NY Times article covering faculty resistence to in-person classes

[theblackbox]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/us/coronavirus-college-professors.html

[polly_mer]

It's good to see the discussion move from just the academic outlets.

[spork]

A few thoughts:

The article points out the fragility of the traditional business model used by many small colleges and universities: viability depends on the dorm and meal plan revenue earned from residential undergrads. For these institutions, the push to reopen campus in the fall is driven solely by financial need.

Even if campuses reopen, the experience will be far from "normal" regardless of whatever anti-coronavirus measures are taken. As I've written in other threads, it's pedagogically straightforward to teach either in-person or online, but trying to mix together both modalities at the same time is a recipe for disaster. And a lot of the usual techniques faculty use in the physical classroom become highly complicated or impossible in an environment of masks, social distancing, etc.

In addition to a very different and probably diminished educational experience, the "campus social experience" -- actually the product that many undergrads are purchasing -- will be highly degraded as well. No dorm roommates. No athletics. Scheduled use of bathrooms. Entering and exiting classroom buildings at precise times. I envision students hunkered down by themselves in one-person dorm rooms, communicating with others almost entirely via the internet. Except for those who become superspreaders by attending off-campus parties.

[Penna]

Faculty at my institution are growing increasingly alarmed.  Just heard this week that one faculty member has resigned.  We are in one of the geographic regions receiving national attention lately, and I think it's becoming increasingly clear even to our admins that our reopening plan is rapidly growing riskier by the day. I just wonder how long they will wait before changing course. And when that happens, I fear there is a good chance we might close completely, since our operating budget is greatly dependent on room and board revenue. But given the local situation, I'd rather have to find a new career than risk my health.

[Penna]

oops! (inadvertent double post)

[Cheerful]

No dorm roommates.

Some universities "plan" double occupied rooms and resident foot traffic across different dorms.  I keep putting "plan" and "plans" in quotes because some of the alleged plans are preposterous.  When admin is asked, they shrug and do the "because" thing.

[theblackbox]

No dorm roommates.

Some universities "plan" double occupied rooms and resident foot traffic across different dorms.  I keep putting "plan" and "plans" in quotes because some of the alleged plans are preposterous.  When admin is asked, they shrug and do the "because" thing.

Yes. Mine is touting that they have reduced the number of triples. Reduced, not completely eliminated.

Housing deposits are cheap in the grand scheme of things. I'm betting many will simply not show up in August if things continue as they are.

[Vkw10]

No dorm roommates.

Some universities "plan" double occupied rooms and resident foot traffic across different dorms.  I keep putting "plan" and "plans" in quotes because some of the alleged plans are preposterous.  When admin is asked, they shrug and do the "because" thing.

Yes. Mine is touting that they have reduced the number of triples. Reduced, not completely eliminated.

Housing deposits are cheap in the grand scheme of things. I'm betting many will simply not show up in August if things continue as they are.

We may be at the same place. I've heard about reduction in triples, too. We're currently within 1% of fall enrollment target, but budgeting for 10% no shows and 5% cut in state funding.

[mahagonny]

Could this be a cure for the surplus of academic labor and our limited bargaining power?  'It's an ill wind that blows no good.' I'm not afraid of going back to campus. Why? Would I live forever if I didn't?
Well I mean I'm more bored than fearful.

[TreadingLife]

Could this be a cure for the surplus of academic labor and our limited bargaining power?  'It's an ill wind that blows no good.' I'm not afraid of going back to campus. Why? Would I live forever if I didn't?

At my institution faculty can choose to teach online or choose to teach in person. Some people are choosing to teach in person. However, those that want to teach online are enraged, insisting that everyone should be online because it isn't safe to attempt being on campus. They lose me at this point. If my institution is so accommodating that it is giving people the choice of their preferred teaching mode without any documentation of a disability, then why do they care what other people are doing? Not everyone has the same risk factors. In fact, some people have had COVID, which may imply some degree of immunity. Students can also opt to take classes fully online or in person. If grown adults have options and are exercising those options, where is the problem? 

I do feel sorry for colleagues at institutions that are forcing people into a one-sized-fits-all model, particularly if it is in-person only. This undermines an individual's ability to make the choices that are best for them given their own circumstances.

[Wahoo Redux]

We have been given options.  Everyone I know has chosen an on-line synchronized classroom.  And we are all getting automatically generated Blackboard pages----the first time they've done that. 

I suspect the "we'll be open for F2F in the fall" is a bait-and-switch tactic on the part of the administration, which would be remarkably creative for this group. 

We too are in a very hot region.  I like my job but I've been debating how much it is worth when compared to my health or even my life.

[TreadingLife]

I suspect the "we'll be open for F2F in the fall" is a bait-and-switch tactic on the part of the administration, which would be remarkably creative for this group. 

It is all the more clever of a plan because then the administration can blame governors and the CDC for the inevitable mandate to switch to all online, even though being face to face was a hail mary hope in the first place.

[stemer]

I suspect the "we'll be open for F2F in the fall" is a bait-and-switch tactic on the part of the administration, which would be remarkably creative for this group. 

It is all the more clever of a plan because then the administration can blame governors and the CDC for the inevitable mandate to switch to all online, even though being face to face was a hail mary hope in the first place.

I think they want this to happen but only when it  suits them. If governors do this before the semesters start, it will be a higher ed disaster.

Call me a cynic but I believe institutions (including mine) with "return to campus Fall plans" are betting on a "return to remote/online" after the add/drop period so they can first capture the tuition money for the semester. The campus cases will probably explode within the first month and they will have "no other option" to protect everyone but to send them home. 

For faculty, regardless of the institutional social distancing precautions, the Fall will be Russian roulette.

[Stockmann]

I suspect the "we'll be open for F2F in the fall" is a bait-and-switch tactic on the part of the administration, which would be remarkably creative for this group. 

It is all the more clever of a plan because then the administration can blame governors and the CDC for the inevitable mandate to switch to all online, even though being face to face was a hail mary hope in the first place.

...Call me a cynic but I believe institutions (including mine) with "return to campus Fall plans" are betting on a "return to remote/online" after the add/drop period so they can first capture the tuition money for the semester. The campus cases will probably explode within the first month and they will have "no other option" to protect everyone but to send them home....

When the inevitable lawsuits happen, will that stand up in court, though? With the previous switch to online, yeah, colleges have a pretty ironclad case that there was nothing else they could've realistically done. But colleges, at least those in hotspots, would have a much harder time arguing they acted in good faith insisting F2F would happen until tuition had been deposited, I would think. With restrictions being reintroduced in several states, public discussions of whether colleges should or even can open in the fall for F2F, last semester's precedent, etc, I would expect it would be very hard to argue they acted in good faith if they didn't at least warn that staying online was a very real possibility. It's hard for me to see how a lawsuit demanding, for example, a refund of the unusued part of meal plans would not win, but even demanding tuition refunds would surely stand a chance. Even if lawsuits fail, there would surely be a big reputational cost - I doubt the average Joe would buy it that colleges acted in good faith and it wasn't really about not losing customers. Or, at least in the case of public institutions, the relevant legislature could retaliate. Add in the cost of lawyering up, and it could become a very expensive bait-and-switch.

[spork]

[. . . ]

Call me a cynic but I believe institutions (including mine) with "return to campus Fall plans" are betting on a "return to remote/online" after the add/drop period so they can first capture the tuition money for the semester. 

[. . . ]

My employer had to return half of the spring semester's dorm and meal plan fees after the campus closed in March . There were no tuition refunds unless a student formally withdrew from the university, the argument being that students were still enrolled in courses and earning credits. The that will be made about tuition in the fall semester will be that students were forewarned about the possibility of online instruction. But the overriding financial concern will be keeping students on campus, in the dorms and dining halls, for as many weeks as possible. That is what's driving planning for the fall semester.