Covid Support Thread
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@Materialsgirl I’m also in greek housing and while we’re doing everything we can think of to keep the girls safe there are going to be so many competing levels of compliance……. The girls who had to remain here last spring really tried hard to follow social distancing guidelines outside of the house (I was very proud of them) but honestly I think Standards and Risk Management are going to be overwhelmed. I’ve simply resigned myself to the fact that at some point I’m going to get it and you’re right some of our students really can’t just take a gap year or afford private housing despite how unbelievable it sounds.
BTW, houses couldn’t function without dedicated volunteers. Thank you for volunteering for your chapter.
My alma mater just designated a dorm that has an apartment like set up as COVID isolation units. This dorm normally fits like 500 students and it will be halved now. So at some point, it could have upwards of 250 COVID positive students? Really?! The people who work in housing at my school are definitely not paid well and now they are supposed to support COVID positive college-age students?
I don’t have any answers, but the fact that people still don’t get everything has fundamentally changed (and hopefully most of it is temporary) and are still operating on the well this is how it was done before mentality is beyond me. I am extremely exasperated with so many people in my life at the moment. My parents just had to socialize and now they are isolating at home waiting on a COVID test because my dad doesn’t feel well. They are acting like spoiled teenagers.
There is just not a word in the English language that encompasses all of my disbelief, anger, disappointment, fear, and sadness.
@Part-time Lurker: it’s very difficult to balance for sure. I hadn’t even thought of what they were going to do until the contract discussions came up this week. I had already planned on the Alumnae meetings and reunions to be virtual or postponed, but holy crap… all this on top of the usual safety stuff we contend with (sexual harassment, stalking, violence, alcohol/drugs, etc). Are you the Resident Advisor/house parent? I live two stops north of the house now so as alum pres I can quickly get to them if needed. And thank you, you as well. It’s very rewarding to work with college students but not exactly glamorous. I have no idea how rush will look this year, virtual? Suspended? We wouldn’t be moving any *new* people into the house at this point, just all returnees. Our big discussion was that the schools current quarantine plan includes housing at a hotel (which is great), but the food service is driven to the students by the RA’s (they get paid for it). Our RA works differently and cars are not an automatic thing, so we’re asking the school to have their RA’s or public safety deliver supplies/food from our kitchen (packed up by our chef). At least it isn’t costing them any extra to quarantine.. it’s the schools obligation. they’re all supposed to quarantine or isolate and get tested before coming back to school, but I haven’t heard who is providing these tests? so many questions still.
I need to read through the state and CDC’s guidelines for dorm living so I can answer their questions better. I’m (not surprised) they haven’t gotten much help from Res Life.I hope that I’m wrong but I’m not sure how you can have a bunch of college age kids living together in a large shared residence and not have a bunch of transmission.
I’m currently reading the following resources in an effort to figure out what the heck they’re going to do
Also have posed these questions that we need to address
*Guest policy (overnights etc-should suspend).
*Entry into the house of non-residents (masks required, temp checks, hand washing, social distancing, limited access for ‘need only’)
*Mealtimes – will they be communal or boxed?–handwashing stations
*Will you require ladies to mask outside their bedrooms? (I could see this going either way, if you’re able to reduce the traffic in and out of the house, then only those who are feeling ill for whatever reason like allergies or something should mask)
*ceremonies and events? – Mask up and distance. limited attendance
*Recruitment? Virtual or outdoor activities planned? Will need to respect maximum group sizes, so perhaps more of a speed dating or small group/virtual extended rush should be considered
*nearest free testing facility and notification to school/house of need to quarantine/contact tracingIt’s going to be a very large pod (i’m guessing 30 considering reduced enrollment). I’ll have to talk to the lawyer about getting them all to sign off on the contact tracing app on their phones (as in requiring it to be turned on).
@PTL- do you have any resources you’re using? We do not have a national to assist (one of the oldest local in the nation)
alright, a little more information for those interested in how universities are dealing with this:
besides masking, social distancing, temp checks, sanitization, limiting events, smaller classes, single rooms etc, the university is requiring a covid test to submit before starting campus to get their baseline. They will have four thermal scanning zones on the main campus (undergrad population is approximately 3250.. grad is equal but maybe 1/3 are on main campus), mass testing on a two-week basis (500 randomized students to assess baseline, results in 2 hours), in addition to walk in or appointment test requests by students. They are using a $1 million dollar grant to fund this but are asking those with insurance to apply first through that. And contact tracing (although other than interviewing the student, they haven’t said if they have an app or are working with the CS department on an app).Sounds a little better than the plans for grade school kids here..
All of the colleges planning and precautions will be down th toilet with the first round of off-campus beer parties.
@Fyodor We can’t. All we can do is enforce best practices, be proactive, clean multiple times a day and pray. We were lucky this spring but with an increase in numbers…….I don’t know. I have faith in my girls but they’re human so we’ll see.
@Materialsgirl All of the houses on our campus are independently owned by the local chapter’s corporation board so our set-up and relationship with the school are a little different from yours. Our CAB and Corp Board are receiving some guidance from national, but we’re also working with the university and FSL to make sure that our policies and practices align with theirs. It will be much easier for the students to follow the rules if they’re consistent on and off campus. Our university is also setting aside quarantine quarters and they are working with the local health department to provide testing, but I think most testing will end up being done at the hospitals and testing sites. Luckily we have a nearby lab available that will test for $100.So here’s what we’re doing:
1. Recruitment: All virtual including house tours. Pref night is currently a bone of contention between Panhel and the university but local ordinances limiting gatherings should end that discussion. (Unless someone really goes off the rails – which I’m sure you’ve seen happen with a …..strong willed council pres.)
2. The house and Spirit Week
Move-in: 2 hour windows over a three day period with 30 minutes in between for cleaning doorknobs and those who are “time challenged”. Limit two girls per floor per time slot and each girl can only have one helper. Every one gets temp checked at the door by me.Spirit week: Since everything is virtual Spirit week is basically cancelled. Council & set leaders will meet each evening socially distanced and wearing masks.
House Rules:
NO outside visitors this includes live-outs. So no Monday formal or live-out meals. We’ve never allowed men or significant others anywhere but the common areas so we won’t have to deal with pushback on overnight guests. All girls will wear masks anytime they are not in their room. We will be cleaning the bathrooms and common areas twice a day (the cleaning bill is going to kill us). We’ve also set aside several rooms and one bathroom as quarantine areas just in case. Oh! And everyone is required to wash their hands immediately upon entering the house.Meals
Chefs will do a temp check every morning (housekeepers as well). The kitchen doors will remain closed and meals will be served cafeteria style by the chefs who will be masked at all times. Late plates will be boxed and placed in the member fridge. We will not be offering any food in the member kitchen that isn’t individually packaged. We’re also seriously contemplating using all disposables. We hate the idea but….playing it safe seems like the way to go. We’ve also rearranged our dining room and the rest of the house to provide as much distance as possible between members in common areas as well as reducing the number of people who can sit in the dining room/tv lounge etc at any one time.It’s going to be a lot, but we’re hoping that we can keep most people safe and healthy. The girls are also signing agreements to follow all of the rules, socially distance when outside of the house and report any signs of illness immediately. I think that the council and standards are working on some other things as well. I’m optimistic but also convinced that it will be a complete sh*t show and that the number of girls who knock on my door at 1 in the morning holding a bottle of pills and crying is going to increase dramatically.
And yes, my husband and I are proud parents to 150 amazing young women :>)
Just sat in on their exec call and I have to say I’m impressed not only with their management of meetings but the seriousness with which they’re taking this.
House will be at 34-40 women, which is less than usual but not halved. Some women are choosing to do online only and thus will be only paying their insurance fee. Those sisters who do not live in the house will have restricted entry (no meals taken, limited access). Guest policy they are still finalizing, but masks in all common areas for all (we allow significant others to overnight currently, this will be a point of contention if completely removed but right now it’s their rooms only and no free range boy/girlfriends). Staggering meal times, hand wash station prior to meals, chore pods. They’re talking with their cleaning lady now, but the women are still responsible for a decent amount of cleaning. Just getting people back from their own homes into the habits of home being a shared communal space with strict rules regarding other safety . School requires some form of isolation if coming to campus from a hot spot, so they’ve designated a bathroom as the quarantine bathroom for the first two weeks.. I like the idea of signing the rules and responsibilities, they do that anyway for a housing contract.Just an update. I don’t know if anyone else who’s had corona is still having issues…but I am. Been really hard. It took a while to get into the doctors because I was spiking a fever. Can’t allow anyone in if they have a fever. At one point I couldn’t hold a fork – my hands wouldn’t close enough. I couldn’t keep a grasp on a glass. I took a turn and had trouble walking. Every single joint in my body just hurt achingly. It started in my toes and fingers and just went on from there. I finally had a fever free day and my doc got me in and ran a lot of tests. I got a preliminary diagnosis of palidromic rhemutoid, which I had never heard of. The doc called it rhemutoid arthritis-lite. I may have seronegative RA but they can’t tell just yet. I may also have other autoimmune diseases – fibro being a particular concern – but not enough time has passed yet, and they cant run all the tests.
So for me corona has been absolutely lifechanging. The infection kicked off a grab bag full of autoimmune stuff. The meds have been difficult to find because some idiot talking heads have been saying that hydroxychloroquine is a miracle corona cure. Since they couldnt get that the doc went with a stronger med and the side effects have been incredibly unpleasant.
I don’t know how to feel just now. It all just sucks.
