Schools outside that group will have no cases in the report. Not necessarily no cases though.
Apparently University of New Hampshire is asking students/parents who can - to come move kids STUFF in (on a schedule) 2 weeks before the actual student move in. Then on real move-in day, just drop off the kid at the door. This is to prevent spread by parents all congregating and spreading the virus during the busy move in period. I think this is a great idea, but clearly only works for regional schools. Even if they only get a (large) percentage to do this, it will help.
More info here: https://www.unh.edu/housing/fall-2020-move
Phase 1 - Early Drop-Off Weeks
All students who live within a four-hour driving distance to UNH will be required to move their personal belongings into their residence hall/on-campus apartment on one of the 10 days we have set up in August. Students who live outside the four-hour driving distance who would like to participate in this Early Drop Off are welcome to do so as well. During these 1.5 hour drop-off appointments, students (with limited family involvement) will be able to set-up their room as time permits. This Early Drop Off eliminates the typical move-in day congestion. When students return on their move-in/arrival date and time (made by appointment) everything will be in your room ready for you, except for the small amount of belongings you bring with you on your scheduled move-in/arrival time. The drop-off periods will be self-scheduled into pre-set appointments to ensure the safety of our students and families, and to keep the density of population in our halls at established guidelines.
Phase 2 - Arrival Move-In Week
After the Early Drop Off period, UNH will hold an official Arrival Week over five days from August 25 - August 30. Arrival Week is when residents will return to campus with minimal belongings, are briefly dropped off, and begin occupying their room and start Fall Semester. Students who have participated in the Early Drop-Off will self-schedule the arrival appointments, which are 30 minutes in length. Wildcat Welcome Crew will be available to help students move in during arrival week. No family or accompanying people are permitted in our residence halls and on-campus apartments during Arrival Week. Only students residing in the halls will be able to enter the buildings. Students who were unable to participate in the in Early Drop-Off will be accommodated but their families will not be allowed in the building. The main Arrival Week times and dates will be self-scheduled into pre-set appointments to ensure the safety of our students/families/community and to keep the density of population in our halls at established guidelines.
As others note, the Times data is pretty much useless. It includes employees of universities, including hospital employees at medical schools like UTSW. It dates back to March, so is more historical looking. And it has no data to compare the community spread-quite possible that these rates of infection are well below the surrounding city in some cases. Plus many colleges simply aren’t testing. Texas A&M, with 70k students, has more than the one or two cases reported.
This is what Quinnipiac is doing as well, starting August 10. They are giving us 4 hour windows.
I would be delighted if my D’s school did this too. Especially with a 4 hour window.
I mentioned months ago that local and state health departments will force restrictions on colleges if there is a lot of virus spread traced back to the school. The school doing their own testing and controlling how the data is released is an interesting solution to that problem.
@momofboiler1 Now that you mention it, there was a single incoming athlete that was diagnosed with asymptomatic Covid. You’re right, there’s a reporting gap somewhere.
Same with Ohio State…the map says 3, but the news reported about two weeks ago that several athletes (more than 10) were tested positive and they had put a pause on practices. Plus there is no way OSU has only 3 cases even if we think athlete reporting is the glitch. My son’s mid sized private school has 9 which matches up with their reported numbers.
One of my nieces is starting at Cornell in the fall, and they are limiting students to two suitcases and a backpack on move-in day. However, they have mini-fridges to rent on-campus and they are giving students Amazon Prime so they can ship anything to campus for free; they are saying to ship everything that won’t fit into two suitcases and a backpack.
I read this interesting article and will share it with everyone. Here’s a brief snippet:
“Learning will improve this fall, after all of the investment colleges made, but I do not think it will translate into more satisfaction,” says Bowen of AAC&U. "When you send your kids to college, you know that you’re paying for networking and socialization and other things. Parents say, ‘You’ve transformed my son and daughter,’ and we take credit for it.
“Now, we’re stripping away so much of the growth that happens in the friction outside of classes, and people are going to demand more evidence of learning because the other stuff has vanished.” (In the near term, colleges are facing significant expectations from parents to lower the cost of tuition, for what they view as a product or service that is “less than.” (Another whole conversation, for another day, exists around whether and how colleges and universities are preparing to replicate or approximate virtually the much wider range of socializing and bonding experiences that residential colleges relish in providing.)
"Whether they like it or not – most of them don’t, and some of them are still insisting it’s not the case – I’m convinced that the vast majority of American colleges and universities are headed toward a mostly or entirely virtual fall. Those that don’t start out that way will, as they did in the spring, have to pivot. COVID-19 will almost certainly demand it.
Early in April, about three weeks after most colleges physically closed their campuses because of the coronavirus, I (with trepidation) wrote a column headlined “Preparing for a Fall Without In-Person Classes.”
At the time, most college officials I contacted weren’t prepared to talk publicly about the possibility that the coronavirus could keep their campuses shuttered in the fall. It’s not that they weren’t thinking about it; they just didn’t want to freak out students, parents and their own colleagues by conjecturing about a scenario most of them dreaded.
…
Almost four months later, we find ourselves here. With each passing day, more and more colleges reverse the plans they originally announced in April or May (as incoming students were deciding whether and where to enroll and submit their deposits) to bring significant portions of students and employees back to their campuses this fall. Yes, some continue to say that they plan for a physical reopening, and some may even believe it themselves. But as the COVID-19 spread continues, I believe few will actually do so."
Some of us received similar blowback here for voicing similar opinions in the Spring. Probably for similar reasons.
HOw are you feeling about fall 2021, @TheVulcan ?
Worried but hopeful.
What do we think needs to happen before kids are back next fall? (Can you tell I’ve given up on spring?)
Do we need a widely-given vaccine? Or just rapid testing? Anything else?
I do not know. But something’s gotta give.
D19 got a message from Amherst this morning; they are all getting tests sent to their home locations, to arrive on August 5. The day they take it and submit it will depend on their assigned move-in day. This is in addition to the two consecutive negative tests they must receive to be able to leave their dorm rooms upon arriving on-campus (3-5 day quarantine).
Georgetown has changed course - all classes to start virtually.
I write to share with you the difficult decision that, based on current pandemic and public health conditions, we will be amending our plans for the Fall.
Courses for all undergraduate and graduate students will begin in virtual mode. Due to the acceleration of the spread of the virus and increasing restrictions on interstate travel we cannot proceed with our original plans for returning to campus this fall.
I just listened to a Pitt townhall. They are very optimistic. Classes are all going ahead in person for those who want them. If you are in a class that doesn’t have a room assigned yet, just wait, they are working on it. They are putting classes in non-traditional places because of the requirements to spread out. There was lots more but it was very positive in tone and those presenting seemed very confident in how their plans were designed.
Its like night and day listening to that this morning and then coming here to gloom and doom this afternoon.
The big publics are playing chicken, they will swerve. I feel their pain, I really do. It is tough.
@me29034 i am rooting big time for any and all schools that are welcoming kids back to campus. A good result is likely the only way more schools will invite kids in the spring.
What will we see? Tons of kids with virus but mild symptoms? Will schools maximize their quarantine space? Will they shorten the number of days kids have to stay there because they need space for newer cases? Will contact tracing be based on someone’s word about who they’ve been near? Good luck with that.
Will any faculty or staff get infected and how badly? Will kids step foot in libraries or gyms?
The whole thing is so complicated and colleges took a lot of time planning and I don’t see how we get past the first month at most schools without pretty big student outbreaks. It’s possible that no one will get very sick but I bet colleges will still change plans about in-person classes at the very least if cases start to climb.