School in the 2020-2021 Academic Year & Coronavirus (Part 1)

[amsunshine]

@socaldad2002

@Rivet2000

We’re learning more each day. Turns out the first covid death in California occurred on Feb 6, meaning covid was in California in mid to late January. So maybe, just maybe, there are more people walking around CA with antibodies than earlier estimated. Could this be true in other areas?

USC did a study recently and concluded that 55x more people in LA county had the virus than is reported in the official count. I’m pretty sure my son and I had it in early February (fever, dry couch, body aches, could barely move from room to room). I took Z-pack (which doesn’t work for the seasonal flu) and I was much better within 3 days. With that said, even if the revised number is accurate that only accounts for about 5% of the population having had it in LA county. At this rate it will take a long, long time to reach herd immunity.

Isn’t Zpack an antibiotic? That suggests you didn’t have covid19 – it wouldn’t have been effective.

Although I don’t doubt there were people in California who had it in early February.

[Rivet2000]

@socaldad2002

…Contrast that to college students who don’t need their parents and can do their classes remotely (albeit not a great experience). The risk to the college is too great to have 30,000 undergrads on campus, many who will be living residential, sharing rooms with two or three classmates and using the same bathrooms and dining commons. A college can do online learning and still get their tuition payments.

Which is why I think that some schools will bring back some of their students in the fall (grads and seniors for example) and deliver online to the remainder of the students. This way they can ramp up services while maintaining distance between students on campus. If all works well, more students could be back on campus in the spring and all the logistics will have been validated.

[socaldad2002]

@amsunshine

@socaldad2002

@Rivet2000

We’re learning more each day. Turns out the first covid death in California occurred on Feb 6, meaning covid was in California in mid to late January. So maybe, just maybe, there are more people walking around CA with antibodies than earlier estimated. Could this be true in other areas?

USC did a study recently and concluded that 55x more people in LA county had the virus than is reported in the official count. I’m pretty sure my son and I had it in early February (fever, dry couch, body aches, could barely move from room to room). I took Z-pack (which doesn’t work for the seasonal flu) and I was much better within 3 days. With that said, even if the revised number is accurate that only accounts for about 5% of the population having had it in LA county. At this rate it will take a long, long time to reach herd immunity.

Isn’t Zpack an antibiotic? That suggests you didn’t have covid19 – it wouldn’t have been effective.

Although I don’t doubt there were people in California who had it in early February.

The jury is still out on what medicines can help treat the symptoms of COV-19. From a medical website drug.com:

"What antibiotics kill coronavirus?

Azithromycin (Zithromax) is a macrolide antibiotic that is being investigated as a potential treatment for people with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). It is already used for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia caused by designated, susceptible bacteria, and for the treatment of other bacterial infections."

[roycroftmom]

I am sure there will be online options available for those who want them, just as I am certain there will be in person options as well. Perhaps it will require some to adjust their college selection to get the right match. We may not know all we wish about COVID-19, but we do know it does not have a substantial mortality rate among the young in any country so far. That may be enough.
I agree with the posters who say K12 schools are much more crowded, dense, and frankly at risk than colleges-try getting through the halls between class times. Nevertheless, they will open, as the cost of remaining closed is too great for the risk involved.

[katliamom]

@socaldad2002

[If a child gets sick they can easily send them home for 2 weeks and the class continues.

If a child gets sick, shouldn’t the whole class - and the teacher - be sent home for 2 weeks? That’s what we’re doing now with those who have been exposed. And all those people who have to go to work – part of the reason the school was opened in the first place, according to you – they have 2 weeks sick leave to take care of those kids? And what if they don’t?

[GMgiant]

@katliamom

@socaldad2002

[If a child gets sick they can easily send them home for 2 weeks and the class continues.

If a child gets sick, shouldn’t the whole class - and the teacher - be sent home for 2 weeks? That’s what we’re doing now with those who have been exposed. And all those people who have to go to work – part of the reason the school was opened in the first place, according to you – they have 2 weeks sick leave to take care of those kids? And what if they don’t?

No, because the world needs to go around. SoCal Dad, I agree with you. Many, many people have already has this. I also has a cough and flue symptoms in FEB. Needed Z-Pack…and knocked it out. Life has to move on folks…shelter in place and fear will subside.

[ucbalumnus]

@Rivet2000

Which is why I think that some schools will bring back some of their students in the fall (grads and seniors for example) and deliver online to the remainder of the students.

If they do it by class level, then classes with mixed class levels of students would need to arrange for remote participation in in-person classes. While such a thing would generally be a good thing going forward once COVID-19 is no longer an issue (this allows for a sick student or instructor to participate in the in-person class remotely), colleges do need to arrange for the capability in each classroom and have train instructors on how to run an in-person class with the option of remote participation.

Actually, it seems like any residential college bringing back a portion of students will have to consider this type of thing, since there will be some classes that have students from both the students on campus and the students not on campus.

Commuter colleges could have labs and such in-person, but lectures and discussions (or some of them) done by distance education. That could theoretically be done for residential colleges, but that would mean that either every student who would live in the campus dorms would move back, or only those who had a lab or other in-person type of class would move back. But the latter arrangement may lead of a lot of complaining from (for example) history and math majors about why chemistry and biology majors get to move back first.

[ChemAM]

Amherst is doing what UC-Irvine is doing. If we return to campus, they will allow those who cannot return to continue remote learning.

[Knowsstuff]

@PrdMomto1

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but Georgia Tech says they will not accept any covid-19 related gap year requests this year. I wonder if others will follow suit?

So then the kids will just say they are going to take a year off to travel and find themselves… Lol.

[Knowsstuff]

@Bill_Marsh

@Mwfan1921

@PrdMomto1

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but Georgia Tech says they will not accept any covid-19 related gap year requests this year. I wonder if others will follow suit?

Many schools have defined and/or narrow reasons for gap years. U Maryland is one of those, and they have said they won’t take any covid-19 gap year requests. They actually expect gap year requests to be down, because 75% of them are typically related to religious trips/experiences/missions…and most of those likely won’t be going this school year.

They better get the lawyers ready. They will get sued for such an arbitrary stance under the current conditions.

Lawyers are already on high alert. Can’t wait for the TV commercials to start.

[ChemAM]

Amherst is NOT considering pushing back the start of the year to January.

[Knowsstuff]

@katliamom

@Mom2aphysicsgeek

My kids have all attended public universities. Not one of them has ever sat in a 500 person class. Other than a few large freshman classes (90 to about 250 students) that also included small recitation sections (about 15 students), most of their classes have been between 6 to 40 students. If they want (and that is the key) individualized attention, they can receive it. (My kids have had great relationships with their professors.) They have also been part of tight-knit communities that have supported them in their endeavors. (Academically, research projects, fellowship applications, etc.)

That was also my and my son’s experience at large publics. (And my daughter’s who attended a large private.) The kids I’m seeing attending large publics also have no problem receiving individualized attention – when they seek it out. I consider the latter a skill – and not just for college, but for life in the workplace, as well.

Same at big ten school!

[homerdog]

@ChemAM Are you on some call with Amherst?

[GKUnion]

@Mom2aphysicsgeek

My kids have all attended public universities. Not one of them has ever sat in a 500 person class. Other than a few large freshman classes (90 to about 250 students) that also included small recitation sections (about 15 students), most of their classes have been between 6 to 40 students. If they want (and that is the key) individualized attention, they can receive it. (My kids have had great relationships with their professors.) They have also been part of tight-knit communities that have supported them in their endeavors. (Academically, research projects, fellowship applications, etc.)

@katliamom

That was also my and my son’s experience at large publics. (And my daughter’s who attended a large private.) The kids I’m seeing attending large publics also have no problem receiving individualized attention – when they seek it out. I consider the latter a skill – and not just for college, but for life in the workplace, as well.

@Knowsstuff

Same at big ten school!

My son’s school has 20,000+ students, and while he had a large PSYC class with 150+, he doesn’t currently have a class with more than 20 people in it.

[ChemAM]

@homerdog Virtual town hall right now.

[Rivet2000]

-deleted- wrong thread

[homerdog]

@ChemAM Why would someone not be able to come back to Amherst’s campus? Did they give examples? Internationals who did not stay on campus this spring? Kids who are immunocompromised? Is the town hall over and did you learn anything else? Did they say all NESCACs will make the same decision?

[ChemAM]

Here is what Amherst said in their virtual town hall.

@homerdog

1. They are doing what UC-Irvine is doing. If we return to campus in fall, they will keep remote learning as an option for those who are unable to return or would have a hard time doing so. They did not give examples other than international students who left and “other students who could not return.”

2. They are not considering pushing the start of the school year to January.

3. They are not considering cancelling the fall semester entirely.

4. They are heavily considering a staggered move-in and hybrid instruction options.

5. When asked about the question of tuition in the fall, they said it “depends” on how much they “invest” in improving the remote learning system and to what extent they would be hybridized and doing in-person classes (heavily implied they would not be reducing tuition).

6. They dodged the question about whether students would be allowed to take a gap semester/year in the event of a virtual semester and they said they thought it was “the least-worst option” for us to continue our education, so I would not be surprised if they did not allow students to take time off.

7. Apparently some company has recently invented a test that can be taken at home, and they are looking into acquiring these tests for use in the fall semester.

8. They are stocking up on masks and gloves for the fall semester.

9. In the event that social distancing is still necessary in fall and students would be allowed to return for fall semester, students would have to commit to staying on-campus and following social distancing measures.

10. Students who plan to study abroad in 2020-2021 are encouraged to participate in the General Housing Selection Process and wait until it can be determined whether it is safe to go where they want to and then inform them they will not be staying on-campus this semester due to studying abroad.

11. Students who are taking classes at other colleges in the Five College Consortium would have to do them remotely; the bus system between the Five Colleges would not be running during the pandemic.

[homerdog]

@ChemAM Thanks! Super interesting. Love that they gave such specifics.

what does a staggered move in mean? Just that different grades (or maybe dorms) move in on different days?

Hybrid instruction meaning, even for kids on campus, there could be some in person and then some online components? If that’s right, it would be good to know which classes won’t be in person.

Did they give any specifics about “staying on campus”? Can’t go home for Thanksgiving? Or can’t walk off campus at all during the semester? It would be hard to stop kids from jumping in a car to run to Target or something.

[ChemAM]

@homerdog

When they said staggered move-in they didn’t give much specifics, though they did acknowledge the possibility of not being able to let everybody back on campus at the same time, and some people may have to start online then come back to campus later (though they said they are hoping they won’t have to do that). They said in the event that they are not able to welcome all students back on-campus in time for classes to start, students in worse-off home situations or those who would otherwise have a harder time learning virtually would be given priority. They also said they could stagger it by class year.

They didn’t really specify what they meant by hybrid instruction, other than the basic definition of having students on-campus and having both in-person components and online components.

They didn’t give any specifics about “staying on campus”, but somebody did ask whether students would be able to walk to local restaurants, like Amherst Coffee, and they said they weren’t sure what their policy on that would be like yet. Also, they mentioned they are currently supporting the local economy by buying gift cards from local restaurants and shops and giving them to members of the local community, so I would not be surprised if in fall they allowed us to do contactless delivery or had some system for letting us eat from local restaurants on-campus or something like that.

I will say, in general, it sounded like they were getting very creative.

Also, they said that NESCAC is considering moving fall 2020 sports into the winter and spring seasons.