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A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

chronicle.com

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Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#51

Post by klodolph »

alexbanks wrote: post #46
alec_kendall wrote: post #25

I moved back home after my university moved my classes to online (mid-march). I’m now paying rent on an apartment I don’t need and have a lease for next school year that I might not use. Even if in-person classes start again, I’ll have to worry about being screwed again next spring. The only other option I could think of was subleasing but unfortunately I signed my lease in January.

Usually breaking a lease is 1.5-2.5x a month's rent. This will definitely be cheaper than paying for an apartment you won't use, even though it sucks.

This depends on the jurisdiction and the terms of the lease. Most places in the US, there are very few ways to break a lease without a clause in the contract allowing it.

For example, in New York, if you break a lease the landlord is obligated to make a “reasonable effort” to re-rent the apartment. You are still on the hook in the interim. In the current environment, the apartment probably won’t be re-rented.

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#52

Post by alexbanks »

klodolph wrote: post #51
alexbanks wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Usually breaking a lease is 1.5-2.5x a month's rent. This will definitely be cheaper than paying for an apartment you won't use, even though it sucks.

This depends on the jurisdiction and the terms of the lease. Most places in the US, there are very few ways to break a lease without a clause in the contract allowing it. For example, in New York, if you break a lease the landlord is obligated to make a “reasonable effort” to re-rent the apartment. You are still on the hook in the interim. In the current environment, the apartment probably won’t be re-rented.

Saying anything other than "It depends on the lease" isn't really valuable, so that's what I'll respond with. It depends on the lease.

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#53

Post by baggy_trough »

alexbanks wrote: post #44
baggy_trough wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Baffling comment. Providing rental property is a legitimate business.

Providing rental property is yet another industry in which "Why don't we just screw over people with no options" has prevailed. It may be legitimate in that people need places to live, but it is far from legitimate in any way regarding getting what is paid for.

Stating that being a landlord is "far from legitimate in any way regarding getting what is paid for" is really a grotesque exaggeration.

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#54

Post by moneytide1 »

downerending wrote: post #5

I feel bad for the colleges. But anyone in their right mind that's going to college to learn things will take a gap year. Those going to college just for the paper are well advised to keep going. The next couple of years will be easy mode, for sure. You get an A, and you get an A--everyone gets an A!

"... If a student wants to study at Princeton, he doesn’t really need to apply or pay tuition. He can simply show up and start taking classes. As a professor, I assure you that we make near-zero effort to stop unofficial education; indeed, the rare, earnestly curious student touches our hearts. At the end of four years at Princeton, though, the guerrilla student would lack one precious thing: a diploma. The fact that almost no one tries this route — saving hundreds of thousands of dollars along the way — is a strong sign that students understand the value of certification over actual learning..."

"...Educational austerity is the simplest path back to an economy in which serious on-the-job learning starts during high school — not after college."

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-caplan-education...

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#55

Post by JCharante »

derrick_jensen wrote: post #7
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Permanently, too, if this causes a paradigm shift and virtual learning becomes the norm. Beyond the crisis, colleges were already planning on declining enrollment due to demographic shifts. Real estate in exclusively college towns, dependent on collegiate rentals, will be seeing long term changes regardless.

I don't believe virtual learning will be widely used long-term. I might be biased, coming from a mostly engineering school, but there is a lot of vital lab equipment needed for the curriculum, not to mention that social networking and connections are essential to most careers going forward, and I don't see that transferring over in the same way

Adding on to this, college is a great place to meet students from all around the world. The downside of virtual learning is that many students fled the countries where the government's response was underwhelming, so it's hard to collaborate across so many timezones. If virtual learning continues to be the norm, then students would likely go to schools to operate in a timezone that works best for them (which would most likely be during the day for them). This would eliminate the opportunity to work on projects with people from the other side of the world for most.

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#56

Post by arbitrary_name »

nprz wrote: post #19

CFR for those aged 60 or greater is at 6.4%[0]. And of course an even larger percentage will end up hospitalized. How many professors are in that high risk demographic? Class is just supposed to go on while professors inevitably fall ill, become hospitalized and die? [0] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3...

Probably the only way for young bloods to get tenure. Kidding.

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#57

Post by alexbanks »

baggy_trough wrote: post #53
alexbanks wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Providing rental property is yet another industry in which "Why don't we just screw over people with no options" has prevailed. It may be legitimate in that people need places to live, but it is far from legitimate in any way regarding getting what is paid for.

Stating that being a landlord is "far from legitimate in any way regarding getting what is paid for" is really a grotesque exaggeration.

I suppose you haven't rented an apartment in a major city...

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#58

Post by jackson1442 »

nn35 wrote: post #43
downerending wrote: post #5

I feel bad for the colleges. But anyone in their right mind that's going to college to learn things will take a gap year. Those going to college just for the paper are well advised to keep going. The next couple of years will be easy mode, for sure. You get an A, and you get an A--everyone gets an A!

Take a gap year and do what, exactly? Sitting around your parents' house for a year is probably worse than getting the coronavirus, for an 18 year old. Maybe much worse.

As an 18-year-old, exactly this. Even with the lackluster online classes I am getting, sitting at home is unproductive, uninteresting, and just mentally exhausting. The primary thing I looked forward to in college is independence. Even if my parents completely laid off for the year, I would still feel judged for every decision I made.

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#59

Post by dba7dba »

It is just my personal opinion but if I was in a position to plan for the upcoming academic year in US, I'd recommend below.

- Start Fall semester with onsite classes.

- For those who wish to participate remotely for medical reasons or personal preference, they should be allowed to teach/learn remotely.

- But everyone (administration, profs, students, support staff, local town/city) should be prepared to have the teaching go virtual with the campus shutting down on a short notice.

- If Covid-19 reappears locally or surges again nationally, campus should close down.

I say at least start the upcoming semester in Fall 2020 with onsite classes, for the sake of human bonds to form between the students/professors. It may sound too unpredictable but I think having even one or two months of in person interaction would be beneficial for the incoming freshman class.

Also, dorm/parking/housing cost probably should be charged in monthly increments, not per semester, to prepare for possible shutdown of campus in the middle of a semester.

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#60

Post by chmln »

downerending wrote: post #5

I feel bad for the colleges. But anyone in their right mind that's going to college to learn things will take a gap year. Those going to college just for the paper are well advised to keep going. The next couple of years will be easy mode, for sure. You get an A, and you get an A--everyone gets an A!

> The next couple of years will be easy mode, for sure

Sadly this isn't true for a lot of math/computer science courses, speaking from very recent experience. While having an open book and even online access is an advantage, many profs implement measures ranging from webcam proctoring services to extremely difficult time-limited exams to compensate.

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