Hm. Maybe some schools just see it as still unequal if some kids are there in person and some are remote. While lectures are delivered to both, it’s definitely not the same experience. What would the remote kids do for labs? That definitely cannot be the same. I also wonder how a foreign language class would work or really any small class where kids discuss a lot.
@homerdog At Amherst, many of the classes are in-person, but all classes can be taken by students studying remotely; in these cases, the professor has to deal with students both in-person and remotely.
Schools are beginning to make decisions on the spring.
West Chester continuing all virtual.
University of Richmond seems to be doing well enough to begin opening things up a bit.
While continuing strict adherence to mask and distancing protocols, the following are specific changes to student life as we enter this phase:
Students now have increased opportunity for visitation to other on-campus residence halls.
Lounges are now open, subject to capacity limits, and masks and physical distancing are required.
Meeting capacity is increased to 25, but meeting locations must be reserved and approved, and masks and physical distancing are required.
Outdoor events sponsored by the University or a recognized student organization may include up to 100, but must be approved and held in designated locations, and masks and physical distancing are required.
Wake Forest Covid numbers continue their improvement. The last three weeks of random testing have been Covid-free, and now stand at 13 of 2317 positive. There have been 8 confirmed cases in last 14 days, five for students and three among faculty and/or staff.
Spring semester dates have been announced. Classes begin January 27th and exams end May 15th, with no breaks. Study abroad has been cancelled for the semester, but the Wake Washington program will remain open.
Greek recruitment next year for freshmen will be virtual, as it has been for upperclassmen this semester.
No changes have been made in the university operating level, which remains “Yellow-new normal campus operations.”
NYU’s positive tests jumped to 101 for a two week period. I wonder if that means the state will step in like with SUNY Oneonta?
They’re pretty pleased in Middletown, CT (note the social distancing white lines on the hill in photo#2):
https://www.middletownpress.com/middletown/article/Wesleyan-has-kept-COVID-cases-low-through-strict-15627624.php#photo-20072674
Isn’t every school doing that this semester? Even if a class is in person this semester, my understanding at my kids schools is that it is being recorded and can be done remotely even by those students on campus.
Some schools have remote classes only. No in person. LMU, SCU, Harvard, MIT, Bowdoin (except for freshman seminars). There are others. As I picture S19’s classes from last year, I see zero way the class could be half in person and half remote. Discussions would be stunted. Plus, students in different time zones would be tuning in at crazy hours of the day. Recorded class? Why bother? Again, that isn’t equitable. At least that’s the stance of some schools.
In-depth story by the NYT today on Fr. Jenkins’ COVID diagnosis and the uproar at Notre Dame. So far he’s avoided a no-confidence vote.
There are schools both college and high school, where remote students zoom in to live classes. Seems to be working.
If a class held in-person had no provision for remote students and no recording, then students who feel a little sick in the morning before going to class may feel pressure to attend class in-person to avoid missing anything. If the students who feel a little sick have something contagious like COVID-19, that may not result in a good outcome compared to having those students participate in the class remotely or watching the recorded class.
Example: student feels a little sick in the morning, but goes to class anyway. Later that day, the student develops a fever and a dry cough, goes to medical services, and is diagnosed with COVID-19. Now many other students and the instructor in the class are worried that they may get COVID-19 (and may be subject to quarantine rules).
Yeah I get it. I think the colleges that are all remote chose that platform so they could focus on that type of leaning. Here’s just two examples of how professors are running their classes.
https://www.bowdoin.edu/news/2020/09/real-time-data,-real-life-issues.html
https://www.bowdoin.edu/news/2020/09/acting-for-the-camera-a-remote-experience.html
Not all colleges are offering a remote option for in-person classes. UC-Davis is not, and I suspect the other UCs and Cal States that are having some in person classes (mostly in the sciences) are not either.
My D20 is at Tufts, another NESCAC, and things are going really well there also. Definitely not a low population area. Students are allowed off campus and many take advantage of that. She has gone into Boston to visit a high school friend at NEU. So far, so good… they do have cases but the rate is low, 0.05 percent. Approximately 80,000 tests and 37 cases total since they started testing back in mid-August.
At Denison, all classes can be taken remotely. Some are also face-to-face for students on campus, but the remote option serves international students and students who elected to study from home this semester. Importantly it also serves any students who may be under temporary quarantine because of contacts they may have had with infected individuals.
If they go all remote again - that’s 2.5 semesters of remote learning. Almost half a student’s college education. That’s a long time… if things improve with a vaccine in say - February - I doubt they will be able to flip easily to in person learning and students will lose out on the second half of spring semester.
Trinity College in Hartford experiencing a sudden uptick in cases. Classes moving to remote in addition to other constraints.
Results from tests conducted Monday and Tuesday have revealed 21 active cases among the student body. A dozen of those results came in over just the last couple of hours.
Contact tracing associated with these new active cases has resulted in the quarantining of approximately 55 additional students, a number that is likely to rise over the next day as contact tracing continues.
https://www.trincoll.edu/reopening/covid-19-update-alert-level-raised-to-orange/
I don’t think colleges can count on a vaccine for a long time, and certainly not by February. All indications are that the first rounds will go to health care workers and the elderly.
Also, no one will know if the vaccines are 100% effective (unlikely) or 50%. The current chickenpox vaccine is only 80% effective (also a covid virus) and it took years of development to get it to that point (plus a huge section of the population was already immune from having had the chickenpox). At first it was thought that it was one shot at age 1, but within 3-4 years they figure out a booster was needed, and we have no idea if those kids vaccinated in the 90’s are still immune.
Even with a vaccine, colleges will have to continue with masks, physical distancing, hand washing, small class sizes or online.
@homerdog @AlwaysMoving I really can’t see schools continuing to not let some of their student bodies back in Fall 2021. We are already hearing of students who have been turned off to Amherst and Bowdoin because they didn’t let all students back for Fall 2020. Could you imagine the impact if they continued doing this in Fall 2021, where it has been established that all students can be back on-campus (with some students in doubles) successfully, by schools such as Hamilton and Wesleyan, even after COVID has been a thing for a year and a half? I think Bowdoin and Amherst are continuing this way because they are already partway through the year, but even if a vaccine is not widely available by Fall 2021, they will probably make their plans for the 2021-2022 academic year with all students who want to return back on-campus.
I really think it is just going to be this academic year; despite pessimistic comments from some on this thread, the reality is a vaccine is very likely to be widely available before the start of the 2021-2022 academic year, with a release in Fall 2021 being the worst-case scenario. And, as @homerdog has noted, Fauci believes that we can return to a somewhat normal state by the end of the third quarter of 2021.