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By early July,\u00a0about 80% of U.S. campuses<\/a>\u00a0were planning to resume at least some in-person instruction, even as a\u00a0growing numbers of faculty<\/a>\u00a0are\u00a0voicing concerns<\/a>\u00a0about\u00a0safety<\/a>.<\/p>\n As\u00a0Michael Sorrell<\/a>, president of Paul Quinn College, argues, \u201cBecause we do not yet have the ability to bring students and staff back to campus while keeping them safe and healthy, we simply cannot return to business as usual.\u201d Sorrell says that bringing students back in this context \u201cconstitutes an abdication of our moral responsibility as leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n But this isn\u2019t just about the responsibilities of individual campuses and university leaders to do what\u2019s right. As a\u00a0scholar<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0ethics<\/a>, I believe it is unwise and unethical for\u00a0government to leave schools<\/a>\u00a0largely on their own to navigate in deciding whether and how to open their campuses. The health risks are too high.<\/p>\n I also consider it unwise and unethical for the federal government and the states to leave so much of the\u00a0financial burden<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0COVID-19 places on the higher education sector<\/a>\u00a0up to schools to resolve on their own.<\/p>\n So far, few campuses have said they plan to go all or almost entirely online. The\u00a0California State University<\/a>\u00a0system, with the exception of a few classes, will go online.\u00a0University of Massachusetts Boston<\/a>\u00a0administrators say the university will forgo in-person teaching because they believe opening that campus would be\u00a0too dangerous<\/a>.<\/p>\n [Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation\u2019s newsletter and get expert takes on today\u2019s news, every day.<\/a><\/em>]<\/p>\n There is significant pressure to get back to in-person instruction. Zoom U isn\u2019t as good as on-campus instruction, and students may fall\u00a0off track<\/a>\u00a0if they do not resume their education.<\/p>\n The fear is that many students may suspend their education if it\u2019s completely virtual, reducing the flow of housing and tuition payments to colleges. Some public and private\u00a0university budgets are so precariously balanced<\/a>\u00a0that some institutions will not survive if they lose a\u00a0significant amount of the revenue<\/a>\u00a0they usually get from tuition and dorm payments.<\/p>\n In April,\u00a0Brown University President Christina Paxson<\/a>\u00a0was among the first to call for universities to reopen because they are vital to society and local economies. Keeping campuses closed she said, could be a \u201ccatastrophe<\/a>\u201d for some schools.<\/p>\n Paxson\u00a0told U.S. senators at a hearing<\/a>\u00a0in June that she believed colleges and universities must reopen as quickly and safely as possible.\u00a0Purdue University<\/a>\u00a0President Mitchell Daniels told the senators that students were \u201ceager\u201d to continue their educations in person.<\/p>\n U.S. higher education, with\u00a0more than 4,000 colleges and universities<\/a>, is not only the envy of the world. It is economically vital,\u00a0employing about 4 million people<\/a>, and serves as an\u00a0engine of scientific and technological innovation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Campuses\u00a0lost billions of dollars<\/a>\u00a0and laid off\u00a0thousands<\/a>\u00a0when they were forced to close in March. So did nearby\u00a0towns<\/a>.<\/p>\n But these aren\u2019t ethically sound reasons to resume in-person instruction during a pandemic where it will be hard for nearly 20 million students to\u00a0safely return to campus<\/a>.<\/p>\n Even\u00a0models for reopening<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0assume highly reliable tests<\/a>, and rigorous plans for testing, quarantining and caring for students with COVID-19 suggest that campuses are high-risk zones \u2013 potential petri dishes for the coronavirus.<\/p>\n Students eager to see each other may wear masks as instructed in classrooms, but they\u00a0may not follow social distancing protocols<\/a>\u00a0outside class.<\/p>\n It\u2019s tempting to see\u00a0student culture<\/a>, youthful risk-taking and\u00a0fraternity parties<\/a>\u00a0as the biggest obstacles. But the structural challenges of opening campuses are formidable too.<\/p>\n Colleges are especially hard<\/a>\u00a0places to practice physical distancing.<\/p>\n Ventilation<\/a>, key for reducing the infection risks, is often poor in older classroom buildings, and windows cannot be opened in many new buildings. Stanford, which has the advantage of a mild year-round climate, has considered using large\u00a0tents<\/a>\u00a0for instruction to allow for greater physical distancing and ventilation.\u00a0Arizona State University<\/a>, which has long used a combination of in-person and online instruction, has invested in outdoor furniture and awnings to make it easier to hold classes outside.<\/p>\n Dorms tend to be notoriously tight quarters, potentially expediting the spread of the coronavirus. When airborne, the virus can linger for long periods of time in high-rise dorm\u00a0elevators<\/a>. The potential spread of the coronavirus through the \u201ctoilet plumes<\/a>\u201d that form when bits of fecal matter splash into the air after flushing in shared bathrooms may make using toilets in dorms and other buildings a constant hazard.<\/p>\n Time between classes is often short, yielding crowded sidewalks, doorways and hallways. Cafeterias configured to reduce risk will still be swamped at mealtimes. The\u00a0social networks<\/a>\u00a0created when students take several courses could easily permit infected but asymptomatic students to come into contact with hundreds of people each day by simply attending their classes.<\/p>\n Early efforts to resume training for student athletes underscore the risks.<\/p>\n The\u00a0University of Texas<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Clemson<\/a>\u00a0football teams began workouts in June and soon announced that many of their members had tested positive for COVID-19. The athletes, and those who had been in contact with them, were isolated.<\/p>\n Many schools going with a hybrid model say they will be prepared to \u201cpivot\u201d to online learning, if necessary, without explicitly stating the criteria they will use to make that determination. It will be hard to feel confident about those decisions unless schools are also transparent about their testing protocols, the false negative and positive rates of the particular COVID-19 tests they are using, and campus infection and hospitalization rates.<\/p>\n The problem isn\u2019t only what happens on campus.<\/p>\n For instance, in Tompkins County, New York, Cornell University and Ithaca College undergraduate\u00a0students comprise about 21% of the population<\/a>. New or returning students who may have flown long distances may bring the coronavirus to their schools\u2019 regions before they are even tested, or if tested, before the virus is detectable.<\/p>\n Campus staff from Black and Latino communities are\u00a0particularly vulnerable<\/a>\u00a0to COVID-19.<\/p>\n And faculty members tend to be older compared to the general workforce, with a\u00a0median age of 55<\/a>, making them more vulnerable to COVID-19. Many of my colleagues are in their 60s and 70s.<\/p>\n Texas, California, Arizona and Florida are already low on spare\u00a0intensive care hospital beds<\/a>, without universities in session. A large outbreak among students, faculty and staff might quickly overwhelm campus health centers and local hospitals.<\/p>\n While young people are less likely to die from the disease,\u00a0brain damage<\/a>\u00a0from COVID-19 is an increasing concern for all ages.<\/p>\n On the one hand, the potential economic costs to many colleges and universities of going almost entirely or totally online for the 2020-2021 academic year could be devastating.<\/p>\n On the other hand, bringing students back to campus and having an outbreak that harms or kills faculty, staff, students and members of nearby communities would also be devastating.<\/p>\n If large-scale reopening of campuses proves untenable or unsustainable, I believe they will need need\u00a0far more economic assistance<\/a>\u00a0than the\u00a0US$14 billion<\/a>\u00a0Congress included in the CARES Act relief package.<\/p>\n That money would be well spent if it helps universities survive without feeling forced to resume in-person instruction before it\u2019s safe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pressure to resume on-campus education<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Petri dishes<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Not islands<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Balancing act<\/strong><\/h4>\n