College Fall 2020 - Virtual or In-Person? What do you think?

[8filltheheart]

All of dd's classes just updated. She is 100% online.

[8filltheheart]

1 minute ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

Well, that was fast. I guess at least they didn't trickle it out class by class. 

They had been, but suddenly everything else switched to online only options.

[frogger]

2 minutes ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

They had been, but suddenly everything else switched to online only options.

Hmmm.. I'll have to see if DS got his figured out. 

He is sure he has to go down next semester but if more options are switching to remote maybe that will change too.

[RootAnn]

5 hours ago, frogger said:

My son planned on 3 math classes this fall and we were happy thinking math would be a great subject to take online compared to most. 

Did you see the Google form he can full out to get into the remote math sections? Lemme know if he needs the link, but he should have it in email.

Mine still has that pesky double booking. All my fault because I asked her to switch to a good-rated prof vs. stay in a section that still says STAFF but after she switched, the all-online class listed a live time that conflicts with a class she's taking hybrid/half in-person. The live online one requires attendance & so does the hybrid, so she needs to send some emails to see if the hybrid prof will let her watch the recording on the two days out of four that she has a conflict and attend live the other two days.

There is still uncertainty since according to the risk level the university is currently listing, dorms are not supposed to open and there shouldn't be in person classes. They have to improve two risk levels to open dorms & have in person classes...in a month. We'll see how well the mask mandate improves numbers! Fingers crossed.

[frogger]

Welcome to the UAH  RRR. It's a fun ride. 

Registering for Remote Rollercoaster. 😂

 

He emailed the prof of Fourier Series to get an override for the in section class and was emailed back that he should take Foundations of Math first since it will be hard to teach Fourier theory online. The prof just wants him to be successful I think but DS is used to teaching himself and online classes. Anyway today it opened up and he was in a remote section. We don't know if this was the Profs doing or if the department is just opening sections requested. So I'm like, "Maybe he won't remember your name among the many if you stay in against his advice." DS-"There's only 10 people in the class."  😳

 

He really wants that class this semester though and Foundations isn't a pre-req the prof is just unsure about teaching theory online I think. 

He did get in a bunch more classes but is waiting on a few more. 

Edited July 22, 2020 by frogger

[8filltheheart]

53 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

Did you see the Google form he can full out to get into the remote math sections? Lemme know if he needs the link, but he should have it in email.

Mine still has that pesky double booking. All my fault because I asked her to switch to a good-rated prof vs. stay in a section that still says STAFF but after she switched, the all-online class listed a live time that conflicts with a class she's taking hybrid/half in-person. The live online one requires attendance & so does the hybrid, so she needs to send some emails to see if the hybrid prof will let her watch the recording on the two days out of four that she has a conflict and attend live the other two days.

There is still uncertainty since according to the risk level the university is currently listing, dorms are not supposed to open and there shouldn't be in person classes. They have to improve two risk levels to open dorms & have in person classes...in a month. We'll see how well the mask mandate improves numbers! Fingers crossed.

I'm confused by the bolded.  I thought that the fully online classes had no set meet time: "Fully online courses will not typically have a designated meeting time, and students will access those courses regularly throughout the semester, working at the pace set by the instructor."  Did she just happen to end up with the atypical class that does? Or is it still listed as online but with a meeting time?  I'm pretty sure that is the way all of dd's classes are listed.

[RootAnn]

3 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

Did she just happen to end up with the atypical class that does? Or is it still listed as online but with a meeting time?  I'm pretty sure that is the way all of dd's classes are listed.

I can't remember where it said it, but I think she received an email that said that if there was a time listed for her online class (maybe in the College of Science??), it would meet live online during that time. She has two of these and the conflicting online class already has the syllabus on Canvas. The prof said you miss more than 4 classes & you fail the class. Rumor is the hybrid prof is a stickler for attendance as well. Luckily, I'm 800 miles away blissfully dealing with none of it. :) 

eTA: It was from the College of Science

Edited July 23, 2020 by RootAnn

[HollyDay]

Dds classes updated to 2 online, 1 synchronous online, 1 hybrid (either once a week or twice a month).  But that is not cut in stone.  They keep "kicking the can" further down the road.  Now the "hard deadline is Aug 14.  Since she is under 21, if she keeps the hybrid class, she will have to live in the dorm.  It is a pre req class for most of the rest of her 2nd major.  But, who knows what the fall will bring? She would rather be 100% online.   Maybe it is time to look into universities who offer online degrees in Math and Computer Science?

Edited July 31, 2020 by HollyDay

[kiana]

9 hours ago, HollyDay said:

Dds classes updated to 2 online, 1 synchronous online, 1 hybrid (either once a week or twice a month).  But that is not cut in stone.  They keep "kicking the can" further down the road.  Now the "hard deadline is Aug 14.  Since she is under 21, if she keeps the hybrid class, she will have to live in the dorm.  It is a pre req class for most of the rest of her 2nd major.  But, who knows what the fall will bring? She would rather be 100% online.   Maybe it is time to look into universities who offer online degrees in Math and Computer Science?

Can she take that one class somewhere else and transfer it in? Living in a dorm in a COVID situation for a class that meets once a week sounds utterly ridiculous.

[HollyDay]

18 hours ago, kiana said:

Can she take that one class somewhere else and transfer it in? Living in a dorm in a COVID situation for a class that meets once a week sounds utterly ridiculous.

our local CC is offering it online, but they need her transcripts from uni and CC says they can't get it all processed in time for Fall.  She has petitioned the uni for the ability to do synchronous online.  They are "looking into it" but might not have an answer before the 10th of August...which is deadline to decline the dorm (move in day is the 16th).  If she is not 100% online when she declines the dorm, they will charge her $500.  She will drop the hybrid class if it is not synchronous.  But, she really needs the class (pre req for everything else in 2nd degree) and doesn't want to drop it, then find out on the 12th that it can be done virtual.

The housing dept told us if she declines the dorm, she might never get another dorm assignment.  The uni requires all students under 21 to live on campus, upper class men can apply, but they have very limited housing available to them.  Students already living in the dorm get priority.  Dd, declining the dorm, will be on the bottom of the list for future semesters. 

And yes, I totally agree with the bolded sentence.  It makes no sense on any level, covid, financial, or otherwise.  Just way too many variables.  The housing person told me they must have a certain number of quarantine floors and rooms in each dorm.  Again, just way too many unknowns.....

 

[Innisfree]

Well, the day before dd was supposed to start isolating herself for two weeks in preparation for returning to campus, her college has pushed the return back to mid-September. They're saying they still think the campus can open, but cite generally rising rates of Covid-19, difficulty obtaining tests, and slow testing results for the decision to wait. I don't know how they honestly think that is going to improve in the next two or three weeks.

[GoodGrief]

Princeton just announced that the fall term will be fully remote. No undergrads on campus.

[kokotg]

DS's college (Macalester) just e-mailed yesterday to say their fall plan is changing. He was supposed to be flying back 8/30, but now only first years, transfer students, and international students will be living on campus. They had already divided the semester into two "modules" of two classes each, so the hope is that other people will be able to come back for the second module that starts in October. They had already planned to put everyone in single rooms, only do to go food, and let all professors choose between hybrid, online, or fully in person (most of his classes had been supposed to be hybrid). So now of course he'll be all online for the first module. They also just announced a plan for testing everyone and quarantining (before they hadn't been planning on testing asymptomatic people, which sounded like a recipe for failure to me)....so I'm hoping things will go well enough with all the precautions they have in place (and with being in Minnesota, where things so far haven't been terrible) thatl he'll be able to go back in October. He's certainly tired of being stuck here! 

[HollyDay]

3 of dd's 5 are online.  But, her computer science class is still hybrid.  2 other local universities are offering the same class online, but dd's is not.  She looked at taking the class at one of the other places, but it is not enough time now to get all the paperwork done for Fall semester (it starts the 24th).  She is getting it set up for Spring semester just in case. Unfortunately, if her university keeps the hybrid (and they say they will not offer it online unless the Gov shuts down the universities), then she will have to drop it.

[Arch at Home]

All three of my student's are online.

DS's community college started with in person, went to hybrid, but was totally online by late July. He ended up dropping a physical fitness class because without the ability to lift weights if wasn't worth taking the class.

DD1's college split the student body up so that the First Years and Sophmores are on campus and have a combination of online and in person classes. All are in single rooms. After all things settled, the school figured out that they had extra rooms and opened up on campus living while taking online classes to Juniors and Seniors, an opportunity DD1 couldn't resist.

DD2's college had a similar approach as DD1's with the reducing the density of students by year. Consequently, DD2, a Sophmore, was slated to be on campus until a 1 1/2 weeks ago when the school announced that the entire Fall semester is going to be remote. They currently are still hoping for a Spring semester with Juniors and Seniors on campus and First Years are prioritized to take any of the remaining openings. There has been a big scramble in this student population to get apartments near campus, including DD2. As a result, we are hopeful that if DD2 does not work out an apartment situation she will be on campus in the Spring based on how things worked out with DD1.

What we have learned is that being remote is actually more expensive for us. Our assessed family contribution does not cover the cost of tuition; consequently, DD2 received essentially the same financial aid package this year as she did last year and we still have to cover all of her living expenses. I totally understand this but it was a shock for DD2 who was hoping to use the savings to fund an apartment.

[Lori D.]

DS#1's school (state university) is still planning on hybrid, with mostly all-online classes.

All of DS#1's engineering courses will be all-online, so he will continue to stay-in-place with us, and not even need to commute to campus for any reason. Classes start on Monday.

Edited August 20, 2020 by Lori D.

[teachermom2834]

Well now both my college boys have started. My de kid is taking three classes. One is fully on campus and the other two are hybrid (goes one day a week and zooms the other). My college senior has three fully in person (though the two he has been to have only 12 and 6 students and this is a huge public university) and two online and asynchronous.

I really hope my college senior's stay in person. They are tough and he will graduate in December if he passes. One is a repeat so it seems like a big IF. But he is fired up and was so excited today to be back. I hope it can stay in person for him or he might be in trouble 😞  This kid as been a good enough student (has over a 3.0) so it isn't like he is a slacker but he literally will not graduate if he can't get a C in this class. It is very stressful. If he gets a C, he'll graduate at just 20 yo. If he doesn't he'll have to transfer. So stressful! He doesn't need Covid making it any harder. Ugh.

[Matryoshka]

First kid to start is live tomorrow!  She's all-online (campus has some in-person stuff, but I think it's mostly labs and other stuff that's so hands-on it's really hard to do online; anything that can be online is, and they went from encouraging anyone who wanted to come to campus to 'please don't come unless you have to be here').  Anyway, my dd's been planning all-online from the start, so no surprises.  4/5 profs have emailed, posted syllabi and announced live class times, the last one is a bit AWOL, there was nothing till this morning and now the class exists on Moodle but has no content, and no communication from prof - first class is tomorrow!

Two other kids to go; not sure exactly when they'll start, but normal around here is after labor day.  This kid's school did the 'we'll start early and send everyone home by Thanksgiving' model, so it's starting earlier than it ever has.

Edited August 24, 2020 by Matryoshka

[elegantlion]

Zoom crashed today around the country. Yea! ☹️ Thankfully it didn't affect me. Canvas was moving slowly. One student was having issues with the ebook. 

At my son's university, an organization posted a group photo where no one was wearing masks and they were all standing super close to each other. The school mandate is that if you are outside you still need to wear a mask if you are in a group. It's week 2 and there are 12 positive cases already. I'm thrilled (read sarcasm) that this organization somehow thought they were special. 

I'm exhausted and it's day one. 

 

[8filltheheart]

30 minutes ago, elegantlion said:

Zoom crashed today around the country. Yea! ☹️ Thankfully it didn't affect me. Canvas was moving slowly. ......

I'm exhausted and it's day one. 

 

My freshman had just logged into Canvas when the whole system crashed.  She went to panic mode.  Finally convinced her to call the U's tech support which stated her wait time was 111 mins.  😉   She calmed down started to type out an email to her professor to ask for the questions on Canvas when suddenly Canvas started working.  Within 10 mins we lost power.  Our power was out of hrs, her computer died......I was thankful I got to leave to take 10 yr old dd to violin this afternoon b/c I needed to escape her and dh's stress.  

[RootAnn]

Definitely wasn't an easy day today, @8FillTheHeart! Also the University of Alabama system released a COVID dashboard this afternoon broken out by institution (UA, UAB, UAH). UAB & UAH seem to be doing lots better than UA right now. Tuscaloosa closed all the bars in town for 2 weeks. UA cancelled all student activities on and off casmpus for two weeks. They are trying to salvage the fall semester. I don't think certain students have grasped that their behaviors could cause them to get campus shut down again.

[8filltheheart]

8 hours ago, RootAnn said:

 I don't think certain students have grasped that their behaviors could cause them to get campus shut down again.

I have a niece in NC who tested positive last week....part of the group of students that caused NCSU to go online.

[regentrude]

Please tell your college students to give their professors grace and patience as they figure out teaching under these circumstances. 
Despite all the best prep, there are a lot of unforeseen situations, and teachers may not have been able to access the classrooms in which they are supposed to teach and familiarize themselves with the setup. And professors are not responsible for tech outages.

The tech equipment in the gym-converted-to-classroom in which I will be teaching this morning was not yet finished on Friday afternoon when I had a chance to preview, so I can only hope things work.
Zoom outage yesterday made my  8 am simultaneous in-person-and-on-Zoom class less than ideal. I was in my classroom at 7:30 am setting up, but was still on the phone with IT at 8 am when we finally got Zoom to start. That threw off my carefully timed schedule and made juggling the dual screen setup with multiple programs and screen sharing on Zoom while simultaneously paying attention to the in-person students and the Zoom students an exhausting struggle. Worst first day of class in my 19 years of teaching.

I just hope it gets better as the week progresses, and students recognize that I am doing my best to give them an education under these circumstances. Oh, and I had to confront a student who was not wearing his mask, which took another few valuable minutes out of class time. None of us signed on for this.

Edited August 25, 2020 by regentrude

[almondbutterandjelly]

Week 2 has begun and things are going so much better than last spring.  Dd gets to go to in-person class at least once a week for two classes, plus she has a lab that will be once a week in person.  The synchronous classes have been going well, and the teachers are abiding by some semblance of a schedule (stark contrast to last spring).  No random mandatory zoom classes on a Saturday night.  Two classes are online, asynhronous, and also going well.  Teacher communication is stellar!  And the English teacher, Wow!  Her emails are works of literary art.  My dd is going to learn a lot.  Very happy with how things are going this semester.

Socially, the kids seem desperate to interact with each other.  A student in one of dd's online asynchronous classes sent out a class text to form a study group and about 15 kids said yes.  Dd's religious group on campus is having record numbers.  And dd is getting lunch two or three times a week with different people (she lives at home so wouldn't need to but wants the social).  The school had a drive in movie over the weekend that was well-attended.

Things are going well!

[Bootsie]

5 hours ago, regentrude said:

Please tell your college students to give their professors grace and patience as they figure out teaching under these circumstances. 
Despite all the best prep, there are a lot of unforeseen situations, and teachers may not have been able to access the classrooms in which they are supposed to teach and familiarize themselves with the setup. And professors are not responsible for tech outages.

 

I had students who had been in my class three years ago and have since graduated think they were experiencing a bad nightmare when they received emails from me regarding assignments that were due this week!  After hours of my time, I discovered that half of the students in the LMS were students who were supposed to be enrolled this semester, but half were students from a previous semester that had been merged into my class instead of the students who WERE supposed to be in my class.  Instead of spending time teaching, I had to spend my time figuring out a tech problem caused by someone else (and that I was unable to correct myself); once it was corrected I had to notify the students that had missed my original emails, change due dates because students had no way of knowing about the assignment, change student breakout groups, etc.  

[frogger]

5 hours ago, regentrude said:

Please tell your college students to give their professors grace and patience as they figure out teaching under these circumstances. 
Despite all the best prep, there are a lot of unforeseen situations, and teachers may not have been able to access the classrooms in which they are supposed to teach and familiarize themselves with the setup. And professors are not responsible for tech outages.

The tech equipment in the gym-converted-to-classroom in which I will be teaching this morning was not yet finished on Friday afternoon when I had a chance to preview, so I can only hope things work.
Zoom outage yesterday made my  8 am simultaneous in-person-and-on-Zoom class less than ideal. I was in my classroom at 7:30 am setting up, but was still on the phone with IT at 8 am when we finally got Zoom to start. That threw off my carefully timed schedule and made juggling the dual screen setup with multiple programs and screen sharing on Zoom while simultaneously paying attention to the in-person students and the Zoom students an exhausting struggle. Worst first day of class in my 19 years of teaching.

I just hope it gets better as the week progresses, and students recognize that I am doing my best to give them an education under these circumstances. Oh, and I had to confront a student who was not wearing his mask, which took another few valuable minutes out of class time. None of us signed on for this.

 

I think teaching especially, but this is true for many other segments of society too. I hope this upcoming generation learns to be gracious to others more than perhaps Americans have been accustomed to being.  Heck, even taking my car to the shop feels foreign. How they check you in is different and I don't know what I'm doing.  Every get together becomes a big guessing game for what the new rules are for this group. Add technology glitches to teachers having to basically  teach 2 classes at once and that is a recipe for some mental gymnastics. 

Grace and kindness and encouragement for doing something right even if everything isn't perfect goes a long way to everyone's mental and emotional health. 

[regentrude]

1 minute ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

Welp, they closed dd's college today, booted everyone out off campus, staff and students alike, and cancelled remote/online too for rest of the week because of the hurricane. Dd's like, why did they have to cancel the online part?  I had to remind her about this little thing called internet that everyone takes for granted tends to go away during hurricanes, lol. Also power outages! 

why cancel proactively and not wait until the power actually goes out?

[mumto2]

16 minutes ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

Welp, they closed dd's college today, booted everyone out off campus, staff and students alike, and cancelled remote/online too for rest of the week because of the hurricane. Dd's like, why did they have to cancel the online part?  I had to remind her about this little thing called internet that everyone takes for granted tends to go away during hurricanes, lol. Also power outages! 

Fall 2020 is starting with quite the bang here. 

How much stress can faculty and staff take before they snap, is what I am starting to wonder. 

This is what happened to us last year with Hurricane Dorian which never really arrived in our area.  Stay safe!

[Bootsie]

52 minutes ago, regentrude said:

why cancel proactively and not wait until the power actually goes out?

One reason is so that professors can spend the day boarding up their houses and making other preparations or driving to where they need to evacuate rather than lecturing online.  

[Bootsie]

...And my department chair started talking today about Spring 2021--Virtual or live.. 

[JennyD]

10 hours ago, Bootsie said:

...And my department chair started talking today about Spring 2021--Virtual or live.. 

Are you teaching all online this semester?

I am not teaching this semester but just had to complete the Return To Campus Process.  Because nothing protects against liability virus transmission like clicking through many slides and saying that i understand them. 

 

[elegantlion]

11 hours ago, Bootsie said:

...And my department chair started talking today about Spring 2021--Virtual or live.. 

I've been hearing those rumblings as well. 

[Matryoshka]

11 hours ago, Bootsie said:

...And my department chair started talking today about Spring 2021--Virtual or live.. 

They're going to all need some kind of online-only option, at least. It's going to be very difficult for anyone to get off-campus housing for just the spring semester, and they can't cram everyone in the dorms even if it was a regular semester.  Most schools have a large percentage of upperclassmen off-campus.  Unless all the landlords suddenly embrace 3-6 month leases...

[Bootsie]

3 hours ago, JennyD said:

Are you teaching all online this semester?

I am not teaching this semester but just had to complete the Return To Campus Process.  Because nothing protects against liability virus transmission like clicking through many slides and saying that i understand them. 

 

I am teaching online, but we have about 40% of our class in person.  I know what you mean about all of the "return to campus" process--I think it makes people think they are doing something, and I guess it did give some people who couldn't do their regular job some work to do.  

[Bootsie]

2 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

They're going to all need some kind of online-only option, at least. It's going to be very difficult for anyone to get off-campus housing for just the spring semester, and they can't cram everyone in the dorms even if it was a regular semester.  Most schools have a large percentage of upperclassmen off-campus.  Unless all the landlords suddenly embrace 3-6 month leases...

Although the classes that I am teaching are all online, and students had a choice to take their class online or in person,  about 85% of my students say that they are in town.  (My university has over 50% from out-of-state, many others are from areas over a 150 mile drive away, so it isn't that this is where they grew up and they are living with parents).  However, there are still a lot more "for rent" signs at the duplexes and other student housing around town than normal.  So, I am not sure that is going to be a major driving issue here--but landlords would prefer a 6 month lease in the spring than have their place to continue to sit empty through the spring.  

[elegantlion]

4 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

Although the classes that I am teaching are all online, and students had a choice to take their class online or in person,  about 85% of my students say that they are in town.  (My university has over 50% from out-of-state, many others are from areas over a 150 mile drive away, so it isn't that this is where they grew up and they are living with parents).  However, there are still a lot more "for rent" signs at the duplexes and other student housing around town than normal.  So, I am not sure that is going to be a major driving issue here--but landlords would prefer a 6 month lease in the spring than have their place to continue to sit empty through the spring.  

That's a concern for myself. I've moved to my university town for the year in the past - which costs me about twice as much to live in as my current town. This semester, I'm all online so I didn't have to move there. I'm really hoping there are enough online options this spring that I don't have to move back and pay for an apartment I'll need for about 5 months maximum. 

[Matryoshka]

10 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

Although the classes that I am teaching are all online, and students had a choice to take their class online or in person,  about 85% of my students say that they are in town.  (My university has over 50% from out-of-state, many others are from areas over a 150 mile drive away, so it isn't that this is where they grew up and they are living with parents).  However, there are still a lot more "for rent" signs at the duplexes and other student housing around town than normal.  So, I am not sure that is going to be a major driving issue here--but landlords would prefer a 6 month lease in the spring than have their place to continue to sit empty through the spring.  

Hope so, and hope there's more opportunity for in-person in the spring.  But there really needs to be an online option for people who aren't there for the fall and for whatever reason need to stay remote for the spring.

[kiana]

We are online for spring for sure, other than some health sciences + fine arts + lab classes.

[RootAnn]

The social aspect is huge, IMO. It is driving the parties, but for freshmen without connections, it is driving loneliness & feelings of isolation. I wish all upperclassmen would each take a couple freshmen virtually under their wing.

[frogger]

22 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

The social aspect is huge, IMO. It is driving the parties, but for freshmen without connections, it is driving loneliness & feelings of isolation. I wish all upperclassmen would each take a couple freshmen virtually under their wing.

How would this work? Just curious. Like maybe an official sign up program? My son is only second year but isn't sharing classes with Freshman. 

 

Social connection is so important. I'm actually hoping this will make Americans think more about comnunity and social connections and that it will be more of a focus than before the pandemic. 

[RootAnn]

@froggerI don't know how it would work. I know the honors program at the school you & my kids go to have upperclassmen mentors who are supposed to help like this, but I think the ratio is more like 16-to-1. My kid didn't click with her mentor or the activities suggested & pretty much ignored him/her after the first couple weeks.

A signup program would help those who wanted to help and those who want to have someone to connect with. It would likely need to be something the college helped with (like a link on their Canvas account) if it was formal.

I know some upperclassmen are communicating with on campus freshmen that they already know. But what about kids that don't know anyone?  How about the freshmen who are doing classes online from home? I don't have an answer. I know some are setting up GroupMes & Discord servers. It is a problem looking for several solutions, I think. It won't be one size fits all.

[8filltheheart]

USC is contemplating going fully online.  THey had 191 new cases yesterday and the U pres said they cannot handle that many new cases in a single day.  He has asked for a shut down plan.

[Bootsie]

3 hours ago, RootAnn said:

The social aspect is huge, IMO. It is driving the parties, but for freshmen without connections, it is driving loneliness & feelings of isolation. I wish all upperclassmen would each take a couple freshmen virtually under their wing.

My school is trying to connect freshman to faculty and mentor students.  We will have small groups of about a dozen with some planned activities.  The kick-off activity will be a virtual escape room.  Faculty are supposed to be handed a designed program so that we aren't each reinventing the wheel.  The small groups will meet virtually, but are hopefully also small enough that at some point in the semester the groups will be able to meet in person outdoors.

[8filltheheart]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2020/08/27/university-of-south-carolina-considers-shutdown-north-carolina-state-closes-dorms-over-coronavirus/#745dd97736a1

[RootAnn]

University of Alabama released a few more days of testing numbers. I suspect they are going to try to see what happens next week before going all online, but turning the ship around at this point might take over a month.

UAB had 10 total positives since August 19th. UAH had 10 total positives in that time. UA had over 1,000. (UA's entry testing had 3x UABs and 5x UAHs. So their student bodies are different sizes.) 

https://www.wbrc.com/2020/08/28/ua-system-more-than-covid-positive-students-tuscaloosa-since-aug/%3foutputType=amp

https://uasystem.edu/covid-19-dashboard/

Edited August 29, 2020 by RootAnn
Added links

[whitestavern]

For those with lonely freshman, consider buying some outside games. My S took his Spike Ball to school. He says he's made about 15 friends just through that, and he's not a super outgoing kid. Games seem to be huge at school this year, even though they have to wear masks outside as well. Think Can Jam, Corn Hole, basketball, even just a frisbee or football. 

[easypeasy]

18 hours ago, whitestavern said:

For those with lonely freshman, consider buying some outside games. My S took his Spike Ball to school. He says he's made about 15 friends just through that, and he's not a super outgoing kid. Games seem to be huge at school this year, even though they have to wear masks outside as well. Think Can Jam, Corn Hole, basketball, even just a frisbee or football. 

 

very, very good idea.

Funny - we are huge board game/outdoor game nuts as a family (as are most of us homeschooling families, I imagine). DD1 went to college armed with card games and board games and - for FOUR YEARS - could not find ANYONE to play games with her!!! NONE!

DD2 heads off to school and kids who would normally be at parties or football games are playing card games and outdoor games and having a great time!

DD1 is like, ARGH!!!!! lol

Edited August 30, 2020 by easypeasy

[Bootsie]

On 8/29/2020 at 6:31 AM, whitestavern said:

For those with lonely freshman, consider buying some outside games. My S took his Spike Ball to school. He says he's made about 15 friends just through that, and he's not a super outgoing kid. Games seem to be huge at school this year, even though they have to wear masks outside as well. Think Can Jam, Corn Hole, basketball, even just a frisbee or football. 

It's been 106 degrees at DS's school--with heat index around 115--which has unfortunately made outdoor activities, especially masked, not very attractive (especially when it is still in the upper 90s at midnight!)

[freesia]

Ds has been on campus for a week. So far, so good. They’ve been doing pick up meals but will start eating in small groups tomorrow.  The kids from the 35 states on NYs quarantine list are in full quarantine. They are discouraging the others from getting together ( although I think they finally let them eat outside together.). Classes start online tomorrow. Things go in person with more freedom to gather next week. So far, no cases.

[Guest]

JMU is going online and sending everyone that can go home home. They only started classes the 24th.