What’s the backup plan for recruitment in August?

[NYCMS]

Another fallout of the virus may be fewer girls going through rush. So many people have lost their jobs (or a major portion of their income if they own their businesses, etc.) so paying for Greek membership will be off the table. That could also affect current members whose parents can no longer afford membership. Maybe not, but I think we'll see some effect from this.

[KSUViolet06]

Another area to consider - housing and keeping houses full.

The last 5-10 years have seen a lot of renovations, additions, adding amenities, newer/larger structures that sleep more, etc.

Housing Corps tend to face difficulty in getting women to live in at many schools for a variety of reasons (hence the policies, requirements, etc. aimed at keeping it full.)

I can't imagine the housing-related fallout to come when we are not even sure if it is safe for people to be on campus in large numbers, much less living with 20-40 other women in close proximity.

[ChioLu]

OU (Oklahoma) President announced today that classes will be starting in the fall.

[zTaalum]

Originally Posted by ChioLu

OU (Oklahoma) President announced today that classes will be starting in the fall.

That is very hopeful !

[shirley1929]

Originally Posted by ChioLu

OU (Oklahoma) President announced today that classes will be starting in the fall.

Having read several of these letters now, they are always leaving a fair amount grey area in them "...our intention is to return..." in case something happens and they have to change it. Nobody is (nor should they be) making a yes or no definitive decision right now. Of course they're all intending to be on campus at this point.

I feel like these letters are coming out right before the May 1 acceptance deadline so that kids are feeling secure in choosing. Many schools have extended that deadline, but many have not.

(here is the OU letter... http://www.ou.edu/web/news_events/ar...semester-plans)

[NYCMS]

Originally Posted by ChioLu

OU (Oklahoma) President announced today that classes will be starting in the fall.

I read the letter posted by shirley1929 from the OU president and that's not how I interpreted his words - here's a direct quote from their president:

"After careful deliberation, our intention (boldface is mine) is to return to in-person educational operations on all three campuses by this fall..."

"Intention" is exactly what shirley1929 said - a gray area that leaves OU (and other schools) room to change their minds if things aren't vastly better by mid-summer. I live in the epicenter of Covid-19 so I may respond a bit more strongly to re-opening schools - I see how terrifyingly quickly it can spread in dense populations and schools by their very nature are extremely dense even if in a small town like OU. Thanks for posting the letter!

[shirley1929]

Originally Posted by NYCMS

I read the letter posted by shirley1929 from the OU president and that's not how I interpreted his words - here's a direct quote from their president:

"After careful deliberation, our intention (boldface is mine) is to return to in-person educational operations on all three campuses by this fall..."

"Intention" is exactly what shirley1929 said - a gray area that leaves OU (and other schools) room to change their minds if things aren't vastly better by mid-summer. I think we'll get a sense of how things might go by watching states re-open, especially those with major cities and dense populations although there are many deaths in states with rural populations. And thanks for posting the letter!

You're welcome! I think everyone gets all excited that something is "happening" when it's not really. Not yet anyway.

That said, UT Austin has said that they expect to have a yes or no decision about on-campus operations by the end of June. Which I think is a fair timeline. https://president.utexas.edu/message...-fall-semester

Mizzou sent out a letter that got people all excited too. It's vague like the OU one is: https://chancellor.missouri.edu/news...-fall-classes/. "...we expect to return to in-person operations..."

[PGD-GRAD]

Yesterday, the CBS evening news featured a story on the college decisions of future freshmen beginning this fall, 2020. According to surveys of guidance counselors and college admissions from coast to coast, around 1/6 of entering freshmen have indicated they will most likely take next year as a GAP YEAR.
The reasons were all things we’ve discussed here: no desire for online classes, fear of getting to school only to have it closed again, lack of finances, fear that this year will NOT present the “real” college experience, and others.

My question: can a student be admitted to—say U of ALABAMA—and indicate they will not actually enroll for a year? That may skew the count of those admitted and those actually attending.

[zTaalum]

It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds. I have a family member who works for the Disney company but not in the sense of a typical CM and they are scheduling to possibly open June 1st. Obviously with lots of modifications for example all parks but Epcot and only one water park at first, only resort guest and AP holders allowed in parks, no buffets and the the list of modifications goes on. I think if this does in fact happen and is successful you will so more commitments being made for fall openings .

[SigmaCat]

I heard today that the state of Florida is encouraging theme parks to reopen initially to Floridians only; just parks, not hotels, probably before the June 1+ resort bookings they've already tentatively made. The idea is to limit geographic spread and also avoid (more) resort cancellation red tape if they have to pull back.

Nobody I know who works at WDW has any hard info at this point, though. I'm just an annual passholder these days, so obviously I don't either. That said, it makes a lot of sense to run standard operating procedure experiments on local day guests, most of whom would be visiting on APs or local discount ticket media anyway and are less invested than someone flying in from far away and dropping tons of money on hotels, &c.



DLR is a different story. AFAIK, the State of California is still planning on limiting gatherings over 10 people into - if not through - the summer.

[SigmaCat]

Originally Posted by PGD-GRAD

My question: can a student be admitted to—say U of ALABAMA—and indicate they will not actually enroll for a year? That may skew the count of those admitted and those actually attending.

I'm not sure if they allow deferments, but their website says they're still accepting applications for fall (is this normal for them?), so I don't know if it really matters either way. End of day, big name schools won't have a problem filling slots for fall. My alma mater (UC Berkeley - super-competitive admissions) doesn't normally entertain deferments, and they've made it very clear that policy isn't changing.

Dunno what all this means for recruitment turnout, but end of day, Greeks and PNMs are gonna be resourceful because they have to be. I can see ambitious PNMs viewing a "nontraditional" rush situation as an advantage. If there are people out there who are willing to orchestrate elaborate rush-then-transfer schemes to get into their GLO of choice at the college of their choice, the prospect of online rush is really nothing.

[PGD-GRAD]

According to yesterday’s “Indianapolis Star”, the President of Purdue, Mitch Daniels, has announced that Purdue will be open this fall—no details yet on special arrangements or efforts to provide for distancing or protections from the virus.

[zTaalum]

I just read an article that both France and the Netherlands are reopening schools in mid May. I think that gives the US some valuable information and I also think it is a good sign on moving forward.

[Cookiez17]

NY which is the hardest hit is going to open counties further upstate that don't have as many people in it and wait longer for the city and such. I just hope this doesn't incentives people to go upstate for, say, a haircut and such.

[Titchou]

and Italy is closed for tourism till the end of the year