UChicago Fall Quarter

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
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@CU123 No, I like to pound the pavement when I do my walks in Hyde Park. There are certainly more people on campus now.

Hear on the grapevine that U of C is developing a COVID test on its own and it is waiting for approval from FDA or CDC. It will be great if U of C can conduct more tests per week at a low cost.

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Did anyone else watch the Return to Campus webinar? I thought it had some great information, including information about ventilation/HVAC in the classroooms and that they’ve even shut down rooms that don’t have proper air flow. They addressed several questions about how the experience of the other campuses has impacted UChicago’s decisions and why not do even more aggressive testing (short answer per Dr. Landon: the data don’t support that it’s more effective and contact tracing becomes very difficult when you increase frequency).

Also, did I hear correctly that UC Medicine advised the city in developing their own Covid plan?

I copy and pasted the transcript so if anyone has a question let me know! (Should I start a new thread?)

Edit: tagging @newmaroonmom re: the HVAC issue.

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Just come back from a walk on campus and here are some observations:

  1. Definitely students are moving back in. There is a long line of students and parents waiting to check in Campus North.
  2. Weather should be beautiful this week. What a shame this is the pandemic year and we can't have normal orientation march from Rockefeller to the Main Quad.
  3. Some poor parents may have taken Uber from airport and the ignorant driver just drops them off at Cobb Gate and they have to walk all the way with their luggage to Campus South.
  4. Definitely there is a heavy presence of UCPD. Squad cars are everywhere.
  5. Just lovely too see and hear the diversity on the Main Quad: white, yellow, brown and black skins; English, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese and possibly Turkish(?).
  6. See mini vans with Georgia, Nebraska or even Texas license plates with parents dropping off their kids with their luggage and multiple boxes
  7. Almost everyone has mask on. But there are many college kids and their parents sitting on the Main Quad and they are not exactly six feet apart.
  8. This being U of C, so far the COVID danger I have seen is not large crowd gathering for beer but rather scholars being too close to each other. I have already seen a couple of cases where four grad students sitting at an outside table are in serious discussion of some science subjects. And they are not wearing masks.
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  1. The front plaza of WRC is finally 95% completed. There are still some landscaping to be done. I was wondering why there was no drive way or parking ramp for parents to park and unload the luggage. Then it dawned on me that there is the huge Law School parking lot right next to WRC. I guess for even the full WRC capacity of 1,300 students, the Law School parking lot can be a good for temporary unloading dock.

Parents, you can check out my pictures at Twit ter, Just type in #UChicago. I just post a few pictures there.

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I wonder if they are planning to complete the landscaping before the snow flies?

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My daughter had a move in time of 8:00 a.m. on Sunday for an apartment in WRC as we’re from a hotspot state. We got to Ratner at 7:15 a.m. for the Covid test, and the line looked dauntingly long. However it moved relatively quickly, and we were at WRC by 8:15.

The staggered move in times made getting in and out a breeze, with lots of folks around to help direct us and answer questions and zero issues with parking near WRC. I was surprised to see that the main floor common area is not completely closed as I thought It would be based on prior communication, but just had a sign that said “no more than 10 people at a time” in the space.

Building staff had delivered lots of boxes right to the room which was really nice. Everything looked completely finished inside the building. There was an issue with the AC, but we easily found a facilities person who took care of it.

Campus looks beautiful, and there were more student-types out and about on the quad than I expected. Unfortunately, my daughter will be in her room for a full 14 days during what looks to be some beautiful weather. Meals were delivered to her in a timely manner yesterday, and I haven’t heard any complaints about the food yet.

In short, so far so good. Before we left home, I was feeling a little down about the isolation that my student will experience this quarter, but being there lifted my spirits, and she’s already worried about being too busy - 4 classes, research assistantship, possible additional job, IHC, and several clubs (such as they may be during Covid). I’m hoping the nice weather will hold for a while to help with mental health and socializing outdoors once she’s out of quarantine.

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I think the contractors are going to complete the landscaping soon. Actually they have the trees shipped to campus already but the trees are all in the parking lot behind the Rubenstein Forum.

BTW, Residence Life must be expecting a lot of students to bike to Main Quad everyday because I have never seen so many waved shaped bike racks in my life like those at the plaza in between WRC and NORC.

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Oh, yesterday I counted 55 ducks at the Botany Pond. Jerry Coyne must be really happy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhamV-zUcl8

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@browniesundae, reading about your move-in with your daughter and her flurry of activities also lifted my spirit.

I read that Duke subsequently put out on their campus some big Adirondack lawn chairs and fire pits with proper social distancing for social interactions. That seems like a good idea.

https://today.duke.edu/2020/08/new-outdoor-seating-encourages-safe-distancing

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^ That’s pretty cool. At the webinar last week UChicago said they are putting tents with seating around campus which is probably more appropriate for Midwest weather throughout the fall.

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https://provost.uchicago.edu/announcements/covid-19-testing-update

Quoted:

“Since the start of the testing program Sunday morning, the University of Chicago Medicine has processed 910 tests of the 1,588 students tested as of the end of the day Tuesday. The testing results revealed two positive cases, and those students have been notified. Consistent with health and safety protocols for the residence halls, students in housing who test positive are relocated to University isolation housing and are being supported by UChicago Student Wellness and Housing and Residence Life staff, among others. Students in University isolation housing will be required to remain there until at least 10 days have passed from either their positive test result or the onset of any COVID-19-related symptoms.”

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9 new cases of COVID last week. Still within the quarantine capacity.

https://goforward.uchicago.edu/exposure-information/#covid19data

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Their dashboard is less than helpful without the number of tests performed. It’s important to know if those 9 positives were found based on 100 tests, or 1000 tests, for example.

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With due respect, those of us who have been following U of C test policy know approximately what the denominator are. And Provost Lee had provided a detailed update of testing last Wednesday. I expect her to do the same this week.

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This should be public information, not something that people need to dig for, or wait for Provost communications.

What is your understanding re: the number of tests denominator that correspond with the 9 positives?

Edited to add: for reference, here is Northwestern’s dashboard: https://www.northwestern.edu/coronavirus-covid-19-updates/developments/confirmed-cases.html

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Yesterday I read on social media that there were a lot of students congregating around the Main Quad with no masks or social distancing. Today I have a chance to check it out myself. Unfortunately there have been scattered showers this afternoon and so there aren’t too many students at the Main Quad. Here are some observations:

  1. There definitely is a bigger police presence. I see not only only the typical UCPD Ford Explorer squad cars everywhere but some UCPD sedans cruising around too. I do not see any CareNotCops protesters around campus.
  2. Almost everyone on campus has a mask. Unfortunately around 10% of them pull their masks down. And there are some athlete types that are either jogging or playing soccer who don't wear any mask at all.
  3. I have seen quite a few groups of clearly first years walking together. They are wearing masks but there is definitely no social distancing.
  4. I have to say for the first time in my life I have never seen the campus so relatively quiet two days before fall quarter starts. The usual excitement and buzz are nowhere to be seen. There is no daily 3:30 pm march to Reg. Everyone seems to be a bit subdued.
  5. WRC looks completed (although there is still some more landscaping to be done) but for a dorm with capacity of 1,300 students it is eerily empty in the big plaza in front of the Woodlawn Dining Commons. House tables are not open yet. I do see students taking carry out back to their dorm.
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  • What @85bears46 is saying. What's important right now are the number of positives and close contacts, both of which are resulting from the approximately 2,200 undergraduates who moved in last week. Positivity will be all over the place because the denominator will increase markedly beginning this week with the sentinel surveillance testing program, and the numerator may well change too. Furthermore, they are still booting up surveillance testing as there is room for up to 3,000 more subjects (as of two weeks ago; number may be lower now). Until they are testing at full capacity, it makes the most sense to observe the numbers reported, since changes in those could be indicating a breakout. Anyone who is curious as to positivity in the area need only look at the City of Chicago Covid Dashboard page and type in zip codes 60615 and 60637. You can see data and trends through 9/19 which is the last day before Move-In began. https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/covid-19/home/covid-dashboard.html
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  • Denominator was impacted by the new move-ins. Current positivity is about .4% (9/2200). While others in the university community are self reporting, that number is very small compared to the mandatory regimen that began last week; a number that will double once the surveillance testing program gets underway this week.
  • NU has a very nice dashboard but they opened a few weeks prior to UChicago so are a tad ahead of us in terms of testing everyone. Testing and data reflect facts on the ground. Keep in mind that despite all that rigorous testing NU still disinvited half the undergraduate community for this fall :neutral:
  • Based on the push notifications that I've been getting all day as I apparently still have the Orientation app on my phone from last year :smiley: the first years have been busy in meetings today. And then, not sure about all the returning students but my two had readings to prepare for first day of class.
  • I also learned that last Saturday night 53rd was hopping. I wasn't an eye witness so only reporting 2nd-hand information.
  • The increased UCPD presence might be due to a few armed robberies that have occurred in the area lately.
  • House tables will open next week, once people can actually start to use them (ie quarantine and stay-at-home orders have expired).
  • Parents have been complaining on another social media site that employees of some of the area hotels aren't wearing their masks properly or at all. For parents traveling in from one of the heavy-hit states, this was unsettling or even shocking. They noticed a higher compliance among the students during move-in than among others in the area. But . . . of course the students will change their behavior a bit once the parents are gone. What @85bears46 observed is probably a bit more representative.
  • This might vary by dorm, but I know that for at least a couple they have broken up any congregating in the courtyard. The quad is a different story, but I suspect that the main subject of all the house meetings last week has been about compliance with the health orders. Dorm residents aren't supposed to be hanging out in the quad with their friends right now.
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@85bears46 Always appreciate your “reporter on the ground” info. Thanks, and keep it coming!

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Will do @browniesundae

If you google Barry Butler, who is a famous Chicago photographer, his latest picture (as of 9/29/20) is a drop dead gorgeous picture of sunset view of the campus and downtown. You can find his pictures at twit ter and Insta gram.