Read on Twitter
I think @HoffProf succinctly sums up my views, as do discussions with @jdmortenson & others in this & related threads. 1/25 https://twitter.com/HoffProf/status/1295931941271801856
I want to teach in person in a university classroom this fall.
That's what most of my students want, too.
I hope there is the persistence & resilience to do so. 2/
That's what most of my students want, too.
I hope there is the persistence & resilience to do so. 2/
My opening question is this: when would it be "safe"--in whatever sense of the word your cost-benefit analysis puts you there--to resume in-person higher ed? (This is often elided over in the analysis that says it's still unsafe.) 3/
One might return to March 2020 metrics--once we've "slowed the spread" (mostly, we have), "flattened the curve" (mostly, we have), ensured the health care system has the "capacity" to handle cases (assuredly, we have). 4/
If that's the case, we should be resuming in-person classes. There is still a risk of infection, but that will be the case with all of life.
But, I think, other may have different standards for what's safe. 5/
But, I think, other may have different standards for what's safe. 5/
One might say, "once we have a effective widely-distributed vaccine." I don't think that's an appropriate cost-benefit take.
What if we don't have a vaccine for 5 years?
Or it isn't as effective as one thinks it ought to be?
What if... there's never an effective vaccine? 6/
What if we don't have a vaccine for 5 years?
Or it isn't as effective as one thinks it ought to be?
What if... there's never an effective vaccine? 6/
All these viable possibilities, I think, should give one pause if that's the standard. The notion that higher ed should cease to hold in-person classes for 5 years, or indefinitely (say, until herd immunity), makes little sense. 7/
Which is all to say, when it's said that it's "unsafe" for a university to hold in-person classes, I'd prefer to ask, when do you believe it would be safe? And I think the risk tolerance, in my view, is going to differ quite a bit from the risk tolerance of most students. 8/
As far as I've seen, there have been zero instances of spread in classrooms or university buildings among students, faculty, & staff where instruction resumed. Notre Dame, UNC, etc.--so far, no such instances. (Maybe some will come.) 9/
This makes sense given what I'll experience in the classroom this fall. I'll wear a mask, stand behind plexiglass, speak to students 6+ (more like 10+) feet away, who're also in masks, in rooms with upgraded HEPA filters, 75 minutes at a time. Low risk. 10/
It's a reason students *want to be in person*. They recognize the risk is low. And the overwhelming majority have been asking for in-person instruction. 11/ https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/08/12/college-students-want-person-classes-despite-pandemic-poll-finds
Covid-19 risk is just one risk. Consider the rise in depression & anxiety among college-age students this summer. 12/ https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/08/19/students-reporting-depression-and-anxiety-higher-rates
Students recognize that online classes come with significant negative effects for them, too. 13/ https://edsource.org/2020/survey-current-and-incoming-california-college-students-report-worry-over-finances-online-classes/635431
Covid-19 is a disease that has killed tens of thousands of Americans. It has unknown long-lasting effects to the heart, brain, & lungs. But, there is a tremendous disparity in risk to typical university students (low) and the elderly (high). 14/
I don't doubt the sincerity of concerns of those who want exclusively online higher ed. Universities should (& in my observation have) rightly accommodate students, faculty, & staff at higher risk or with significant family commitments. (If not, different problem!) 15/
But my RAs want to meet in person. My reading group wants to meet in person. Students who want to discuss their careers want to meet in person. Human beings crave in-person relationships. It's worth pursuing. 16/
Not every college, not every city, not every state is going to be the same. Some probably ought to be exclusively online, some should be mixed, a few might mostly be in-person. Universities have judgments to make. 17/
Is economic cost a factor? Of course! But bashing your university for being a greedy tuition-sucking pig--"but totes, honestly, only greedy in this one thing, we're usually virtuous altruistic institutions all the rest of the time!"--is not just short-sighted but wrong. 18/
I've had my toe in the water at three universities in the last six months, & the conversation has been student-oriented with real concerns about faculty, staff, & the broader community. Faculty voices have been heard (even if not always heeded). 19/
Twitter etc. offers an easy audience to express cynicism & distrust of the university. I get it. When a faculty hiring decision goes sideways, when a curricular reform I oppose is adopted, I'd love to vent about it. 20/
In the end, it's a bunch of flawed & imperfect human beings dealing with an extraordinarily uncertain disease who want to best for human flourishing. I'm flawed & imperfect. I want to figure out the best thing I can do to help my students succeed. We'll see. 21/
I've observed universities accommodating students, faculty, & staff at this vulnerable time. I hope they're providing tuition relief & making creative use of the endowment. Admittedly, there's always more that can be done. 22/
And, again, I don't doubt the sincere concerns of many about their personal health or the health of the community. But, in the same spirit, I don't doubt the sincerity of the university administrators making plans for the interest of the community despite uncertainty. 23/
The university campus isn't just rock climbing walls & lazy rivers. It's a community of people, lifelong friends & spontaneous academic discourse & future spouses & mentors & researchers. It's people who look each other in the eye & eat & laugh & cry together. 24/
It's worth pursuing. It's worth trying to make work. It'll be flawed & imperfect this fall. But I want to see how it plays out, & I'll eagerly make all efforts possible in my small role to try to help make it succeed (safely). Time will tell. 25/25
