the spread will be small.
The flip side of that is you keep posting that strict social distancing won’t work for your son.
Public schools can limit entry to buildings but it’s very tough to close the grounds since it’s public land. This probably varies by state.
Private schools can ban or limit people who are not connected to the school easily, and I think you will see that.
You are thinking of schools where most live on campus. 2000? 2500?
Think of a school like Ohio State or UF or Arizona where you have 25000 students living off campus. Who is going to watch 25000 students to make sure they don’t leave their apartments?
Living off campus gives students all kinds of advantages. They can store liquor in their rooms, have hot plates, have as many visitors as they want. The colleges can’t control that and can’t make requirements about their living conditions.
In theory, but in practicality, that would be very hard to enforce.
What if they don’t discount it? Will your son stay home?
@AlwaysMoving my point is that a student is a student and, at schools where many kids live off campus, it will be impossible to follow through on any quarantine policy if the off-campus kids are told to quarantine in their apartments or houses. I assumed all kids testing positive would have to be quarantined somewhere on campus so the college can ensure they are playing by the rules. If this isn’t the case, you can be sure that quarantine will be a joke and kids with the virus will be walking around campus. We already know that most young people get a mild case so it’s not like the flu. They might not feel that bad. Do you think someone in a frat house or an apartment off campus who feels fairly well but is positive will stay inside for 14 days? I understand they wouldn’t go to class but I have to think there’s a good chance they’d break quarantine if someone isn’t watching.
Seems like a double standard. At larger schools, freshmen in dorms will have to be in some quarantine unit but those off campus would not? That might not work for containing the spread.
As for strict social distancing and S19, do we think any college student can stay inside (inside - not leave the room) for two weeks straight? I can’t wait to see how colleges come up with a strategy for quarantine.
Colleges can ban visitors, or more likely they will require visitors to register and wear face coverings. However, few colleges are gated and they have multiple entrances. I’d think compliance has to be voluntary (I can only think of USC being fully gated).
I feel certain that the college will come up with a cafeteria situation that will be worth the price. Part of the point I was trying to make is that colleges might not be as different as everyone thinks. Small schools have a lot of work to do but have a better chance at making the experience closer to normal. I just do not see Bowdoin (or other LACs with just one or two cafeterias) doing just to-go orders with no all you can eat option. Eating at these types of schools is social time, more than at other types of schools. I think they’ll figure it out. Again, people are out at restaurants across the country. Sitting with friends as tables six feet apart. By June 28th, Illinois expects to allow this even inside.