GWU dropping seven sports due to pandemic.
GW announced after this academic year it was cutting NCAA programs in men’s indoor track, men’s tennis and women’s water polo. The university also intends to eliminate men’s rowing, sailing, and men’s and women’s squash.
William and Mary going to a phased return to campus
Undergraduate courses will begin on August 19 as planned. Graduate courses will also begin as planned by the respective schools;
We will slow the pace of student return to campus through August, to Labor Day Weekend, so as to minimize density and reduce circulation on/off campus;
We will delay the start of in-person undergraduate instruction until after Labor Day, so as to ensure consistent experiences for all students (on and off campus) during a more extended return to campus;
Does Broad Institute have usused testing capacity that they are not using now? If not, where is the excess capacity that will be needed to test so many college kids/faculty/staff in a few weeks? If so, why haven’t they been helping with testing in hotspot areas of the country where testing is a problem?
If your kid’s school is promising testing everyone once a week or multiple times a week with quick turnaround times (within say 24 hours) but either testing is less frequent or turnaround times increase significantly, will you bring your kid home during the semester?
I don’t know, maybe because we don’t have a national testing strategy? Seriously, hospitals use labs they are contracted to use, they don’t just send lab work anywhere. So if in Texas they contract with LabCorp and Quest or state testing centers use CVS or other local labs, they aren’t going to start working with a new company in the northeast overnight. Broad has been used by testing agencies mainly in the Northeastern.
I may be eating my words but I don’t see why the Broad Institute will have problems doing tests for the colleges they promised them to. They’ve known for over a month how many tests each of the schools are expecting each week. Maybe it’s a bad assumption, but I would think they made sure they have what is needed before contracting with such top schools for testing. They know their capacity. They know how many tests they need for the colleges. They’ve decided on a certain turn around time. If they are holding out resources right now, it’s because those resources are already spoken for and they start using them later this month for all of the colleges they are supporting.
I was wondering that, too. There is a NE alliance where the participating states will procure testing and supplies for their area in the event of future shortages. Is this what is already happening?
In other news, has anyone else seen this research out of the Univ. of Minnesota re airflow and virus transmission?
Every fricking day our plans change. Just a week ago D17 was heading back to DC to take hybrid classes from a residence inn with a negotiated rate until she Graduated in Dec. All her friends are living off campus in apartments. She really though about still going there when GWU went all online, but has a part time job here that she could do, and was thinking practical.
So Now, she is staying here, taking her online classes, but moving in with a local friend. I will gladly pay for rent so that she is not learning on the kitchen table.
A week ago I was sending S19 to NJ to quarantine with family. Now I am leaving in a few days to another area of NJ to quarantine with him. RIT is still having kids come on campus and he still has hybrid classes. (4/5 meet once a week). AFter two weeks in NJ I will be free to move around the Northeast, so I will get him situated, then head to DC to get my D’s stuff. She will be going up to DC for about a week to say goodbye to all her friends that live off campus.
Two things that can change all this. 1. RIT changes its plans 2. The covid test that S19 and I took yesterday comes back positive for some strange reason on monday. Neither of us are sick; both of us have not left in the house to go anywhere in public in at least a week, but D17 works every day and could have brought it home. She was negative as of her test last monday
Good luck. It is so frustrating having plans change at the last minute
W&M altered their return plan because Governor Northam released a new set of Covid-19 containment measures for the Hampton Roads region (due an increase in new cases and hospitalizations). Gatherings were reduced from 250 people to 50, bars effectively closed, etc. Governor Northam met with Dr. Birx to personally request federal assistance for increased testing capacity and reduced turnaround time for results.
The college applauded these “appropriate measures”.
The majority of students will not return until September. W&M says they are aiming for Labor Day Weekend, but I’m sure that will depend on control of the virus in the region. Classes will begin online on August 19th.
Did I miss your D’s decision? Is she going to take class from home?
Just curious and don’t know if this has been discussed, for the people who’s children are going back are you going to independently have your children tested for covid prior to going back to school? Or are you just going to have the school do it?
I don’t think I reported it here, but D decided to live at home, take classes and work. She has time to decide how many credits and which classes. She may take a reduced number of hours (just the intro type classes) and do an in-person summer semester in the future.
Neither because his school isn’t requiring testing.
As if our district isn’t screwed up enough already, H got an email last night at 9:30pm announcing that the school system picked NOW to switch from Google Classroom to Canvas. They start Monday. Just brilliant!
@knowstuff - D’s testing kit from Purdue is due here on Monday (she has the UPS tracking number) . If she wasn’t being tested by Purdue in advance, yes, we would have had her tested independently.
We wouldn’t want her to be in a position to have a surprise positive test when arriving on campus. This way, she will have a full 14 days before classes start to quarantine and re-test if need be.
Michigan tests onsite but this is what I am thinking also. He really isn’t going anywhere. But of course could test him 14 days before and he can lock himself in his room and still be positive day 1.
My D (senior/grad student) is returning to school in a few weeks. She will be moving to a new off-campus apartment with 3 others. Each of them has their own bedroom and bathroom. So far all of her classes (around 40 students) is f2f. Masks are required indoors and lots of rules for ECs and student activities. She also will TA a small freshman seminar. We are both nervous but I know she will be smart. It’s everyone else we are worried about, especially the Greeks. She will not test before going to campus as she has not really left the house since March except for a couple of dr appts and occasional outdoor exercise.
Seems to me the problem is less the lack of a national testing strategy than it is our system is a patchwork of private entities. Getting it to work together in the same direction is a huge problem. But whatever the case, colleges were able to make arrangements with Broad Institute for testing. What can’t states, health departments, hospitals, etc?
So at a time when various states are experiencing shortages for testing supplies, cases are increasing and deaths continue to climb, private institutions are gathering up testing supplies for future testing of college students/staff? Has teh CDC moved off its recommendation that universal testing isn’t appropriate for schools?
My daugther will get a test at home before she leaves for school that we will arrange/pay for (if required). If those test results are not back in time (who knows how long it will take), she will get a test on campus (negative one is required to enter campus) when she returns and take classes remotely until a negative test comes back.
Hasn’t left the house since March? Holy cow.
@saillakeerie universal testing isn’t appropriate for schools? Maybe it depends on how often the kids are tested and how quickly the tests come back. Everyone tested twice a week with results in 24 hours will definitely help contain the virus. Not sure why it would not. Obviously, that’s the most extreme testing plan but some of the NESCACs are doing just that and I don’t see how that’s “inappropriate” or not going to help.