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Monday, April 27, 2020

Hybrid reopening in the fall?

One senses there is a consensus forming in the public arena about having a "hybrid" reopening of university campuses in the fall. For example, the president of Brown makes such a proposal in an op ed in the New York Times.* Under such an arrangement, some classes would be held in-person with some kind of "social distancing" enforced. Presumably, smaller classes could be held in classrooms that normally service large-enrollment courses and which, therefore, would allow students to spread out. Large-enrollment courses would be held online, as in the spring.

While the concept is easy to describe in the abstract, the logistics of managing such a system would be complicated. And there are the questions of orientation programs, athletics, dorm management, and food service and, generally, how students and others would be kept apart outside the classroom.

Finally, there is the question in California of what the governor has to say. Of course, there is the issue of the budget which the Regents will finally have to face at their upcoming May meeting (which will occur after the governor issues his May revise budget proposal). Unlike Jerry Brown (and unlike what the current governor did when he was lieutenant governor), Newsom hasn't been a presence at Regents meetings, despite being an ex officio member.

But he has been issuing one executive order after another regarding matters related to the coronavirus. Does he have any opinion about UC should operate in the fall? Even if he chooses to respect the Regents' constitutional autonomy, directives aimed at CSU would create pressure on UC to do likewise.

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*https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/opinion/coronavirus-colleges-universities.html. "...Our students will have to understand that until a vaccine is developed, campus life will be different. Students and employees may have to wear masks on campus. Large lecture classes may remain online even after campuses open..."

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