I’ve heard that doors, halls and stairways will be made one way and a socially distanced line required, to the extent it’s possible. For example, some classrooms don’t have two doors. Plans are being made to socially distance during class changes. Some places are adding time between classes to accomplish this.
I don’t think this is true of MIT for a couple of reasons:
- More MIT parents/kids proportionately have been in favor of online education while it's a safer alternative (I might snootily think it is because of more awareness of the science; others might say it's because we are less wedded to standard ideas of socialization, i.e. nerds).
- There's no realistic way for sophomores/juniors to be going into off-campus housing en masse in Cambridge.
- MIT's freshman orientation is so special, and so specifically in-person (e.g. choosing dorms etc.) that there is a big push to wait until it can really happen the right way, hopefully in February-ish if we get more treatments/vaccines.
- ETA: I don't consider it "punishing" to protect someone from a deadly disease.
…I don’t know if you have a Class of 2020’er headed to MIT, in which case please share your different ideas about these issues? But MIT is unique in a few dimensions and I think it will be just fine to have the freshmen at home another semester.
@CT1417 Bowdoin has already said that the smallest classrooms, indeed, cannot be used. They will likely use classrooms that hold more like 30 kids to hold 10-12 kids instead for a class. Don’t ask me how that works. Will they limit the class to 25 and then have two sections? Maybe that’s why they are considering the two classes in mini-semesters option because then professors will have a lighter load of actual types of classes they teach but are then freed up to have enough time to have two sections of one class instead of one section for one class. Don’t know yet! It’s quite the puzzle if a college tries to make it one. It’s easy to just say online for everything and everyone take class from your room unless it’s a lab.
I don’t think anyone would not prefer a normal fall semester on campus for their freshman. Particularly at MIT, where that first semester is traditionally enshrined with special status through P/NR grading that encourages academic and social exploration and discovery.
But that normal fall semester is not going to be an option, not at MIT, not anywhere. And in this new reality, we would actually prefer an online freshman semester.
We certainly do not see it as punishment (especially if MIT comes through with hoped for financial incentives for those staying home).
Many schools have talked about making hallways and staircases one way, where possible, with exterior doors enter or exit only, again where possible.
But I know what you are saying wrt in the hallways that even if they are only walking one way, students will be looking at each other while talking, turning their heads, etc. But those hallway/staircase interactions generally won’t be extended, and presumably all will have masks on.
Has there been a survey of MIT parents/students regarding online for fall that shows parents of freshman prefer them to stay home?
I’m not sure why you’d think that Freshman orientation will happen in February - its a really long shot that we will have any normalcy in February. So I guess Freshman will have to wait until fall of 2021 to have their orientation.
Regarding protecting Freshman from a deadly disease - how about sophomores /juniors and seniors? This comment doesn’t make sense to me. I feel that upperclass (being older and more mature) have alot more choices to have a fun and meaningful online semester than freshman can. They may not stay in Cambridge, but can do remote learning from anywhere - together with a small group of friends. They can get internships (online) and take the semester off from college - unlike freshman who can either stay home with mom and dad and do online school or ask for a gap semester and do… who knows.
I don’t have an MIT freshman, but have a freshman attending another college, and I would be furious if sophomores and juniors were allowed on campus, while freshman were not. YMMV.
Many scientists, researchers, and doctors support the reopening of colleges. According to a survey linked earlier in this thread, 85% of epidemiologists would feel comfortable sending their kids back to school in the fall. The fact that more MIT parents/kids support continued online education does not mean they have a better grasp of the science.
Similarly, many parents of sophomores and juniors would be furious if freshmen and seniors were allowed on-campus, but sophomores and juniors were not.
I’m sure there are plenty of parents of sophomores and juniors at RPI that are furious they are letting freshmen and seniors back for the whole year, but only letting sophomores and juniors back for a semester each.
The current CDC guidelines for schools say desks should be six feet apart “if possible” and facing the same way. So, desks facing the same way. Not faces facing the same way for the entirety of the class. Good way to really mess these kids up psychologically. Face forward for hours on end - in hallways, in classrooms, while walking with a friend who is six feet away from you. This is not sustainable and not what a very large percentage of people are doing right now.
I sort of feel the opposite. I almost wish my D20’s school would just require the first years to be online for the 1st semester, so they might have a more true res life experience (even if delayed) when they are able.
This is an excerpt from the email we received today:
For our students who look forward to residence hall life, your experience will be markedly different because the pandemic is not over. We will need to follow all physical distancing protocols, which will affect room assignments, use of bathrooms, showers and laundry facilities, and communal area gatherings. There will be very limited to no social programming in person. Our dining options will be limited and they will focus more on pick up and to-go options.
I worry about what this first semester, often already a lonely time for acclimating first year students, will be for my kid. I have gently suggested that perhaps it would be better to wait it out a semester but she is dead set on attending in person, if the option is available.
@DeeCee36 I really think we are going to see more gap years for incoming freshmen. I agree that this is no way to start college and don’t really see the point in starting. Who knows how things will be in fall 2021 but the chances that they are better are way better than the chance that they’ll be worse. I see no downside at all to sitting out this freshman year if the college approves it.
Here’s the thing - how long are you willing to defer this first semester in person experience? There’s a better chance than not that there will be no normalcy spring semester. So do you think it would be mentally healthier to have your freshman at home - online - for an one and 1/3 years (They were online already for a semester of high school)? The majority of college students will very likely go back in August, I can’t imagine how depressing it will be for a kid who has to stay back home with mom and dad, sitting in their room, doing online college. And very likely - rinse and repeat for January.
If its not safe to go back to college, then its really not safe to have a ‘gap semester’ traveling on working outside the home. So what’s there to do?
There were surveys asking how students would react to various possible future scenarios.
MIT’s approach appears to be highly data-driven, steeped in an understanding that there will not be a perfect solution that leaves everyone happy.
Does anyone think all those schools that rushed to decisively announce full return to campus as early as April really know something that HYPSM, that are just twiddling their thumbs, do not? (Other than the state of their own finances and potential effects of going online on their enrollment numbers, that is)
Both of my kids’ schools (LMU and Elon) have committed to all classes being available 100% online for those that need it. That is one of the few concrete plans that has been communicated! I imagine most schools are making similar arrangements plans.
LMU has also mentioned splitting classes into halves, as in half the class attends F2F Tuesday, the other half Thursday for example. And they’ve suggested that 35-50% will be online (from my D’s schedule and others’, it looks closer to 50).
I don’t have an incoming freshman this year but man do I feel for them. Their transition and integration into campus life will be so different. We all have to deal with the hardships and disappointments this virus has brought, but the classes of 2020 (both HS and college) have been dealt an extra rough hand…on both their endings and their beginnings. If my kids’ schools were splitting classes, I would agree that seniors and freshman should take priority, even though I have a sophomore and senior. But it’s a very tough call and I think that the way that many schools are going (bringing all classes back, but cutting down the density with many online classes for all) seems better.
I think it’s a relatively high chance that there will be a vaccine and/or treatments well beyond what we have now, in another six months. Six months is an eternity in this disease - three months ago is when most of the response started in earnest in the USA!
If I were convinced that it would be a whole year online, I might be a little bit concerned, but I don’t think that is the case, and I also think MIT does a great job with online stuff anyway. They did the Campus Preview online and it wasn’t “the same” but really exceeded my expectations.
Regarding clarifying my comment that I don’t think it’s “punishing” to protect the freshmen - if I were the parent of a student who was supposed to come back in person this fall, that would make me much more upset than being the parent of one who is seemingly guaranteed to be protected from this virus.
There are different opinions on this, and not everyone thinks that it’s “good” or “appropriate” to have students there in person or that it’s “bad” or “punishing” or “unfair” to keep students off campus. That’s strictly a matter of opinion. Since the school my child is going to attend, is making choices in line with what I would do, I count myself as a satisfied customer.
I also happen to think that they’re right, and that it’s because they have a combination of scientific geniuses on hand and no real fear of economic disaster as a consequence of making difficult calls.
Give professors some credit. Most of us like our jobs and want to continue delivering high-quality instruction.
My SLAC has not yet made a decision about fall plans. They said a decision may not be made until mid-July. While I’m not happy about the late date, that doesn’t mean I can’t start prepping my courses. The college already informed professors that we should prepare for a hybrid model whether students are back on campus this fall or not. Even if my classes meet f2f, all students have the option of taking classes remotely. This means that my course must be flexible. It’s not difficult to shift an online or hybrid course to f2f, but going the other way takes time and (as evidenced last spring) is often a hassle. So I’m taking this summer to design a hybrid model that can easily shift according to the circumstances. Even if my courses move completely online, I’m required to offer some synchronous classes anyway. Worst case scenario: I prepare for online and we meet f2f. As @socaldad2002 mentioned, that’s an easy shift to make because I’ve been teaching f2f for the last 22 years anyway. I don’t understand professors waiting to see what happens before prepping their courses, unless they require labs.
Our IT department is already working on helping professors make the shift. In addition to training, they are having individual sessions to help with specific needs, and small workshops on select topics. Because I have the summer to prepare, I can seek help as issues arise in my planning.
Our faculty has already had discussions about class recordings and proprietary course materials. As always, students are not able to record classes without the instructor’s permission. And if the professor does agree to a recording, there is a document the students must sign that outlines the very limited uses of that recording. This is nothing new. We are also in talks with the administration to make sure that any material posted on an online system cannot be used or reproduced without our permission. That means the college cannot simply take our course materials and hire another professor to teach the class. Before we go online or hybrid, we will have legal protection.
So for all of the concerned parents, I have been working on transforming my courses since June 1. That will give me almost 3 months to get everything ready. Most of my colleagues are all doing the same. We are not simply sitting on our decks drinking lemonade and doing crossword puzzles. It’s a lot of work, but it must be done. Most of us understand that. It’s our job. I certainly hope (and expect) D20’s professors at her SLAC are doing the same.
@fretfulmother, I will get back at you 
by posting the link to it now available online:
[Initial decisions about fall at MIT](MIT Now - COVID-19 Policies and Information)
And parents/students voted for online? Just curious what the results of the surveys were.
I didn’t see a single school ‘decisively announce a full return to campus’ in April or May. What I did see schools say is that they were planning on fall start with online capabilities. What school announced in April a full return to campus?
Just Harvard and MIT, actually. Stanford is giving all students two-out-of-three quarters on-campus, with one to be completed online. Princeton and Yale haven’t decided yet.
And no, I don’t think they know something different, I just think they have different priorities and different obstacles to reopening. Also, do we really think that Duke or any other prestigious colleges planning to bring back all their students would be struggling to stay open if they remained online, any more so than Harvard or MIT?
Hope Springs Eternal. From your lips to God’s Ears.
Based on the lack of speed of quick testing (where are the breath tests, the 5 minute tests, etc…) and tracking apps, I am actual more bearish now than I was in April and May on progress. Everything has to go perfectly right - and nothing new go wrong in other aspects of life (God help us if there is a terrorist attack, foreign unrest causing military action, natural disasters, etc.) for there to be a readily available vaccine in January 2020. I actually have more faith in a therapeutic.
Edited to add - outside the fact that they will only invite max 60% of the students back (they are a smallish urban campus, and they are committing to singles) - this plan is pretty consistent with what I’ve seen many schools muse about. Start early, leave by Thanksgiving, masks, cleanliness, social distancing etc. They are committing to singles for all, that is different. Everything else is similar:
https://covid19.mit.edu/initial-decisions-about-fall-at-mit
Hopefully they will create an awesome tracking app and sell that to other colleges! We know they can!