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Is our working assumption that in September that the virus won't spread quickly amongst students? Or is it that it will but they're low risk? Or it might but there's only so much universities can do? I'm not getting at anyone - I'm just interested in the difference between...
... what we might call a Covid-19 safe campus, and a Covid-19 safe community - and obviously it strikes me that the former is much easier to achieve than the latter.
I've lost count over the years of the times when society/the press /government treat students as in loco parentis and universities asp hermetically sealed bubbles where all risk is managable by a VC. We will want to avoid students and universities getting lots of blame...
... whilst being really clear about responsibilities - institutional, personal, local government, landlords etc
I am specifically concerned that (for example) a student club is not allowed to book a room on campus, but throws caution to the wind and meets round someone's house (partly because people keep saying the risks for them are low). See also - of the current self isolation...
... rules are still in place, can you imagine being a student with symptoms contemplating telling the entirity of your halls floor they have to self isolate for a fortnight because of you?
And imagine a big PBSA block in a city full of international students is locked down by a local director of public health. That could get very unpleasant with some locals very quickly.
Bit niche this but for SUs - who often regulate student clubs and societies - real challenges. Discomfort already at jurisdiction ("today's training session is on safe social event" ). If we're expecting SUs set, train and enforce "reduced social mixing" rules...
... we'll need to tell them pretty quickly. And reconcile that work with uni codes of behaviour etc.
More broadly I think the experience of schools, colleges and other countries will help. BUT summer coming - no one anywhere has tested a secondary school, college or uni system at full pelt.
And universities involve much much more social mixing than colleges or schools.
A whole bunch of the conduct issues reflect existing complexities. For example - a university whose sexual misconduct policies include behaviour off campus might include expectations about "Covid-19 community" conduct.
How will that be communicated and enforced? If its not in there, why not? What if students from two or three universities all live in the same house?
Part of what I'm getting at is that there are important calculations around safety on the difference between 2m and 1m, cleaning, screens etc and the volume of deliverable F2F. But for HE we also have to think about social mixing of the communities we form by inviting...
... people to come live together on a campus or in a big city. If being super careful about hand gel ordering is negated in risk/infection terms by lack of rules on social activity that'll be a net negative. But creating and enforcing rules will take care, coordination and time
One final thought on this for today. Let's say classic away from home undergrad gets four hours contact a week on four modules, + some outdoor sport. Outside of the schedule, are we expecting them to interact with these five new social groups a) online b) physically c) not at all
And once we're there, what are we expecting the returners to do? Live in the same city as all their friends but not see them? When they're being told the risks for their age group are really low?
