MODERATOR’S NOTE: Please stop the bickering. This is not a debate site.
Just a bit confused by the latest post-so adults can have fun in bars, restaurants , museums, etc, all of which will be open by September, but no fun allowed on campus? Well, I guess students will move the fun off campus then. The risk is more likely to come from the city/town reopening and greater mobility with use of public transport this summer than some club meeting in the fall.
Do not forget that, for example, those 40k students at UT are also city residents in off campus apartments (or at least 33k of them are), and they are remaining regardless of whether classes meet in person or clubs occur. They have signed leases. The same is true at many large state schools
Schools in NYS are phase 4…unless that changed and I am not aware.
No. Schools are not in any set phase in Massachusetts. The governor has announced they are working on providing detailed guidelines for how K-12 schools and higher education institutions may reopen for fall instruction, but nothing complete has been released yet. Plans are expected in the next few weeks. For now, they have just released preliminary guidelines for the fall, including mandatory masks and smaller class sizes. (I think the limit is 12 individuals. 10 students and 2 teachers/staff allowed in each classroom.) The state has provided some guidelines for colleges to begin reopening this summer, but that is for staff and daily operations. Bringing students back is something different.
I’m confused. I think all private colleges are working with faculty to decide who is able to teach in-person and who cannot. All faculty working on what their classes for fall can look like remotely. I don’t know any school that is opening up to all in-person classes and expecting all faculty to show up.
So, of course, if any of us were college presidents, we would be much more nuanced in our approach. Schools have been spending hours and hours on this with multiple committees that include faculty, staff, medical experts and (in Bowdoin’s case) students.
Have we been having this disagreement because the professors here think that parents want things 100 percent normal with kids taking four in-person classes? If that’s so, then there’s been a lot of miscommunication.
@ProfSD Per an email sent out to the student body in Amherst College President Biddy Martin’s details on reopening campus, “the broader reopening of higher education, which is slated to be a part of Phase 2”.
^@homerdog - This thread runs for over 300 pages. You can’t vouch for every post.
The hypothetical isn’t about what college presidents ARE doing, but what posters here would do given their own unique views and perspectives. For those who believe that everyone is grossly overestimating a risk that is vanishingly small, or those who believe that being concerned about returning to work amounts to “being entitled”, would they be inclined to go full-on if they were running things?
Do you think professors should be given the option to teach classes remotely? Or do you think the college should decide whether a professor can teach remotely?
I’ve been reading this thread with interest, and as a parent understand that the theoretic risk to young people is less than it is for other segments of the population.However, having just watched my sister, her husband and their 25-year-old daughter go through having Covid, it was no picnic for any of them, even though they were all healthy with no pre-existing conditions. So the question is: what happens when one of our kids calls us up from across the country and says they have a fever, tested positive, feel sick as can be… who moves them into the isolation dorm if they are not feeling well enough to do that for themselves? Who cares for them if they have a fever for five weeks, like my niece did? How will this all be handled for students who are super sick but don’t need hospitalization? A highschool classmate of my son’s, who is now a rising sophomore in college, had the virus this spring. She’s a college athlete and was absolutely floored by this thing, it took her fifty-something days to recover, and even now she’s still weak…luckily she was home when she got it, and is able to have her long recuperation there… what happens with these kids if they’re at school on their own?
@sylvan8798 I don’t think anyone is suggesting that. And I leave it to college’s committees that have been committed to the process of learning as much as they can about the virus to make informed decisions. They are talking to experts. They know what their local situation is with PPE, social distancing options, testing/contact tracing, etc.
Every school is different. Even what Bowdoin decides versus Colby and Bates will likely not be the same.
My goal would be to return to in-person learning as much as possible but understanding that students who cannot return should be able to take the classes they want remotely. Professors who want to go to campus (and some do) can be protected by every means possible. Those who need to stay home will teach remotely and be responsible for getting those classes ready to go with the support of the college.
I’m cool with no sports. I think clubs can meet - with masks and social distancing.
As for staff, I would protect them as best as possible. For cafeteria workers, their jobs are very close to the job of someone who works at a Whole Foods or Trader Joes or any grocery store where people can order ready made food in person and then go check out. I haven’t heard of any big outbreaks from grocery stores. Kids can eat outside, take it to their dorm, or eat in the cafeteria socially distanced maybe with plastic dividers and with masks only off when they are sitting. I think we will see soon that colleges will offer that. Staff who work cleaning the dorms, etc., might be closer to the virus. I hope colleges will give them even better masks and any other protective equipment they might need. Maybe each dorm is told when their bathrooms and hallways will be cleaned so the kids know to stay clear during that time.
Like a few posters have said, if things are opening up and IF we don’t see big spikes, then colleges can follow the guidelines that seem to be working and just keep evaluating along the way.
I think there needs to be a trust between the parents/students and the college that the college has the right priorities and the students will hold up their side of the bargain. Health and safety being a priority. I just think some of us think that’s do-able and some are more skeptical.
Professors should be able to decide.
I will say that Sophomore year my daughter got mono and really bad strep the first week back . It took her over a month to recuperate. Neither myself nor DH had to go help, and relied on friends /RA, roommate, etc to get her what she needed .She was able to get back to class in 2 weeks but it was draining. I assume if they have a “covid dorm” that they will be monitored and things will be brought to the students. Now if she was to be hospitalized i might have gone there. So yes, its awful that the girl your son knew was sick for so long, but college kids get sick from other things . In the past some have had to medical leave of abstances. I wish when my D had Mono she could have had an online option for a few weeks. This is not downplaying Covid-19, but its not the only thing around that college kids have gotten sick with.
One year from now, two years, and so on… Current college students will be recounting their pandemic stories.
Possible narratives:
It just wasn’t fair; I didn’t get what my family paid for. My whole college experience was ruined.
The world turned upside down. Of course, we were in a very privileged position. Nothing horrible happened to our family. At my college we all pulled together. We did what we could to help those less fortunate.
Here’s the thing. We don’t know a lot about the virus but are learning more all of the time. I wonder how many people have a really hard time with it. We don’t really know. I will say that the media loves showing the outliers like the really sick kids. And I do worry about the situation you present. But if it’s five kids in that situation wouldn’t that be different than 200 kids? Of course no one wants their child away and so sick. I think I’m just willing to risk it and so is S19. Will I be freaked out if he is SO sick and so far from home. You bet. It’s not changing my opinion on whether to go back. I just don’t see all K-12 and college kids staying home for another year. That would be so bad for so many students. Are you suggesting college classes go all online and everyone stays in their parents’ homes?
Wait until students start calling home from $70k schools saying they are being forced to quarantine in the “sick dorm.” If conceptual discussions about potential campus restrictions engender the type of discussions happening here now…hold on to your hats when the proverbial excrement hits the fan for real…
College dining halls normally tend to be like buffet style restaurants, rather than grocery stores. From what I have seen, Whole Foods (but not Trader Joe’s) had some take-out-type restaurant service. However, eating in an indoor dining hall, like eating in an indoor restaurant, is likely to be limited or modified in many places. Also, buffet type of service in some grocery stores is now changed to requiring asking an employee to put the desired food in the container (the employee and the food are now behind shields).
So it is very unlikely that the college dining hall experience will be the same as it was before, for the protection of both the students and staff.
Then I don’t think the professors on this thread or elsewhere would have any issues.
I’m not suggesting they stay home… not suggesting they go back either, although, of course everyone is hoping for some return to “normalcy!” I’m just listening, watching and processing… and waiting to see how this all plays out.