The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
GETTING PREPARED
Colgate and community discuss plans for return of in-person instruction
HAMILTON, N.Y. » COVID-19 has changed academics drastically. With move-in weekend fast approaching in the Colgate college-town, everyone is anticipating the students’ return, and many are doubting the integrity of public health throughout the fall semester as a result.
“We have met with village and township leaders, with the hospital, with the local schools, and those conversations very much shaped our opening plans,” said Colgate University President Brian Casey in a town hall meeting.
Concerned residents, faculty, and members of the public have taken to online to share their own opinions on just how realistically successful pandemic-academics can be. Some project a public health disaster, while some commend the effort to reopen.
The university has communicated with both the community and the student body through virtual town halls and other means to address guidelines and concerns and answer hard-hitting questions. A most immediate concern: What will move-in weekend look like?
The first round of students, incoming freshmen, are expected on August 23, and the excitement of starting their first year of higher education will be blanketed in a strenuous first few weeks of campus life.
Testing is a huge factor in Colgate’s plan to get students back to Hamilton safely and to retain any hope of giving students a taste of the “Colgate experience” that has lasted over 200 years, according to Casey.
All students must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test result before arriving on campus, then be tested within 24 hours upon arrival, and then again 7-10 days after that. Because of this, arrival times come with strict guidelines and time slots to ensure testing is performed accurately and to limit parent/family contact within the buildings on the big day.
Altogether, students will be getting tested three times this semester at the very least, but it could be more.
“We’ll also be doing testing of about 6 percent of the population at any given time as well as the wastewater,” said Paul Mcloughlin, vice president and dean of the college, and co-chair of the university’s Reopening Task Force.
Mass-testing at the university will be independent from resources available throughout the community, explained Geoffrey Holm, associate professor of Biology at Colgate and member of the Reopening Task Force. He shared that the college has purchased its own diagnostic testing machine and has a contract with a private company that will perform the procedure.
This way, local resources can remain available to those who need them, he remarked.
Along with rigorous
“The virus is out there. The best way that we can be safe is to ensure that students are getting tested and that they are quarantining upon arrival, no matter where they’re from, and that way we can be sure that we’re not introducing the virus into our community.” — Geoffrey Holm, associate professor of Biology at Colgate and member of the Reopening Task Force
testing, all returning students must undergo a 14day quarantine period at the beginning of their arrival. This is largely due to state restrictions, but also serves as an added layer of security to keep Hamilton, which currently has zero active cases, safe from a viral spread, officials stated.
A list of over 30 states have restricted travel into N.Y. due to their infection rates, and because of this, any traveler coming in from one of these areas must quarantine by law. That’s around 60% of the incoming student population, Casey revealed.
Additionally, students who will be rooming together are not going to be separated by category, meaning that once students move in, many will have to quarantine by default.
All of these logistical points do not address what Casey says is one of the most important factors in successfully reopening; public perception.
“If the village sees people moving out of quarantine, we will face a perception issue that will be swift and profound,” he remarked. And so all students, regardless if the laws affect them or not, are asked to quarantine by the college. And this is even if they already live in the village.
“The virus is out there. The best way that we can be safe is to ensure that students
are getting tested and that they are quarantining upon arrival, no matter where they’re from, and that way we can be sure that we’re not introducing the virus into our community,” Holm added.
“We know that having undergone that process will make the entire community safer.”
Now the university faces the daunting challenge of considering how to get just under 3000 people through a 14-day quarantine. There are numerous variables for consideration: on-campus vs. off-campus living, enforcement of rules, and managing resources are just a few major areas of concern.
The quarantine period will roughly end around the first weekend in September, and this is when in-person instruction can begin and will only last up until Thanksgiving break. Students will complete the remainder of instruction virtually from home after the holiday.
So beyond the complex strategy needed to survive the two-week quarantine, the college will have a remaining three months of in-person academics to get through.
A few unique measures in place to enhance safety include increasing time inbetween classes to allow for easier changeover, sanitation, and travel. Students are discouraged from using their personal vehicles to drive to and from campus. According to Mcloughlin, this will decrease car-pool
culture, which could increase viral spread.
Additionally, many of the parking lots have become designated tent-sites for outdoor classrooms and other activities, so parking space is limited.
Grocery and book delivery will be available to students during their quarantine period, and likely throughout the semester. This has been a major concern for students, especially those living offcampus, whose choice for a more independent living situation has left them on their own for certain resources. Many local businesses in the area are adapting to meet those needs.
The college says it is also prepared for outbreaks and a potential need for closing. The Wendt Inn in Hamilton has been leased by the school to be used as an isolation/quarantine site for those who need it.
The university revealed at a virtual town hall that various COVID-19 related metrics will be available to the public. These would include available PPE, capacity for isolation, number of positive cases, and several other important data points pertaining to the college.
Though Colgate claims to be prepared for students’ return and a potential influx of cases, officials project that the need for serious healthcare for this population will be quite low.
Holm stated that collegeaged individuals, between 18 and 24, have a small rate of severe infection. And additionally, “The majority of
our students that do have underlying conditions will probably be remote for the semester, and they would not want to come to campus where they would be subject to the risk of serious illness,” he commented.
However, many are concerned with the virus’s potential to spread outside of the campus population; Some groups don’t have the same promising statistics when it comes to the virus, particularly those who are older and with preexisting conditions.
Enforcement of the guidelines has been an issue on everyone’s minds since the very beginning, and that concern doesn’t just pertain to students. Getting everyone to wear masks, avoid gathering in groups, and keep their safe distance in public has been a difficult task.
One member of the community wrote a post on Nextdoor titled, “Colgate and the Coronavirus” criticizing the school for attempting to bring students back. The post has developed 141 comments since it was published July 30.
Author of the post, Rajit Dosanjh, wrote, “The notion that Colgate students are going to be vigilant about social distancing is absurd.” Several others agreed, sighting personal experiences, particularly linked to sororities and fraternities, where they say students were allegedly gathering in groups.
Other commenters sympathized with the students, acknowledging that the majority follow the rules with
ease, and they are only human. There are also rule breakers in any community, and it’s not just students the village may have to worry about.
Colgate officials say that the university has been working with Hamilton Mayor Ruthann Loveless, who contracted COVID-19 back in March, and the Hamilton Police Department to develop a coordinated effort to enforce public health rules throughout the village.
The students must also adhere to a “Commitment to Community Health” pledge as part of their student code of conduct. And like everyone else, they have had to live through the pandemic and adjust accordingly.
“I do believe they’ve learned the world has changed,” Casey remarked.
Mcloughlin says he hopes all of these factors combined will create a sort of Covidculture that promotes everyone’s health and well-being throughout the village. Adhering to the rules is not just a student problem; it’s a people problem, and everyone can be affected, he said.
According to Colgate, students who willfully break public health and safety guidelines will face the consequences.
Casey said that the university’s response to such negligence must be “firm, swift, and tough.”
“The Task Force on the Re-opening of Colgate Campus Report to the President” states, “Because of the potentially severe public health
effects of noncompliance, those who do not adhere to these expectations may face significant disciplinary or other consequences, including parental notification, athletics/coach notification, loss of the privilege to live in residence, housing reassignment, loss of specified campus privileges or permission to be on campus, suspension, or even expulsion.”
Written immediately following and underlined: “Compliance with these expectations is non-negotiable.”
Casey and others from the Colgate community acknowledged that not every student can be monitored 100%. However, they say that the college’s “layered approach” to reopening creates a system that does not rely on anyone facet to succeed or fail. With all the layers working together, they hope to achieve a bubble of health and safety that is difficult to penetrate.
It may seem like students, the college, faculty, and everyone involved are jumping through hoops just to get students back on campus, and this is true. Mcloughlin responded, “It would have been just so much easier to just go online this fall, but instead we really wanted [students] to be back.” He, Casey, and other members of the university say they believe in the value of an inperson college experience, and it was worth it to try.
Casey admitted, “No one doubts this is going to be really hard, and extremely uncomfortable.”