How pandemic-shuttered campuses can reopen
How pandemic-shuttered campuses can reopen
Some U.S. colleges are looking at how to resume classes on campuses safely. Many closed down for more than two months to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
One place they might seek inspiration from is China. Over there, some students at some institutions, including New York University’s campus in Shanghai, are now attending classes in person after three months. NYU Shanghai’s summer session started this week.
Here are some of the virus prevention measures NYU Shanghai is taking:
1. Screen for potential coronavirus carriers
Green “healthy” QR codes
In the absence of widespread coronavirus testing, NYU Shanghai, like many businesses and organizations throughout China, will only allow people with a green health QR code to enter.
This QR code uses various information, though it is unclear which data is used, to assign each resident a color: red means a suspected or confirmed coronavirus carrier; yellow indicates a person might need to be quarantined; green means low-risk, and the person can move about freely.
Fever checks
Anyone with a temperature higher than 37.3 C (99.1 F) is supposed to be sent to the fever clinic.
Track and trace
Students usually scan a QR code to reserve a desk at the library, but now this function will also make it easier to track and trace students should someone later be infected with the coronavirus.
2. Keep the coronavirus at bay
- Disinfectant mats at the entrance aims to remove germs from shoes
- Academic building is regularly disinfected
- Face masks are required on campus
- Security guard and café staff wear face masks and face shields
- Hand sanitizers are placed across campus, including at the café, study lounge, elevators and food court
- Posters across campus remind students to wear face masks, wash their hands and keep a safe distance apart
![A bottle of disinfectant to sanitize hands after pushing elevator buttons (Courtesy of NYU Shanghai)]()
A bottle of disinfectant to sanitize hands after pushing elevator buttons. (Photo courtesy NYU Shanghai) ![Grid lines to ensure a safe social distance inside NYU Shanghai's elevators (Jennifer Pak/Marketplace)]()
Grid lines to ensure safe social distance inside NYU Shanghai’s elevators. (Jennifer Pak/Marketplace)
3. Social distancing
- Only one set of doors to enter and another to exit the campus building to prevent people from bumping into each other
- Stickers marking every 1 meter (3 feet) in areas where people might line up, such as the campus entrance, café ordering area and cafeteria
- Chairs have been removed across campus, usually leaving just one chair per table. All chairs face the same direction
- Elevators have marked grid lines so that no more than five people should be inside at a time
4. Mixed-mode learning
Another way to maintain social distancing is to limit class sizes.
“A class that might ordinarily be seating 60 students now [will seat] more like 25 or 30 students,” NYU Vice Chancellor Jeff Lehman said.
Other students will have to use videoconferencing software Zoom to attend classes. NYU refers to this type of learning as “mixed mode.”
NYU Shanghai is currently testing this learning format since two-thirds of its faculty and some international students are still stuck overseas. China has shut its borders to outsiders because of the pandemic.
Only professors who are in Shanghai can hold mixed-mode classes. This approach to learning comes with many technical challenges, including where to place the microphone.
“If you have two mics, they interfere with each other. So how do you use the one microphone to capture both faculty and the students in the classroom?” library director Zu Xiaojing asked. “The students tend to talk softly or their voices are relatively high, so just a lot of tweaking.”
Two cameras are set up in larger classrooms — one trained on the professor, the other on students in the room.
The goal is to make the course just as lively for students at home as it is for those sitting in class.
“Showing the two-camera view is important to create that full classroom experience,” Zu said.
There are limits to technology. During a routine in assistant professor Tao Siye’s minority and folk dance class, some at-home students are out of step with those in the classroom.
“The internet [connection] is a bit delayed,” Tao said.
Even if the technology works seamlessly, there are still barriers.
Assistant professor Chen Guodong’s corporate-finance class includes some students who are still in the United States.
At times, the course takes place when it is late at night in America, which Chen said makes it challenging to have an engaging discussion. Sometimes he calls on students joining from their homes to ensure they stay awake.
“This is different from the general teaching,” Chen said.
Since cameras are fixed in the classrooms during mixed-mode teaching, NYU Shanghai Vice Chancellor Lehman said his movements are restricted when he gives lectures.
“It’s less fun,” Lehman said.
However, until a vaccine is available, mixed-mode learning may well be the new normal.
For now, Lehman said the fall semester is oversubscribed for both Chinese and international students.
5. Let students return in phases
Shanghai’s education board allowed seniors back on college campuses first, in late April, followed by underclassmen a week later. NYU also made return to the Shanghai campus optional.
Amy DeCillis of North Carolina, who was in Shanghai from the start of the pandemic, was thrilled to be on campus again. “I’m very happy to be back at school,” said DeCillis, a senior majoring in global China studies.
Since many of her classmates were not in Shanghai, though, she had to make new friends in the final stretch of her studies.
DeCillis recalled her excitement when she saw one of her classmates walking down the hall. “I’m like, ‘Oh my God, hi! It’s so good to see you! You were not someone on my radar before, but now you’re going to be my best friend because we’re just here together and seniors.’ So, it’s really funny.”
Even though DeCillis’ courses were taught online, she preferred to attend them while on campus because, she said, she was easily distracted at home.
Same with philosophy major Maggie Liang, a sophomore.
“Having this physical environment and having facilities [is what] I miss the most,” Liang said. “[Whereas] back at home, I can take classes on my bed.”
Neither of them is particularly worried about their health now that they are back on campus. That’s in part because, they said, the number of coronavirus infections in Shanghai is relatively low.
“Even at its peak, the cases were just a few hundred, and Shanghai is a city of 24 million,” DeCillis said. “So I always felt very safe.”
NYU Shanghai says it has invested more than $200,000 on extra bandwidth, tech accessories, software, licenses and health and safety equipment such as temperature detection devices, hand sanitizer, face masks and other protective items.
Additional research by Charles Zhang.
Stories You Might Like
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
