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Some brief thoughts on where I think we're at. Most campuses have a plan on safe "visiting" and "working" but these plans do involve significantly reducing capacity of previously already tight shared facilities
Some timetables extending into night, weds afternoons and weekends in problematic ways. Some restrictions on specialist facilities at edge of (and in some cases over) line of tolerability (esp for arts/STEM)
The incentives/disincentives for students to a) not socially distance whilst off campus b) self report symptoms to household c) self-report symptoms to NHS are right now not where we'd like them to be...
...and I don't see much of a plan to rebalance them anywhere. This is our equiv of Andy Burnham noting that Zero Hours shift workers won't declare or S/I bc they need the $$$
Unresolved issues (and lack of modelling/understanding) on attendance monitoring, the fact that thousands of students shuffle between uni town and home town multiple times a term.
Plus doubts on whether simultaneous dual-mode (online and in person) is possible for those still intending it.
Public transport still unresolved in most places. Capacity at initial SD social events a big concern. M/H not really factored in. N/C will be big policy concern of autumn.
Most unis giving some detail to students on what to expect, but what they'll do for the "other 100 hours they're awake" not really clear.
Students not really being invited to give willing/enthusiastic/clear consent to changes or being offered alternatives, and disabled students still a concern
I hope these are surmountable problems, I really do - but time running out and probably require more coordination than is currently apparent.
Happy to add stuff I've missed - eg childcare for staff and students. Even where it is available for extended hours, bookings often needed to be finalised last month and parents may need to be present to switch between primary and secondary settings
Bubbles probably more harm than good in all but very specific circumstances - unlikely to work in real world and may lead to FSOS
The "migration event" stuff I think v important. Two weeks ago we learned SAGE was worried students would "return to their family households at the end of terms" and called for more modelling on "internal migrations at the start and end of term"
The assumption in that SAGE paperwork was three types of student - international, here almost all year in same household; commuter (not doing much mixing with other students off campus) and residential (dangers re forming new households and then going home to fam end of term)
But as many of us know, that that last assumption fairly faulty. It's anecdote and may be affected by class and regional proximity but increasingly clear that for home residentials, migration not a start and end of term "event" but weekly shuffle between home and uni town/city.
Trouble is the SAGE trail went dead there - we know that DfE's medical person was setting up a committee but not seen any more detail on that so far. We're also waiting on a response from Scot Gov to proposals re reducing transmission there from @devisridhar
This is handy to know - Epidemiological definitions of outbreaks and clusters in particular settings https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-infection-prevention-and-control/epidemiological-definitions-of-outbreaks-and-clusters-in-particular-settings
Oh BTW @IndependentSage is finalising a report on opening universities (campuses, unis never closed) that will be presented in "open forum" for discussion & consultation most likely next Friday.
Awaiting a formal response from the Scottish Government, @devisridhar takes to the Scotsman https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/strict-rules-need-be-observed-universities-return-devi-sridhar-2935435
Couple of other bits. First there's lots of anecdotal evidence that returning students are still significantly underestimating the restrictions they will face next year - and there may be a backlash on arrival.
The realities of safe blended are really very low numbers of hours on campus in some cases, which effectively reverts those courses in term 1 to OU courses (only unlike the OU you have to "attend", move house to there etc). Many students may retrurn home and rue housing contracts
