How will your child's university handle sick and exposed kids?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If the student is asymptomatic or presymptomatic and they are wearing a mask, and everyone they come in contact with, at least in class, the spread will be minimal to none. College kids can wipe their desks down. I think we are expecting too little of them.

The dorms will certainly be a challenge, but the in- class time should be safe.

Essential workers have been in contact with asymptomatic, presymptomatic and symptomatic folks since this started. Masks work. They can do this.

But so much of a college kid’s life is outside of class. They’re only in class like 15 hours a week! Do you really see 18 year olds wearing masks to a frat party?

This. Students do more than just go to class. It doesn’t matter if they’re wearing masks in class. A contact tracer is still going to identify everyone on that class as someone who was potentially exposed, and direct them to get tested and quarantine until results are back. It’s going to be a mess.

Adolescents will, overwhelmingly, be fine. The students need to keep the faculty and university staff safe. They can do that. They can also learn to wear masks. They really can.

You still are not understanding my point. Safety is one thing, but probably the bigger concern is the repeated disruptions that are inevitable when students test positive and everyone they attended class with and otherwise come into contact with has to isolate until they get tests results back. Masks are important but they are not going to prevent these scenarios because students have lives outside of class.[/quote]

NP. Those "lives outside of class" now need to be lived like they're responsible adults, then. So many times on this college board there are posters who go on and on about how "your college student is an adult now so you cannot hover" etc. Well, if that's the case, those students need to ACT like the adults so many parents here insist they are and behave as part of the larger community, for the greater good. That means partying is done. If they need "the college experience" that includes partying, they need to take a year off.

The success of this also depends greatly on each college's unique campus layout, location, the surrounding community's layout, how much the college students go out into that community socially in normal times, and the college's, for lack of a better term, culture. DC's small college is self-contained on its campus and 100 percet of students live on campus. It's going to be much easier to monitor things and deal with students who do not wear masks as required, who won't distance, or who go off-campus. Yep, they are not allowed to leave the campus next semester once they're there and part of the extensive, ongoing testing regime which will include regular testing on a schedule, not by whether you think you've been exposed or have symptoms. Will it be heaps of fun? No. Will they be with their friends, all in the same boat and expected to pull together, and expecting each other to pull together? The administration thinks so, but this can happen only because it's not a sprawling campus with a ton of off-campus students.

The things happening right now are not exactly inspiring confidence... outbreaks directly tied to teens and twentysomethings partying and going to bars. Your DC and those who go to their college do not sound much like the typical student at a larger school. There are way too many who want to live in the moment and just don't care. And most schools don't have any plans to test their students regularly because there are way too many of them coming and going from all over the local community. Small colleges where everyone lives on campus might have a chance, but large ones with lots of off campus housing and a party culture are being completely delusional.

I'm the PP to whom you're responding and I totally agree with you. Large schools are going to see outbreaks and student behavior is simply not going to hold up -- I suspect many colleges will start out with strong talk and studetns saying they will act responsibly but it will fade fast. We recognize that we're very fortunate with DC's specific college. Our DC is at a college with a campus layout and living situation (everyone on campus) that fundamentally changes the game IF the students cooperate, and as of right now the administration is doubling down strongly on the idea that students must formally buy into keeping everyone else safe. We'll see. I have a lot of confidence in the administration and my DC and DC's friend group, but of course there are NO guarantees. We may yet decide that DC should stay remote for this fall semester (which is an option).

I agree -- larger colleges, colleges with a lot of off-campus housing, colleges with a strong party/Greek scene etc. are frankly in profound trouble. It seems incredibly foolish to pretend otherwise. I've said it here before: This is all a huge medical experiment with our college students as the guinea pigs. We must recognize that and not stick our heads in the sand. Colleges closed down before the virus could take over at any one campus so we have NO idea what the outcomes will look like -- there is no precedent to look at. So Im very concerned even despite the fact that my own DC goes to a place that has particular advantages for possibly making the experiment turn out better than others.

[Anonymous]

I work at a university. We are requiring masks in the Fall. We will be in person. I actually expect that the students will be fine with mask wearing.

I am finding our administration's fantasy planning concerning though. They want "filled" dorms. Do they not know that those kids are 2-4 in one room? I have seen no plans for testing, tracing, or isolation of sick students. We've been told they have no plans to rent rooms or leave space empty for quarantine or sick students. Based on the flu outbreak of 2018 and the norovirus outbreak of a few years back, anything that gets into our student population spreads like wildfire. So, it might be good to make some sort of *plan* for when students get sick.

Also, make a plan for when professors get sick - the previous plan of having a colleague sub in probably isn't reasonable in this setting. Also, make some simple considerations people have been asking for (e.g. allowing us to open windows in buildings. They are not bolted shut for safety. Apparently, the pressure differential messes with building A/C. And the A/C barely works in our building anyhow.)

They could also allow us to try and implement some creative solutions. Some people in my department wanted to trade classes so they only had one-prep and could focus on making really good online content for that course since we all have to have both online and in-person plans (denied because schedule was set a year ago and "can't be changed now!") I have an idea where I (on the young side and healthy) would team teach with an older professor (who is actually really good at online teaching, while I am not). The older professor would do a lot of online stuff, I would do all the in-person classes.

Basically, I think they're not really planning well and we'll be back online by October.

[Anonymous]

With current spikes, they won’t be able to fully open; the best laid plans..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USC has not revealed student housing assignments yet. DD is not sure if this is a bad sign...

Pretty bad, it turns out. No in-person classes for fall.

[Anonymous]

my kid's school will have reserved floors for covid kids. Real question is all the off campus kids.