Semester wrap up for in person colleges. What worked and what did not

Parents Forum
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I’m going to be honest and say that I’m shocked my D made it through the entire planned for semester at Purdue and not at our dining room table!

Overall, she had a good semester and was happy to be on campus. The learning happened, the clubs happened, she got another internship lined up, more leadership experiences, etc… albeit nothing like usual.

What I think Purdue did right-

  • Pre arrival and departure testing for everyone
  • aggressive contact tracing and random testing
  • partnering with the mayor of town to make off campus rules the same as on campus rules
  • suspending students not following the rules throughout the semester.
  • making it easy for kids who were sick to go to class virtually and have no penalty
  • aggressive case managing and quarantining
  • setting up classrooms to social distance and improving air handling throughout campus (not one covid case was traced to a classroom).

What I think they could have done better-

  • even more testing - IMO everyone should have been tested weekly. My D only had four tests all semester and one was contact tracing. Granted she lived alone in a single with a private bath so wasn’t prioritized, but still more would have been better.
  • de- densifying communal living houses (more than 60% of cases were traced back to densely populated houses).
  • food service options could have been better
  • more reading days within the semester for mental health breaks
  • better enforcement of students not leaving the community

Lots of room for improvement but they succeeded in getting students through the semester on campus.

How did your student’s college do? What do you think could have been better?

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Interesting feedback, @momofsenior1 .

My daughter graduated from Bates this year, so obviously isn’t on campus, but is in touch with friends there. Her understanding is that given how strict Bates is, it’s been a pretty successful year. Bates implemented programs to keep students engaged. She thinks students are generally happy and the measures the college put in place have been serving them well. I think most classes are in person. I believe students are tested twice a week and so far there have been a small number of cases, mostly in November. If anyone has better info about Bates, feel free to share.

My son attends Binghamton. He lives off campus and only had one tutorial session on campus, so he wasn’t there much. I think he didn’t get a lot from it, but it was good for him to be on campus occasionally because it felt more “normal.” He hates remote learning, but to to him, the alternative of skipping a semester and finding a temporary low-paying job is worse. All classes over a certain size are remote, and my son is a soph so most of his classes are larger. Not being in actual classes isn’t great.

He and his roommates all got Covid. I am pretty sure they were not going to big parties because I don’t believe there have been any, but I’m sure they also haven’t been terribly careful. Luckily they were only mildly unwell.

From what I’ve gathered, the students who live on campus haven’t been enjoying the experience. There is nothing for them to do. Apparently, the rules are super strict. The college tests dorm waste water. It also tests students both on and off campus. My son and his roommates were tested twice before actually getting Covid. Despite all the measures, Binghamton shut down mid semester, and will now hold remote only classes due to rising Covid cases. All SUNY’s are requiring every student to be tested before going home for Tgiving.

It seems Binghamton has done a better job than most other SUNY’s in monitoring the situation. Maybe they have been extra cautious because they want to protect their reputation. From the parent social media boards I’ve seen, it looks like a lot of kids don’t want to remain on campus in the spring. I think a lot of colleges are going to see an exodus of students for spring semester.

From my sample of two, what works? Clearly lots of testing and strict social distancing measures are helpful. There was no uncontrolled explosion of cases. Binghamton shut down earlier due to an abundance of caution. And clearly, in person classes are far better for students than remote.

I think what doesn’t work is giving students NO outlets for socialization. I guess this is the big conundrum. How can students be sociable when they have to maintain social distancing? This is really an experiment and the final data have yet to be analyzed.

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My D attends UGA. They do not have mandatory testing and their numbers have remained high all semester.

My D lives off campus with 3 roommates in a 4 br/4 ba apartment. Overall the semester has gone fine. She chose to take all of her classes, except the one honors seminar she TAs, online, even though they most were hybrid. She made that choice due to the high rate of COVID circulating and students not being careful. Clubs happened virtually and or in person socially distanced. She eschewed parties and large gatherings and instead enjoyed spending time with a smaller group of friends this semester. She voluntarily tests every week and has been careful. I believe next semester will have most classes in person. Parents have demanded in person classes and many think they should let the students have a normal college experience (different thinking in different parts of the country).

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My D attends Bama, is an upperclassman in an off campus apartment with half her classes in person, and half online. Her experience is very similar to that of @itsgettingreal21 above. Bama has been very lax with testing and tracing and quarantining, but so has the local council. Football has been back, parties have been going on, and bars are busy. D has done none of these and chooses to socialize with small groups of friends. The weather does allow for more outdoor options.

From reading that mammoth thread, colleges with tight control over the community have fared better in controlling spread and offering some activities: largely residential colleges for example, or public schools tightly aligned with the local gvt. Anything else has been shut down or a free for all!

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My youngest attends UIUC. The best thing they did: twice a week testing. When cases started climbing they issued a stay home order for two weeks and cases dropped.
Some classes are in person as are some activities. My student found different ways to have fun- golf, nearby hiking, etc that they normally would not have done while at school. The university did provide some social activities like concert, movies, in the fb stadium which I think helped many, especially freshman.

A tough but good lesson in how to adapt and sometimes you need to sacrifice a bit for the greater good.

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Northeastern is doing a great job with testing. D gets tested every 3 days. To date the school has conducted 412,000+ tests and have only had 294 positive results, a 0.17% 7 day moving average positivity rate.

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People (in general, including but not just college students) whose socialization revolves around outdoor activity that is or can easily be done at a distance probably find social distancing to be the least burdensome. Those whose socialization revolves around crowded indoor activity probably find social distancing to be the most burdensome.

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It’s just really hard to keep socializing outside during a northern winter. When I was running seriously, every year I would say, “OK, this will be the year I run throughout the entire winter!” and I’d give up about mid-January. It’s frigging cold. And the wind cuts right through you when it’s 10 degrees.

Having said that, my daughter asked for cold-weather gear for Christmas so she and her friends can get together as long as possible.

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Yes, agreed - my D is a more outdoorsy person and likes to socialize with hiking, running and other activities. Plus the southern weather makes it easier.

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I just ordered my son ski pants and gloves to be delivered to Boston so he can be comfortable outside. We’re in Texas so he didn’t already have a full set of cold weather outdoor gear.

Following the other Northeastern post, the university has done a good job keeping numbers down with surveillance testing and contact tracing in conjunction with quarantine and isolation housing. Spread was not traced to classroom setting but rather off campus.

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Given the upward trend in the general population, and the sharp upward trend of the school’s dashboard, I’m glad my D is driving home until January as I type. The 7-day rolling average has doubled in the last 30 days, most sharply in the last 2 weeks.

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@Lindagaf I don’t believe “most” classes were in person at Bates. We did a virtual student panel with my D21 - four Bates students. We asked all of them if they had classes in person and only one out of the four did and her class was hybrid, not all in person. Bummer. I’m sure Bates did a bang up job with remote classes. Just don’t think many were in person.

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My kid is at Brown and they made a radical change to their schedule. They shortened Fall and Spring semesters by a couple of weeks, and added in a summer semester that is the same length as Fall/Spring. Then they said Freshmen can attend Spring and Summer, Sophmores can attend Fall and Summer, and Juniors & Seniors attend Fall and Spring. They did this to de-densify the campus, and they also rented private housing to add to their housing stock. And they gave off-campus permission to a lot of Juniors, when typically only Seniors can live off-campus.

I think their de-densification plan worked in large part and they were able to keep their numbers pretty low this Fall, given the community numbers. Because the numbers were so low, Brown decided that Sophmores can come back to the extent there are housing accommodations.

But I think that shortening the semester has led to a lot more stress for the kids, as they seem to be going from one set of exams pretty quickly into the next set. Even though the number of weeks is less, you still have to fit in all the same work.

I also bet the school wishes it didn’t have to start Spring semester mid-Jan.

There was also a lot of disruption for the kids, as classes started on-line in Sept, but they weren’t allowed in the dorms until October, and now they have to move-out for Thanksgiving and finish the semester at home. Students actually have to pack up everything and move out because they aren’t necessarily going to have the same dorm; they are trying to put all the Freshmen together to give them a good experience.

So, all in all, I’d say that Brown’s radical change has very mixed reviews. There are all sorts of minor kinks, like one would expect when you make such a huge change in a relatively short time frame. When they were implementing this, no one knew whether this would go on for years, and how any of this would look. So, I think Good On Them for trying.

The best thing that Brown did was they hired additional TAs last summer to work with the profs to make the classes on-line friendly. A lot of work was put into this, and my D said it showed. Good thing for her, since all of her classes were on-line.

I really hope they go back to the regular 2 semester schedule next year!

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RIT was doing great until the end of Oct. They even had a 2 week period of no cases . Cases started to climb just as NY state cases started to climb. Also I heard that Halloween had some parties, though RIT is not known to be a party school. They have kept hybrid classes until next week, stating that there was no transmission from classroom. I believe when the weather was warm and they were able to do outdoor stuff that really helped.
My son is a stay at home person, so socially it did not affect him, except not meeting the few clubs he belonged to . But many freshman parents were saying that it was very hard for their kids to meet other kids and make friends. It seems like a bunch are choosing to take online only in the spring and come home.
Their approach to testing on campus was based on wastewater testing. If anything positive then would test an entire dorm. Otherwise it seems like a few people were randomly tested and any off campus students would as well. it always seemed like off campus had more isolations and Quarantines.
So what they did right. - those who wanted to be could be. Doubles were allowed, so some kids had roommates. They tried to have some outdoor social activities when things were good Those who had hybrid classes at least go to go to campus once a week for that class (split A/B). Wastewater testing.! They are allowing students who want to remain on campus during the break to do so, or even stay during finals, even if finals are online.
What they could have improved. more individual testing. probably from students living in apartments near campus. Food at first was a big issue with lots of lines .
Anything else is not something controlled because of the virus.

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now GW. no attempt at on campus was decided weeks before students were to move in. then only about 500 students were allowed. . Many SEniors stayed in DC due to leases, but no access to anything on campus. Freshman to juniors also rented short term apartments just to be in DC. Announced for spring all online, about 1500 students can live on campus, based on who wanted to . no attempt to even have a few classes in person and maybe have “seniors and Freshman” on campus like other schools. cancelled in person graduation now, instead of waiting to see what the vaccine does. Horrible communication from administration. my child is graduating next month and happy to be done. She decided to stay here versus being "locked in a small apartment with nothing to do ". It also seems that even with all online, many kids cannot get classes they need for the spring, like they are short on professors. The other DC schools seem to have a better plan for spring. I did hear that there was lots of testing of the 500 students who were on campus in the fall, and the numbers were pretty good. It was the Seniors and others living off campus that caused DC some issues.
So many are disappointed in the school with its lack of communication and poor leadership. I have learned being blocks from the White house and the internship opportunities is what makes the school appealing. Not the school itself.

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My D is at Rice. Semester went WAY better than expected considering the situation in Houston when we sent her was not great. I think they had 37 undergrad positives since 8/1. Nine of those were students testing positive upon arrival. Rice’s goal did not seem to be zero positives, but to find a balance between controlling outbreaks and letting the kids have some “safe fun”.

Students and professors were given lots of choices. While classes of less than 25 could be in person the professors could choose whether or not to be remote. Classes less than 50 could be in person if there was a big enough space and/or the professor could get creative (rotate in person days to limit class sizes, etc). A lot more classes ended up remote that people expected.

Students had a choice on whether to come to campus or stay remote. And whether to live on campus or off campus. At the time the decision had to be made the situation in Houston was not great and a lot of kids chose remote. I can’t remember the exact numbers but density on campus was less than 60%. A LOT more kids lived off campus compared to normal. I believe about 85% of freshman came to campus and more are coming next semester.

All kids who lived on campus, and those who planned to come to campus for class or socially, were tested weekly. They could test more often if they wanted as well. Part way through the semester they asked those who lived off campus but interacted with anyone on campus to test as well. They found through contact tracing, that most positives seemed to originate off campus.

A few other things:

Masks were mandatory on campus unless eating or in your room. Even outside.

Eating only allowed outside or in room. Luckily the weather is Houston is nice much of the year but when they had rainy periods my D complained a lot about this. This is probably the biggest thing the kids wish would change for next semester.

Group sizes limited to 50 with distancing. This allowed for the residential colleges and college to hold outside events.

Campus was dry for the first 1/2 or so of the semester. Later that was changed to alcohol being allowed at approved events.

Students only allowed to visit those who live on the same floor as them.

Students allowed to go off campus though they are expected to follow mask and distance rules.

The school got creative with tents for extra large classroom space.

They had a “covid court” that dealt with people reported as not following the rules. This has been a little controversial. I think the intent was to help parents and students feel safer coming to campus. But, it means that kids are reporting other kids for breaking the rules. It seems the punishments are fairly minor if the infractions are minor (not distancing at meals, etc). If someone does something that is considered more serious that is dealt with differently.

The school is doing very comprehensive contract tracing and the kids do NOT get in trouble for anything they report during contract tracing. They want the kids to be honest.

Very strict isolation and quarantine protocols. Kids with any symptoms are isolated and their roommates quarantined until testing completed.

The kids signed a “Culture of Care” agreement before coming to campus agreeing to the rules and the school really relied on them to make good choices for things to work. There was a lot of emphasis on keeping others safe. It worked for them, but that’s sort of their culture. D said no one wanted to be the person who got their friends sick or quarantined.

Overall it went surprisingly well. There didn’t seem to be any large on-campus outbreaks. When a couple students in one residential college tested positive the school acted quickly and also increased testing. As I said before most cases originated off campus. There was a much higher percentage of staff and grad students testing positive, which makes sense since they live off campus. D only knew 1 person who tested positive.

Next semester quite a few students are coming back to campus so density will increase. Many students currently with singles being asked to double up. D will also be spend about 2/3 of her class time in person (compared to just 1 class this semester). The school asked the kids what changes they would like to see happen so we’ll see what changes the school makes. Move in is different in spring. Instead of rapid tests, all kids have to take a PCR test and then quarantine for the 12 - 24 hours it takes for the results to come back.

I would say D is happy she went back though she in anxious for things to go back to normal. Some kids felt campus life was boring and a few are going home next semester.

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My D is a freshman at UIUC. The best thing they did: frequent saliva testing for “everybody”.
She was glad to be on campus the past 3 months but now we are glad she is home for a while. she had 2 in-person classes and the rest online. Her private Freshman housing building turned into a bit of a nightmare, but her roommate decided to stay home a few days before she moved in so she had a large single room and she was very glad for that because her other options for zooming and studying locations were not good. She did enjoy outdoor activities on campus and some club she involved with. Her room included full board at the private cafeteria in the building, she said the food was good enough, sometimes really good. She got a negative COVID test probably 30 times since August. Her building was often “priority” meaning every other day test for all residents. One of her 2 suitemates (share bathroom) went to isolation briefly in early September after a positive test. Apparently many students in her building were attending parties and not taking COVID protection measures seriously. She did not make a single friend in her building where the positivity rate was said to be over 50% in October, but she stayed negative somehow. I think UIUC did a good job and also her building mgmt tried but they were overwhelmed by the volume of positive tests resulting in need for contact tracing, isolation, quarantining, etc. The best thing was how mild the symptoms were for most positive students and how quickly they recovered. But this also made compliance with the rules worse and harder to enforce with students discovering it was easier “to get it over with” then continue to try to stay Negative. But because of testing and knowing where the virus was and who was spreading it, I think they were able to control it’s spread pretty well to the point in November they are finding “only” a few dozen cases per day. Academically, my daughter is very happy with her first semester and confident going into her finals now (from home). We are happy with her choice for UIUC and impressed with how UIUC handled pandemic so far.

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My daughter is a first-year at Kenyon College, she just got home after 3 wonderful months on campus (the original plan was, as almost elsewhere, to end the semester online). Kenyon used what they called a three-pronged approach–campus de-densification, wastewater testing, and selective student testing. They invited only freshmen and sophomores to campus in the fall, so everybody could have a single. They tested everybody twice upon arrival and before departure, and then 1/4 of students each week and everybody during the period when wastewater test showed the virus (they also went to a “quiet time” mode for that period, which is not a lockdown but more restrictions on indoor activities). I thought the student testing could have been more frequent and thorough, but they’ve handled the situation very well overall. Kenyon had only 2 student cases for most of the semester until the last two weeks, when cases started spiking everywhere–they got 4 or 5 more then. My daughter had as normal a college experience as it gets these days: most of her classes were in person, the one hybrid class had some f2f meetings, she played in a wind ensemble (they rehearsed mostly outside and in special masks) and continued with piano lessons. She made a great group of friends and enjoyed all her classes. She absolutely loved her Kenyon experience this semester. She’s very sad freshmen have to stay remote for the spring. Kenyon has invited juniors, seniors and sophomores for the spring in order to keep single occupancy in the dorms and “pods” in university apartments. As much as I would have loved to see my daughter on campus in the spring, I totally understand the school’s cautious approach–nobody wants to have an outbreak and to have to send seniors home before their graduation.

I know that not everybody’s experiences have been as positive. I heard from other parents that their kids had a hard time making friends because of the pandemic restrictions and they felt more activities could have been arranged for students to socialize (we didn’t have this problem). Some freshmen’s parents are angry that the college didn’t find a way of having all students on campus in the spring, while some seniors’ and juniors’ parents are upset that sophomores are coming back in the spring and the campus will be more crowded than in the fall. You can’t please everybody. Overall, we are extremely happy with Kenyon’s handling the situation (and with the 10% tuition discount everybody is getting).

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S19 is at Denison. The school wrapped up the on-campus part of the semester last week and the students are all home now for the last few weeks - mostly finals and papers. Denison had a mix of hybrid and remote classes. As things turned out, all of S19’s classes were remote. He really didn’t mind. He’s in a triple in a small dorm a little bit off the beaten track, and he seemed to enjoy the lower-key lifestyle after being in the biggest, rowdiest first-year dorm last year. I think it helped that he is on a sports team and they kept up with practices and conditioning as they would in an ordinary year, so he saw his friends every day and had some structure. It was interesting to read about Kenyon’s approach, as the schools are similar in size and only about 45 minutes apart. Denison was not as restrictive and didn’t test as much All classes were invited back and the school did signal testing of about 10% of the population (students, faculty and staff) each week. They did also test whole classes once during the semester. Based on those results, they loosened the restrictions on socializing in dorm rooms - initially that was prohibited. The testing regime was managed in consultation with a team of epidemiologists at Ohio State. Denison did ask everyone to sign a community care agreement reflecting the commitment to wear masks, remain socially distant and follow the rules. Early in the semester, there were some parties and the school cracked down by sending the ringleaders home. Overall, however, it seems that students were pretty compliant and maybe increasingly so over the course of the semester.
The school communicated a lot, both with students and with families and they did a lot of surveying to find out what was working and what was not. Spring semester they will be doing some things differently. They will test everyone when they return to campus, and if the results are good, they will allow more social interaction more quickly. Also, not all classes will be available on a remote basis. For the fall semester, about 20% of the students remained off-campus, so that group’s access to classes may be more limited if they do not return for the spring. The class list will come out in early December and will identify how the professor plans to teach. Overall, it is my sense that the school, and the students, are quite proud of what they accomplished - there were only about 5 cases over the course of the semester and things were relatively normal. It helps a lot that Denison is all-residential and is located in a very small town. I know from the parents Facebook group that some kids had a more difficult time than mine did. I think it was particularly rough on some of the first years, who didn’t have an existing social network to rely on. That’s reflected in the school’s focus on trying to normalize social interaction in the spring. I hope the virus cooperates.

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