COVID EDUCATION
How Delco colleges are coping with pandemic:
It’s been two months since colleges and universities across Delaware County returned to campus and they are still working to keep COVID-19 under control.
Rosemarie Halt, Delaware County’s liaison to the Chester County Health Department, said the trigger for rising numbers in colleges and universities are often off-campus students and activities.
“They don’t have the same oversight as they do on campus,” said Halt. “The biggest thing for the universities, the 18-22 year-olds, is the off-campus activities, the parties, sporting events, things like that are much more a concern than the actual school. That is usually where the problems are. We don’t see the trends that the infections are coming from the schools; it’s people doing other things and coming into schools.”
As of Monday, there have been 12,185 positive cases and 800 deaths in Delaware County. The 20-29 age group has the largest percentage of cases, 2,254.
Villanova Universit y, with 11,000 students and
2,500 faculty members, has faced the largest challenge. The UniversityCo
vid-19 dashboard, which is updated daily, shows there have been 219 cases since the start of school in midAugust, with most days having single digit cases.
In late September, the school saw daily positives in the double-digit range, which resulted in President Rev. Peter Donohue addressing the students to remind them of the importance of prevention.
“Now is the time to recommit ourselves to fol
lowing the safety protocols of wearing a mask, social distancing and practicing good personal hygiene,” said Donohue. “We can’t let up.”
Donohue also warned that if the numbers didn’t stabilize, the spring semester could be impacted. Administrators had already pushed back the start of the spring semester two weeks. The reminder seems to have helped, as new positive cases at Villanova have been five or fewer over this
past week and the number of total estimated active cases is currently 26.
While Donohue did confess that campus life was missing its past energy of events and gatherings, he urged students not drop their guard. He reminded students not to have gatherings in small rooms and to be honest with contact tracers if asked where they’ve been and with whom.
Donohue said the start of the spring semester is now scheduled to begin Jan. 25.
There will be no mid-semester break. Easter will be celebrated on campus and commencement is still scheduled for May 14-15th.
For students who must isolate, the university is using The Inn at Villanova as quarantine space. Two residence halls are also being held open and available for use as quarantine space. The university is providing support to students in isolation and quarantine, including meals and other necessities.
The university also offers options for emotional, mental and spiritual support to students who are in quarantine.
“We are continuing to proactively communicate with our students — and the entire campus community — about the importance of staying vigilant. A successful fall semester on campus requires the commitment of all members of the Villanova community to do their part by following health and safety guidelines
— both on and off campus,” said Jonathan Gust executive director, media relations at Villanova.
At Neumann University, there have been two positive cases and one staff member infected.
“We’ve done a good job of communicating protocols and practices. We’ve had no issues with our students of big social gatherings,” said President Dr. Chris Domes in a phone interview Monday .
Domes credited student awareness, health checks, and the ability to do contract tracing quickly. Sixteen people on campus have been trained through the John Hopkins program for contact tracing.
“We’ve been able to do contact tracing on the ground at Neumann with our own protocols in place, and then tested when there’s been a confirmed case or some level or symptoms of infection, or when someone has been in touch with someone who was positive,” said Domes. “It seems to be working quite effectively so far.”
At Neumann, two commuter students and one staff person was infected. All three cases were fairly mild, Domes said. The school has 600 students living on campus.
Domes said students seem to be doing well. At a recent socially distant mask wearing event, a small group of students told him they were happy with how the school was handling the year.
“Our students have been very conscientious about mask wearing. Nobody walking in our buildings is not wearing a mask. In classroom environments, people are wearing masks. We’ve been able to do it,” said Domes. “I refer to it
as an attitude of gratitude. Our students are really taking on a commitment of responsibility.”
Domes said students appear to be grateful to be on the college campus, interacting with each other and doing it in a safe way.
“It’s not the normal; we understand that,” said Domes.
Domes said they are doing a number of small social events outside. They’ve set up tents on campus. Many students eat outside.
He also credited the school’s Franciscan traditions and values.
“They want to keep people healthy and they want to keep each other healthy and they want to remain on campus,” Domes said. “They also look at their other peers, other college campuses who have gone home, who have gone to fully on-line instruction, and they don’t want that. They want the opportunity to be present with each other even if it’s limited, even if it means wearing a mask, even if it’s not gathering in large groups - they are willing to do that. I believe it anchoring in that sets of common values.”
Neumann will go fully on-line after Thanksgiving through finals. Students are able to remain on campus and access all buildings.
Domes noted the school has bucked national trends and has seen an increase in total enrollment by 4.8 percent compared to fall 2019. The overall headcount jumped from 2,391 to 2,506.
“Our programs and the fact we were able to do both in-person blended instruction along with on-line has helped us on the undergraduate side. Most of our student who were returning really liked the fact they could come back and live in the residence hall. I think that’s been a big enrollment boost. Also, we’ve been recognized -
students and families are really seeing us a place that is high quality.”
The spring semester at Neumann will be the same format as the fall with a blend of on-line and in-person teaching.
“Until we’re at the point where we have a vaccine and vaccine distribution, and feeling more safe with control of the virus, we will continue what we are doing now,” Domes said. “Our formula appears to be working.
Domes also thanked the university staff, recognizing they are most at risk.
“Facility and staff in a college environment are most at risk. They are often of the age, in a riskier pool than the students they are serving,” said Domes. “[They] allowed us to really deliver, to work towards flexible solutions - no one threw up their hands and said we can’t do this.”
Penn State University has had 3,100 positive cases on its main campus but only two positive cases at the Brandywine campus in Middletown. Both cases were found through random testing and both students have recovered.
At Eastern University in Radnor, there are no cases at this time. At the start of the semester, 873 students were tested and four students were found to be positive and sent home, for a positivity rate of
.43 percent. In mid-September, 816 students were again tested with three positives for a rate of .37 percent. One staff member has tested positive and one additional student since that time.
At Cabrini University, eight students have tested positive since the beginning of the year. None are currently infected.
Swarthmore College has conducted extensive testing over the past six weeks, giving more than 2,200 COVID tests to students with only one positive. In late September, the college began a staggered testing model for students in which 25% of the residential student population is tested each week. They have also tested the staff weekly, resulting in
3,000 tests uncovering eight positive cases.
Widener University, which has been holding most its classes on-line, has also seen a number of positive cases. Their dashboard reported
30 students infected oncampus and 91 off -campus, with most occurring in September. Their numbers have dropped off since then with five cases this last week.
Mary Allen, director of communications at Widener, said 140 residents are residing on campus presently and seven percent of classes and labs are happening in person involving 1,200 students The 30 on-campus cases have been reported across eight weeks. She also noted the 91 off-campus cases ”have involved people who chose to live nearby but have not been on campus at all – including for classes.
“Widener students and staff have been resilient and flexible through all of the challenges this virus has presented,” said Allen. “Through it all, we remain committed to providing students an excellent experience that positions them for career success.”
Most of the schools will go fully virtual at the Thanksgiving break.
“The one message I have to get to everybody is maintaining that six-foot social distancing is critical, especially as we move to indoor
events
and
holidays
and
things coming up,” said Halt.