Colleges, Universities, and COVID-19: Uh Oh!

Many, but not all, institutions of higher education will start their academic year by welcoming students back to campus this fall. For many reasons, colleges and universities have designed their buildings to foster a sense of community, facilitate group efforts, and improve communication and cooperation among students, faculty, and administrators. Arguably, a college or university’s physical plant works against efforts at social distancing. When indoors, the risk of community transmission exceeds that risk outdoors.

Start with dormitories. Institutions of some age have a range of dorms each constructed with a different philosophy. Older buildings are (long) hallways connecting private and semi-private rooms and a limited number of shared restrooms. More recent buildings feature a pod concept where a series of private and semi-private rooms share a common living area, kitchens, and restrooms. Contemporary buildings are designed as a collection of private and semi-private apartments with dedicated restrooms, a congregate area, and a kitchen.

A fact of student life is that roommates, floor mates, pod mates, and apartment mates are less likely to share class schedules the further each student’s progress in their respective degree programs. Some schools colocate freshmen, and a smaller number do so by disciplines (e.g., science, engineering, humanities) and fewer still by specific degree program. Being a member of a common group is, at best, the hallmark of the earliest years as a college student.

Classrooms are always a trade-off between the cost of construction, furnishings, technology, operation, and the flexibility afforded academic scheduling. More classrooms available at peak periods to accommodate even more class sections is the goal. True, residential students could register for more classes in the very early hours and the much later daily hours of the day—not to mention evenings and weekend days. Doing so, however, violates student perceptions of personal freedom and the balance between academic, personal, and social goals and pursuits. Consequently, too many classrooms are too shallow (i.e., front to back) and too narrow (i.e., side to side). They share an uncanny similarity to a sardine tin. Taken collectively, classrooms generally facilitate community spread of any pathogen—all other things taken equally.

Student Unions, dining halls, libraries, and (possibly) dormitories (here): The killing fields.
Greek Life: The killing fields on steroids (here).

Arguably (again), spending the majority of time with people you know, with whom you reside, limits exposure to others. Still, even the most cohesive groups, don’t visit the library as a collective, always sit as a unit or visit athletic facilities as a clutch. The safety of small group living at a college or university is more of an illusion than an achievable norm.

One of my neighbors aspires for her eldest to attend a school in the northern part of the state. She wants her child to have the full “college experience.” Rising college freshmen aren’t stupid. They may describe future immersive contact with faculty and fellow students as the experience. That’s what their parents are eager to hear and believe. What they’re (also) imagining are the freedom and social experiences otherwise difficult to arrange while living at home. So the term, college experience, always means both the same and differentthings to students and their parents at the same time! Holding two opposing ideas at the same time, or cognitive dissonance, produces family stress. The tension is not always survivable.

We were once of the age where the children of our contemporaries were responsible for budget busting annual expenses and/or less than hoped for academic performance. In those cases, wanting a child to have the full college experience was modified. Bringing the child home to attend a local school was designed to change the balance between academic and social activities in favor of academic success. “They can learn the social graces at home.” [There is nothing graceful about the social experiences gained when living away from home. Some students benefit in the long run, albeit some less gracefully than others. Some crash and burn.] 

Slight Detour: In the age of helicopter and bulldozer parents, some harbor the illusion of remote influence and control via smartphone. Success is possible—but only for a short period of time. Students are resourceful, but not always in the way their parents might prefer. A friend always knows someone (who knows someone) who will help your child defeat the usefulness of that expensive smartphone. To the remote parent, the smartphone presents fewer and fewer warnings over time. This leads a parent to wonder whether: [1] Their child is following established family guidelines, or [2] Helicoptering and bulldozing isn’t quite as effective from a far.

Finally, there is a federal regulation that protects a student’s privacy—most notably from their parents. Known by its acronym, FERPA, guarantees a parent who pays the cost of higher education cannot discuss their child’s (lack of) progress and success with any college or university official. Even the end of term grade report can be embargoed. UNLESS, of course, your student signs a release waiving their privacy rights. Can a school confirm a waiver has been signed? Not unless the student has waived their privacy rights. Need I say more?

The game is rigged. Social distancing—even if your college student wants it—is unlikely during a residential experience at any college or university. Students at a commuting school who also live at home have only a slightly better chance of success in limiting social contact in a way that impedes community spread.

The foregoing is a G-Rated attempt to explain why colleges and universities are doomed in their efforts to mitigate community spread of the common cold, the flu, or COVID-19. If you’re interested in the NSFW companion, I must warn you: Bars, eateries, clubs, and interpersonal relationships (ahem), are among the “social graces” that do not support personal health (here).

Another Slight Detour: Start from the premise that health care professionals working at college or university health clinics are well trained, highly professional, and committed to student health and college or university clinics are at least adequately staffed and supplied by those institutions...Are these clinics and centers up to the challenged posed by COVID-19 (here).

One final story: Years ago, our niece lived with us while she attended a local university. One night, she and a friend were about to head off to a popular dance club in town which on a prior night was the scene of a drive-by shooting. Being an aunt or an uncle confers all the benefits of a close relationship with a niece but a substantial obligation to our siblings—the real parents. “Don’t worry,” she advised standing before us in a cocktail dress, hooker shoes, and enough makeup for the entire cast of a Broadway musical. “We’ll be careful.”

Yeah.

Copyright 2020, Howard D. Weiner