Stanford Planning for Half of Undergrads on Campus Per Quarter Next Year

Stanford University is planning to house half of its undergraduate student population on campus per quarter in the upcoming school year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Provost Persis Drell announced last week.

“Though our planning is not complete and some important decisions are yet to be made, the overall structure for the year ahead is coming into place, and we thought it was important to share our thinking with you as soon as possible rather than waiting until every aspect is worked out,” they wrote in a letter.

The letter states that three factors have influenced planning. The first is that the schools wants a plan that could likely happen even if there is a second spike in COVID-19 infections — ie. the school would not have to shut down mid-quarter in response. The second is that the school wants to plan to have sufficient space for social distancing, and the third is that there needs to be room for ab infected member of the community to isolate if necessary.

Under the announced plan, which is tentative, all undergraduate students could expect to get two quarters of on-campus housing, then would complete one additional quarter remotely. First-year students would be on campus in the fall, and seniors in the spring, but no other decisions have been solidified.

It’s not yet clear how the proposed plan could affect athletics. Some sports, like soccer, cross only two quarters, while others, like swimming, have competitive seasons that cross three quarters.

Tessier-Lavigne and Drell’s letter stated that staff is “having conversations about different options for bringing students back, whether by class year of by another rubric that aligned with the academic programs we offer.” The letter also stated that the school will “likely ask students not to travel outside the local area while they are enrolled on campus, or otherwise to self-isolate upon their return.”

As for academic classes, the school anticipates using online courses for some on-campus students in addition to those away from campus. The schools expects that classes larger than 50 or so students will be online, and in-person class times will run from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Stanford will start fall quarter classes one week earlier than usual, on Sept. 14, and end by Nov. 20. Final exams for all undergraduates (and most graduate students) will be held remotely the week after Thanksgiving.

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Stanford Dad
4 years ago

My daughter was told by Meehan that swimming the next two years at Stanford does not look good.

NEWTOSWIMSWAM
Reply to  Stanford Dad
4 years ago

Care to share more details?

Thomass
Reply to  Stanford Dad
4 years ago

What does that even mean?

LelandJrSr
Reply to  Stanford Dad
4 years ago

It means that there’s almost no way they can compete as a whole team. If the seniors are not going to be on campus the first trimester then they won’t have access to the weight room or Avery Aquatic Center. The school won’t make exceptions for swimmers. Not all freshman and sophomores would be guaranteed to be allowed on campus either.

NEWTOSWIMSWAM
Reply to  LelandJrSr
4 years ago

That’s not what I heard. All students athletes will be on campus.

SwimNerd7
Reply to  NEWTOSWIMSWAM
4 years ago

That’s a Title IX violation.Title IX applies to every single aspect of education, including course offerings, counseling and counseling materials, financial assistance, student health and insurance benefits and/or other services, housing, marital and parental status of students, physical education and athletics, education programs and activities, and employment.

NEWTOSWIMSWAM
Reply to  SwimNerd7
4 years ago

Are you saying Stanford must offer the same athletic accommodations for non student athletes? I can say a violation if some student athletes are allowed on campus while some are not. If each student gets to be on campus for equal amount of time in an academic year, I don’t see a violation here at all.

formerswimmomfor3
Reply to  Stanford Dad
4 years ago

So if this is the case… what will the swimmers do? Your daughter?

NEWTOSWIMSWAM
4 years ago

Well done Stanford!!! I’m told this plan does not affect student athletes. All of them will be on campus. With so many college Fall return plans, the Stanford model has to be the smartest! Freshmen will not miss the on campus experience in the fall, and senior the spring/graduation. I doubt Stanford will charge off-campus students full tuition because of its tremendous resources.

AWW
4 years ago

Did they refund part of tuition

Deepsouth
4 years ago

I’d be shocked if this applies to athletes.

Love2Swim
Reply to  Deepsouth
4 years ago

That’s the big question – how does this play out for winter sports? Stanford looking at quarter system to socially distance its students,, but a majority of schools will close at Thanksgiving and don’t come back until February (if at all).
What does that mean for college swim? Do athletes remain on campus, or is the campus completely closed? Also, if campuses are closed what happens to USA swimming meets held at college campuses?

SwimNerd7
4 years ago

Under/Over Stanford not winning NCAAs?

Admin
Reply to  SwimNerd7
4 years ago

This is not how under/overs work. You’re looking for “odds,” not an “under/over.”

Right now, without seeing how any incoming classes are adapting to college life, I’d honestly say that Virginia are the favorites. Alex Walsh is not Regan Smith, but she is still a high school swimmer on the U.S. National Team. She’s coming out of high school with a 58.1 in the 100 breast and a 50.8 in the 100 back. She’s a 5-relay breaststroker.

For Stanford, it might come down to whether Taylor Ruck comes back or not (when we asked, she wasn’t ready to announced a decision yet). I think without her, it’s UVA in a runaway. If Ruck returns, Stanford has a chance.

SwimNerd7
Reply to  Braden Keith
4 years ago

Thanks for the correction Braden, you can tell I dont bet alot.
Transfer Portal will be full of Stanford Swimmers soon.

MarkB
Reply to  SwimNerd7
4 years ago

Swimner7 racking up the perfect score!

Blackflag82
Reply to  SwimNerd7
4 years ago

People who are smart enough to get into Stanford are smart enough to know the degree from Stanford is going to be worth more than most places they could go with comparable programs that aren’t also making some sort of adjustments…

Jolynn Swimmer
Reply to  Blackflag82
4 years ago

Exactly. Pro swimmers do not make much unless they are MP.

Admin
Reply to  Jolynn Swimmer
4 years ago

It’s not quite that simple. Swimmers besides MP can make a lot of money, though generally you’re right, in the US if you’re not an Olympic medalist your total take isn’t that great (except in special circumstances, like if you’re willing to chase big prize money meets).

For example, we know that Ledecky’s TYR deal alone is worth $7 million. Simone Manuel’s TYR deal isn’t public, but between that and Nike, she’s probably doing pretty well, with whatever other smaller deals she has stacked on top of it.

There isn’t a ton of info out there about how much pro swimmers make (it’s a much more secretive industry than most sports), but there is a layer below the Phelps of… Read more »

Xman
Reply to  Braden Keith
4 years ago

Is Josh Hugger still with them?

Admin
Reply to  Xman
4 years ago

Josh Huger is at the University of Tennessee. Don’t believe he was ever at UVA – he used to be an assistant at Virginia Tech.

Bevo
4 years ago

Academia is going to face the same thing businesses and club teams are going through now. The institutions need income, they need to pay professors, they need students, and they need to create, for the most part, some reasonable campus life for students to enjoy. It appears the longer break between the two semesters or a middle quarter handles most of that. Everyone is guessing at this and looking at what each other is doing, hoping for the safest environment as possible. There are big tuition dollars and fall sports (football which pays for almost everything) in question. Good for the schools getting out in front of this.

Xman
4 years ago

The big challenge the schools face is how do they care for a high number of sick students who live on Campus, or near campus and depend on school medical services.

wokebanana
4 years ago

Sureeee… because everyone knows that freshmen and sophomores are immune from eachother, but throw an upperclassman in the mix and you’re in serious trouble.

About Torrey Hart

Torrey Hart

Torrey is from Oakland, CA, and majored in media studies and American studies at Claremont McKenna College, where she swam distance freestyle for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps team. Outside of SwimSwam, she has bylines at Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, SB Nation, and The Student Life newspaper.

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