re: Alabama Board Coronavirus Thread

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More than half of college presidents (53 percent) said it was “very likely” their institutions would resume in-person courses this fall, and another 31 percent said it was “somewhat likely,” according to a survey of 310 presidents conducted by the American Council on Education. Presidents at public two-year colleges were less likely (38 percent) than presidents of four-year public (53 percent) and four-year private (58 percent) colleges to say it was “very likely” their colleges would resume in-person courses this fall.

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College presidents also are broadly forecasting revenue and enrollment declines. Among college presidents projecting enrollment declines for this fall, 45 percent expect a decline of 10 percent or less compared to fall 2019, 50 percent expect an 11 to 20 percent decline and 6 percent expect a 21 to 30 percent decline.

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I have seen where they are expecting anywhere from 20-40% of faculty across the country not returning to teach on campus in the fall.

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That’s the most entitled thing I have heard in a long time. The guys that bags there groceries, butchered their food, delivered their mail, brought their amazon deliveries, patrolled their neighborhoods, came when their elderly mom fell and broke her hip never stopped coming to work but they won’t come back in the fall?

Every single one that doesn’t needs to be given an opportunity to discover again- or maybe for the first time - what a job in the real world is like.

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That’s the most entitled thing I have heard in a long time. The guys that bags there groceries, butchered their food, delivered their mail, brought their amazon deliveries, patrolled their neighborhoods, came when their elderly mom fell and broke her hip never stopped coming to work but they won’t come back in the fall?

Every single one that doesn’t needs to be given an opportunity to discover again- or maybe for the first time - what a job in the real world is like.

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Except you are not looking at the big picture. How many of those people are seeing people from outside their community? The lock down has limited contact for the most part with people in the area which helps eliminate the communal threat.

For example 60% of the UA student body resides outside of the state. Many come from major hot spots and some international. No one you mentioned is being exposed to that right now due to the current situation.

So do you want to be exposed at a higher risk or have your child be in a classroom with students from NY, Chicago, CA, or from wherever? Do the people in Alabama or any state want to see a influx of people coming in from other areas of the country that are hot spots?

Many of the professors are willing to teach their courses online. No different from the spring. Some accommodations are already being made at many of the universities to allow that for those over 50 or underlying medical conditions.

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What happened on spring break didn’t stay there, according to a new, preliminary study of COVID-19 transmission among and by millions of U.S. college students. Using smartphone location data, researchers sought to compare how the coronavirus spread in college towns with earlier breaks -- where students had a chance to travel and return to campus prior to their universities shuttering -- and those with later breaks, where students effectively saw their plans canceled.

Findings indicate that counties with more early spring break students had higher confirmed coronavirus case growth rates than counties with fewer early spring break students. Moreover, the increase in case growth rates peaked two weeks after students returned to campus -- within the virus’s incubation period. Most seriously, and consistent with how the virus spreads to more vulnerable populations, the authors found an increase in mortality growth rates that peaked four to five weeks after early spring breakers returned.

By tracing spring breakers’ particular destinations and modes of travel, researchers also found that students who traveled through airports, to New York and to popular Florida spots were the worst contributors to their college towns’ COVID-19 spread. One major possible takeaway? Colleges and universities “have a unique capacity to reduce local COVID-19 spread by altering academic calendars to limit university student travel,” reads the study.

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This will be the biggest concern colleges are going to have to deal with regarding fall semester. UNC and Duke have already announced if students return to campus the semester will start earlier and when they go home for Thanksgiving the semester will be over and they will not return until January.

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So do you want to be exposed at a higher risk

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I'm typing this from a fire station having just returned from another 911 EMS call. Potentially getting exposed to any number of things is my regular world.

But to answer the question, if I was in charge any professor that tells me today he will not return to class in the fall because of conditions as they exist now would be immediately dismissed for cause.

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UNC and Duke have already announced if students return to campus the semester will start earlier and when they go home for Thanksgiving the semester will be over and they will not return until January.

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This is the smart play in my opinion. You don't lose a ton of instruction time and travel by students is limited. Plus kids aren't on campus when flu season is ramping up.

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But to answer the question, if I was in charge any professor that tells me today he will not return to class in the fall because of conditions as they exist now would be immediately dismissed for cause.

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I guess those saying this have tenure and not to worried about it.

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If there are massive outbreaks in late July/early August then there will be justification for a discussion. Saying you won't teach a September class on May 28th tells me you don't need or want your job.

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Many colleges have yet to make a decision regarding in person classes for the fall.

I totally agree with the reducing travel like ending the semester at Thanksgiving. It makes good sense. You will also need to delay start of spring semester until at least mid January because think of how many kids come into contact with friends and family from all parts of the country during the holidays.

Regarding the professors, I get not wanting to teach freshman Biology 101 in a lecture hall with 300 kids. That's just not prudent right now. Those classes need to be virtual with perhaps small segments of the class meeting live once a week for questions, etc. But upper level classes that are 20 kids or less could be done in classrooms that allowed plenty of space between the teacher and the class along with mandatory masks and hand sanitizing before entering the classroom that should be able to minimize the risk to anyone. It's stupid to say they won't teach.