The key phrase is “Mind Experiment”.
My thought is that without the threat of going bankrupt or of loosing students or brand value, the best choice would to be to go 100% online and completely avoiding placing students, teachers, or staff in any danger (on campus). The assumption is that even when online they can fulfill their core mission - academics.
I was thinking of a quote recently and I will not get it quite right, because I don’t remember it exactly. But the gist of it was that every year matters, because it’s the only one of that particular experience for that particular child.
I’ve been thinking of that because I really do want to make sure that each of my students gets their proper year of education. I think we all feel very hamstrung by this virus and its impacts. @Waiting2exhale said it beautifully, “something … other than what we have to look forward to.”
At this equivalent time for my oldest, I had a happy mountain of things growing that he would take to school. Heck, five months ago we made a family calendar for the spring that seemed almost impossible to keep up with because of all the events and things happening. Chorus concerts, wedding, graduation, business trips, Passover seders…
(Did anyone see the Futurama episode when all of Amy’s calendar is suddenly erased and replaced by “MOTHERHOOD” on every day…it was like that, but “PANDEMIC”)
Today we were allowed back in our classrooms to get some things cleaned up, and I was so anxious worrying about what it will all look like in the fall. It was also worrisome because even though my colleagues are all wise, cooperative, educated adults - everyone kept forgetting about social distancing and then readjusting. I don’t know how kids are going to manage this.
@Waiting2exhale does taking a gap year make any sense? I know there’s not much to do this year and we have no guarantee that fall 2021 will be measurably better, but we are starting to get a clearer picture of what this fall will be. Of course taking more than a one year gap isn’t a good option but, to take this one year off and get the possibility back that your student could have a much more normal freshman experience? To me, that warrants seriously considering a gap. I’m 100 percent sure that we would be leaning towards that option if we had an incoming freshman.
Great point. I took your advice and I think many on this thread would be shocked to see the names of some of the colleges that are implementing these measures. It seems everyone is taking a hit, though some more than others.
FWIW: There are restrictions on endowments. Colleges cannot just tap into them the same way you tap into a savings account. It is also an undesirable course of action.
That “100%” is assuming that there are no labs or arts that need to be done in person, although these would be a relatively small percentage of undergraduate class sessions.
I’m not sure who you refer to when you say “some of you” but if it was me, you misunderstood my comments. I was responding directly to your original comment where you said, “ all students have to isolate for 7-10 days?? No way. Sorry. Who is going to agree to that? Gap year.“
Perhaps I missed where anyone said that just because kids isolate when they first arrive they are “good to go for the semester.” I think you might be reading into things. In my case, I was simply saying that my son (actually even my daughter) would never take a gap year simply because school required them to isolate for 7-10 days when they arrived on campus. You made it sound like no one would agree to that and I disagree.
Do I think simply having kids agree to isolate when they first arrive on campus means they will be able to prevent COVID ever from hitting campus? Of course not. But that’s not what your original comment stated, nor did I see anyone here saying that by isolating at the start of the semester that kids would be “good to go.” There is simply no way to prevent the possibility that someone might eventually be contagious during the semester. My kids want to be back at school and would not take a gap year simply to avoid a 7-10 day isolation at the beginning of the semester. Neither of their campuses is requiring this, but they would do it if they were.
Hi all. From an article introducing the new 2019 tenured professors of MIT.
Interesting.
Undergrad degrees.
St Vincent’s College
U of Adalaide
Cornell
Carleton
Russian Uni
U of Washington.
Yes very smart people at MIT. Superstars. Although there’s not a HPYSM in the bunch.
Just a little food for thought. Brilliance is readily available at universities the world over.
So what to do is a common theme here. Whatever happens this fall will affect your institution for learning for years to come. Once hybrid is evaluated and working you will see some of this going forward. It might actually even be preferred. What if there is a relapse next fall? What if you can’t get in next fall due to enrollment?
There is not a perfect situation and don’t think there will be one in the future either.
@homerdog : “@Waiting2exhale does taking a gap year make any sense? I know there’s not much to do this year and we have no guarantee that fall 2021 will be measurably better, but we are starting to get a clearer picture of what this fall will be.”
You know, homerdog, it would make sense if we’d had a plan in mind, but we didn’t and I (it falls to me if a parent were to spearhead such a move at all) was counting on having no kid underway as I sought to empty the house and prepare for a move.
My deepest hope is my kid finds himself embedded in a crazy tight ‘cell’ or ‘hub’ and manages to gel with a group of kids who hold tight to each other in a bond unbreakable when they must leave for home near Thanksgiving.
So, normal happens after all.
But in this Covidian drama, something of a musical, as they bond through the anonymity the masks afford, it is almost a costume ball, a la South Pacific, all gender- bendered and platonic, but keeping the violins.
I keep hearing “…across a crowded room. And somehow you know, you know even then…”
Also, if you’ve ever seen a master electrician, builder, furniture maker, artist, farmer, jeweler or master mechanic at work.
Brilliance is not confined to the halls of academia either.
I bet some really practical minds outside of the college environment might come up with some reasonable plans.
Also, no situation or arrangement pre-covid 19 was ever perfect for that matter.
Is there something to the idea that students might see themselves as facing down a monumental challenge and overcoming it, surviving, soldiering on?
Who doesn’t remember our grandparents walking a mile to school through waist deep snow, uphill both ways, with a crust of bread for lunch? What a story this will be for THEIR grandchildren.
No question about it!
But that “Russian Uni”… It happens to be Novosibirsk State University, Russia’s second highest ranked.
Their entrance examinations would bring to tears approximately 100% of American valedictorians with perfect SATs 
…please send me their number
It’s nice to be able to easily skip over so many posts - “Harvard, MIT, Princeton…”
Also nice to have one of the usual pat conclusions after so many of these posts - not ALL smart people attend these schools. Holy cow it’s tedious.
@Vulcan lol. I will. But they are expensive!
Also I figured the Russian school was great like the rest on the list. I just couldn’t recall exact spelling and didn’t want to butcher it. ??♂️
@Leigh22 I was actually just standing up for the little guys.
I believe the Air Force Academy starts back in 2 weeks. The upperclassmen who are the drill instructors are back and in quarantine for these two weeks. That doesn’t mean they can’t leave their rooms but they are restricted in what they can do. Then the new cadets come back and they will be restricted for 2 weeks to what they can do. I think they are flipping it and doing the classroom/paperwork stuff first, and then after 2 weeks they’ll start the outdoor drills. It will be interesting to see how many drop out in the first 2 weeks and how many after the physical stuff starts.
Schools will make it work.
Hehehe. It’s not as hard as it looks. Novosibirsk simply means “New Siberian”.
Average winter temperature 0 degrees F.
So, I guess it’s not just their entrance examinations that would bring American valedictorians to tears
Ha! Yes, yes. This is the outlook.
Thanks for that.
I get your concern. However, I think the vast majority of students do have something they type on to write and submit assignments. And, for the tiny few who don’t have their own laptop to do this on, they do have smartphones, which would be enough to follow along in a classroom. My U did laptop loans to any student that needed them this spring–directional state U with many low income students. So it’s unlikely in most cases that a student would not have any means of following along, whether in a shared classroom like this, or at home in a typical online class.
Since I will almost certainly be teaching online this fall, I would assume that will be true. Otherwise, online teaching doesn’t work.