College Chaos: Classes Canceled in U.S. - One RI School Says It Can “Modify Plans Without Notice"
GoLocalProv News Team and Kate Nagle
College Chaos: Classes Canceled in U.S. - One RI School Says It Can “Modify Plans Without Notice"
Now, as Rhode Island colleges and universities are slated to return — in a mix of online and in-person learning — schools are cautioning plans could be modified at any time — and with no warning.
“As with all of its codes, policies, and standards, JWU reserves the right to modify this code at any time and for any reason without notice to you,” writes Johnson and Wales University on its “Wildcat Welcome” COVID-19 Conduct Protocol page.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBrown University updated its return-to-campus plans as recently as last week -- but students have yet to be told when their return date is.
"Given the current landscape, in consultation with public health experts we have determined it best to take a phased approach to the start of in-person instruction for the fall semester,” said Brown President Christina Paxson.
“This staggered arrival of students over a longer time period will better position Brown to address challenges, including quarantine and isolation for any students who test positive for COVID-19. This plan also is in keeping with the data-based and public health-based decision making that has driven our planning since the beginning of the pandemic," she added.
SLIDES: See Rhode Island College and University Reopening Plans BELOW
On Monday, UNC at Chapel Hill announced it would shift to remote learning a week after class began, and clusters of five or more coronavirus cases spread in three residence halls — and a fraternity.
"After only one week of campus operations, with growing numbers of clusters and insufficient control over the off-campus behavior of students (and others), it is time for an off-ramp. We have tried to make this work, but it is not working," UNC's Dean of Public Health Barbara Rimer wrote in a blog post on Monday.
On Tuesday, Notre Dame announced it was canceling in-person classes for at least two weeks following a spike in coronavirus cases.
Between the lines: As was the case with UNC, most of the COVID-19 infections at Notre Dame have been linked to off-campus parties.
* The nearly 12,000 students that returned to Notre Dame were all tested before arriving on campus on Aug. 10, and just 33 tested positive, according to the Journal.
* Through Monday, 147 of the 927 students who had shown symptoms tested positive for the virus — a sharp uptick in the positivity rate.
At the end of July, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association by researchers at Yale, Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital found that colleges could reopen safely — if they screen students every two days.
Providence College on Monday announced its test protocols for students arriving on campus — and said that it plans to test 150 students every day.
“This is known as surveillance testing. Students should reasonably expect to be included in this protocol, one or more times, at various times during the semester,” writes PC, who has a student population of nearly 5,000.
In May, PC students came under fire from neighbors — and Providence officials — for lack of adherence to Rhode Island coronavirus protocol in off-campus parties that exceeded the allowable social gathering limit.
“UNC fiasco reveals truth about reopening colleges,” wrote journalist and historian David Perry on Tuesday, who serves as a senior academic adviser in the history department of the University of Minnesota.
“In the wake of the UNC fiasco, we have to reckon with the price of failure. Students at Chapel Hill are going home now and they are taking their viral load with them. As a result, to be blunt, more people are going to die. College students can die from Covid-19,” wrote Perry. "They also risk spreading the virus to the people with whom they live and their communities. These deaths and illness will be directly attributable to the decisions of our leaders in the higher education community.”
"That's because predictably, any plan for social distancing based on keeping college students apart, many of whom are living away from their parents for the first time, is doomed to fail," he added.
Colleges and Universities in RI Coronavirus Policies - August 19, 2020
University of Rhode Island
On the University of Rhode Island’s COVID-19 Update page, the most recent entry was posted August 17 — with the latest information pertaining to isolation and quarantine for students arriving on campus.
URI states:
URI Health Services, working in collaboration with the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH), has developed a plan for isolation and quarantine focusing on the health and well-being of our community. Self-isolation and self-quarantine are essential to help prevent community spread of COVID-19.
The Rhode Island Department of Health has provided the following guidance for students moving to Rhode Island from hot spots (those states with a greater than 5% positivity rate). If your state is on the list as of Monday of the week you are scheduled to arrive in Rhode Island, you must quarantine for 14 days. This applies to students living both on-campus and those living off-campus.
Read more:
https://web.uri.edu/coronavirus/2020/08/17/isolation-and-quarantine-plan/
Brown University
On August 11, Brown announced it would “stagger fall student arrivals” — according to students, however, most still don’t know if or when they are supposed to arrive.
Brown writes:
Amid recent rises in COVID-19 cases in Rhode Island and across the nation, Brown University will implement a phased approach to welcoming students back to campus for the fall semester of its 2020-21 academic year, delaying the start of in-person undergraduate instruction until October.
In phase one, Brown will permit only a limited number of students to return to campus in late August, while most undergraduates returning for Fall 2020 begin studies from other locations. All undergraduate classes will be taught remotely from Sept. 9, the first day of fall term instruction, until the week of Oct. 5.
If COVID-19 cases in Rhode Island have declined from their current level over a 14-day period and the number of students who test positive for COVID-19 is sufficiently low, Brown will revert to the approach outlined in its Plan for a Healthy and Safe 2020-21. In alignment with the plan, the University will invite returning undergrads back to campus in late September and begin in-person instruction for small undergraduate courses on Oct. 5. If by Sept. 11 the public health situation has not improved, the remainder of the semester will be remote.
Read more here:
https://healthy.brown.edu/
CCRI
The Community College of Rhode Island has said it plans to deliver “most” classes remotely this fall.
CCRI writes:
"Right now, many fall courses are still listed with a specific campus attached to them. These courses will remain on the scheduled days and times as listed on the course schedule (unless otherwise noted), but will instead be offered remotely. We are currently updating the online course schedule and you will see courses correctly labeled as 'remote.'"
Read more here:
https://ccri.edu/covid-19/index.html
Providence College
In June, Providence College announced it would reopen for in-person classes, with classes beginning August 31.
In May, PC came under fire after students, living in off-campus housing, angered neighbors for not adhering to Rhode Island’s coronavirus restrictions.
https://www.golocalprov.com/news/new-student-tells-ri-woman-to-fall-down-flight-of-stairs-after-pics-posted
On Monday, PC announced its testing protocol for students arriving on campus.
We are pleased to provide the details of the COVID-19 testing program PC has created in partnership with CVS. Students may now schedule appointments for pharmacy drive-thru testing at CVS facilities in most locations (New York and New Jersey excluded), with the cost billed directly to Providence College.
In accordance with the College’s testing protocols, you are asked to schedule this test 3-5 days before your return to campus. This is known as your point-of-origin test. PC will test you again when you arrive to move in.
Read more about PC’s plans here:
https://covid-19.providence.edu/fall-2020-continuity-and-reopening-planning/
Rhode Island College
The state’s four-year institute of higher learning announced the following on July 25, which stands as its latest update — announcing it is planning on being “predominately remote”
RIC wrote:
Rhode Island College will be teaching, learning and working in a predominately remote environment as we start the academic year. We are deeply committed to maintaining our high quality, high-value education while keeping our students, faculty and staff healthy and safe this coming academic year.
Read more here:
http://www.ric.edu/COVID19/Pages/default.aspx
Johnson and Wales
Johnson & Wales University is saying it is “actively monitoring the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.”
JWU writes: "The health, safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff and community are the university’s number-one priority. Please refer to JWU’s COVID-19 Conduct Protocol for additional information.
The university will continue to update this site with new COVID-19 information as it becomes available."
JWU says it can “modify [the] code at any time — and for any reason — without notice to you.”
Read more here:
https://wildcatwelcome.jwu.edu/covid19conductprotocol/
RISD
The Rhode Island School of Design has announced a “hybrid” approach to the upcoming fall semester.
RISD will open for fall 2020 with students taking a blend of in-person, online, and hybrid classes. The semester starts online on September 10, with in-person instruction beginning September 17.
The college goes into specifics about its screening protocol HERE.
https://covid.risd.edu/health-self-care/screening-and-contact-tracing/#arrival-testing
Bryant University
After announcing on June 11 that classes would return to Bryant’s Smithfield campus on August 25, the University last updated its COVID page on August 14 with “updated RIDOH guidelines for quarantining from hot states well as all international students; Rave Guardian hotline app; pack a ‘go bag;’ more.”
Read more here:
https://covid.bryant.edu/
Salve Regina
On June 18, Salve Regina University provided its first “update” on fall 2020 pledging classes would resume September 9.
According to Salve, there are currently no suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus at Salve Regina.
Salve Regina’s campus will formally reopen for new student move-in and Week of Welcome beginning Tuesday, Sept. 1, with classes resuming Wednesday, Sept. 9. We plan to offer the fall semester in dual-modality and to end the semester as scheduled on Saturday, Dec. 19.
However, our plan will be flexible and responsive to changes in the pandemic and related local, state and national guidance," said Salve.
Read more here:
https://salve.edu/back-to-salve/campus-updates
Roger Williams University
On May 29, Roger Williams University announced it would undertake a “slow, phased reopening” on its COVID-19 page.
The latest update? July 15.
As we plan for reopening, you will see the University's most recent health and safety updates here.
The “Reopening Roger” page provided a brief overview of the university’s plans to return to in-person learning.
As we return to campus, some things will be different: daily screenings for symptoms, frequent Covid-19 testing, the use of face coverings, maintaining six feet of distance from one another, and washing hands. These measures will enable the true work of the university –classes, lectures, research, and social interaction – to continue as normally as possible.
Read more here:
https://www.rwu.edu/reopening-roger
