@CTCape Sorry your family is in this position. Shocked they would revoke dorm eligibility one day after move-in signups. While this would not be nearly as big of an issue with UMass as it would be for Amherst College, I’m sure some out-of-region families are pissed because they just bought useless plane tickets.
With the exception of freshman, who just today found out they will not be in the dorms, every UMASS student I know was already planning an off -campus apartment or scrambled in late June/Early July to find someplace to live near Amherst. I understand the concerns of the community, but closing the dorms only solves part of the problem.
@mamom2018 Yeah I think they just decided at the last minute not to bring students back because it will relieve them of liability and potentially avoid undermining relations with the community. This doesn’t change any prior decisions on their instructional methods.
That being said, since just signed up to live on-campus at Amherst College and they start move-in the same day as UMass would have, I am kind of shook, especially considering Smith just reversed their decision yesterday. Also, they aren’t even closing the dorms completely; just kicking those without in-person classes out.
@RosePetal35 The next few weeks will be very interesting. Nothing surprises me at this point.
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@CTCape Sorry your family is in this position. Shocked they would revoke dorm eligibility one day after move-in signups. While this would not be nearly as big of an issue with UMass as it would be for Amherst College, I’m sure some out-of-region families are pissed because they just bought useless plane tickets.
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Rosepetal - Surely UMass Amherst has a higher absolute number of students flying to campus than Amherst College?!! Comments like that are what give CC a bad name!
@Massmom10 Surely a higher ABSOLUTE number, but a much lower PROPORTION. Amherst College has only 14% of students living in-state; I’m sure that number is much higher at UMass.
And this is not making me optimistic for spring. I think our kids all need to be thinking about their plans for the second half of this year.
“The Yard” is part of that quaint college in Cambridge. ?
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Please remember to keep all posts civil. I have deleted a few today that weren’t.
I’m in a little bit of shock. Not because they changed their minds, but because they had kids go through signing up for move in when they knew this was a possibility. To be honest, in my heart I know it’s probably the best decision, but I’m sad for my kid. My S handled the spring of senior year losses with grace and maturity, I think mostly because he thought he’d be going away this fall–light at the end of the tunnel and all. Signing up for his dorm and move in time slot yesterday made it all so much more real–name of his hall, room number, etc. No longer something abstract. Then poof.
I know he’ll be ok. We just have to support him through it by modeling a healthy response to disappointment–mourn it, then move on to make the most of the semester (year?) he will have.
@CTCape I’m so sorry. The kids who have known their fate for a while have had time to be shocked, and to grieve, and to accept the situation. Your family is at the beginning of this arc. I hope your S can get to know some freshmen online and make some friends. Hopefully UMass will help facilitate some sort of freshmen bonding experience. Fingers crossed for second semester back on campus for all of our kids.
Thanks @homerdog . I hope so, too. Right now we are away from home for the summer, and he at least has his life guarding job to keep his mind off of it. A couple of his friends from his hs XC team have just gotten similar news recently, so he will at least have friends at home to hang out with and run with. If the hs manages to stay open through the fall, I’m sure he’ll want to volunteer to help the coach/team as well. And he’ll have his classes. It’s a blip in the scheme of life. It just feels so heavy right now.
I’m shocked about UMass. S almost ended up there (actually committed then changed his mind) and has many friends there. I just told him and he hadn’t heard yet about the change in plans. Most of his friends were planning to live in the dorms next year and all thought they were going back. That’s terrible to tell them this late in the process.
Hearing about all the about face decisions is making me worry ever time I get a email from my sons school, we are leaving this Tuesday Am for a 11 hour drive from NJ to Cincinnati, move in is Wed 9:00 AM for freshman, it should be a very interesting weekend in my house. I am expecting classes will go all remote by end of sept, right now he has 4 in person or at least hybrid , but think they will just dorm in place until Thanksgiving. After driving back to NJ my wife and I will have a 14 day covid timeout, she goes into her office every day and has since March but rules are rules so she will burn all her sick days to stay home.I work from home so less of an issue for me.
Looks like rapid testing is FINALLY heating up (I’ve been literally talking about this since April).
This bodes well for schools… what have they (companies, NIH, federal government) been doing for the last few months? It’s interesting that the national new infection numbers are leveling off this week and testing is finally ramping up again, yet some schools are pulling the plug based on info from last week in far away parts of the country. The landscape changes by the day and American companies are just not good at being nimble.
This is good news:
The following companies have achieved key RADx milestones and will receive support for manufacturing and scale up.
Point-of-Care Tests
Mesa Biotech, San Diego
The company’s Accula SARS-CoV-2 test employs a hand-held RT-PCR device and a compact, single-use cartridge that detects viral RNA at the point of care. Results can be read from the removable cartridge in 30 minutes.
Quidel, San Diego
The Quidel Sofia SARS Antigen FIA test kit, a lateral flow immunoassay, is used with Sofia and Sofia 2 Analyzers in point of care settings, such as a doctor’s office or pharmacy. There are currently thousands of Quidel analyzers in place across the United States and HHS has identified this technology for use in nursing homes. The analyzers give electronic results within 15 minutes.
Talis Biomedical, Menlo Park, California
The Talis One COVID-19 point of care test is a multiplexed cartridge used with the compact Talis One instrument. The test detects SARS-CoV-2 through isothermal amplification of viral RNA and an optical detection system, returning a result in under 30 minutes.
Lab-based tests
Ginkgo Bioworks, Boston
Ginkgo Bioworks is scaling up using significant automation for handling samples and high-throughput, next-generation sequencing technologies to process tens of thousands of individual tests at once. Working with universities, schools, public or private companies, and local communities, Ginkgo Bioworks will provide end-to-end sample collection and report results within 24-48 hours from sample receipt. The company is expected scale up to 50,000 tests per day in September 2020 and 100,000 per day by the end of the year.
Etc…
@NJdad07090 We are in the same boat. I’m driving to Pittsburgh next Thursday to help move in my son and visit my daughter who now lives there. When I get home I also will have the 14 day quarantine. At least I don’t have to use sick days since I’m completely working from home now.
Pitt is starting online and tentatively scheduled to go in person after one week. I am expecting that to change given all the recent backpedaling by other schools. I just had a talk with my son about doing all remote classes from his apartment.
From reading the posts for the last few days it seems the colleges in the NE/mid Atlantic region and Southern California are trending more conservative and the South and Midwest are still aiming for the in person experience.
Wonder if there will be a pivot soon in those locations as well.
@vpa2019 --We still have a LOT of NE/mid Atlantic schools that need to pivot…running out of runway.
Why do they need to pivot? I don’t see why colleges in Massachusetts or Connecticut or New York should change their plans at this point (if they were planning on having kids on campus). Numbers are low, testing is plentiful up here. This country is huge - we shouldn’t base everything on Florida and California.
Kids from FL, CA, and 47 other states are going to be hitting NE campuses any day now. We don’t need another spike in the infection rate.