31 Questions college students should ask their schools about returning to campus & the virus
/Here are some questions that students, parents, and faculty might ask about a school's plan for handling the virus during the fall semester.
1-Will students be expected to quarantine when they first arrive?
2-Will be outdoor social distancing activities?
3-Will there be a list of dues and don’ts along with an indication of what’s the most important?
4-Will students with underlying conditions get special help?
5-Should students treat their professors differently than students since they are older?
6-Will classrooms be cleaned after every class meeting?
7-What messaging will be used to motivate students to be safe?
8-How will students be encouraged to wear masks at social events?
9-Will students coming from lax-mask wearing states be given extra help/encouragement to follow the mask-wearing rules?
10-What will be done to help to correct mistaken beliefs about safety measures on the part of students and staff?
11-What happens if someone refuses to wear a mask?
12-How will testing for the virus be handled?
13-How often will I be tested?
14-Where will testing take place?
15-What happens if someone refuses to be tested?
16-Is there an HR form to be filled out each week by employees about symptoms? Will HR notify the supervisor and work contacts if someone is a potential risk?
17-What if someone is turned away for testing because they don’t exhibit symptoms but may have been exposed?
18-Will there be an app used to track symptoms?
19-If there is a symptom tracking app used, will there be rewards for using it?
20-Can the tracking be personalized to their pre-existing conditions?
21-How will shame over contracting symptoms or contracting the disease itself be combated?
22-If someone is self-isolating on campus because of exposure to the virus, how will others be informed (so they don’t intrude)? How will meals be arranged?
23-How will the duties of staff/faculty be handled if the person is self-isolating?
24-Will it be made clear to students what will trigger automatic quarantine?
25-How will contract tracing be handled? (Even if county health authorities say they will conduct tracing, there are reports of this not happening in parts of the country.)
26-Will a “case manager” be assigned to each COVID-19 case (and who assigns them and is there a system in place to keep up with their findings)?
27-If the spread happens rapidly, what will happen if case managers are overwhelmed?
28-Will students who reveal they have been to bars (when they are underage) be punished for reporting these contacts?
29-How many cases will trigger parts of the campus to close or restrict services? How many cases will trigger a shut down of the school?
30-Will students clearly be informed about the threshold for campus shutdown?
31-If I feel unsafe, can I take my classes online?
If you have other questions to suggest, let me know! stephengoforth@gmail.com