
A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall - elsewhen
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Here-s-a-List-of-Colleges-/248626
======
collegeburner
High schooler here. On-line school is far from perfect. There are two
approaches I've seen:

1\. The "self-taught" style. This one is being done by my linear algebra
class: the prof tells us which chapters to read, sends out notes, and some
recommended problems. Periodically, he sends out a take-home test; we work it
and send him the answers. This style is helped by the fact that our book is
short and concise enough to teach but still be readable. No one wants to read
if a chapter takes hours. This approach works great for me, but it requires a
more self-directed student to function.

2\. The "micro-manager" style. This one is being done by my physics class: the
prof uses online, checked homework, multiple zoom calls, requires us to record
videos of ourselves solving problems in a "tutorial style", gives on-line
quizzes, and attempts to give the same tests on-line as were given in-person.
This results in horrible, invasive solutions that give a "proctor" remote
access to one's computer, require one to use a webcam to be monitored, and
require one to show the space around him using a mirror. This style is awful,
wastes colossal amounts of time, but is the option on which teachers fall back
when they lack confidence in their students to be self-directed.

Most teachers are going for option 2, which is worse than in-person learning.
This may sound cynical, but mot of the tools for "active learning" or "on-line
engagement" make students' lives harder, waste their time, and offer no
benefit beyond an administrator feeling as though he's "done something".

Edit: can any current student tell me if y'all are getting refunded for room
and board, at least partially? Y'all paid for something and are being
prohibited from using it, so that seems reasonable.

~~~
Balgair
Per issues with #2, they are assuming that the webcams of students are
unmodified.

Yellow highlighters' coloring is called 'Solvent Green 7' and has a peak at
about 494nm.

You can buy filters for lenses that will knock out certain bandwidths of light
and keep the rest coming into the camera. These are called notch filters, as
they take a notch out of the light.

There just so happens to be a notch filter that _should_ know out the yellow
highlighter color. Meaning that the light reflected from a yellow highlighter
will not enter into the camera.

[https://www.thorlabs.com/thorproduct.cfm?partnumber=NF488-15](https://www.thorlabs.com/thorproduct.cfm?partnumber=NF488-15)

They are _not_ cheap though, and as such, I've not tried this at home to see
how well it works.

Other solutions may exist at to the ideas that these people may have about how
your webcam is working. I'd experiment with other lenses, polarized filters,
exposure times, etc.

That said, studying is a _lot_ easier than trying to jerry-rig your webcams.

~~~
pinusc
Although those physical approaches are fascinating, I think there must be an
easier software solution. How hard can it be to live edit the webcam recording
so that half of the frame is a static picture? Then you just have notes flat
on your desk... And the webcam will show it empty.

Alternatively, one could run a VM with the monitoring software, and have a
separate window with notes. As long as the mirror is angled so to hide a small
portion of the screen that should be good enough.

To build on your physical solution using polarization: that's easier. You can
apply a polarized filter to the webcam (you can get one from an old pair of 3d
glasses) and then have the notes on a secondary screen that will then look
completely dark on webcam. Maybe lay the device on a black background so it's
not obvious that there's a "turned off" device and you're done.

This is all a fun thought experiment. I don't have invasive professors,
thankfully. They simply made all tests open book and raised the difficulty of
the questions accordingly. That being said, I enjoy trying to work arounf
hypothetical limitations...

~~~
throwawayoverhe
But this is on a thread about high school. You're _way_ over thinking it. Just
ratchet down the bandwidth available to the relevant machine (or straight up
disable the video feed). Easy peasy. What's the teacher going to do, fail you
for not being rich enough to afford a good internet connection? They aren't
paid well enough to take that risk.

------
downerending
I feel bad for the colleges. But anyone in their right mind that's going to
college to learn things will take a gap year.

Those going to college just for the paper are well advised to keep going. The
next couple of years will be easy mode, for sure. _You get an A, and you get
an A--everyone gets an A!_

~~~
moneytide1
"... If a student wants to study at Princeton, he doesn’t really need to apply
or pay tuition. He can simply show up and start taking classes. As a
professor, I assure you that we make near-zero effort to stop unofficial
education; indeed, the rare, earnestly curious student touches our hearts. At
the end of four years at Princeton, though, the guerrilla student would lack
one precious thing: a diploma. The fact that almost no one tries this route —
saving hundreds of thousands of dollars along the way — is a strong sign that
students understand the value of certification over actual learning..."

"...Educational austerity is the simplest path back to an economy in which
serious on-the-job learning starts during high school — not after college."

[https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-caplan-
education...](https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-caplan-education-
credentials-20180211-story.html)

~~~
Balero
Is this still True? I didn't go to the institution in question, but we had ID
cards that we had to show when entering the building.

Also I think a more obvious example of it being popular is the courses and
lectures that are made freely available online.

~~~
bachmeier
Notice that he does a neat little switch there. He talks about Princeton, then
he says "As a professor", then he talks about Princeton again. He's a
professor at George Mason. I think anyone can figure out why he used Princeton
rather than the place he works without actually stating the name of his
employer.

~~~
downerending
It's odd, for sure, but perhaps he just uses _Princeton_ as a relatable
example. Most of us have never heard of _George Mason_.

------
cracker_jacks
Many college towns and rental properties relying on student income will be
devastated.

~~~
klodolph
Forgive me, but I find it a bit hard to be sympathetic in a broad sense to the
organizations that make their money from rental income.

~~~
baggy_trough
Baffling comment. Providing rental property is a legitimate business.

~~~
alexbanks
Providing rental property is yet another industry in which "Why don't we just
screw over people with no options" has prevailed. It may be legitimate in that
people need places to live, but it is far from legitimate in any way regarding
getting what is paid for.

~~~
baggy_trough
Stating that being a landlord is "far from legitimate in any way regarding
getting what is paid for" is really a grotesque exaggeration.

~~~
alexbanks
I suppose you haven't rented an apartment in a major city...

~~~
baggy_trough
Because you have had bad experiences renting apartments, that means an entire
sector of the economy is illegitimate? There's a lot more variety to rentals
than that.

~~~
alexbanks
We can agree to disagree.

------
alec_kendall
I moved back home after my university moved my classes to online (mid-march).
I’m now paying rent on an apartment I don’t need and have a lease for next
school year that I might not use. Even if in-person classes start again, I’ll
have to worry about being screwed again next spring. The only other option I
could think of was subleasing but unfortunately I signed my lease in January.

~~~
alexbanks
Usually breaking a lease is 1.5-2.5x a month's rent. This will definitely be
cheaper than paying for an apartment you won't use, even though it sucks.

~~~
klodolph
This depends on the jurisdiction and the terms of the lease. Most places in
the US, there are very few ways to break a lease without a clause in the
contract allowing it.

For example, in New York, if you break a lease the landlord is obligated to
make a “reasonable effort” to re-rent the apartment. You are still on the hook
in the interim. In the current environment, the apartment probably won’t be
re-rented.

~~~
alexbanks
Saying anything other than "It depends on the lease" isn't really valuable, so
that's what I'll respond with. It depends on the lease.

~~~
klodolph
Yes, that is the problem I had with your original comment.

But the jurisdiction is also important, not just the terms of the lease.

------
skwb
I highly suspect that many large public universities will make large lectures
online and cap in person enrollment for discussion/seminar/lab. You can
probably easily ramp up hiring for these since they're mostly grad students,
and frankly grad students are cheap (I say this as one).

~~~
throwawayoverhe
STEM grad students are surprisingly expensive given how poorly they're paid
and how valuable their work is (I say this as a former grad student, but also
as someone who budgets for them).

Universities will now have to cull "overhead". Grad students and professors
will have a golden opportunity about 1-2 years from now to capture a less tiny
fraction of the wealth they create. Don't let it go to waste.

------
nprz
CFR for those aged 60 or greater is at 6.4%[0]. And of course an even larger
percentage will end up hospitalized. How many professors are in that high risk
demographic? Class is just supposed to go on while professors inevitably fall
ill, become hospitalized and die?

[0][https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3...](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099\(20\)30243-7/fulltext)

~~~
q084yn39cptyth
My guess is there will be mandatory testing for students wanting to return,
along with heavy disease surveillance. I also suspect even places claiming
"normal operation" will not actually be normal — certain things will be
virtual and other things not. There will likely be some reshuffling of
teaching assignments too.

I noticed also (former professor) that my institution is now heavily
incentivizing early retirement for those getting close to qualifying, and are
not shy about linking it to coronavirus.

Finally, I think a lot of social distancing guidelines apply technically in
many situations with lectures, etc.

It will be an interesting semester.

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dba7dba
It is just my personal opinion but if I was in a position to plan for the
upcoming academic year in US, I'd recommend below.

\- Start Fall semester with onsite classes.

\- For those who wish to participate remotely for medical reasons or personal
preference, they should be allowed to teach/learn remotely.

\- But everyone (administration, profs, students, support staff, local
town/city) should be prepared to have the teaching go virtual with the campus
shutting down on a short notice.

\- If Covid-19 reappears locally or surges again nationally, campus should
close down.

I say at least start the upcoming semester in Fall 2020 with onsite classes,
for the sake of human bonds to form between the students/professors. It may
sound too unpredictable but I think having even one or two months of in person
interaction would be beneficial for the incoming freshman class.

Also, dorm/parking/housing cost probably should be charged in monthly
increments, not per semester, to prepare for possible shutdown of campus in
the middle of a semester.

------
zingar
I work for a student lender (for postgrad degrees only), we're scrambling to
handle all the classes that are being postponed, or telling their students not
to fly and they'll start online (since we lend to international students, the
date they are in country matters a lot).

------
baggy_trough
Hard to imagine packing up and moving across the country into a dorm, taking
the risk of being kicked out a few weeks later.

~~~
standardUser
Harder still to imagine being 18 and deciding to play it safe and stay with
mom and dad for god-knows how many more months. I'd take the risk if I was
able.

------
code4tee
tl;dr: Basically everyone will decide this summer.

~~~
HarryHirsch
They'll decide again when they have an outbreak in a dorm or when a few
faculty members die. It's hard to imagine that presence instruction will be
back in the fall.

~~~
rjtobin
I’m a little surprised by this sentiment (maybe I’m naively optimistic). I’m
curious, do you (and others) think elementary and high schools will be back
next fall?

~~~
x0x0
I suspect there will be a lot of pressure from parents to reinstitute in-
person schooling so they have daycare.

I suspect we'll also see our first couple of disease clusters and super
spreaders with associated deaths clearly attributable to a child in school. (I
hope to god we'll have some compassion and keep the kids' names out of this,
but I doubt it.)

Once that hits the news, I suspect lots of parents will refuse to put their
kids in school.

In CA, for example, this may have devastating effects on the school district:
they get money on an asses-in-seats basis [1]. I suspect that home schooling
is about to have an enormous boom.

[1] [https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/education/how-do-
you-...](https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/education/how-do-you-say-here-
in-a-virtual-classroom/)

------
tsumnia
The List, because wall:

Beloit College

Boston University

Brown University

California Baptist University

California State University at Fullerton

Chapman University

Centre College

Christopher Newport University

Claremont Colleges

Clemson University

Cornell University

Drury University

East Tennessee State University

Emory University

George Mason University

George Washington University

Harvard University

Haverford College

Iowa Board of Regents Iowa, and the University of Northern Iowa

Macalester College

Marquette University

Merrimack College

Montana State University

North Carolina State University

North Dakota State University

Oakland University

Ohio State University

Purdue University

San Jose State University

Shenandoah University

Southern New Hampshire University

Stanford University

Trine University

University of Arizona

University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

University of Colorado at Boulder

University of Connecticut

University of Central Florida

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Maine system

University of Mary Washington

University of Maryland system

University of Michigan

University of Missouri

University of Nebraska

University of Oklahoma

University of Oregon

University of Portland

University of Pittsburgh

University of South Carolina

University of Tennessee at Knoxville

University of Texas at Austin

University of Virginia

Utah System of Higher Education

Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Tech University

Wake Forest University

Washington State University

Wayne State University

West Virginia University

William Jewell College

Williams College

Yale University

~~~
DoofusOfDeath
Sorry if I'm missing something, but is that the list of colleges that _will_
be onsite in the fall?

~~~
downerending
Yes.

------
Mediterraneo10
It was announced today that experts are already doubting the possibility of
hosting the Tokyo Olympics even in the summer of 2021, because a vaccine may
not be available or widely applied then. I suspect we are going to see a new
wave of cancellations of things we initially thought might resume by the end
of 2020 or mid-2021. I don’t know if this will affect enrollment of local
students who wouldn't have to travel to campus, but the conference side of
academia may be disrupted, i.e. everything which was scheduled for 2020 and
was recently postponed to 2021, may not happen even then. Expect a lot of
complaining from academics about this being a lost two years (at least) for
them in terms of in-person networking and career advancement.

