Cal Poly students back for classes on campus for first time since March. Here’s how it went
Students at Cal Poly have now begun an entirely new version of college.
The San Luis Obispo university’s campus was scant of life up until recently, when thousands of students moved into on-campus residence halls. Now, aside from the masks worn and the cautious physical distancing between many individuals, at least some life has returned.
“It’s definitely different,” senior biology major Julia Kallet said Monday. “Walking around, it’s super quiet. I think everyone’s kind of all over the place ... and definitely super disconnected with everyone doing online stuff.”
Kallet, who is from Denver, said she was only on campus for what is deemed an “essential lab activity,” which is ensuring her bio lab’s algal cultures don’t die. Other than that, she has only online classes.
Cal Poly’s vice president for student affairs, Keith Humphrey, said things “are going smoothly” on the first day of classes.
About 5,500 students are enrolled to take in-person classes, according to university spokesman Matt Lazier.
All students must fill out an online form each day that details whether they have symptoms of COVID-19 or have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the new coronavirus, Humphrey said.
Once they fill out that form, students will either receive a pass that gives them the green light to enter on-campus classrooms and facilities, or tells them to visit Campus Health and Wellbeing or another physician in their area to get tested. They could also be asked to self-quarantine.
As of Monday, 70 students have tested positive for COVID-19 since July 8; 66 of whom are living off campus. Six students were in isolation Monday, and 10 were in quarantine, according to the university.
“We are really encouraging all faculty to ask for the pass from the students before they allow them into the classrooms,” Humphrey said.
Student Yuting Sheng said he felt that taking an in-person class was vital. As an international student from China, Sheng said he feared deportation if he did not take at least one in-person class.
Though Immigration and Customs Enforcement enacted a policy in July that would have subjected foreign students to deportation if they did not take at least one class on campus, it was quickly reversed after a national outcry.
Still, Sheng said the class he’s taking in person is “definitely important,” and it’s required for his biochemistry major. At the back of his mind, however, Sheng worries about the spread of the coronavirus on campus.
“It’s good they are trying to bring students back to the classrooms because that’s what we paid for,” he said. “But at the same time, safety is a huge problem.”
“I know it’s hard to control even though you’re tested — they require within either a week or 72 hours (before arriving on campus) but anything can happen right after you get tested,” Sheng said.
Other colleges and universities around the country have opened up classrooms to allow in-person instruction. But many, such as the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and Chico State University, reported outbreaks just days after classes began and students moved into dorms, forcing them to move all classes online and send students home.
Cal Poly has remained steadfast on its goal to live up to its “Learn by Doing” tradition by bringing students back into classrooms.
“A Cal Poly classroom in the time of COVID-19 is about the safest public place you can be,” said Aydin Nazmi, a nutrition and food scientist and epidemiologist at Cal Poly who is one of the faculty members spearheading the university’s coronavirus response.
Many other faculty and staff members, however, disagree with Nazmi’s assertion. An open letter penned by faculty on Aug. 19 to students expressed deep concerns with the university’s plan to reopen campus.
“It is essential to limit the number of students on campus during this pre-vaccine (and pre-effective treatment) phase of the pandemic, especially in the absence of rapid turn-around surveillance testing to catch outbreaks early,” said the letter, which has now been signed by more than 460 students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni and anonymous community members.
Students, however, are largely just glad to be allowed on campus.
“It’s so hard to do some of my classwork completely online,” said Jonathan Herrera, a junior architectural engineering major. “I’m very relieved to be on campus because I’ve been wanting to come back for a while. I enjoy being here. ... Honestly, even though we have to wear masks and distance and all that, I’ll take anything I could get at this point.”
This story was originally published September 14, 2020 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Cal Poly students back for classes on campus for first time since March. Here’s how it went."
CORRECTION: The article was updated to reflect an updated number of students taking in-person classes at Cal Poly, which is 5,500.
