@circuitrider I believe Bucknell from the Patriot League has all students back.
Correct, Bucknell has all students back.
I think Boston University also has all back.
Army and Navy are also part of the Patriot League, although neither plays football in the league, and have all cadets/midshipmen back as well.
FSU football coach just announced he has Covid. Makes you wonder how many players and other coaches, trainers, etc may have it, too.
"Ha! My H and I are NU alums (undergrad) and criticize NU all of the time! Lol. "
I thought you were, not sure about husband. Lot of people love and criticize their alma maters, especially undergrad.
@circuitrider Holy Cross (patriot league) closed its campus to all except a few (mostly winter athletes). They have quite a few students living off campus but close by and one party in August caused large number of positives ( I think it was reported 20 partygoers) among students. One wonders how many in the community around the off campus area.
https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Fairfield-University-reports-35-new-COVID-19-cases-15579126.php
CT Fairfield University reports 35 new covid cases in last 7 day period.
CT Sacred Heart University reports 21 new covid cases in last 7 days
https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Sacred-Heart-expands-quarantine-after-mislabled-15576547.php
To be fair, U of SC did communicate that they had a staffing issue that made it necessary for them to limit tests for a short period of time. I think the big news from U of SC is that after 18,741 tests with 2,294 positives, there are currently only 170 active cases. (These are tests given on campus since August 1st.)
As college football returns, fansided.com took a look at what happened the last time teams played during a pandemic, in 1918.
With regard to college academics and COVID-19, D reports that professors are saying teaching online takes twice as much time and energy as in-person instruction. In addition, just like many others, professors also have K-12 kids at home doing online school who require their supervision and assistance. Regrettably, this means D is having trouble finding faculty who will agree to advise her for her senior thesis. They say they’re too busy. While we understand, this leaves D in a tough spot. (Her initial proposal was received very enthusiastically in the spring, so it’s not a quality issue.)
In addition, she has been frustrated that some of the materials she needs for her research are only available in book form–no digital copies. So since the library is closed, either she does without or we fork over a lot of money to obtain sources from publishers. I’d be willing to do that for items which are central to her research, but we can’t afford $130 plus shipping for a source with just a bit of background information. To make matters worse, D needs this paper for a writing sample for grad school–just when some universities are suspending graduate admissions in the humanities, making admissions more competitive elsewhere.
@TheGFG I’m sorry to hear about your D’s difficulties with her research project. On a larger level, it illustrates the (unfortunate) truth that no, everything is most definitely not “online” and some of the best quality research is still only available in paper form.
University libraries should not be closed now. They can operate by appointment and they can still procure hardcopy scholarly books via interlibrary loan. I just returned a bunch of ILL books and they have to be dropped off in a bin (normally not the case with ILL books) and left to “disinfect” for a couple of days before they are handled. I don’t really understand the need for this as we no longer handle our groceries as if they are radioactive, and library books are probably less dirty than groceries. Library staff could always wear gloves if they are worried. The real threat is breathing recycled air in a poorly ventilated room with 25+ other people in close proximity for an hour plus. But libraries can certainly operate and serve student scholars on an appointment basis, so I would wonder why they’re not if I were on a campus where the library is closed.
these ratings are silly. For example Tulane gets an A for easy to read, yet has over 500 cases, Tufts gets a B+ yet has only 3 active cases and 29 since August.
The ratings have some use in that a better dashboard helps people more easily understand what the state of COVID-19 is. But you have to understand that the rating is about the quality of the dashboard, not about how well the college is suppressing COVID-19.
Keep in mind that so many campuses are not even testing. If I were a parent looking at colleges for 21-22, I would be looking at the testing regimes colleges have adopted (assuming, as is increasingly likely, that there will be no widespread vaccine available by summer 2021). I respect the colleges that have made a costly commitment to regular widespread testing and the reporting of those results, even if it makes them look “bad.”. It is very expensive and onerous. Many institutions aren’t even doing it. My employer has a “dashboard” reporting cases, but it’s laughable because they aren’t doing any mandatory testing, and no one believes there are only 3 cases among faculty, staff, and students. Please.
If you want your student to be more safe, you should welcome the testing regime and the honesty.
Unfortunately, there’s at least one glaring example of a dashboard that is not at all “easy to read” that got an A rating. So, I wonder about the rest of the list.
NJSue, D’s college didn’t bring students back this fall except for a few vulnerable kids, so D is home in another state. The college library is not lending books to anyone. D asked, in case they’d let her drive there and come pick things up.
Honestly, there are many areas that have somewhat gotten back to normal. Except for mask-requirements in stores and reduced capacity in restaurants there are few restrictions. People are socializing again in their homes and not paying attention to the contacts they have. So no one is worrying or will worry about students coming home for Thanksgiving and if they quarantine or get tested.
I have to disagree. I am absolutely concerned about college kids from my town returning home, and likely ignoring state-imposed quarantine rules.
My kiddo has been home all semseter attending school online; wouldn’t that be the kicker if they caught covid from a HS friend just returned from their campus? And right before finals too!
Yes, I agree, the grade is about the quality of the dashboard. But what I find silly is…what good is assigning grades based an easy to read, lovely dashboard? while schools have rapid rising cases and obviously not controlling spread.
https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2017/10/19/retirement-wave-hit-librarianship/
In 2015 almost a quarter of librarian professionals where over 60 years old. That’s an age group of high risk to the virus. They probably wanted to be put in as low a risk as possible and deployed to job tasks that can be done in isolation or at least away from young people that they might see flouting social distancing rules around the local area.
Groceries are an essential product. We apply different risk/benefit standards to services that we truly need.
Do colleges even need librarians at the desk? If they are over 65 they could request alternate work assignments. The cataloguers I know work out back in their own separate work space walled off. And if in 2015 they were over age 60 it might be time to retire five years later…