Spiking COVID-19 numbers have prompted some colleges across the country to delay their next semester or start remotely, but most colleges in Massachusetts are resuming classes on time and in person.
The University of Massachusetts system, state universities and nearly all community colleges plan to re-open this week or next. The state's private colleges appear to be following suit. College leaders, who anticipate seeing more COVID-19 cases on campus, are looking for a way to live with the coronavirus, limit its spread and weather the latest storm.
“We implemented a vaccine mandate for this very reason, and masks are still required at all of our colleges,” said Nate Mackinnon, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges.
It’s not a decision that’s popular with everyone who will be returning to campus. The union that represents faculty and staff at those 15 schools has called for shifting to remote class for the first two weeks, with the exception of courses that require hands-on learning, but only one — Bunker Hill Community College — has moved remote. The Massachusetts Community College Council cited "the extremely high transmissibility of the omicron variant among both the vaccinated and unvaccinated, even when wearing face coverings."
How private colleges are proceeding with the next semester is less clear. Rob McCarron, president and CEO of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, a higher education advocacy group, said the state's private colleges and universities are prioritizing safety as they start the new semester.
“Institutions continue to make decisions based on the latest data and public health advice, while implementing a number of mitigation measures, including continued testing, vaccination requirements and masking,” he said.
Boston College is remaining in person, requiring students obtain a PCR test within 72 hours prior to returning to campus. It is also mandating students recieve a booster shot and upload their vaccination cards by early next month. To stagger residential students' return to campus, a handful of schools, mostly high-prestige schools with large endowments like Tufts and Harvard, are starting the semester online.
“[The omicron variant is] going to be like a tornado. It comes in fast, does a lot of damage and then leaves very quickly,” said Chris Marsicano, director of the College Crisis Initiative at Davidson College, a research effort tracking COVID-19 plans for more than 500 four-year colleges nationally.
His team has found about 12% of colleges in the country are beginning their spring semester remotely and just under 3% are delaying the start.
“This narrative of colleges transitioning online is just not what we're seeing in the data, at least not yet,” Marsicano said. “It's possible that will change as spikes go up, but most colleges and universities are staying in-person and on time.”
"I think everybody's hoping that [omicron's] going to rise really quickly and fall just as quickly."David Hamer, infectious disease specialist with Boston University
A majority of schools have more than a 50% vaccination rate, he says, and just under a third of schools are requiring booster shots.
Of the 21 institutions his team surveyed in Massachusetts this month, 20, including Northeastern, are requiring boosters. Only one — Gordon College — isn’t.
“A boosted, vaccinated population wearing masks in person is not likely to be the spreader that these colleges were prior to vaccinations and boosters,” Marsicano said. “Science is amazing, man.”
Epidemiologists agree with his assessment of the science — and the omicron variant.
“I think everybody's hoping that it's going to rise really quickly and fall just as quickly,” said David Hamer, an infectious disease specialist who teaches at Boston University's School of Public Health.
His most recent analysis shows no evidence of in-classroom transmission at Boston University during the fall semester based on genetic sequencing samples that were collected.
“Even though fully populated classrooms had students sitting closer together, with indoor mask use and testing, we were able to keep things under control,” Hamer said.
He's reassured that local colleges are being more aggressive, Hamer says, requiring indoor mask use and increasing the frequency of testing. Tufts University, for example, is testing every other day, and Boston University has gone from once a week to twice a week.
Spring classes don't begin until Thursday at Boston University, New England’s largest private college, but on a recent frigid morning masked students were already trickling onto campus.
A billboard on Commonwealth Avenue outside many of its dorms said “BU is BACK! LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY.” Hand sanitizer dispensers inside dorms were tagged with stickers that read “DON’T GO VIRAL.”
Evan Jimenez, a junior from New Jersey, said he’s excited to be back on campus, but he's also anxious. "There's obviously still a danger, and a lot more people are catching it, even those who are vaccinated," he said, pointing to omicron’s high transmissibility.
Jimenez, 20, says he and his friends are worried about being isolated again if Boston University sends students home for a second time since the start of the pandemic.
“Having to do it again would be, I think, another level of mental stress and anxiety," he said. "Not to mention just the feeling like the world is falling apart again."
