Rice was the subject of an excellent and substantial story tonight on NBC News:
https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/vid...3604933735

The start of the story was President Leebron, but I'm proud to note that the the professor featured at some length is my colleague David Van Kleeck, Professor in the Practice in the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership (http://www.rcelconnect.org). His foundation course RCEL 100: Self-Awareness and the Engineering Leader meets in one of the big climate-controlled tents and has been featured a couple of times in the Houston Chronicle. Nice work by Rice and RCEL!

Great publicity for the university - shows how the admin’s specific-brand of proactive steps, and the students’ willingness to follow guidelines, allowed for in-person classes to continue in this fall when other universities were not as successful.

Two minor notes:
1) Leebron’s first reaction to the suggested outdoor tents in Houston wasn’t “Do these people not know how hot Houston is in August???”
2) I thought there were some truly outdoor air tents and not just the climate controlled ones shown. Did that not end up happening?

(10-11-2020 09:14 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  Great publicity for the university - shows how the admin’s specific-brand of proactive steps, and the students’ willingness to follow guidelines, allowed for in-person classes to continue in this fall when other universities were not as successful.

Two minor notes:
1) Leebron’s first reaction to the suggested outdoor tents in Houston wasn’t “Do these people not know how hot Houston is in August???”
2) I thought there were some truly outdoor air tents and not just the climate controlled ones shown. Did that not end up happening?

No, the climate control "tents" were always the ones planned. Yes, Rice was proactive, but their entire reopening plan was the most comprehensive, flexible and well thought-out of any university in the country. From all hybrid (in-person and virtual) classes to ample testing and contact tracing, from a quaranteen residential college (the old Sid Rich) with room service food delivery to outdoor "tents", it was a massive undertaken, but pulled off. And, of course, the students deserve a lot of the credit for following the social distancing rules and acting responsible.

(10-11-2020 09:45 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(10-11-2020 09:14 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  Great publicity for the university - shows how the admin’s specific-brand of proactive steps, and the students’ willingness to follow guidelines, allowed for in-person classes to continue in this fall when other universities were not as successful.

Two minor notes:
1) Leebron’s first reaction to the suggested outdoor tents in Houston wasn’t “Do these people not know how hot Houston is in August???”
2) I thought there were some truly outdoor air tents and not just the climate controlled ones shown. Did that not end up happening?

No, the climate control "tents" were always the ones planned. Yes, Rice was proactive, but their entire reopening plan was the most comprehensive, flexible and well thought-out of any university in the country. From all hybrid (in-person and virtual) classes to ample testing and contact tracing, from a quaranteen residential college (the old Sid Rich) with room service food delivery to outdoor "tents", it was a massive undertaken, but pulled off. And, of course, the students deserve a lot of the credit for following the social distancing rules and acting responsible.

Yes, the climate controlled tents were always part of the plan (hence the the "not just the climate controlled ones"). I remember the original plans calling for truly outdoor, un-climate controlled tents.

From the NYTimes in July:

Quote:Rice University, in Houston, is building nine big new classrooms this summer, all of them outdoors.

Five are open-sided circus tents that the university is buying, and another four are semi-permanent structures that workers are building in an open field near dorms, Kevin Kirby, Rice’s vice president for administration, told me. Students and professors will decorate the spaces with murals and video projections.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/13/brief...efing.html

The climate-controlled tents are all right next to each other, in the open space where old Wiess College was.

The open tents are scattered about campus. To be honest, I haven't seem them being used much at all.

(10-11-2020 01:03 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  The climate-controlled tents are all right next to each other, in the open space where old Wiess College was.

The open tents are scattered about campus. To be honest, I haven't seem them being used much at all.

Neither have I. Between the heat and the rain, they don't make a lot of sense. Maybe if we get some dry, cool weather in the next few weeks somebody might get adventurous.

(10-11-2020 01:35 PM)franklyconfused Wrote:  

(10-11-2020 01:03 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  The climate-controlled tents are all right next to each other, in the open space where old Wiess College was.

The open tents are scattered about campus. To be honest, I haven't seem them being used much at all.

Neither have I. Between the heat and the rain, they don't make a lot of sense. Maybe if we get some dry, cool weather in the next few weeks somebody might get adventurous.

Yeah, the open air ones always seemed a little weird for the fall semester. But they could be a real treat in the spring.

(10-11-2020 01:35 PM)franklyconfused Wrote:  

(10-11-2020 01:03 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  The climate-controlled tents are all right next to each other, in the open space where old Wiess College was.

The open tents are scattered about campus. To be honest, I haven't seem them being used much at all.

Neither have I. Between the heat and the rain, they don't make a lot of sense. Maybe if we get some dry, cool weather in the next few weeks somebody might get adventurous.

Well, we had a couple of weeks of cool dry weather just recently, and the open tents still weren't being used. Even on a nice day, the acoustics of an outdoor tent are really bad for teaching: it's hard to make yourself heard well without shouting or setting up a speaker system (and taking it down after class).

On the other hand, the open tents will be perfect for TGs and similar events, once those happen again. :)

Maybe we have a revival or circus in one of the tents.

(10-11-2020 01:40 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(10-11-2020 01:35 PM)franklyconfused Wrote:  

(10-11-2020 01:03 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  The climate-controlled tents are all right next to each other, in the open space where old Wiess College was.

The open tents are scattered about campus. To be honest, I haven't seem them being used much at all.

Neither have I. Between the heat and the rain, they don't make a lot of sense. Maybe if we get some dry, cool weather in the next few weeks somebody might get adventurous.

Well, we had a couple of weeks of cool dry weather just recently, and the open tents still weren't being used. Even on a nice day, the acoustics of an outdoor tent are really bad for teaching: it's hard to make yourself heard well without shouting or setting up a speaker system (and taking it down after class).

On the other hand, the open tents will be perfect for TGs and similar events, once those happen again. :)

I hate to throw cold water on this, and of course the attention is good... but are we really doing well or just a little above average for a University?? Especially when you adjust for enrollment??

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020...acker.html

Rice 105 cases
UH 245
TSU 1
UH-D 15
UH-Victoria 30
UTA 104
UTSA 19
UTD 50
Duke University 121
Cal State Fullerton 4
Fresno State 26
Stanford 137
ODU 70
Wash-U St Louis 76
Princeton 50
Harvard 72
Tulsa 81

Rice has much more control over housing and 'work' for students and faculty than any city does.... plus much less diversity in age and health access etc.

(10-12-2020 12:55 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  I hate to throw cold water on this, and of course the attention is good... but are we really doing well or just a little above average for a University?? Especially when you adjust for enrollment??

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020...acker.html

Rice 105 cases
UH 245
TSU 1
UH-D 15
UH-Victoria 30
UTA 104
UTSA 19
UTD 50
Duke University 121
Cal State Fullerton 4
Fresno State 26
Stanford 137
ODU 70
Wash-U St Louis 76
Princeton 50
Harvard 72
Tulsa 81

Rice has much more control over housing and 'work' for students and faculty than any city does.... plus much less diversity in age and health access etc.

Since "opening" back up on August 1, Rice has had 38 "on-campus" positive tests and 18 "non-Rice" positive tests (tested off campus and notified Rice). 69 positive tests between March and July.
https://coronavirus.rice.edu/

(10-12-2020 01:38 PM)dragon2owl Wrote:  

(10-12-2020 12:55 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  I hate to throw cold water on this, and of course the attention is good... but are we really doing well or just a little above average for a University?? Especially when you adjust for enrollment??

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020...acker.html

Rice 105 cases
UH 245
TSU 1
UH-D 15
UH-Victoria 30
UTA 104
UTSA 19
UTD 50
Duke University 121
Cal State Fullerton 4
Fresno State 26
Stanford 137
ODU 70
Wash-U St Louis 76
Princeton 50
Harvard 72
Tulsa 81

Rice has much more control over housing and 'work' for students and faculty than any city does.... plus much less diversity in age and health access etc.

Since "opening" back up on August 1, Rice has had 38 "on-campus" positive tests and 18 "non-Rice" positive tests (tested off campus and notified Rice). 69 positive tests between March and July.
https://coronavirus.rice.edu/

Rice is also in person and some of those are fully online. I saw Stanford cancelled all activities for a week because some of their 1Y MBA students took a weekend trip. Talk about a waste of $80k per year

(10-12-2020 02:17 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(10-12-2020 01:38 PM)dragon2owl Wrote:  

(10-12-2020 12:55 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  I hate to throw cold water on this, and of course the attention is good... but are we really doing well or just a little above average for a University?? Especially when you adjust for enrollment??

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020...acker.html

Rice 105 cases
UH 245
TSU 1
UH-D 15
UH-Victoria 30
UTA 104
UTSA 19
UTD 50
Duke University 121
Cal State Fullerton 4
Fresno State 26
Stanford 137
ODU 70
Wash-U St Louis 76
Princeton 50
Harvard 72
Tulsa 81

Rice has much more control over housing and 'work' for students and faculty than any city does.... plus much less diversity in age and health access etc.

Since "opening" back up on August 1, Rice has had 38 "on-campus" positive tests and 18 "non-Rice" positive tests (tested off campus and notified Rice). 69 positive tests between March and July.
https://coronavirus.rice.edu/

Rice is also in person and some of those are fully online. I saw Stanford cancelled all activities for a week because some of their 1Y MBA students took a weekend trip. Talk about a waste of $80k per year

The first item is a very good point. Take Harvard for example, they are not fully in-person yet, just select students (I believe freshmen and seniors).

It's also hard to compare due to testing protocol differences. My guess is Rice is testing a lot more than UH-Victoria.

(10-12-2020 02:17 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  Rice is also in person and some of those are fully online. I saw Stanford cancelled all activities for a week because some of their 1Y MBA students took a weekend trip. Talk about a waste of $80k per year

To be clear, some Rice classes are online-only, and some Rice students are taking their entire semester remotely.

Even students living on campus often attend their classes remotely, rather than going to the classroom.

That's what my daughter is doing, George.

Nothing is ever really apples:apples.....

I just don't see that Rice is as much of a stand-out relative to peer groups. Even if Harvard is only Freshman and Seniors, that's probably around 4,000 students.

Again, I'm happy to see the positive press, but I'm hesitant to claim that we're alone in doing a good job on our campuses. There are of course a few who are not doing especially well... mostly large state schools... but LOTS of schools are doing well for a number of reasons... including many of the same protocols that we're using... mostly because they can control their students.

(10-13-2020 01:17 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  That's what my daughter is doing, George.

Nothing is ever really apples:apples.....

I just don't see that Rice is as much of a stand-out relative to peer groups. Even if Harvard is only Freshman and Seniors, that's probably around 4,000 students.

Again, I'm happy to see the positive press, but I'm hesitant to claim that we're alone in doing a good job on our campuses. There are of course a few who are not doing especially well... mostly large state schools... but LOTS of schools are doing well for a number of reasons... including many of the same protocols that we're using... mostly because they can control their students.

To put some actual numbers to it (since they exist), Harvard has ~25% of their undergrad population back on campus. So around 1,700 of 6,755 students.

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/...-students/

It looks like they've had only 9 undergrad cases out of 61 total on campus (since June 1), which compares to 19 of 38 total on campus at Rice (since August 1).

Harvard is running a lot more tests than Rice. In the last seven days, 14k tests vs 1k tests.

https://www.harvard.edu/coronavirus/harv...-dashboard
https://coronavirus.rice.edu/