|
|
|
The views expressed on this page are
solely
those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the views of County
News Online
|
|
Pixabay
Education Dive
Will colleges in the new coronavirus epicenters change their fall plans?
Natalie Schwartz
July 1, 2020
College leaders in several states are staring down one of the worst
possible outcomes of the summer: Coronavirus cases are surging just as
they're preparing to welcome students back to campus.
The crisis is particularly acute in Arizona, Florida and Texas. All
three states have recently been clocking upward of 3,000 new confirmed
coronavirus cases most days in the past week, and have or soon could
run out of intensive care unit beds at hospitals. Even though these
states' testing capability has increased, so has the share of tests
that have returned positive, a sign the virus is spreading.
In response to these trends, University of Arizona President Robert
Robbins made a declaration last week. If he had to decide immediately,
he said, he wouldn't reopen campus in the fall.
Coronavirus cases in Arizona have increased by 90% over the last two
weeks, growing to more than 84,000 since March, and its test positivity
rate is at 22.9%, rising a few percentage points during that period,
according to COVID Exit Strategy, a website run by public health
experts. Government officials have even activated an emergency plan
that will let doctors deny treatment to patients based on their
likelihood of survival in order to free up resources for others.
"We cannot have a situation where we're bringing students back to
campus, asking our faculty and staff to come back to campus, when we're
in truly an exponential growth in the number of cases here," Robbins
said, according to the Arizona Republic.
His statement highlights the hard choices many college leaders have to
make in just a matter of weeks. They must decide whether to go through
with plans to reopen campuses, even though it can be notoriously
difficult to predict whether regions will be able to slow the spread of
the virus or prevent flare-ups before the term begins.
Many institutions made their reopening announcements before May 1, the
deadline by which students typically must make their deposits, said
Chris Marsicano, founding director of Davidson College's College Crisis
Initiative, which is tracking how institutions are responding to the
coronavirus. At that time, the crisis seemed relatively stable in some
regions.
"The state of the world has changed," Marsicano said. "What looked like
it could be in-person in May is now no longer looking like that."
Biding time
When the University of Arizona told students on April 30 that it
planned to resume in-person instruction in the fall, it had just under
500 confirmed new daily cases. On Tuesday, it had more than 4,700.
Although Robbins recently expressed doubt about the university's
ability to reopen safely, its website indicates it is still working
toward having in-person classes in the fall term, though a detailed
plan for how classes will be held has not yet been released. The
university also paused bringing additional student-athletes back after
consulting with local health officials, it announced Monday.
The university did not respond to Education Dive's request for comment sent Tuesday.
Arizona State University is also planning for a return to campus in the
fall. But like many universities, it notes on its website that it will
adjust operations as needed.
|
|
|
|
