College parents...fall semester?

[mrsw94]

Thanks for the update, my son is a junior transfer into a CSU from community college, got more info from your post than him! I guess he's staying home for 1st semester, but realistically probably the whole school year.

Ahh...don't you love communication with your kids..... It came from the housing department yesterday. I was glad to have a definitive answer. Hopefuly for Spring, but doubtful as well.

 

[sjrec]

My daughter is supposed to be student teaching a kindergarten class in the fall semester. We aren't sure what the public schools are going to do in her area. Our state is doing very well when it comes to new coronavirus cases - but the area where she is going to teach has been a problem.

I have no idea how you would even attempt to teach kindergarten online. I mean obviously it's a learning process for everyone, but she would like some experience actually teaching in person before being sent out on her own.

My friend supervises student teachers-they’re already being told schools won’t have student teachers in the building. I don’t know how you could expect them to teach online without some classroom experience.

 

[EMom]

Honestly, if I had a college-aged kid, I'd strongly suggest they live at home and only take lecture classes, online, until the virus goes away. Why waste the money living in such a regulated and closely-monitored environment?

I agree, especially with some universities refusing to give partial refunds for room and board if they close early.

My DD was accepted into a health profession major and it simply cannot be done online. They have tried to work around the lack of clinicals since March, and a new virtual system has been a big help. But at some point, they need to work with actual patients.

I wish she could just stay at home and take online classes, then go back to university when things are back to normal. But it’s a two year program and if you don’t go through it and take the classes in order, failing nothing, you don’t get your degree. Space is extremely limited and they only accept a handful of students. Because their class is so small, I think they can manage in person classes. Just no clinicals.

Really, she has no choice but to return. If she doesn’t, this career is closed to her. But if she was a freshman or sophomore, I don’t think she’d be going back to college this year.

 

[JimMIA]

Both my kids attend Flagler College in St Augustine. DD will be a senior and DS will be a junior. We just got an email stating they will be doing in person classes August 26 through Thanksgiving break. It seems that the contingency plan that we are to prepare for is going to online classes from Thanksgiving until end of semester. No word on Spring semester. Worse part is that DS lives in dorm and the addendum to dorm agreement is that they are not offering any refunds if and when they close the dorms this year.

The Florida university system Board of Governors really needs a coherent policy on dorm refunds, because Florida colleges and universities are all over the place.

When schools kicked kids out of dorms in Spring 2020, UCF immediately refunded the pro-rated dorm fees. As a matter of fact, they even tried to get some off-campus apartments to refund. FIU and some other schools didn't refund, and students had to sue them to get refunds.

It seems to me that if a college or university makes the decision to close their own dorms, it's a no-brainer that they refund the unused portion of the dorm rental.

 

[JimMIA]

My daughter is supposed to be student teaching a kindergarten class in the fall semester. We aren't sure what the public schools are going to do in her area. Our state is doing very well when it comes to new coronavirus cases - but the area where she is going to teach has been a problem.

I have no idea how you would even attempt to teach kindergarten online. I mean obviously it's a learning process for everyone, but she would like some experience actually teaching in person before being sent out on her own.

My middle daughter is a kindergarten teacher, and she taught the last part of last year online. It was a challenge, but she managed somehow, and the kids loved it.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Question: If the dorms are open, but the university is all on line, meaning the only people who will be living in the dorms are either international students whose visa requires them to be in-country or those who have other reasons they need to be on campus, do you pay for that fall room, knowing you'll need a placement for winter session? Or do you opt out and hope there are still rooms available when (if) winter session goes back in class? It's $4000 + a required meal plan that he won't use.

 

[mjkacmom]

Question: If the dorms are open, but the university is all on line, meaning the only people who will be living in the dorms are either international students whose visa requires them to be in-country or those who have other reasons they need to be on campus, do you pay for that fall room, knowing you'll need a placement for winter session? Or do you opt out and hope there are still rooms available when (if) winter session goes back in class? It's $4000 + a required meal plan that he won't use.

My daughter received a prorated refund for her room and board from the spring, if the dorms aren’t open I’d assume room and board would be refunded.

 

[FigmentSpark]

True, but for the fall, they will be open, since some people have no option but to be on campus. I would hope they'd make an exception about the meal plan, but I don't know if they'll make exceptions about the dorm fee, when a room is actually assigned to him. Then, the kicker is, if we do this to secure his spot, the university has the right to move him to another (cheaper) dorm room, once kids do start coming back in the winter, if they need that premium (private room) space for, say, a grad student.

 

[JimMIA]

Question: If the dorms are open, but the university is all on line, meaning the only people who will be living in the dorms are either international students whose visa requires them to be in-country or those who have other reasons they need to be on campus, do you pay for that fall room, knowing you'll need a placement for winter session? Or do you opt out and hope there are still rooms available when (if) winter session goes back in class? It's $4000 + a required meal plan that he won't use.

That will depend entirely on your son's college's policy. None of us here can help you with that; you need to call or email the school and ask them.

I certainly wouldn't pay for a whole semester of dorm and meal plan just to secure a spot in the winter! There is always some attrition in dorm occupancy after the Fall term, so winter probably would be available.

 

[MrsPete]

Can't say I'm shocked many kids were OK with all of it. I mean, what kid gets upset at missing the last 10 weeks of something like Calculus and getting to sleep in? But then what happens to the ones who want to major in something like Engineering? They're going in behind and heaven only knows what their experience will be like in college. Some of them might never catch up. This all makes me so nervous for them.

30% just doesn't get the job done. And it gets even more complicated in college if kids are taking out loans for those 30% experiences.

I don't disagree, but kids are kids, and seniors are thinking about right now instead of when they enter Intro to Engineering. To be argumentative, all the incoming freshmen in Intro to Engineering will have missed the last quarter of their senior year, so they'll all be behind. Anyway, the majority of my students were not necessarily pleased with all that happened, but they were okay with it, thought missing 10 weeks of class was a decent trade for the things they missed. I think if we had not had such a great/unique graduation, they might've felt differently. Prom was the #1 thing they were sorry to have missed, and the girls were more upset about it than the guys.

My daughter is supposed to be student teaching a kindergarten class in the fall semester.

Thought 1: Student teaching really matters! I learned more in student teaching than in all my other college classes combined. My just-graduated daughter's roommate is supposed to student teach this fall too, and I'm worried about her.

Thought 2: I can teach high school online, but I have no idea -- none at all -- how kindergarten could be taught effectively online. Of course, part of that is because I don't know how to teach kindergarten, but it's all a reason for concern.

 

[mom2rtk]

Both my kids attend Flagler College in St Augustine. DD will be a senior and DS will be a junior. We just got an email stating they will be doing in person classes August 26 through Thanksgiving break. It seems that the contingency plan that we are to prepare for is going to online classes from Thanksgiving until end of semester. No word on Spring semester. Worse part is that DS lives in dorm and the addendum to dorm agreement is that they are not offering any refunds if and when they close the dorms this year.

I have been wondering about that. I figure most schools will put some sort of clause in there about no refunds.

My daughter received a prorated refund for her room and board from the spring, if the dorms aren’t open I’d assume room and board would be refunded.

But I'm betting a lot of schools will change their contract for this new school year.

I don't disagree, but kids are kids, and seniors are thinking about right now instead of when they enter Intro to Engineering. To be argumentative, all the incoming freshmen in Intro to Engineering will have missed the last quarter of their senior year, so they'll all be behind. Anyway, the majority of my students were not necessarily pleased with all that happened, but they were okay with it, thought missing 10 weeks of class was a decent trade for the things they missed. I think if we had not had such a great/unique graduation, they might've felt differently. Prom was the #1 thing they were sorry to have missed, and the girls were more upset about it than the guys.

If only it were just "Intro to Engineering"! That one actually would have been fine online. It's the upper level Calc and Physics my daughter is concerned about.

LOL on the girls caring more about prom. I have no doubt about that!

 

[barkley]

It's pretty hard for my son's hands-on film production classes also, but there really isn't a better option right now. I feel for all the kids who are living this weird altered reality.

dd graduated with her degree in film and she and her alumni friends wonder what will happen to the program they went through. all the seniors were unable to complete their senior year b/c of the filming production requirements and in the best of circumstances those classes would'nt be offered again until next spring. w/no face to face classes in the fall at minimum it will throw the program off even further so in the face of budget cuts it could be the death to the entire degree program where she attended

Our daughter is set for her Freshman year at Sonoma State (A California CSU). We had been flip flopping on trying to have her be on campus this fall (even though we knew all her classes would be online), but got an email today with the following information. That sealed the deal for us. She'll be remote learning from home for the fall semester, and we will cross our fingers for the Spring. This was the email we got:

i graduated from sonoma state i don't know if you/your dd have looked into it but the professors at sonoma have a history of doing side teaching gigs at some of the nearby community colleges (santa rosa and napa valley being the the most popular). it's not unusual to have an ssu prof teaching the identical class at one of the community colleges evenings that they are teaching days at ssu (same thing happend w/uc davis profs and solano college). i think the college system still allows people to take classes at both concurrently so she could see if any of the general ed classes she would be taking at sonoma are being taught at the community college near you-it would still be online so no huge difference EXCEPT in the cost (the alternate is to get a one year deferral from sonoma and take their general ed at the community college-you just have to check the catalogs to pick the correct transferable classes. it could save a chunk of change and allot of students are doing it).

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We did receive a pro-rated refund on housing and meal plan when they went to on-line classes in March

definitely seems like they are covering themselves not to have to do refunds again with the housing contract addendums this year

 

[PollyannaMom]

What's the rational to switching to online after Thanksgiving?

They don’t want to send kids home all over the country for a week, and then bring them (and possibly the virus) back with only a couple weeks left of the semester. (Thanksgiving is pretty late this year.)

We haven’t received an official letter yet, but this is the rumor for what DS's school will be doing as well.

 

[mom2rtk]

They don’t want to send kids home all over the country for a week, and then bring them (and possibly the virus) back with only a couple weeks left of the semester. (Thanksgiving is pretty late this year.)

We haven’t received an official letter yet, but this is the rumor for what DS's school will be doing as well.

That's why I think that regardless of what Mizzou says right now (and the fact that they didn't adjust their schedule) I can't imagine they will have students back to campus after Thanksgiving. Which is fine. It just seems like too little benefit for the additional exposure.

 

[Colleen27]

They don’t want to send kids home all over the country for a week, and then bring them (and possibly the virus) back with only a couple weeks left of the semester. (Thanksgiving is pretty late this year.)

We haven’t received an official letter yet, but this is the rumor for what DS's school will be doing as well.

DD's school is doing the same. I suspect most schools will - with Thanksgiving so late (26th), most schools only have a week of class and then finals after the break, so bringing students back would be a lot of additional risk for minimal educational benefit. And unlike with the spring semester, professors have plenty of time to figure out a good system for proctoring virtual exams for fall term so the online element should run somewhat smoother than it did when it was all thrown together last minute.

 

[mjkacmom]

dd graduated with her degree in film and she and her alumni friends wonder what will happen to the program they went through. all the seniors were unable to complete their senior year b/c of the filming production requirements and in the best of circumstances those classes would'nt be offered again until next spring. w/no face to face classes in the fall at minimum it will throw the program off even further so in the face of budget cuts it could be the death to the entire degree program where she attended





i graduated from sonoma state i don't know if you/your dd have looked into it but the professors at sonoma have a history of doing side teaching gigs at some of the nearby community colleges (santa rosa and napa valley being the the most popular). it's not unusual to have an ssu prof teaching the identical class at one of the community colleges evenings that they are teaching days at ssu (same thing happend w/uc davis profs and solano college). i think the college system still allows people to take classes at both concurrently so she could see if any of the general ed classes she would be taking at sonoma are being taught at the community college near you-it would still be online so no huge difference EXCEPT in the cost (the alternate is to get a one year deferral from sonoma and take their general ed at the community college-you just have to check the catalogs to pick the correct transferable classes. it could save a chunk of change and allot of students are doing it).

Dd23’s boyfriend will not get his diploma until he turns in his last film, he has everything he needs, just needs to be able to film.

 

[AustinTink]

dd graduated with her degree in film and she and her alumni friends wonder what will happen to the program they went through. all the seniors were unable to complete their senior year b/c of the filming production requirements and in the best of circumstances those classes would'nt be offered again until next spring. w/no face to face classes in the fall at minimum it will throw the program off even further so in the face of budget cuts it could be the death to the entire degree program where she attended

Yikes I hope their program can withstand the next year or more of this. My son is a double major, so he will focus on his advertising major until he can get into the studio again and work on his film degree. He's going to take this opportunity to add a minor as well, since he will end up talking an extra semester to graduate.

 

[AustinTink]

Dd23’s boyfriend will not get his diploma until he turns in his last film, he has everything he needs, just needs to be able to film.

My son has friends in the same boat right now. His university has an amazing state-of-the-art production studio building just sitting empty waiting to be used.

 

[MrsPete]

I have been wondering about that. I figure most schools will put some sort of clause in there about no refunds.

Yeah, I'm sure you're right -- and it's fair. When parents paid tuition in December /January, no one could've predicted that the world would change in March. Going into August, we have every reason to know that things are wonky.
Would I be happy about a no-refund policy, if I were still paying tuition? No, but I wouldn't think it was particularly unfair.

If only it were just "Intro to Engineering"! That one actually would have been fine online. It's the upper level Calc and Physics my daughter is concerned about.

Substitute in "hard course" -- I didn't mean the comment to be limited to that specific class. Thinking of my kids' classes, student nursing would've been the worst for this situation.

LOL on the girls caring more about prom. I have no doubt about that!

Yes, some of my girl students had already purchased non-refundable prom dresses. Very big deal to many of them.

They don’t want to send kids home all over the country for a week, and then bring them (and possibly the virus) back with only a couple weeks left of the semester. (Thanksgiving is pretty late this year.)

Ah, I see.
Question: If they're saying up front that the on-campus portion of the semester ends at Thanksgiving, have they pro-rated the dorm and meal plan costs? I mean, a college semester is 14 weeks -- if it's now 12 weeks on campus, the dorm and meal plan should cost less.