In other words… “We’re open because we value the residential college experience, but anyone caught experiencing is be subject to persecution”?
@homerdog 's story about ND is scary. I haven’t read ND’s plan for the fall, but all plans should include a metric that when triggered the school goes online and stays online. What’s under-considered in these discussions is the complexity of extracting kids from a closing residential college, and how they quarantine/isolate as to not bring the virus back to their town / family.
Williams has conducted 707 tests since August 17th with 0 positive test results. Their testing turnaround time is much faster than the turnaround time in my neck of the woods.
Several students were exposed to COVID-19 at the party by another who was infected. Others in attendance “exposed innocent students” such as their roommates, Anderson said…
The article also said 8 students tested positive but it was unclear to me if that number is from the intake testing or the party.
I believe it’s more that LACs without any real off campus housing will fair better. No one said kids at LACs don’t party - it’s just at some places it is much easier to control.
If I understand correctly, more clusters were identified in dorms yesterday and students and staff are being contacted to be tested. At the same time, students are being asked to move out of their dorms as soon as possible. So now, who knows how many contagious students leave campus to potentially spread the virus elsewhere.
@NJSue I’m surprised about St.Olaf. Not because those kids don’t drink but because, at such a small school, they will be ostracized if their actions cause any changes in the college’s plan.
Bowdoin made it clear in another letter yesterday to all students on and off campus that, if there are spikes because of inappropriate get-togethers, then that would put spring on campus in jeopardy. S19 said no one wants to be the student at a school of less than 2000 who was responsible for everyone being home in the spring. The peer pressure is real. I’m not saying there won’t be parties but many of the Bowdoin kids I know are living in pretty large houses with as many as seven kids. That can be their bubble and they can party all they want with those they live with. No need to invite more kids over. And, if they want to see friends they do not live with, there are plenty of ways to do that within Maine’s rules without inviting over 50 people to drink.
I think that college administrators are placing too much faith in the ability of 18-22 year olds to not congregate in physical spaces and social environments that are specifically designed for them to congregate, whether those kids are at LACs, private U’s, or big state schools. There is no control over the virus and there cannot be. If you are on a campus, either as a student or as a staff or faculty member, you are going to be exposed to the virus.
What I find interesting is that on the same campuses, graduate students aged 21+ seem fully capable of following the rules. Maybe they are more intelligent, or care more, or are just more emotionally mature. First year grad students are often the same age, and can be younger, than the undergrad seniors.
It’s not inevitable. What we’ve learned about how the virus spreads is still true. The majority of infection happens from close contact (within 6 feet) with a contagious person, in the absence of masks or shields. If the contagious person is talking loudly, and if the gathering is indoors, the chances of infection go even higher.
Are all students, staff and faculty going to put themselves in those situations?
It takes an army of people to pull off logistical challenges COVID creates. I mentioned this back in June, but if a school really plans to pull this off they needed to start hiring and training a staff for COVID care months ago. At public colleges hiring is fairly transparent, but I would think ND hiring a few 100 Certified Nurse Aides (CNA) would be noticeable in a town the size of South Bend.
While it appears clear the ND was unprepared for the situation, this is a good time to remind all of our students of the importance of self-advocacy and initiative. Things do fall between the cracks, and an 18 year old with access to a phone and internet should be able to obtain what she needs.
@roycroftmom grad students are there to work and learn, not socialize and have “experiences.” Most undergrads are not there primarily to learn but for just the opposite reasons. Grad school is like working at a job. I would expect them to behave more like the working adults that they are.
I don’t know about that, DS is at TAMU and in 2 years has found a bf, moved in together, socialized A LOT, and had assorted “experiences”. Not so sure about the working and learning parts, lol.
I didn’t say you would be infected; I said you would be exposed. There is no way to make campus into a virus-free bubble where students can frolic, carefree. If students follow all the social distance guidelines, masking, etc., then campus life is like “minimum security prison with homework” (not my phrase, read it somewhere). I don’t think students and parents are accepting this reality and they expect miracles.
Tbf college administrators are also expecting miracles, although they should know better.
I really have to give a shout out to Georgia Tech…where my older child attended as an OOS student. They developed a new way to test for Covid-19, using saliva only…and are using the new method to screen for potential cases at the college, and testing all of the samples in their own labs on the Tech campus itself. They are randomly testing 1500 students a day…they are getting close to zero new cases. https://health.gatech.edu/surveillance-testing-program-results This is a great page where they give insights into every positive case (including whether they were at a frat house or living in a dorm) https://health.gatech.edu/coronavirus/health-alerts