Fall 2020 in Review: What's to Come in Spring 2021? — MARIST CIRCLE

After the Poughkeepsie campus closed for five months in the spring of 2020, students returned in August to welcome a semester like anyone else – President Dennis J. Murray clearly reminded people that this is Their failure. 

The next 15 weeks resulted in two campus suspensions, 100 temporary suspensions due to COVID-19 related violations, five temporary dormitory isolations and approximately 175 active COVID-19 cases. The pandemic actually changed every aspect of university operations this fall. Faculty and staff become contact trackers, and the Adirondack chair on the green becomes the classroom. Thousands of signs remind passers-by to wear masks and keep six feet away. 

The usual hallmarks of the fall semester-chaotic control of moving days, cheers in sports games, carols under the trees-disappeared. However, despite the undeniable impact of the epidemic, the semester on campus still ends as planned on November 24. 

The Circle talked with students, faculty, staff and President Murray to discover what worked and what didn’t work, and how the spring semester reflected the fall’s harvest. 

Before arriving on campus in the fall, each student submitted a PCR COVID-19 test, which eventually detected 37 positive cases. Dr. Alicia Slater, Dean of the Faculty of Science, said: “After seeing the success of universities like Marist, more institutions are implementing this agreement in the spring.” This semester will again require arrivals. Before the test, students from non-neighboring states and foreign countries must be quarantined for 10 days. 

California Emma Kittay '22 completed the 14-day quarantine work in Conklin Hall before the fall semester, but felt frustrated after seeing the cancellation of quarantine work by students in New York and surrounding states before the semester began. "I don't want anyone to get sick. This is what I worry about the most, so I will do my best to ensure everyone's safety, but it means you have to make sure that all students are doing this because it is not fair. 

In the fall, one of the most effective ways to limit campus spread is surveillance testing, which includes weekly PCR tests that are representative of a portion of the campus community. Slater said that the spring program will add surveillance tests, with the goal of testing all members of the Marist community every 14 days. 

As for vaccinations, Murray said that students are unlikely to be vaccinated during the semester: "Although we will see more people being vaccinated in the larger Dutchess County community throughout the semester, it now appears that young People, especially like our students, will not be at the top of the list...We will experience medical staff and emergency personnel, senior groups, etc." 

Slater praised the success of Marist's internal liaison and tracking team, "this is very valuable for limiting spread on campus, especially during small outbreaks." Safety and Security Director John Blaisdell (John Blaisdell) said that the next semester will simplify the process to make it more "effective, efficient and student-friendly."  

The contact tracking team is made up of employees on campus, including safety and athletics staff, as well as faculty and staff. All contact trackers are certified by the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

In the spring of this year, Murray pointed out that the distance between contact tracking and discipline should be greater to help track positive cases: "Even if they break the rules, tell us that you violated the rules so that we can contact tracking and prevent spread. We did better than we did last year," Murray said. 

The six-foot-tall zoom calls and greetings provide a challenging social environment for students seeking to establish new relationships, especially for freshmen who are adapting to college life for the first time. After a few hours at Tenney Stadium, gather in the form of nail ball sports and have a picnic on the Marist green. The freshman class chair Caleb Davis '24 said that this reflects the resilience of the freshman. 

In other words, they want more. 

Davis said: "Many freshmen are disappointed by this policy because it does not allow freshmen to visit other freshman dormitories." "Although they have been able to make friends among students in the dormitory, they cannot meet people in other dormitories. In response to the difficulties of social life, commuter Chloe Kangarlu '22 said that although the policies of commuters and residents are not inherently bad, it is difficult for commuters to get to know anyone. people."

Blaisdale said he met with Deborah DiCaprio, the deputy head of student affairs, Matthew McMahon, the director of student conduct, and the campus resident assistant on campus to discuss what works. Although the specific results of these meetings have not yet been announced, Blaisdale heralds the upcoming changes in student behavior expectations. 

McMahon said some of the topics on the table included potentially tolerating visits between dormitories and clarifying occupancy restrictions in rooms and common areas.

Blaisdell said: "Of course, some things are not done well, and we certainly don't want students to prepare for failure." "We want to make sure they still have a meaningful university experience, but we must make sure it is safe. " 

The club has always been a popular social place for students with common interests. It adjusts and limits many of their daily activities, trading interactive events for virtual icebreakers. Student Union President Roda Mohamed '21 praised the flexibility and creativity of club leaders and said that the Student Government Association (SGA) hopes to gather information about student club activities in the spring. 

But certain clubs bear the brunt of the COVID-19 restrictions. Marist Femme, who is accustomed to discussing personal and sensitive topics behind closed doors, now tries to imitate this intimate circle through virtual means. The improvisation and comedy group Marist College HuMarists on campus needs

. 

Respiratory droplets are considered

Due to this virus, singing on campus is almost obsolete. 

Kittay said: "They joked that they allow things like track and field competitions or our going to classes and other super communicators, such as allowing gymnasiums to be opened, not allowing music student gatherings, at least outside."

Senior class president Natalie Ford, 21-year-old Nadal, said encouraging participation in virtual events remains a challenge. Before the pandemic, students can hang out or hang out at campus events. Now, students must sign up for a time slot for face-to-face activities, or add another hour of zoom to their schedule. 

of

Shared with the university community the potential for more activities in the upcoming semester. "We are reviewing potential activities in the spring, which may include activities that are not feasible during the fall semester," executive vice president Geoffrey Brackett told Circle. "Vice President DiCaprio (DiCaprio) and his capable student affairs team are actively developing these plans." 

DiCaprio said in a letter to the student body that most of the positive cases found were from violations of the college’s COVID-19 guidelines. of

Directly related to parties outside campus. 

"I think teachers, faculty, staff, and students have performed well in social evacuation, wearing masks, cleaning and hygiene, etc., from 8 to 5 Monday to Friday. Then I think the problems we face, where do we end more and more The place is affected by infection, usually related to student behavior after get off work and outside campus." Blaisdell said. 

"Whether it is wearing a mask or gathering outside of campus, the spring must be improved... the personal accountability system must be higher." 

Encourage members of the Marist community to report violations of COVID-19 guidelines, and

. Both Marist Security and the Office of Student Conduct include incident reporting tabs on their respective websites, where individuals can report violations anonymously. hotline-

-Already implemented. 

McMahon said reports from the Marist community increased by approximately 450%. This fall, more than 100 students were temporarily suspended from school for violating COVID-19 regulations, and they were prohibited from attending campus or class until disciplinary action was taken. McMahon said that probation (high-level sanctions) has been rarely used in the past, and it has increased sharply this fall. 

These sanctions occur when students violate the code of conduct and put others at risk. In early October, students were told

, Its purpose is to allow only high-level sanctions to be appealed, thereby solving a large number of cases more effectively. 

"Our overall goal is to educate students and help them correct their behavior, and try to work with them and help them through their difficulties, while also understanding that they have a responsibility to take care of each other and that their behavior affects others," McMahon said.

Students expressed different feedback on the COVID-19 violation report. One student said that they knew that a friend's report caused the student to be suspended from school at an off-campus residence. Others said their reports were deaf ears. 

"The photos I reported showed that I saw photos posted by students on Facebook in the bar-before Mahoneys nightlife was shut down, I saw a few people there and did not implement the guide-and crowded parties. There was nothing." An anonymous senior person said. "I also reported on some people I know who live on campus, and they are going to hold parties with at least 10-15 people. The online report I entered has not received any follow-up." 

In one particular case, two seniors (who asked to remain anonymous) reported a so-called off-campus gathering within one month of the semester. A security guard told the students that it sounded like they were "excluded." One of the seniors contacted a trusted professor, and he personally linked them to the Office of Safety and Security. They are sure to tell the guards about the situation. 

An anonymous RA told Circle, “Even recording incidents feels inefficient. Most people are not being spoken by the student’s behavior, but just make residents angry with RA.” 

McMahon said that although the Office of Student Behavior has received a large number of reports, many people lack sufficient details to investigate further. For example, students will report off-campus gatherings, but not their whereabouts, the number of students attending or any identifying information about the offending student. But overall, McMahon said, these reports helped his office understand behavior patterns on and off campus, and conveyed many students’ vested interests in campus safety. 

At the beginning of the semester, an account appeared on Instagram, posting photos of students in violation of the COVID-19 policy on campus; this account has been deleted. Mohamed believes that this method of publicly showing students is inefficient; instead, she hopes student leaders will play a role in encouraging students to follow the rules in the spring. 

"Let the student leaders remind students,'Well, please remember to wear a mask and social distancing is very important.' And I think the guidelines advocated and proposed by the school are essentially excellent. I think most students... …Really want to go to campus, they want to experience it for themselves," Mohammed said. 

But as Sophia Lopukhin (23) proved, becoming a person to speak brings a series of challenges: "If I see people walking around without a mask, I will ask people to wear a mask and Respect others. I know this helps the greater good, but sometimes I find my one-thousandth opinion insignificant.

Before the fall semester, Marist boasted of its strict cleaning program and disinfected the classrooms

. This means that the course will only last one hour, not 75 minutes, and the time will be made up in the Saturday course. 

Slater said that as more evidence of the spread of COVID-19 emerged, people discovered that the surface was not the main factor causing the spread. Therefore, this semester's surface cleaning time and resources will be more concentrated on high-touch areas-elevator buttons, stair handrails, door handles, etc.-the classroom will be cleaned three times a day instead of changing each time. Slater added that disinfecting materials will be placed in classrooms for students and faculty to clean the areas they deem appropriate. 

"You can imagine how difficult it is to clean all these classrooms thoroughly after each replacement. Listen, if we think this is an important reason for keeping the case low, we will do it... But there is no evidence. Prove it," Slater said. 

With the change in cleaning habits, class time was restored to 75 minutes, thus eliminating the need for class on Saturdays-which is not welcome in autumn academic qualifications. 

In November, the Student Academic Committee (SAC) under the SGA conducted a survey of the Marist community and found that “out of 534 respondents, approximately 97% of students voted against not attending Saturday courses.” The respondents repeatedly complained. "Burnout", 81% of people said that the stress level of this semester is higher than the previous semester. 

SAC provided these findings to the Academic Affairs Committee, the Academic Affairs Committee and Dean Thomas Wermuth, Vice President of Academic Affairs. Slater said that the mental health factor was the reason for the cancellation of Saturday classes in the discussion, but the cleanliness data ultimately determined the decision. 

Looking ahead to the spring semester, challenges and uncertainties are looming. As of now, the start date of May is still to be determined, and the promised graduation date of the 2020 graduates will also be "fixed." 

Global COVID-19 cases

, Of which the United States accounts for more than a quarter. More statistics in New York State and even in the Netherlands are daunting: before the fall semester of 2020, the positive rate in New York State is lower than

; As of January 24, the state’s positive rate

, And Dutchess County is already

In order to prevent the college from closing classes on campus this spring, Slater said: “As a community, we will have to surpass the surrounding communities” and keep the “positive rate lower than the current positive rate in Holland County and New York State.” 

The stakes are high, and the lessons learned during the fall semester will prove crucial to the success of the university this spring. 

Various departments and organizations on campus adjusted their operations to meet the challenges of the fall: music students practiced in a cabin built behind the Murray Student Center. SGA has established a representative position for students living in Conklin Hall, and the COVID-19 subcommittee is currently discussing sustainability work to recycle takeaway boxes and bags in campus restaurants. Davis and his freshman representatives hope to turn the dining tent behind the student center into an after-get off work place for safe social activities. 

With the strength and resilience shown by the Marist community this fall, the increase in testing and the effectiveness of contact tracing have become more effective, Murray said that he is confident of entering the spring. 

"You can be a quarterback on Monday morning and point out how to use new information or new knowledge to change the way you work. But in general, I think all the community members here are doing well. I have learned something from the experience, and I think we will do better in the spring semester."

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