The closing door on the fall "reopening"

There seems to be a shifting away from fall reopening plans at various universities. Exactly what the point is of having students in dorms - even with reduced capacity - doing online courses is not clear. Here is what the latest plan from Harvard entails:

Only 40 percent of Harvard undergrads will return to campus this fall

By Deirdre Fernandes, Boston Globe, July 6, 2020

Harvard University announced on Monday that it will allow only first-year students and undergraduates specifically invited for academic reasons to come to campus this fall in an effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

In all, only 40 percent of Harvard’s undergraduates will be on campus starting in September, and all teaching will be done remotely. In the spring freshmen will return home, and seniors will come to Cambridge. Students will be housed in single-room dormitories, and most of the non-residential buildings in Harvard Yard will be off limits, the university outlined in its plans Monday.

“We have sought a path to bringing all students back as soon as conditions allow, while continuing their academic progress in the meantime and remaining a vibrant research community across our broad range of disciplines,” Harvard President Lawrence Bacow, along with two deans, wrote in a message to the community. “But we also recognize that, fundamentally, there is an intrinsic incompatibility between our highly interactive, residential Harvard College experience and the social distancing needed to mitigate COVID-19 transmission.”

Bacow and the deans said they have been concerned about the uptick in transmission of the virus in recent weeks.

“The recent upturn in COVID-19 cases in certain states illustrates the difficulty of making predictions, even well-informed ones, about the evolution of this virus,” Bacow said in the message.

Harvard’s approach to the fall is among the more restrictive in the Boston area. Most universities have laid out plans to bring most students back this upcoming school year with masks, frequent testing, smaller classrooms, and a mix of online and in-person classes.

Harvard previously announced that many of its graduate programs will be taught remotely too.

Students can apply for waivers to be on campus if they have challenges to remote learning, including a lack of appropriate technology, limited quiet space, food and shelter insecurities, and a need to access laboratories for their senior thesis, the university said. Students who can’t be on campus during the academic year will be able to take two courses at Harvard’s summer school in 2021, without paying tuition...

Full story at https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/06/metro/just-40-percent-harvard-undergrads-will-return-fall/