I also think that colleges are going to go out of their way to protect their distinguished professors (especially ones with tenure) as much as possible as they are the life blood of the college. Undergrads come and go every 4 years but some the tenured professors will have been at the college for several decades.
The older faculty has LOTS of influence on how they teach and will have the ear of the administration. Going online is the path of least resistance and an easy call for administrators to make this fall (and likely spring).
I don’t understand the constant comparisons to other industries or the digs at a profession who never claimed “elite” status to avoid being categorized as “essential workers.” You seem to think people who are willing and able to work in normal circumstances should step aside once they reach a certain age to make way for the young. People have a right to work regardless of their age. I think your opinion of the industry in general is coloring your view of this situation.
Healthcare workers are frontline essential workers. I know many in the industry and whenever I express my concerns they respond that this is what they signed up for. Different day, different communicable disease, but this is their life’s work.
Food service and warehouse staff didn’t sign up for this any more than professors or teachers did. They should all be protected. Instead of throwing professions to the wolves because we’ve neglected to take precautions to protect low income workers, we should make an effort to create working environments where people will be safe.
Can we do a quick check in about how you are all feeling about fall 2021? Is it realistic at all to think kids will be able to be back on campuses with in person classes? Do you all think students will still be in masks? What has to happen for this dream of normalcy to come true?
What about people who work in grocery stores? Have they been protected enough according to you? Our local grocery store hasn’t had any cases at all (mom and pop type place but super busy). Professors who teach in person in college would have kids in masks. Maybe plexiglass. And they’d be way farther away from them than someone who checks you out at the grocery store. They didn’t sign up to be essential workers. I just wonder what it will take for teachers and college faculty to feel like they are protected enough. And when that will be.
Here is my optimistic crystal ball view: one or more of the vaccines that are in testing are approved and start getting shipped out in early 2021. College students are not in the initial group that will get them but next summer colleges will start buying up enough doses to vaccinate everyone, the same way they are contracting for testing now. Students will be required to get a vaccine to come on campus. Classes will get back to normal.
FWIW it seems to return to normalcy we need at least one vaccine, and several treatments beyond those for the most severe cases (such as Tamiflu for flu), and accurate, rapid testing capabilities.
I think every college will have outbreaks but they will be smaller in the three or four states with high compliance and low infection rates and they will stumble across the finish line by Thanksgiving. The rest, in high infection rate states will brazen their way through somewhat bigger outbreaks with the same arguments their state and local governments offer, that “most” of their students are unaffected.
I’m thinking fall 21 will be okay. There should be vaccines by then and fingers crossed, a new President who can effect real progress with regards to this pandemic.
I don’t think there’s much equivalency. A “mom and pop” store has tremendous control over who comes into their shop. They can make people wait outside in the rain; they can close up whenever they want. “Seinfeld’s” the Soup Nazi is a good example of that in popular culture. The cashiers in chain stores are not exactly “essential”. My local CVS barely keeps one register operating by human employees. All the others are self-check out.
Part of the problem is that there hasn’t really been a trial of this here yet. Comparing professors to grocery cashiers doesn’t seem like all that much of an equivalence. We’re all going to be guinea pigs in a mined landscape where many of the public (see above) have indicated that we’re disposable. How would you feel about that?
ETA: As a new semester nears, I always have those dreams where I’m trying to give an exam or present some material or other that I know nothing about, usually while dressed in pajamas or some such. Last night I dreamt I was in a packed classroom, no one had masks on, I couldn’t find mine, and the lab assistant was telling me that they had jettisoned all my lab plans.
@homerdog By Fall 2021, we will know a lot more than we do now. Even barring a vaccine, there are likely to be better treatments, more abundant, accurate, and cheaper rapid testing, and hopefully a better idea of how to predict who is at greatest risk for poor outcomes.
It also may finally sink into people’s heads by then that the virus can be contained by adopting a few simple measures: wear a mask, maintain your distance, and avoid congregating in large groups, especially in indoor spaces with inadequate ventilation systems.
We will also have many, many examples of colleges and universities whose plans worked or didn’t.
But for me, it boils down to no parties really means no parties. If people (not just students) really adhered to that basic rule, we might not be up to nearly 13,000 posts and 648 pages on this thread.
It also may finally sink into people’s heads by then that the virus can be contained by adopting a few simple measures: wear a mask, maintain your distance, and avoid congregating in large groups, especially in indoor spaces with inadequate ventilation systems.
We will also have many, many examples of colleges and universities whose plans worked or didn’t.
But for me, it boils down to no parties really means no parties. If people (not just students) really adhered to that basic rule, we might not be up to nearly 13,000 posts and 648 pages on this thread.
[/quote]
Ok. But it sounds like your fall includes mask wearing, no gatherings, and no in-person classes. That’s not what I’m hoping for! Sounds the same as now…
I feel optimistic about in-person classes next fall or even by spring, however, I don’t believe study-abroad will be returning for years. The fact is, we are fast-tracking both the development and approval of a vaccine, however, we will not have ample time to see any potential (but very unlikely) long-term effects. It will be safer to get the vaccine then catch coronavirus, and we will need to have it ASAP in this country because the virus has spiraled out of control; however, since other countries have the virus under control, they may very well want to wait a few years before administering the vaccine. And, even if they feel comfortable administering the vaccine when the virus is under control, they may still very well be wary of allowing Americans in.
Also, for everyone who believes it will be impossible for college students to get a vaccine in spring even if there are many doses available: college students are definitely not prioritized for testing, however, many top colleges have been able to secure tests with quick turn-arounds that they have pretty much sole access to. Isn’t it possible they could make a similar deal with companies or other organizations for a vaccine?
