UW, UWM will reopen in fall, with changes
Testing, tracing planned; masks to be required
The University of Wisconsin-Madison and UW-Milwaukee announced Wednesday that they would bring students and employees back for the fall 2020 semester.
They join most major universities across the state in having made the decision to reopen in some fashion. UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee are the two largest campuses in the state, with tens of thousands of students each.
However, the university experience will be significantly different, as some coursework will remain online and campus life will be limited. There will also be strict expectations for student behavior on and off campus.
Both universities will require everyone on campus to wear masks indoors and outside when social distancing isn’t possible. They will open up dorm housing to thousands of students, provide testing through the universities and implement enhanced cleaning protocols.
While some private colleges, bracing for another potential wave of coronavirus cases in the fall, have said they will move the campus calendar earlier to end classes by Thanksgiving, UW schools including UWM say they’ll stay on their standard schedule and
pivot back to fully remote learning if needed.
UW-Madison, however, has told students that after the Thanksgiving break, the final nine days of the semester will be completed from home, online. This avoids having students traveling across the country for a quick break and then re-convening on campus.
Both universities anticipate the cost of putting in place all the coronavirus-related changes will be significant, but were unable to provide an estimate at this point. Robin Van Harpen, vice chancellor for finance and administrative affairs, said UWM anticipates it will be in the millions, adding to what she called “the most significant financial situation that we have faced, ever.”
UWM outlines hybrid campus
Like most other universities, UWM’s courses will be delivered through a mix of in-person and online instruction. The number of times students meet in person will be reduced by splitting classes in half and alternating when each half meets in-person. This means classes that normally would have 50 or more students would be able to keep meeting in-person in smaller groups.
“For example, in a Tuesday/Thursday class, half of the students would attend in person on Tuesday and have online instruction on Thursday, while the other half would have the opposite schedule,” the university’s announcement Wednesday said.
Labs and other hands-on classes will meet entirely in-person with social distancing protocols. Classrooms will be professionally cleaned once a day and additional cleaning supplies will be placed in classrooms for students and staff to use.
Van Harpen said UWM is putting off the decision on whether students will come back after Thanksgiving break, but has concentrated all crucial in-person instruction to occur before the holiday.
Students need to bring their own masks, while the university will provide cloth masks and other supplies to employees.
Faculty and staff will come back to campus in phases, starting with researchers who will get back before the end of June. Academic and student support staff will follow, then employees who need to prepare facilities and operations for fall, and finally other administrators and employees. Some may continue to work remotely.
Students, mostly freshman, who are normally required to live on campus, will not be required to do so this fall. Rooms will be single or double occupancy. UWM dorms don’t have large communal bathrooms like many other universities.
Dining halls will move to contact-less service, electronic payments and mobile ordering. Traffic flow will be regulated with markings on the floors in buildings. The university will have in-person student activities, but large gatherings will be limited.
The campus health center will offer telehealth services and in-person care, including COVID-19 testing for students. Students who test positive will be sent home to their permanent residences to recover.
Students and employees with medical limitations will be able work out accommodations.
“We have given very careful consideration to what is best for our students educationally and to address the health needs of our students, faculty and staff, and our community,” Chancellor Mark Mone said. “We know students and families have been waiting for this announcement, but it was important for us to take the time to get it right.”
UW offering unlimited, free testing
Under UW-Madison’s plan, students will be able to get free and unlimited COVID-19 testing on campus through drop-in testing centers.
Other testing efforts will include surveillance testing that will be done by regularly testing cohorts of 10 volunteers on a rotating basis, up to 2,000 per week. Also, people to whom the university has “a special duty of care” will receive targeted testing regularly.
UW-Madison will employ contact tracers and provide isolation areas with individual bathrooms to students who test positive or may have been exposed to the virus.
Classes with more than 100 students will be delivered online as will many classes that have 50 to 100 students. Students who don’t want to take in person courses will not be required to; the university plans to have virtual options in every major.
Residents halls will be open, though some common areas may be closed. Guests will not be allowed. The use of campus dining halls will be limited to residential students and staff. There will be more grab-and-go meals.
“Today’s announcement is just the beginning,” Chancellor Rebecca Blank said in a call with media Wednesday.
The university will keep monitoring how the coronavirus is spreading in order to determine if it would need to return to online classes again, though there isn’t a clear threshold as to the point at which that would happen.
It’s also working on how to handle student fees for those who opt for online learning only, decisions on what sports will look like and navigating some uncertainty over who will actually show up come fall. Blank said changes in international student visa requirements could result in fewer students from outside the U.S.
“For example, in a Tuesday/Thursday class, half of the students would attend in person on Tuesday and have online instruction on Thursday, while the other half would have the opposite schedule.” UWM statement