In Denial: Back to Campus Plans

(A. Solano)
June 27, 2020

"I don't know" is a phrase an effective leader isn't afraid to use. Yet, many educational leaders are acting as if they know sufficiently about COVID-19 to implement plans for a fall or spring face-to-face opening. Some campuses are more cautious by drafting face-to-face plans for "hard to convert" courses (e.g., hands-on labs) while keeping lectures remote. I'm all for hope, but these plans/guidelines give people false hope. These plans also worry people who have no intention of returning to campus until there's a vaccine.

We simply do not know enough about COVID-19 to be making plans to jeopardize the safety of students and college personnel. Too many educators are spending a tremendous amount of time on plans to return to campus during a pandemic when they could be making better use of their time focusing on how to do the best job possible to operate the campus remote, and to support faculty to teach remote.

To make my point, here are select items I've seen from plans/guidelines with my response:

- Adhere to federal, state and local public health and safety guidelines.

They're constantly being updated. Who will keep track? Who will update the campus plan as result of government agency updates? How will the new guidelines be effectively communicated and implemented?

- Maintain minimum physical distancing whenever possible of 6 feet between all on-campus personnel, including with visitors; where physical distancing cannot be maintained, implement administrative or engineering controls to minimize exposure.

What does "implement administrative" or "engineering controls mean"? If someone can't help it and sneezes with a mask on incorrectly, the particles reach up to 25 feet.

- Ask students/personnel to self-certify that they have experienced no CV-19 symptoms since last visit to campus facility.

Does everyone know the symptoms? Can we trust that 100% of people will self-certify?

- Implement routine temperature checks & screens on-premise.

Temperature checks are useful for identifying people who may be infected. During the incubation period, which may be 2-3 weeks, many people won't experience a fever.

- Notify and isolate all students/personnel in contact with an individual that develops symptoms while maintaining confidentiality of those who are sick.

Isolate how? Is it realistic that confidentiality will be maintained?

- Implement reduced maximum capacity limits.

OK, reduce the number of people in the room, but this doesn't address the ventilation system problem. It also doesn't address how people will enter and exit the room, and distancing in the hallways and in bathrooms.

I can go on and on with plans/guidelines I've reviewed.

Also, remember that wearing masks has been politicized. There will be people who will refuse to wear masks. How will a campus deal with this problem?

Major League Baseball created a 100+ page plan for players and spectators to return to the stadiums. Think about it. It's 100+ pages. Who will actually read 100+ pages, and ensure fidelity of implementation and make constant modifications to the plan and implementation? The plan might as well be 1,000+ pages to account for all the possible scenarios to mitigate COVID-19 infections.

Educators are working harder than ever. Time is precious. Planning to return to campus can be a useful exercise, but it's taking too much of people's time when the plans/guidelines are essentially a moot point. We don't know enough about this virus to guarantee a safe face-to-face return to campus during a pandemic. Why do some people over 100-years-old survive the virus while some healthy 20-something-year-olds die from it? Research suggests it has to do with our diets regardless of age, but it's not definitive.[3] There's too much unpredictability for us to try to control.

Reopening campuses may result in mortality spikes. The safest strategy is to wait for a vaccine and/or a mix of medications that significantly reduce the chance of deaths. Remember that HIV/AIDS is a virus. We have yet to find a vaccine for it, but there are a combination of medications that help ensure that HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence.

Focus on how to operate and teach remotely well. I understand that many people don't want to hear this. I especially understand this from science, performing arts, and career and technical education (CTE) programs. As the current data suggests (which may change), the reason there isn't a spike in COVID-19 infections among protestors is because they have been outside.[1][2] Does this mean science, performing arts, and CTE programs need to be set out in the athletic fields, sidewalks, and parking lots? I understand that people are eager to return to normal, but there's a chance we'll never return to normal, and until we can be face-to-face, work on how to do what we're currently doing to operate and teach remote the best we can.

Educational leaders are under tremendous pressure to have all of the answers. It's OK to say, "I don't know." Followed by, "Let's collaborate to problem-solve and focus on the best way to keep our students and fellow educators safe."

Onward...

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Also visit: Prepare Remote Operations for the Long Haul | Preparing to Remain Virtual via Logic Models 

[1] What have protests taught us about the coronavirus?
https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-lessons-from-large-protests.html

[2] Few protesters test positive for COVID-19 in Minnesota, early data finds
https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/longevity/502837-few-protesters-test-positive-for-covid-19-in-minnesota

[3] How coronavirus kills “healthy” people
https://carnivoremd.com/how-coronavirus-kills-healthy-people-with-cate-shanahan-m-d/