This was more difficult for
students who had already left
due to the two-week stay at home
order issued in late October.
LSA freshman Dora Usdan,
who moved back home earlier in
November, plans to live in an off-
campus apartment next semester
with her roommate.
“But we just had to sign the
lease on an apartment that we’d
never seen before because we’re
not in Ann Arbor,” Usdan said. “It
was really stressful because even
as I was on the phone with real
estate agents, I’d be looking at a
property and the agent would say,
‘Someone just signed that lease
30 seconds ago in my office, it’s
gone.’”
Many students left during the
stay-in-place order because they
were offered partial housing
refunds if they moved out by Nov.
3.
LSA freshman Sara Stawarz
was one of them. She said she
didn’t expect the situation in Ann
Arbor to change so rapidly while
she was gone.
“It’s been kind of stressful
because I left with the knowledge
that I would be coming back next
semester and that this wouldn’t
be the last that I’d see of my
friends until August, which is the
situation now,” Stawarz said.
For some out-of-state students,
leaving early during the two-
week stay-in-place period has left
them in a difficult situation now
that they cannot return to their
dorms next semester.
The
University
has
recommended
two
options:
returning to campus to empty
out their rooms themselves, or
hiring John’s Pack & Ship moving
company at a minimum cost of
$500 to do it for them and mail or
store the belongings.
In an email to The Michigan
Daily,
University
Housing
spokesperson Amir Baghdadchi
wrote students are allowed to
sign up for a time slot to return
to campus and pack up their
belongings. The dates for move
out range between Nov. 30 and
Dec. 6. If necessary, students
may also move out after Dec. 6
and before the start of winter
semester if arranged ahead of
time with University Housing.
“We understand moving out
can be a challenge, and we’re
ready to be flexible and offer
students options,” Baghdadchi
said.
LSA freshman Nadir Gerber
is at his permanent residence
in
California
and
reached
out to Housing to explain his
predicament.
“I did mention that I was in
California so it wasn’t feasible for
me to come out and pick things
up from my dorm and their first
recommendation was that I come
out and pick things up from the
dorm myself,” Gerber said. “I am
potentially looking at flying back
out to Michigan and just getting
everything myself, but doing that
while I’m still trying to attend
class is not only a huge financial
commitment but also really gets
in the way of my schooling.”
Usdan, who had moved back
home to New York, said this was
an
unreasonable
expectation
for students and their families,
saying students essentially have
two choices: “Com(ing) back with
their parents who are more at risk
to pick up their stuff or paying a
really high fee.”
“That’s super inconvenient and
they didn’t tell me to move out
all my stuff when I left Oct. 24,”
Usdan said.
Baghdadchi also wrote that
students are able to authorize
someone
to
pick
up
their
belongings on their behalf if they
are unable to do so themselves.
He wrote that the best option for
some students may be to use a
third party to pack, store or ship
items, and they are able to use
John’s Pack & Ship to do so.
Students who want to remain in
the residence halls next semester
can apply for an exception.
Stawarz said she felt the space
allotted to tell the University why
she should stay was insufficient
to get the message across.
“I had to write them in 500
characters or less, why for my
mental health I should go back,”
Stawarz said. “It was so hard to
get the full scope of the issue in
500 characters, and I genuinely
am afraid that they won’t take me
back.”
Several
students
have
expressed
disappointment
with the University’s response
to
COVID-19
this
semester,
attributing the closing of the
residence halls to a lack of
preparedness and a shortage of
testing availability.
Stawarz said she wishes the
University
had
tested
more
students earlier in the semester
before the stay-in-place order
was implemented.
“It’s
pretty
disappointing,
especially knowing that all of this
could’ve been prevented if they
had just done weekly testing.
They let it go way too far and only
implemented these things when
it was unimaginable for them to
not do so,” Stawarz said.
As part of the University’s
plan for the winter semester,
testing capacity will be increased
to about 12,000 to 15,000 tests
per week. According to the plan,
students living in University
Housing
or
participating
in
on-campus activities in winter
2021 will also be tested on a
regular basis.
Over
the
summer,
the
University’s Board of Regents
voted to increase tuition and
increase room and board fees by
1.9% in the 2020-2021 budget,
despite receiving backlash from
the
campus
community
for
raising tuition during a global
pandemic. This was in response
to a projected University budget
deficit due to COVID-19.
Other
students
said
they
were more concerned about the
prospect of paying full tuition for
the winter semester while going
to school online and living at
home. LSA freshman Yitzi Zolty
said he wonders what students
are paying for when the capacity
for campus learning is so limited.
“I doubt this was a decision
that was made overnight —
there’s nothing wrong with full
transparency,” Zolty said. “I
think the main thing, at least
on my mind, is that we’re still
paying full tuition as out-of-
state students, and part of their
spending plan is to upkeep
facilities. But if none of those are
going to be in use, why are we
paying so much?”
Daily Staff Reporter Hannah
Mackay
can
be
reached
at
mackayh@umich.edu.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 — 3
HOUSING
From Page 1
Hurns agreed, saying different
U-M representatives and sources
have stressed the importance of
including test scores differently.
“Originally, they were saying,
‘Well, we want to see something,
even an AP score, a PSAT score,
something,’” Madis said. “And
then the last presentation I saw,
it seemed to be leaning more
towards test-optional. So, I’m not
exactly sure (what the University
wants).”
In response to concerns over
how the University would fairly
evaluate applicants without test
scores, Erica Sanders, director of
undergraduate admissions at the
University, said in an email to The
Daily that no individual student
would be at a disadvantage in the
admissions process.
“As is the case every cycle, each
student is evaluated individually
and holistically,” Sanders wrote.
“We do not compare individual
students to each other.”
New deadline allows more
time to perfect application
Though
students
expressed
mixed feelings about the changes
to the testing policy, seniors and
administrators were generally in
favor of the extended Nov. 15 early
action deadline. With the new
deadline, early action applicants
are guaranteed an admissions
decision of accept, reject or
deferral to the regular decision
pool by late January, about a
month later than previous years.
Despite admissions decisions
being delayed to January, Riley
Hodder, a senior at Oxford High
School in Oxford, Mich., said the
extended application deadline has
allowed her to devote her efforts
after Nov. 1 entirely to her U-M
application.
“It was a major benefit to be
able to put off U-M for a few days
and focus on (other applications)
that needed to get done,” Hodder
said.
According to The Wall Street
Journal, the Common Application,
which is used by the University
and more than 900 other schools,
saw 8% less first-year applications
and 10% fewer applicants through
Nov. 2 compared to the same
period last year.
Some
high
school
administrators, including Ann
Arbor Public Schools counselor
Christopher Kasper, said they
felt
concerned
the
extended
deadline
would
encourage
students to procrastinate on their
applications.
However, Groves High School
Counselor Lilianne Kowalchuk
did
not
anticipate
students
would delay working on their
applications more than usual.
Kowalchuk has recommended her
students treat the additional two
weeks like a “safety net.”
She said she wants them to have
their applications completely done
by Nov. 1 and to use the extra time
to double-check that everything
has been properly submitted and
received by the University.
“The kids who procrastinate
are going to procrastinate no
matter what,” Kowalchuk said.
Pandemic causes students to
consider college options closer to
home
The lack of physical college
visits, admissions tours and other
traditional recruiting events have
further affected the information
students have access to as they
determine which college is right
for them.
Anna Partalis, a senior at
Bloomfield Hills High School in
Bloomfield Hills, Mich., said even
though she is applying to several
out-of-state
universities,
the
University remains her top choice
due to the pandemic’s cancellation
of campus visits.
“I feel like if I were able to
do in-person tours, I would be
more attached to other out-of-
state schools,” Partalis said. “The
experience for students in person
is really important to me, so I feel
like I’m definitely more attached
to my in-state schools.”
Nosheen
Ahmed,
a
senior
at Niles North High School in
Skokie, Ill., said while she had
previously wanted to go out-of-
state for college, both financial
issues and the possibility of the
University still being virtual for
the Fall 2021 semester have made
her strongly consider in-state
options. Ahmed said though she is
still applying to the University, the
ongoing pandemic has brought
new factors into the equation of
deciding where to attend.
“(The University is) switching
to online school and restricting
the dorm options, but they’re not
lowering tuition, and that doesn’t
make sense to me,” Ahmed said.
“My mom was at risk of losing her
job, and we’re going to have three
kids in college (next year), so I just
don’t want that financial burden.”
University promotes holistic
evaluation of applications, with
concessions
for
COVID-19-
related setbacks
With
diverse
grading
systems, inconsistent access to
standardized tests and mental
health
challenges
posed
by
COVID-19, the U-M admissions
office, known for its selective
acceptance
process,
faces
unprecedented
challenges
as
they decide who they will grant
admission to for the Class of 2025.
The University accepted 26.1% —
approximately 17,000 out of more
than 65,000 for a 6,900-student
class — for the Class of 2024.
Sanders said she is optimistic
about the admissions department’s
ability to contextually review a
student’s application and consider
any external factors that may
affect how that student appears
on paper.
APPLICATION
From Page 2
“We
have
expanded
our
capacity in a number of ways,”
Dickson said. “We converted
what was recently a moderate
care unit into a fully functional
ICU, we have put additional ICU
physicians on the service and
we have provided additional
training
for
moderate
care
nurses to provide critical care to
patients.”
As cases continue to rise and
hospitals continue to prepare,
some
specialty
hospitals
in
Southeast Michigan have begun
to offer their extra space to major
health systems. On top of this,
some non-health care businesses
have also begun to offer space for
low-acuity patients.
‘We
never
stopped
our
preparation and planning’
Compared
to
the
spring,
Dickson said Michigan Medicine
is more prepared now for a rise
in cases.
“We’re more prepared because
we’ve seen this movie before,”
Dickson said. “We didn’t know
what to expect in March really,
at that point all we had were
anecdotes from our colleagues
in Asia and Europe. By now
we have a luxury of lots and
lots of experience, randomized
controlled trials and rigorously
done observational studies.”
Michigan
Medicine
has
also gained specific medical
knowledge in the past months
of the pandemic that will help
the hospital provide better care
to COVID-19 patients, Dickson
said.
“I think we’re smarter about
what not to do as much as we
are smarter about what to do,”
Dickson said. “I do think one
thing we learned over and over,
is that more important than
any given drug for COVID, is
outstanding meticulous evidence
based critical care practices.”
Jeffery
Desmond,
chief
medical officer of Michigan
Medicine,
said
Michigan
Medicine
never
stopped
preparing for a rise in cases.
“We
never
stopped
our
preparation
and
planning,”
Desmond said. “Even when we
were on that plateau during the
summer and early fall.”
Desmond also said Michigan
Medicine
has
been
at
the
forefront of preparations and
use of new knowledge since the
beginning of the pandemic.
“We were one of the early
hospitals in the country to
require masks for everyone in
the hospital,” Desmond said.
“We did that because we felt the
data was suggestive that it would
be protective for our employees
and for our patients … and it
turns out universal use of masks
really provides protection for
employees and for patients.”
This moment in the pandemic
is also different, Desmond said,
because
Michigan
Medicine
is continuing to treat regular
patients
and
COVID-19
patients, which they didn’t do
in the spring because of Gov.
Gretchen Whitmer’s executive
orders restricting nonessential
treatment.
“We have reverted back to
more normal care,” Desmond
said. “Now, we’re in the midst of
managing COVID patients and
non-COVID care simultaneously
in the hospital.”
However, Desmond said he
believes Michigan Medicine is
more than capable of rising to
this challenge.
Desmond also said Michigan
Medicine has recently been able
to somewhat recover from the
poor financial performance of
the summer and early fall. He
said the hospital system has
been able to reinstate retirement
match
and
professional
development funding.
Nursing sophomore Britney
Nguyen agreed with Desmond
and Dickson, noting that there is a
more widespread understanding
of how the pandemic should be
handled now than there was last
spring.
“I think we’re more prepared,”
Nguyen said. “I think everyone
just being on the same page with
the pandemic has really helped
and just getting a University-
wide consensus on what steps we
need to be taking.”
Health care workers ask
students
to
follow
public
health guidelines
Both students and medical
professionals in Ann Arbor said
they see the role students can
play in slowing the spread of
COVID-19 — and are asking them
to remain vigilant as cases rise.
Nursing senior Joyce Lee
wrote in an email to The
Michigan Daily that nursing
students have had to be open
to changes while completing
clinical hours in the hospital.
“As a nursing student we
have to be flexible in general
and
especially
during
a
pandemic,” Lee wrote. “As with
most students, most formats
are virtual, and clinical are
in-person. For one of my clinicals
I am a contact tracer and there
have been moments of more
contacts at certain points.”
Hyzy also said it is important
for students to be safe and make
good decisions to mitigate the
spread of the virus.
“I would implore your readers
to be good citizens,” Hyzy said.
“You might get by with a milder
case of COVID but … people
are dying and more people will
die, though admittedly fewer
than the spring. But this is very
serious stuff. And I’m telling
you, it’s starting to really take off
again.”
Daily Staff Reporter Paige
Hodder
can
be
reached
at
phodder@umich.edu.
HOSPITAL
From Page 1
University President Mark
Schlissel and Provost Susan
Collins wrote in a Monday
email to the campus community
that the University would shift
all
coursework,
except
any
associated with training medical
professionals, to be conducted
remotely to follow the state’s
guidelines. This only affects the
three days before Thanksgiving
break.
Previously,
under
the
University’s initial plan, all
undergraduate
classes
were
scheduled to go fully remote
after the holiday through the
end of the semester on Dec. 18,
but the state order shortened
that timeline.
“Over
the
past
several
months, we have been asked to
continually adjust our activities
to help protect the health and
safety of the larger community,”
Schlissel and Collins wrote.
“We know this will cause some
disruptions in a few courses
and labs that were meeting in
person through Friday – and we
appreciate everyone’s continued
diligence
and
resilience
as
we work to slow the spread of
COVID-19.”
The
state’s
three-week
epidemic order is not the first
time the school’s operations have
faced significant disruptions in
an effort to curb the spread of
the virus. Administrators have
had to switch gears several
times over the semester to deal
with unforeseen circumstances
stemming from the pandemic,
ranging from lockdowns to labor
disputes.
Schlissel started off the year
on an optimistic note, saying in
August, “I think it’s more likely
than not that we will make it
through the semester,” even as
other colleges reversed course
on their reopening plans.
The choice to move forward
with
reopening
sparked
criticism from students, staff
and faculty, who complained
about the lack of testing and
called
for
more
stringent
restrictions regarding campus
operations.
“It’s
not
realistic
that
students are going to come back
on campus and not bring COVID
with them and spread it amongst
themselves,” Rackham student
Gabby Sarpy said at a protest in
August.
The semester began with
about 78% of classes taught
remotely,
but
outbreaks
on
campus
in
September
and
October prompted Washtenaw
County to issue a stay-in-
place order for undergraduate
students on Oct. 20. The order
carved out several exceptions
for students, including attending
class.
Courses
that
were
significantly
enhanced
by
in-person
learning
did
not
have
to
move
to
remote
instruction under the county’s
October order. According to
the University Record, 90% of
undergraduate courses are now
being taught remotely.
Students raised doubts about
the stay-in-place order, even
calling it a targeted “anti-party
ordinance.” The order, however,
seemed to work. When it was
first issued, COVID-19 cases
associated with the University
represented more than 60% of
local cases. Two weeks later,
University students accounted
for about a third of cases in the
county.
According to Schlissel, the
University saw an “unacceptable
level
of
COVID-19
cases”
among undergraduates, both
on campus and off. He said
the
experience
pushed
the
University to shift away from
the model used for fall.
Now, the plan for winter will
offer increased testing, and no
instructor will be required to
teach in person. Residence halls
will be closed to students who
do not present a compelling
need to stay on campus.
Many of the components
of the winter plan align with
demands voiced by the Graduate
Employees’ Organization earlier
in the semester when Graduate
Student Instructors went on
strike.
“In some ways, it feels like
the admin has come to their
senses, but really I think this
was
a
calculated
business
decision — ‘We were willing
to risk community safety to
maintain tuition and housing
revenue, but doing that hurt us
so we’re shifting course,’” GEO
member Dom Bouavichith said
in a previous interview with
The Daily.
In
addition
to
graduate
students, residential advisers
went on strike due to the
working conditions in residence
halls. Some dining hall staff
also spoke out in protest of the
University’s handling of the
reopening.
The pandemic also threw
a wrench in the University’s
research
apparatus.
The
University placed nonessential
research largely on hold in
March.
Activities
slowly
ramped up throughout the
year, with adjustments made
for large spikes in cases in the
community.
At the start of the school year,
only senior students already
trained
in
their
respective
research could resume work in
person, but by mid-October, all
undergraduates were allowed
to
participate
again.
The
county’s
stay-in-place
order
limited research activities for
undergraduates shortly after
they were allowed to return,
leaving many students feeling as
though they were back at square
one.
While the state’s new rules
do not limit the University’s
research, Schlissel and Collins
noted
they
would
adjust
operation policies out of an
excess of caution. Research
laboratories will continue to
operate at 60% density, and
undergraduate
students
can
still help out with in-person
research.
However,
according
to
a
Monday
update
from
Vice
President of Research Rebecca
Cunningham, certain human
research studies “should prepare
to pause in-person activity”
with research participants by
Friday at the latest.
Cunningham also noted that
12 researchers who had been
working in person have tested
positive for COVID-19 in the
past seven days.
As cases continue to rise
across
the
state,
Michigan
Medicine
is
preparing
for
another rise in hospitalizations.
“We’re
more
prepared
because we’ve seen this movie
before,” said Robert Dickson,
associate professor of medicine
in the Division of Pulmonary
and Critical Care Medicine. “We
didn’t know what to expect in
March really, at that point all
we had were anecdotes from our
colleagues in Asia and Europe. By
now we have a luxury of lots and
lots of experience, randomized
controlled trials and rigorously
done observational studies.”
Managing News Editors Leah
Graham and Sayali Amin can be
reached at leahgra@umich.edu
and sayalia@umich.edu.
SEMESTER
From Page 1
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com