What would be a reasonable approach to classroom teaching in the fall?

[mahagonny]

the-tenure-track-prof:

If you can show with proper documentation that you have compromised immune system, no one is going to force you to get in a well populated classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic. They don't want that kind of trouble.

[Caracal]

Could you post the link or reference where you found the statistics about the demographic groups at risk for COVID-19?.

For risk, there's all kinds of stuff, although this is a pretty good summary.
https://ourworldindata.org/mortality-risk-covid?country=USA#case-fatality-rate-of-covid-19-by-age

Here's the NY data. https://covid19tracker.health.ny.gov/views/NYS-COVID19-Tracker/NYSDOHCOVID-19Tracker-Fatalities?%3Aembed=yes&%3Atoolbar=no&%3Atabs=n

[sylvie]

What worries me are the restrooms. I'm not worried about surfaces because I can protect myself with hand washing and hand sanitizer and wipes. I'm worried about students entering those little stalls, breathing for many minutes in an enclosed space, flushing the uncovered toilets, and then leaving the little stall so the next person can go in and breathe the same air. I don't know about you, but our restrooms are PACKED, with LINES, during passing periods. And nobody is talking about this.

[polly_mer]

Some of us at my employer go back to work next week in a complicated schedule to minimize contact.

If the training we took on the new normal is really necessary, then I don't see how anyone thinks physical classrooms will work as anything but germ transmission venues.

I agree completely about the rest room issues.

[spork]

Some of us at my employer go back to work next week in a complicated schedule to minimize contact.

If the training we took on the new normal is really necessary, then I don't see how anyone thinks physical classrooms will work as anything but germ transmission venues.

I agree completely about the rest room issues.

As the SSRN article I linked to above points out, there is evidence that some college students are likely to have active infections when they arrive on campus at the start of the semester, and when they return to campus from the long October weekend and from Thanksgiving break. My face-to-face teaching for the fall was already reduced because of online courses, but I am requesting that my time on campus be reduced further.   

[the-tenure-track-prof]

Thanks for sharing.

Could you post the link or reference where you found the statistics about the demographic groups at risk for COVID-19?.

For risk, there's all kinds of stuff, although this is a pretty good summary.
https://ourworldindata.org/mortality-risk-covid?country=USA#case-fatality-rate-of-covid-19-by-age

Here's the NY data. https://covid19tracker.health.ny.gov/views/NYS-COVID19-Tracker/NYSDOHCOVID-19Tracker-Fatalities?%3Aembed=yes&%3Atoolbar=no&%3Atabs=n

[theblackbox]

I have a question about sanitizing surfaces and mask wearing. To what extent are you okay with the idea that the administration might try to make faculty be responsible for their own classrooms, as in be the ones to wipe everything down before/after class? I'm certainly not trained in custodial arts and frankly would be worried about not doing a proper job plus the increased exposure.

Do you anticipate your campus will require masks for faculty, staff, and students? If so, do you think your institution will be providing them as part of the requirement to enter buildings, or are individuals going to be required to supply their own? I know some stores have been strictly requiring masks on all customers and usually have them available for people who show up without one. Will universities do the same? As far as 'bring your own,' we all know college-aged adults are very responsible for remembering what they need for class... (Textbooks, their homework, add a mask to the checklist, etc.)

[spork]

We've been told by administrators that for the fall semester all students must be masked when in academic buildings and that any student without a mask can be refused entry into a classroom, with campus security forcibly removing a student if needed.

I have a question about sanitizing surfaces and mask wearing. To what extent are you okay with the idea that the administration might try to make faculty be responsible for their own classrooms, as in be the ones to wipe everything down before/after class?

[. . . ]

I am not ok with this, for several reasons. First, if fall classes are scheduled in the usual 50- or 75-minute increments, me cleaning the room will eat into instructional time, partially defeating the rationale for holding classes on campus in the first place. Second, infection from fomite transmission is unlikely, given that I will be touching as little as possible in the room. Third, not my job.

[downer]

I'd be concerned about the computer keyboard and mouse. I'd want to be able to personally clean that.

But there are no other surfaces I expect to touch, except for opening windows.

I'm much more concerned about getting a flow of air through the classroom.

[marshwiggle]

I'd be concerned about the computer keyboard and mouse. I'd want to be able to personally clean that.

But there are no other surfaces I expect to touch, except for opening windows.

I'm much more concerned about getting a flow of air through the classroom.

Which isn't even possible with all kinds of internal classrooms and labs.

[downer]

I'd be concerned about the computer keyboard and mouse. I'd want to be able to personally clean that.

But there are no other surfaces I expect to touch, except for opening windows.

I'm much more concerned about getting a flow of air through the classroom.

Which isn't even possible with all kinds of internal classrooms and labs.

If I'm in an enclosed space with no significant flow for say an hour with even a 30% full classroom, then I don't think it makes a whole lot of dfference whether students are wearing masks or not.

[Penna]

Yes, the air flow (or lack thereof) issue is my main concern as well.  The windows in my building's small classrooms don't open, and I just don't see what can be done to effectively mitigate that.  And from what I've been reading, it seems clear that duration of exposure and poor ventilation are key elements of transmission, creating risks even if the total number of people in the room is relatively small and everyone is spaced six feet apart while wearing (non-medical-grade) masks.

A hospital doctor acquaintance of mine (who does shifts in his hospital's COVID wing) recently advised me that faculty teaching in small, non-ventilated rooms for the length of a class session should wear face shields in addition to surgical (rather than cloth) masks.

I just can't envision how this return to in-person instruction is actually going to work...

[downer]

I was thinking that I will record a lecture at home, and upload it to YouTube. Then go to the classroom, press start on the video, and leave.

[dr_codex]

I was thinking that I will record a lecture at home, and upload it to YouTube. Then go to the classroom, press start on the video, and leave.

I cannot vouch for its accuracy, but the story goes that after Northrop Frye died, his courses kept running for a while using recordings of his lectures.

Maybe you could do the same thing for any faculty service, a la Jeremy Bentham, "present, but not voting"? https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/jeremy-bentham-present-but-not-voting-24604/

If you're serious, and it sounds like you are, why not seal yourself in your office, and live-stream your course content down the hall? At least you would then be (virtually) present for any Q&A.

I'm not trying to make light of this. I understand that it's scary, and very scary for many people. As I said upthread, the dealbreaker for me would be any appreciable risk that I'd bring something back into my home, and/or be forced to self-quarantine. I won't, and I'll do any kind of workaround in order for that not to happen.

Fortunately, I'm in a field that does not require hands-on work, even if it is often desirable. I can work online. If your major contribution in class is to lecture, then it sounds like you can, too. Are there tools that might make that a more rewarding, and, frankly, less hazardous, experience for your students?

[polly_mer]

I have a question about sanitizing surfaces and mask wearing. To what extent are you okay with the idea that the administration might try to make faculty be responsible for their own classrooms, as in be the ones to wipe everything down before/after class?

[. . . ]

I am not ok with this, for several reasons. First, if fall classes are scheduled in the usual 50- or 75-minute increments, me cleaning the room will eat into instructional time, partially defeating the rationale for holding classes on campus in the first place. Second, infection from fomite transmission is unlikely, given that I will be touching as little as possible in the room. Third, not my job.

I return to work today on a very limited basis.  Part of our required training was indeed how to prep and post a conference room including wiping the arms of every chair both times.  Another part of required training included walking to the office and how to deal with common areas like the break room (wiping everything every time before and after use).

Any meeting of more than three people requires official permission from two levels up.

Any meeting of 10+ people requires official permission from the president of the company.

It's pretty clear that we go onsite only for the important tasks that cannot be done at home and use phone/email to interact even when we're in our offices.

How can wipe and distance possibly work for an open community of people who don't already have a background of obeying all lab safety or similar rules every time so that the extra work is really part of their jobs?