I think professors have been instructed to develop a class curriculum for both online learning and in-class instruction and will pivot to either as conditions change. I would also think that most experienced professors know the material and how they teach it is pretty similar from one semester to the next, so they would only need to develop a plan to teach the material remotely or hybrid, as needed in the fall. They have the summer to figure this out.
For my family personally, I would like to know when we need to be on campus for “move-in” day which was pushed up one week to sometime the week of August 10th but they are staggering move-in days so we don’t know what days to book our flights and rental car. We did book a hotel for 5 nights just in case as they were getting booked fast once the tentative plan was announced a few weeks ago. Hopefully we will know more the first week in July when they said more information would be coming. I’m sure flights will be expensive with only 4 weeks advanced notice?
I doubt ANY college will have courses that start ‘in class only’. They all need to have remote learning set up for every class (except labs) that has at least an online recording of the course because there will absolutely be kids that cannot come to campus because of border issues (international students) or health issues. So the only pivot will be from hybrid to online only. Can you imagine any college will offer courses that can only be attended on campus? I can’t. So the major prep now is getting the courses ready for online learning - even if they open up campus.
@suzyQ7 I believe some LACs will have class in person but you’re correct that those classes also have to have a way to be taught remotely in case kids get quarantined. For those classes, though, there won’t be some steep learning curve for the professors and they will likely do what they did in the spring and just have class “live” for those who need to be remote. I guess that just means the college needs to have the technology for classrooms to do that.
Agreed, but schools do need to present a plan. At my D’s school about 60% of students are from OOS. We live 1000 miles away. Families, particularly those with freshman students, are stressing about wanting to get plane tickets for move in as soon as a date is announced. At some point people need to know if they need to be looking at housing other than what they have planned for. Most kids live on campus and if they try to reduce density there will be a mad scramble for housing that really isn’t readily available since it’s not typically needed. Many families might decide to just keep their kids home and either take a gap year or work remotely if that’s an option if they don’t like the housing options or just don’t want to manage finding housing from a long distance away. If classes will be primarily online some families might decide it’s not worth the high tuition prices and take a gap year or decide to work from home rather than pay room and board for online classes. And families need to know what will happen if their kid get’s sick or is exposed to someone who gets sick before they commit to shipping their kids off far from home.
But, to make all these decisions we need to know the school’s plan. I get why the school is waiting and I know there is a LOT of figure out. We’ve been told we’ll hear something early July. And I fully understand that whatever plan we are given might change if the situation warrants. But to wait until 2 weeks before classes start to give us information isn’t really realistic for some of us.
@PrdMomto1 Right. Last we heard from Bowdoin is that they will choose a very specific plan, share it with students and then plan for that with faculty. Of course, they also said things could change but that you have to start with a plan that you implement and then be flexible.
@suzyQ7y D’s school has been clear that anyone can attend online for fall semester if they want/need- but- not all courses will be available to them. They’re not making any promises about what percentage or which courses will be available online yet.
@milgymfam yeah that’s not really helpful. I’m sure those students will find out soon enough which classes will be available remotely and that’s going to change some students’ schedules.
We were asked to figure out online options for labs, subject to minimal/zero budget available for that. Short of taking videos on my phone, of myself in the basement (which I know some are doing!), I don’t know many good, free alternatives for most of these labs.
I hope college professors are getting more practical support in terms of planning.
Not just in case they get quarantined, they need to have every course available online from Day 1 for international students who can’t make it in and for students that can’t come to campus for health reasons at all.
My guess is that faculty and IT are working hand-in-hand on that to make the experience as good as it can be. The facilities and housing staff are working on reducing density in classrooms and dorms, health services are working on testing and quarantining capabilities, registration folks are working on getting all the sections set up, etc… So these colleges are very busy making their plans and trying to be as flexible as possible. But there is no doubt in my mind that the KEY is having every course 100% available for remote learning - Day 1.
Decisions won’t even be final once they are on campus. Things can pivot quickly. States could reduce gatherings to under 10 and therefore almost all classes will need to be online. I think everyone should plan that if their student is going back to live on campus that at some point they might be -
Quarantined (possibly more than once for 14 days at a time)
Have all online classes (regardless of how they start out)
Catch covid (and be anything from hardly sick to extremely ill)
Be expected to just grab take out meals from the cafeteria and asked to eat in their room
Be expected to basically isolate from others (schools can change rules about gatherings and visitors at any point)
Could suddenly be sent home (unlikely because schools do not want another refund situation but it could happen)
Potential supply shortages again- from PPE to supplies for those off-campus (Clorox wipes, Tylenol, toilet paper). People will panic again if the numbers rise too fast.
Difficulty with mental health if the school starts really locking down or your student finds themselves quarantined. (This will depend a lot on your student- their outlook, mental health, support.)
I think it is wonderful to hope for the best. It might very well be a semester with minimal disruptions beyond masks, fewer gatherings, and hybrid classes but it also might not. Walking in (or worse allowing your student to walk in) without a realistic view of what might actually lie ahead is unwise. Every family should take a long hard look at what may be (both good and bad) and make sure they are comfortable paying for both case scenarios because it really could go either way at any point.
Are you saying you believe every in person class will have an online recording of that class? If so, I don’t believe that’s correct, since it’s my impression some (many?) schools just don’t have enough appropriate classrooms/equipment for that to be feasible. Unless, of course, the number of in person classes is really low.
The last few months I’ve been told there is a difference between recording a class, and zoom instruction. All new info to me.
There will also be some students who elect to enroll but remain at home at their parents’ houses, so I assume that every prof will need to be prepared to allow for a combination of live in-person and synchronous remote instruction.
Editing my post because a few others said the same thing while I looked away.
Wellesley will be communicating their plan by July 1st. I have been reading with interest to see what other Boston area schools and other LACs are doing. From the communications I have read from the school, I feel like they are doing their best to make thoughtful decisions in coming up with a plan regarding what next year will look like. With that said, both D and I realize that the situation is fluid and that things can change before, or during, the school year.
Mine just graduated from high school and, after discussing various possible scenarios, will be on campus in the fall if that is an option. She knows this will mean going with the flow. She doesn’t know anything different and after missing out on all the high school senior year stuff is just excited to get on campus in some way, shape, or form and have the experience/adventure.
I am encouraging her to not overpack/to bring as little as possible in event that she needs to pack up and get home at some point during the year as students had to do last year.
Am guessing this varies greatly by school. I cannot locate it now, but Yale asked faculty to complete a survey indicating electronic devices they would need in order to teach remotely this fall. I believe it included examples of each product (light, speakers, etc)
The lowest-tech method (for in-person classes) would be hired note-takers, which already exists for many classes on many campuses for kids who are ill or who have an IEP or similar such that they can’t take notes.
One step above that would be for an in-person student to record the lesson (or broadcast via Zoom) on his/her personal cell phone, to share with lab partners or similar. This may have privacy issues.
The fanciest solution is to teach in the kind of room that has full record/broadcast capabilities. Then the decision has to be made as to whether there is synchronous broadcast and/or recorded broadcast.
In principle, with zero students present, this last method could keep faculty isolated even if they’re teaching in the actual classroom with their whiteboards and demos and so forth.
If there’re Southwest flights to the town where your kid’s college is located, you may be in luck. Southwest not only imposes no change and cancellation fees (which most other airlines waive also these days), but also waives the up charge for the fare differential between the new and original flights, in a periodic promotion currently for flights up to the end of September.
Everyone’s schedule will possibly be changing anyway- they’re dumping the previous registration that happened (for everyone but freshman) and making everyone start over once they have a new schedule set for students to choose from. It’s definitely not ideal.