Would you pay for the college’s nonrefundable costs if you decided to pull out late? Contracts for food, etc?
Students like the (often) cost savings in living off-campus (if given a choice if there is on-campus housing for upperclassmen). But they also like the increased freedom. And that will mean increased freedom from any covid rules or restrictions that are placed on on-campus residents.
Nope. But I think expecting families to make such an expensive decision by 7/1 during a pandemic is a bit much, especially the way the numbers are going in many states.
Well, it’s been almost three months (!) since the beginning of this thread, folks, and I thought it would be interesting to go back and read how we got where we are, some 400 pages later:
@homerdog wrote:
What’s really changed? About the only thing I can sense is that at some point the thread reached a consensus that 18-24 year-olds were unlikely to die from an infection with the virus. Once that was established or widely accepted, the question shifted to how fast could residential colleges reopen and once having done so how closely they could they cater to the wishes and desires of full-paying families?
Nothing else has changed in the rest of the country. Just sayin’.
Regardless of off campus /on campus housing the students still has to or should follow the states requirements. The schools are also following the states requirements. Lots of “off” campus housing, depending on college size, can be 1-3 blocks away usually in the same town /city with the same regulations for the virus. Have a little faith in your children to do the right thing.
here is a question. If a student returns and while home has had Covid and has recovered (and thus has the antibodies). would they have to quarantine if they were “exposed” ? i know we dont know enough about immunity , but you would think a student that has had it already likely would be fine, ,unless they exhibit symptoms. I hope by Aug, they have answers to teh antibody question
@sdl0625 thats a great question. I’m waiting until closer to move in date to get S tested for antibodies but, if he’s got them, I will definitely be asking that.
Hundreds Of Penn State Faculty, Staff Sign Open Letter Criticizing University’s Fall Semester Planning
https://onwardstate.com/2020/06/16/hundreds-of-penn-state-faculty-staff-sign-open-letter-criticizing-university-for-ignoring-concerns/
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Students won’t be “locked in” for “at least a semester of room and board”; as we saw last semester, colleges will have to refund students for room and board in proportion to the amount of time they were kicked off-campus for; unless, of course, they do not kick them off-campus.
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There are colleges where students are charged for tuition by the year? At Amherst, we pay by the semester, and I was under the impression that most colleges charged by semester/trimester/quarter or number of credit hours. Also, the question of whether students would be locked in for full tuition is questionable if schools kicked all students off-campus again, because last semester the decision was made in an unforeseeable panic, but this semester, it is quite foreseeable and possible to develop a plan for, and the payment of tuition is also for access to many resources that only exist on-campus.
Food service workers need to know if they have a job or not, and food has to be ordered. Colleges likely are contractually obligated to pay vendors for the semester regardless-so schools may have been willing to cover those unexpected costs last Spring, but are unlikely to do so again this fall. They can probably refund room costs, as those dont require outside vendors. But custodians, etc, will not return to work if the jobs are not guaranteed for the fall.
@bester1 It seems their issue was with vague language and unanswered questions concerning testing, protective measures, the choices professors will have, employment benefits, and graduate student funding; not necessarily with bringing students back to campus.
I’m surprised this has had to come from the faculty - what is their union doing in this regard? Our union has asserted much the same stuff in terms of what they want for their members this fall.
“But haven’t several CSUs stated they will still have around 25% of classes in person? I know SJSU has”
I just did a quick search on in person classes and those are still not final, here’s the quote from the SJSU president:
"Smaller classes, labs, dance studios, music instruction, art programs, research experiences, graduate seminars, and clinical opportunities may be held on campus if they can be adapted to meet physical distancing and other public health guidelines. As these courses make up almost 25% of our fall catalogue, we will need to review them carefully before we are able to make final decisions regarding how they will be delivered.
She says may be in-person and decision not final, so let’s see. I do hope they’re in-person, many of these benefit from peer-to-peer learning and being hands-on.
Agreed. IMO no announcements from any of the colleges are final yet.
So when will decisions be final? I would think faculty needs to plan for remote versus in-person class. So much for these remote classes to be so much better than the spring ones when it seems like some professors at some schools haven’t been given the direction to plan for remote class.
At some point, decisions have to be made regarding how each class will be taught, which classrooms will be used at what times. That’s not something that will likely be flexible and change over the semester. The time to decide must be coming fairly soon. If plans are set by July 1, that gives faculty almost two months (for most schools) to plan. I have not idea if that is sufficient time. Doesn’t really sound like it. Hopefully, class registrations will be updated at that same time with info on how class will be taught and in which classrooms.
Our school hasn’t made any announcements yet, although there are vague directives to prepare for the possibility of remote learning. Personally, I’m waiting until word comes down on my specific courses (or mid-July, whichever comes first) before I start considering anything.
I’m not sure why you keep beating on this lack of a timeline. You need to be flexible and wait. “At some point” means a few weeks before school starts. I’m sure they are now planning for hybrid mode or online only - everywhere that hasn’t already announced they will be 100% online. By planning for hybrid, they are covered if hybrid turns into online only. My educated guess is that there will be 0.00 colleges that are going to be “in person only”. That leaves hybrid and online only as choices - which is the same amount of work from a tech perspective.
How can decisions be final until a week or maybe days before classes start? Right now no one knows with any certainty what the situation will be the day classes are scheduled to begin. Any planning is tentative.
The only announcement that could possibly be final is all remote, online instruction.
There is too much information that is only being learned for any decision to be final. The landscape is not stable, decisions will have to take into account information that’s learned next week, or next month. There is just no way ANY institution (educational or otherwise) can have a plan that is set in stone today.
Well, I guess I just meant that faculty should be given enough info so they can start planning their classes. Not all professors are used to teaching remotely and would likely want to know to go ahead and plan to do so. Maybe this isn’t something to be concerned about and most are already planning their remote classes but that PSU article made it sound like those professors don’t know what’s up at all.