I have an acquaintance who works at a the university that her child also attends. Therefore, she is on both the email list for staff and the one for parents. She has been pretty open about the fact that that the messaging to parents is very different than the messaging to staff with regard to campus life.
Please understand that I am not accusing colleges of double-dealing. There is fear and grieving at all levels (admin, staff, faculty). No one wants what is happening. No one wants to admit to unpalatable realities (admin, faculty, staff, parents, students). I’m not gloating. I want a job.
Perhaps what will happen as a result of this is that instruction will become uncoupled from the residential experience, as it already is at most European universities.
I think Purdue has been very clear about all the restrictions students will have to face but it’s evident from FB postings, that some parents didn’t think those rules were going to apply to their kids. IMO, the blame isn’t always on the schools but on the families with unrealistic expectations.
Have any colleges that reopened sent kids home?
Small local Boston paper reporting that BC is funding extra police to patrol areas of off campus housing Thursday-Sunday in an effort to break up parties. I am not sure how effective this will be, but I guess it is better than ignoring the off campus situation.
I hope BC will be a different story. Some of the states with the biggest problems don’t have mask mandates, just university mask rules. MA is pretty serious about the virus.
I doubt that will happen… the residential life part is clearly the part kids and parents value most. I think what will happen is that demand will go down - and many residential colleges will close, state colleges will consolidate campuses, and non-college alternatives with decoupled residence halls and zero school sponsored extra curriculars like sports will bloom as an alternative to traditional college.
@Luckyjade2024
He probably contracted it before the lockdown. I know a few families where one member had it (asymptomatic) and no one else did. Also know a number of people who found out they had antibodies because they donated blood and were tested prior.
Lots to still discover about this virus. I’m confident a good majority of those students testing positive at college are asymptomatic and agree with you that’s why is sometimes more difficult to convince younger people that the virus is problematic.
Adding the element of enforcement to education is another reason why the effectiveness of in-person instruction under current circumstances will be compromised. Faculty don’t want to be the social-distancing police.
For example, we were told to call campus police if a student doesn’t wear a mask in our classroom or office, yet at the same time, there are some students who have medical accommodations to not wear a mask. How are we supposed to know the difference? And shouldn’t students who can’t wear a mask sign up for online classes? The governor’s order says that students who want all-online instruction should have it “when practicable.” Does that mean that if I’m teaching an in-person class and a few students in it get sick and can’t come to campus, I have to run a parallel online section for them? There are so many holes and inconsistencies in policy that in-person instruction will be very difficult and unpleasant.
@momofsenior1 I totally agree. I have been shocked to see the comments on the parent FB pages. Many feel that their kids need to socialize. These kids are going to come to campus with the same attitude. Parents are also pretty open about scheming ways to see their child after drop off when all students must quarantine until they get test results. If the parents can’t follow the rules, how can we expect the kids to?
D21 is taking an in-person Spanish course at our local state college this fall for dual credit. The professor is holding her class in a “Zoom-ready” room. Most of the students will be there in-person, and one will be attending from home at the same time over Zoom. So the class is a mix of online and in-person students in real time. D21 might end up attending via Zoom as well if her father freaks out enough about her attending in-person (he is adamantly against it but D21 has my permission, so she is going…I have custody). The professor had a choice to go all online or to try in-person, and she chose to try in-person. We will see how it goes. I have told D21 that if other students are not strict about wearing masks or keep sitting too close, etc, that she can switch to attending via Zoom. The professor is fine with being flexible (we have had many email conversations) as long as lines of communication are kept open.
@homerdog I hope so too. I have spent most of the summer in MA and the they definitely take the virus seriously there. People wear masks outdoors as well as indoors. In my small town there is a $300 fine for not wearing a mask when walking outside on Main St. It all comes down to enforcement
What I mean by uncoupling is that the universities won’t be particularly involved in creating the student residential experience, as is the case with most European universities. There will be no “student life” bureaucracies, no university-run dorms, and no organized sports/activities. “Campus” will be defined as the classrooms, labs, and libraries. There will be no assumption that college is supposed to shape young people into adulthood; the assumption will be that you are already an adult and can structure your own life; you don’t need an army of advisors and support services to do it for you.
The classic LAC experience, which is an American thing, will probably diminish greatly. As a grateful graduate of a LAC and a proponent of that kind of experience for a certain kind of student, that makes me sad. But it’s probably inevitable. Those who are sports-oriented alumni of schools for whom athletics is a major part of institutional identity, will grieve the loss of that institutional ideal (also uniquely American).
I know that most people don’t prioritize the academic aspect of college. My point is, maybe they should. And yes, this will mean that many institutions will close or transform beyond recognition.
Slightly over one-third of Boomers and Gen-Xers have college degrees. I think it is reasonable to hold institutions to a higher standard, and in fact, educate the parents to the limitations of the product many have never have purchased for themselves. Instead, they prioritize their own well-being and limit the realities they share with families (as noted by @Leigh22 @ post 13801)
Zoom-ready rooms are great, but they also require expensive 3-D cameras and an assistant to work well. Faculty at my university teaching language courses have opted for Zoom because they say they cannot teach language without being able to see people’s mouths and hear them speak (masks prevent this). So this is an example where proactivity on the part of the administration in providing such technology and encouraging faculty to train in it could really have made a difference if committed to early enough.
I agree, @NJSue , but that will require a big shift away from the infantilization of students currently popular among parents and many schools. In this thread, numerous posters have stated that the “kids” can’t be expected to act like the adults they clearly are, and expect prolonged adolescence for their offspring. People of college age have won nobel prizes, defeated fascism, and successfully married and raised families in the past, but now it seems too much to expect them to wear masks.
This seems like a very honest and open view of the fall to be at Michigan and Ann Arbor.
The Verge: College towns like Ann Arbor are bracing for a new wave of COVID-19.
https://www.theverge.com/21367847/college-towns-campus-coronavirus-pandemic-university-michigan-ann-arbor
The professor in D21’s class ordered clear masks (out of her own pocket) for her in-person students to use. She just informed her students about this last week - and while I understand the intentions and I appreciate and respect the willingness to dig into her own funds for what she feels will best help her students learn, this has opened up a new can of worms with D21’s father, who only recently agreed to allow D21 to attend in-person because I assured him D21 would wear cloth masks with filters instead of a one-layer type of mask. I don’t know how effective clear masks are in terms of preventing the spread of COVID-19 - I can’t find any real data on that. The professor will allow D21 to wear whatever mask her dad wants her to wear though (she and I communicate frequently and she understands D21 needs to do what makes both her parents most comfortable given she is still under the age of 18). D21 will attend with the mask her dad and I agreed she would wear, and she will see how it goes. The professor is being very kind, and I completely understand she is doing the best she can with all this.
I feel for all professors and also K-12 teachers - everyone is just trying to figure this out and do the best they can, and they are all juggling different factors of an impossible situation.
Just a suggestion, but if you are communicating with your daughter’s college professor over what she is wearing in class, this does not bode well for your child’s university experience. There are many students not yet 18 on college campuses, and it is ideal for them to advocate for themselves
My attitude is that the online platform my university is using is my “classroom” this semester. I can only work with the tools/“space” I’m given. Expecting faculty to handle the pivot to remote learning without significant institutional support, resources and yes, arm-twisting is not realistic.
The faculty at my institution who are teaching f2f are largely those who can’t imagine teaching any other way and who lack the energy, knowledge, and resources to shift to remote.
I have decided in my course design to use only remote platforms that my university pays for and supports (Brightspace/D2L and an institutional Zoom license). Other faculty are using a host of independent free apps (e.g. Flipgrid, Slack) but some students are complaining that they are expected to adapt to too many different programs.
Since I haven’t been able to be in my office, I’ve been using my own hardware and my own domestic internet to do all of this.