U of M leaders plan a gradual reopening
Students report compliance is high
After three weeks of school at the University of Memphis, freshman Lauren Adamson still doesn’t know what a college classroom looks like. She goes to class in her dorm, decorated in pink and gray, or on campus at outdoor tables or the library. Still, though, the native of Cleveland, Tennessee, is glad she made the five-and-half hour drive to become a student at U of M and live on the campus she never toured.
Students began class on Aug. 17, but only 500 or so of the university’s 22,000 students were enrolled in classes that had the chance to meet inperson. Later this month, though, more courses may be eligible to meet in person, university officials recently announced.
President M. David Rudd announced in late July that the fall semester would begin with “predominantly virtual and remote” coursework, save for some science, engineering and fine arts courses. At the time,
he cited negative trends in community coronavirus data. Reopening, he said, would be gradual and data-driven.
“I don’t really necessarily say that I’m happy about it or that I’m mad about it, because it’s my first year,” Adamson said about U of M’s decision.
She’s taking five courses, three of which meet on Zoom. For the other two, which don’t have that video element, she doesn’t know her professors well, she said.
“I don’t know what it is like to be in a college classroom. I don’t even know what a college classroom even looks like,” Adamson said. “So it’s kind of hard to be mad about something that you’ve never really experienced or gotten taken away.”
Tom Nenon, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, polled faculty about their desires to voluntarily return to campus for class. He anticipates responses soon after Labor Day. U of M will allow a certain amount to move forward after that, he said. He pointed to issues with reopening as a binary approach.
“We want to increase gradually so we can understand it and control it,” Nenon said in a recent interview. “And then if things are going well, then we’re going to increase it. If it looks like we’re starting to get problems, we’ll draw back.”
Classroom desks have been marked with tiger paws, a nod to the U of M mascot, to denote which can be used in order to stay socially distanced, he said. As more students return, there will be designated study areas on campus for students who may have an on-campus course followed shortly after with a remote class.
U of M monitoring cases with testing, tracing
On campus, 16 students had active cases of COVID-19 as of Sept. 2, the latest data available. There were 42 active cases including students off-campus, and 37 active cases among faculty and staff, per the report, for a total of 79 cases. Since April, the university has reported 132 total cases among students and 107 “exposures” among faculty and staff. The report does not make clear if an “exposure” is confirmed positive exposure or a close contact of a case.
“That we haven’t had a case where we have evidence or good reason to believe that it was contracted here on our campus yet, that does surprise me and please me,” Nenon said of the numbers, attributing a combination of preparation and good fortune.
The university is performing some contact tracing as they file reports of cases and potential contacts to the Shelby County Health Department, he said, and tracing has been “thorough” so far because of the manageable number of cases. So far, the tracing U of M has done has showed that most of the campus cases were contracted from a family member, Nenon said.
U of M has an on-campus testing center at Patterson Street and Central Avenue, Rudd said during a Wednesday meeting.
“We think that as long as the incidents remain at a low enough level, then quick testing and a very, very thorough contact tracing allows us to keep it under control,” Nenon said.
Quarantine dorms have been set aside for students who need to use them, Nenon said. Of 85 rooms set aside for student quarantine, 18 were in use as of Sept. 2.
University pushes for voluntary compliance of COVID-19 protocols
Adamson, the freshman, is one of 1,830 students in campus housing. She said there is little foot traffic in and out of the buildings, which Nenon said have strict COVID-19 safety protocols.
This fall, two students have been removed from their dorm room for breaking COVID-19 protocols, he said. Four students were asked to leave for the same reason in the spring. In total, though, fewer students have been asked to leave the dorms for violations this semester than last. Because of strict compliance enforcement, Nenon said he sees the dorm as a safer student environment than apartments or homes that aren’t under U of M’s purview.
“I think students are grateful that we’re putting a message out there about how they can protect each other and make them feel reassured that we really are concerned about their safety,” Nenon said.
He said campus leaders have focused on broad compliance by encouraging it to be voluntary, and credits local officials with being “supportive and consistent” in their protocols.
Still, students who are not compliant have been told they will be dismissed from on-campus courses, he said. Staff members who don’t comply can also face disciplinary action. Compliance hasn’t been perfect, but so far no students have refused to follow protocols once asked, he said.
“We know we’re going to also have to keep reinforcing it,” Nenon said, noting some students were not as diligent on week three of school as week one. Still, compliance is higher at U of M than at other universities across the country, Nenon thinks.
Although U of M has reported some cases, it has not faced the explosion of case counts reported at other schools across the country that began fall semesters over the last month. According to a New York Times count, four universities had reported upward of 1,000 cases across the student body as of Sept. 3.
As the year has progressed, Adamson has seen more students on campus than before, but most are wearing masks. She’s balancing a need to be cautious with wanting to make new friends. So far, she’s met a few from her dorm and from social media groups of other freshmen.
Class is self-taught in many ways, but “I’m learning as much as I can,” she said. She’s glad to be on the diverse campus she hoped she would attend.
“People (are) embracing who they are, which is not normal where I’m from,” Adamson said. “But that’s what I came to college for, in a way.”
Laura Testino covers education and children’s issues for the Commercial Appeal. Reach her at laura.testino@commercialappeal.com or 901-512-3763. Find her on Twitter: @Ldtestino.