By Anna Hansen
October 19, 2020
Edgewood’s Student Senate, accompanied by Edgewood President Andrew Manion and Vice President for Student Development Heather Harbach, hosted a town hall Oct. 13 to discuss the effects of COVID-19 on campus.
Harbach said that Edgewood’s residence hall protocols, which include distanced seating areas and mask requirements, were based on CDC recommendations for college campus living.
“As it stands right now, I feel like our protocols are working quite well,” she said. “It’s reliant upon foundational values that we have of community, and that’s really what we’re centering most of our work around.”
But attendees questioned the protocol violation forms. “There is a chance for bias and for false reports to be made, and it also undermines our sense of community,” said one attendee.
Harbach said that the forms were meant for quick symptom reporting or possible positive COVID test disclosure.
“As for the hotline,” said Harbach “that actually was a request from Senate. They had asked for a way for people to report anonymously … we take (the complaints) seriously, but we also take them with follow-up that’s additional.”
Harbach said Edgewood wasn’t COVID testing on campus for mainly two reasons: availability at the Alliant Energy Center and cost. “We have a really great option in our county which not many counties in Wisconsin have,” she said. CVS also provides free tests.
“We have been looking at some testing on-ground, possibly on-campus,” said Harbach. “I will be honest with you, though, those tests are extremely expensive.”
Harbach said the minimum cost she had found per test was $100, and supply-chain issues add another burden to the process of obtaining tests.
“When you pull all that together, we looked at our strategy, we looked at our protocol … we are a small community that knows each other and knows each other well enough that we felt confident that if we did symptom monitoring and quick reaction to any symptom reporting that that could be as effective as regular mandatory testing.”
Marion added, “The CDC and Dane County don’t recommend that we [test on campus].”
The Alliant Energy Center testing site is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 p.m. – 8 p.m., and Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 8 a.m.- 4 p.m.
At the town hall, some said they were frustrated with the no-guest policy for campus residents. “The guest policy is made to be something that’s continuously examined,” said Harbach. “We don’t feel that we’ve reached where we can relax that process. I’m happy to take back some suggestions to have the guest policy examined at the end of the Fall semester.”
Manion said the COVID protocols were formed by the college’s Fall reopening task force, which met twice a week all summer, moving to less frequent meetings in mid-September.
“Mathematically,” he said, “a person who lives in a [dorm] hall and goes to visit their family might encounter five people, then come back to the hall. A person who resides out of the halls and comes to visit–there is no known number. There could be hundreds of thousands of people that person has come into contact with. So, the likelihood of that person bringing COVID-19 into the hall is greater than the likelihood of a person leaving the hall, visiting someone, and coming back.”
“It’s a weird concept to wrap your head around,” said Manion “but everything we’re doing is playing the odds. We’re doing our best to minimize the risk.”
Manion said that the hybrid model will continue as it is now unless there is a scientifically validated, widely distributed COVID-19 vaccine available by next semester.
Manion said he has not considered whether the college would require students to be vaccinated.
Like many things, spring break looks different this year. Manion said that as Edgewood administration considers its options for Spring semester, one is distributing Spring break 1-2 days at a time rather than the typical week.
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