Preparing for Coronavirus?

[mahagonny]

Word is circulating that some faculty have decided that they simply won't do anything during the weeks that the university has shifted to online instruction, and will just resume following what's in their syllabi when we return for on-campus classes. This assumes we will in fact return to campus for the last few weeks of the semester, which is not certain, and it violates federal and accreditor credit hour standards. Administrators are figuring out ways to hold these people accountable. But it's entirely possible that an adjunct could say "I didn't sign up for this" and just walk away.

Thus the whole college ends up in the ditch, and the faculty who make the good money because they are invested in the long term health of the institution are celebrating.

[clean]

My fiance and I were leaving lunch after some wedding planning trips, when her dad called to say that the local grocery store is packed because Trump was on the news declaring an emergency and that we should rush to Walmart to stock up on TP and soap! 

Fortunately, I already have plenty of TP AND soap because of my normal shopping.  On the way home the grocery store parking lot (at 3pm on Friday, while Trump was on TV and radio) was indeed packed with more cars backed up trying to turn into the parking lot!

Yep... Gotta be able to Flush!  Especially after eating the canned food that people are stocking up on ... the food that htey really dont even like!

Are you noticing runs on grocery stores/WalMarts in your neighborhood today? 

[downer]

Word is circulating that some faculty have decided that they simply won't do anything during the weeks that the university has shifted to online instruction, and will just resume following what's in their syllabi when we return for on-campus classes. This assumes we will in fact return to campus for the last few weeks of the semester, which is not certain, and it violates federal and accreditor credit hour standards. Administrators are figuring out ways to hold these people accountable. But it's entirely possible that an adjunct could say "I didn't sign up for this" and just walk away.

Anyone who thinks that some kind of normality will return in a few weeks is wildly optimistic. I don't expect there to be any face-to-face courses in the Fall, and maybe not Spring 2021 either.

If you take seriously even the fairly optimistic predictions of the numbers of deaths we can expect and the economic consequences of shutting down of many businesses, no one is going to give a shit about some faculty member who didn't do much work for the online portion of their class.

[spork]

[. . . ]

Are you noticing runs on grocery stores/WalMarts in your neighborhood today? 

I did not visit any stores today. I normally do my grocery shopping at off hours anyway (Friday on the way home from work? Forget it), but for the last three weeks I've been buying in bulk more than usual to further minimize my trips.

Word is circulating that some faculty have decided that they simply won't do anything during the weeks that the university has shifted to online instruction, and will just resume following what's in their syllabi when we return for on-campus classes. This assumes we will in fact return to campus for the last few weeks of the semester, which is not certain, and it violates federal and accreditor credit hour standards. Administrators are figuring out ways to hold these people accountable. But it's entirely possible that an adjunct could say "I didn't sign up for this" and just walk away.

Anyone who thinks that some kind of normality will return in a few weeks is wildly optimistic. I don't expect there to be any face-to-face courses in the Fall, and maybe not Spring 2021 either.

If you take seriously even the fairly optimistic predictions of the numbers of deaths we can expect and the economic consequences of shutting down of many businesses, no one is going to give a shit about some faculty member who didn't do much work for the online portion of their class.

You must not get the students and the parents of students that we do. We have already received demands for tuition refunds because "The semester is ruined. You wasted our money."

K-12 schools are not closed. That, plus being in relatively close proximity to a minor epicenter, is going to cause greater amounts of social distancing and isolation. Which in turn is going to further negatively affect university operations.

[pgher]

A word of caution: Zoom meetings seem more laggy than usual. I expect all of those sorts of systems will be heavily used and generally oversubscribed for a while.

[downer]

You must not get the students and the parents of students that we do. We have already received demands for tuition refunds because "The semester is ruined. You wasted our money."

I have no interaction with the parents so I don't know if they are demanding money back. I'd say the semester is basically shot anyway. If a student can get their money back, it would be a good idea. Few students will be able to pay attention from now on. I expect that the fail rates for many courses that have been put online are going to shoot up to high rates -- where I normally fail about 10-15% of a class, I won't be surprised to have 40% fail or withdraw this semester.

All this Zoom enthusiasm will soon fade -- it is mostly for appearances' sake.

[namazu]

Are you noticing runs on grocery stores/WalMarts in your neighborhood today?

Yes.  Today was the wrong day to run out of potatoes!

Local medium-sized grocery store was sold out of loaves of bread, all poultry (incl. organic and kosher) and most fish (except smoked salmon), conventional but not organic bananas, many kinds of cereal, milk, eggs, small but not large cucumbers, and of course potatoes and onions.  I asked a staffer if they were having supplier issues (which sometimes happen at this store) or if it was all coronavirus-related panic buying, and she said it was the latter.

[backatit]

k-12 schools just closed in our state.

[dismalist]

Are you noticing runs on grocery stores/WalMarts in your neighborhood today?

Yes.  Today was the wrong day to run out of potatoes!

Local medium-sized grocery store was sold out of loaves of bread, all poultry (incl. organic and kosher) and most fish (except smoked salmon), conventional but not organic bananas, many kinds of cereal, milk, eggs, small but not large cucumbers, and of course potatoes and onions.  I asked a staffer if they were having supplier issues (which sometimes happen at this store) or if it was all coronavirus-related panic buying, and she said it was the latter.

These runs on stores are so easily avoidable: Just raise prices! :-) Stores don't do it yet because they don't wish to piss off their customers. But if this keeps up, prices will rise, especially since supply isn't exactly going to go up.

I know it will objected that then the poor can't get anything. Well, maybe they can't get anything as is. More interestingly, we might impose a rationing scheme such that the customer gets what s/he bought last week at last weeks prices, but if s/he buys more, the extra is charged double, triple, or whatever it take to keep the shelves full.

Simpler is for stores to ration, say, one per customer. [But then watch the large sizes run out!] Maybe that will come by itself.

I overstock on wine only, but that's independent of the virus.

[Aster]

Word is circulating that some faculty have decided that they simply won't do anything during the weeks that the university has shifted to online instruction, and will just resume following what's in their syllabi when we return for on-campus classes. This assumes we will in fact return to campus for the last few weeks of the semester, which is not certain, and it violates federal and accreditor credit hour standards. Administrators are figuring out ways to hold these people accountable. But it's entirely possible that an adjunct could say "I didn't sign up for this" and just walk away.

Thus the whole college ends up in the ditch, and the faculty who make the good money because they are invested in the long term health of the institution are celebrating.

The Department of Education has issued emergency waivers allowing not-online courses to temporarily be online. I don't think that the regional accreditors are going to really be giving a crap about contact and credit hour requirements right now, just like they don't give a crap with institutions in regional areas that experience natural disasters and other emergencies. Sometimes, $%^& happens.

[clean]

The local news was broadcasting from inside a grocery store.  the lot was full and people were searching for a place to park. They showed the empty shelves fo cleaning supplies and the pages showing new limits of how many items one can buy of different now 'must haves'.
I paused the picture and counted At Least 10 carts in line waiting to check out/pay! 

I have not tried it out yet, but the local chain now lets you shop from home and go to a special outside pick up. I think that they charge $5 for the service.  A coworker claims that she will never step inside a grocery store again as they also deliver!  I dont know what they charge, but it seems worth it to her!  Though if an item is out of stock, I dont know what they do... As there is a time delay from when they 'shop' and deliver, I suppose that they can wait to see if your missing item comes in later in the day, or at least before scheduled delivery.  IF I can not park, I m surely not going to shop!  IF I actually NEED enough things, then perhaps I will consider paying for shopping or delivery. IF it is just milk or bread, there are convenience stores only 1/2 a mile away, though the prices are certainly higher, but not after factoring in the 'line time' cost. 

I would consider shopping for some premade salad kits/mixes, but Wendy's has a $2 off coupon, so IF I feel like a salad, that is probably the way to go for now! 

[Diogenes]

Anyone who thinks that some kind of normality will return in a few weeks is wildly optimistic. I don't expect there to be any face-to-face courses in the Fall, and maybe not Spring 2021 either.

If you take seriously even the fairly optimistic predictions of the numbers of deaths we can expect and the economic consequences of shutting down of many businesses, no one is going to give a shit about some faculty member who didn't do much work for the online portion of their class.

Name checks out.

[spork]

k-12 schools just closed in our state.

Sorry, I mis-typed in my post above. Our K-12 schools ARE closed.

[Vkw10]

Our Spring Break just started. Students get an extra week, while we prep for remote teaching until mid-April at least. I've heard "I'll just scan my lecture notes and post to course site" and "I will do live lectures from the campus TV studio, because Zoom is lame." (The TV studio was decommissioned a couple of years ago.)

One of the bettter plans I heard involved essentially creating study guides, with a mix of multiple short Zoom recordings and short readings. That group of faculty is thinking about students who are sharing a computer or relying on phones.

One person is requiring students to complete a short online assignment and participate live in a 15-minute Zoom discussion held during regular class time each week. She's divided class time into multiple 15-minute meetings, with a discussion topic for each meeting. Everyone is responsible for all the content, but they only have to participate in one discussion. I'm interested in how that works.

I don't see us getting back to normal operations this semester. I hope I'm wrong.

[Parasaurolophus]

The city's two major universities just closed shop and told everyone to move online for Monday. I imagine we'll follow shortly.