USC students begin their fall semester on Monday via Zoom. Some students will continue to log into their classes from their childhood bedrooms; others have elected to live near campus — to fulfill a lease signed when classes were still expected to be in-person, to finally be in the same timezone as their courses or simply because they are ready for change.
One thing is certain: change is inevitable this semester.
Annenberg Media has closely followed USC’s response to COVID-19 over the past three months, speaking on a weekly basis with USC’s Chief Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman. In that time, we have gathered a plethora of information. Here is “what you need to know” about USC’s fall 2020 semester.
Moving Back to L.A.
L.A. County’s public health department continues to enforce the Safer at Home order, which includes not having people over and remaining home as much as possible. Essentially, the order prohibits socializing with anyone who doesn’t live in your same home with guidance to wear a face covering and maintain six feet of distance while around others outside the home. Dr. Van Orman acknowledges the varying difficulty for young people but warns of the dangers that come from even small gatherings.
“10 people get together, they have a barbecue or a party. One person is positive, and this virus is so contagious, half of the people will end up positive. And then one of those people goes to another barbecue with 10 people, and then another barbecue, and so all of a sudden we have 50-75 people involved with an outbreak,” said Dr. Van Orman.
That’s exactly what happened with the outbreak on 28th street in late July. Dr. Van Orman explains that it wasn’t one large party but rather a series of smaller gatherings over a period of weeks.
Risk for Young People
Young people ages 18 to 30 years old continue to account for 25% to 30% of new infections. If students do not take social distancing seriously this semester, Van Orman shares the reality these actions could have.
“You may not know that someone you’re next to or you’re living with is someone at higher risk of complications or is going to be one of that handful of unlucky young people, you know, there are deaths among people 18 to 40… understanding that if you get sick, even if you don’t get very sick, there are young people who have severe disease and you could really be responsible to spreading it to somebody and you may not know, you know, you can’t tell from the outside, who is on immunosuppression.”
Rising senior Harrison Weinerman has been living near campus since May. He has seen a rise in house parties over the last few days and is fearful and frustrated by his classmates’ choices.
“I usually go on a walk by myself every night because I sit at a desk all day. I wear a mask. Walking towards campus I passed some houses with loud music playing and saw parties in the backyard,” said Weinerman.
More bothersome, he said, were the students walking in groups on the sidewalk without masks — the size of their group makes them hard to avoid on a narrow sidewalk.
“Even if people engage in risky behavior, the least they can do is wear a mask to protect other people around them,” said Weinerman.
A younger student moving back shared that because she is not going home to put her parents at risk for infection she’s less worried about her interactions with peers. This thinking is a common theme in reporting on the return to campus.
Disciplinary Actions
According to the student code of conduct, students are responsible for representing the University in the community and are subject to disciplinary action if they do not comply with University guidelines, even in off-campus private residences.
“I think a lot of people in the community are really worried and concerned about USC students… when community members see USC students gathering [and] there are 20 people on the front lawn, it really makes our university look bad and that we don’t care about the community in which we live,” said Van Orman.
Disciplinary action against students who pose intentional or unintentional health risks to the larger community could result in a ban from accessing University premises for the rest of the semester, including the USC Village, which is home to both Target and Trader Joe’s. Further disciplinary actions could include probation, suspension or expulsion without tuition refund. Sanctions apply to both individuals and organizations. The need to enforce disciplinary actions was firmly outlined by the state in their guidelines for reopening.
The University has assembled a Student COVID Response Team to oversee student compliance of guidelines both on and off-campus. The response team is managed through Student Affairs and cannot access the information connected to USC Student Health. However, if an incident is in question, Student Health can provide a health perspective as to whether the incident was truly a violation of health orders.
“When individuals come to us for testing our job is not enforcement. Our job is to try to figure out where people were, who they were exposed to,” said Dr. Van Orman
No matter where one gets tested, the health care provider is under a legal obligation to report all positive cases to the Los Angeles Department of Public Health, who may take further action by posting a health officer isolation order, which was the case in the outbreak on 28th street.
As of Aug. 8, Mayor Eric Garcetti also announced that if LAPD confirms a house party in Los Angeles, the LADWP will be ordered to turn off water and power within 48 hours.
Access to Campus
Part of the University guidelines in order to be allowed on campus includes the completion of a daily symptom tracker, TrojanCheck, when going on-campus. The tracker asks basic questions, such as if the individual has been exposed within the last 14 days or experienced any of the common COVID-19 symptoms. Students and faculty login through their myUSC portal but must first complete a Health, Hygiene and Safety workshop on TrojanLearn. Those without myUSC accounts can also access campus through the “guest setting” on the TrojanCheck app.
While all classes will begin online, students and guests will have access to outdoor common spaces on the University’s campus with the ability to use campus-wide WiFi outdoors. Masks are required to be worn at all times while on campus.
Hybrid classes will not begin until the state, county and university are in Phase 3 with approval to move forward with the state and county guidelines for higher education released on Aug. 12.
In-person instruction is currently only for students who are training for essential workforces, like health profession students who require hands-on training to work in the hospital.
Metrics for Reopening
At the state level, a university first needs to be off the state monitoring list, which names counties where the case rate is still too high, for three consecutive days.
“We haven’t been off the state monitoring list in quite some time and I think it’ll be a while before we are,” said Van Orman about the state’s guidelines.
The county then must deem it safe based on its metrics – case rate and community transmission. The third step is the University choosing to move forward with reopening.
Van Orman mentioned several factors that will help the University decide if they should reopen including whether the University has adequate health care, testing and personal protective equipment systems in place at that time to fully comply with the state and county’s requirements. The university will also take into account where the school is in the semester and if it makes sense to add the hybrid component of classes.
Student Health
The Student Health Center has been testing individuals who have been exposed or are symptomatic throughout the summer and will continue to be open for students throughout the fall semester. Other services will be offered through telehealth. Students under the Aetna insurance plan who live in California can access these services, including mental health counseling. Due to licensing, those outside of California are not eligible. However, they are able to participate in USC Student Health’s drop-in Let’s Talk sessions offered every Tuesday and Thursday.
Isolation Housing and Case Management
The USC Hotel serves as dedicated isolation housing for all students who contract COVID-19 or have been exposed and do not have a living space that allows a quarantine away from others. Isolating in the USC Hotel is free for USC students. Once a student tests positive, that individual receives a daily call from student health to assess their symptoms and determine if additional medical attention is needed. According to Dr. Van Orman, only one student has needed hospitalization, with the incident occurring several weeks ago.
Rising USC junior Cambri Guest tested positive this summer while living in the USC area. Guest, along with a friend who she was in close quarters with prior to her positive test, were both granted rooms for their quarantine period.
“It was definitely a very unenjoyable period. I did not like being in isolation at all. It’s very lonely and you have a lot of time to kind of just sit...but it definitely is a big bonus that USC has that option available because I think it’s going to end up protecting a lot of students,” said Guest.
She was given a $70 credit per day for room service food as well as a thermometer for daily temperature checks. The hotel has 250 spaces available. The University has also identified other hotels, should more isolation space be needed.
Surveillance Testing
USC launched its partnership with Color, a third-party population testing company, on Aug. 6. by inviting all undergraduate students to get an initial COVID-19 test on campus. Color currently practices an “observed approach,” where a healthcare provider talks the individual through how to administer the test to themself and watches to make sure it is done correctly.
As of Aug. 13, approximately 300-400 tests have been administered per day, with the capacity since expanding to allow testing for graduate and professional students. Testing done through Color is for surveillance purposes, to gauge community spread, and is not for students who have known exposure or are experiencing symptoms. The small number of individuals living in USC housing will be tested weekly with plans to add more regular surveillance testing groups if Student Health identifies a high-risk group. While those living off-campus will not be mandated to participate in surveillance testing at this time, they are still eligible for regular testing, should the individual want routine testing.
Housing
The University is only able to provide housing to individuals with housing insecurity or who would otherwise be at risk for homelessness under the current L.A. County and state guidelines. A lack of study space or difficulty studying in the home is not currently a permissible reason to allow students to live on-campus.
In an earlier conversation, Dr. Emily Sandoval, interim Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs, Student Engagement, discussed plans to move the residential advisor (RA) experience online, finding different ways to compensate RAs, who typically receive free room and board. RAs who fall into the basic needs category have received housing and a meal plan due to their extenuating circumstances, although official duties have yet to be assigned.
The USC Village dining hall, which has been operating all summer for essential employees, will remain open for the fall semester. All meals will be ordered through the Grubhub app, pre-packaged and for takeout only.
Greek Life
Panhellenic and IFC chapters will be held responsible for individual members’ actions that violate the COVID-19 Health and Safety Rules, according to an email sent to USC Greek life members from Vice President for Student Affairs Winston Crisp. Violations could result in interim chapter suspension and/or multi-year derecognition. The email made clear that non-residents are not permitted in residences affiliated with a USC fraternity or sorority at any time. It also called for chapters to ensure their active members provide an updated address in the members’ OASIS profile.
Many chapters, including sororities Delta Gamma (DG) and Kappa Alpha Theta (Theta), have chosen to not reopen their physical chapter house for the fall semester. Some are opening just for take-out meals, while a few are still allowing residents. While reopening fraternity and sorority homes for living is permitted under the county guidelines, Van Orman voiced concern.
“There’s been several other fraternity outbreaks at other universities, and I think certainly part of that is socializing but part of it is just the nature of how the living unit is constructed. It’s not a good setup for infection control,” said Van Orman.
Dating and Sexual Health
A common method of socializing during the pandemic is the “social bubble” approach where groups of people collectively agree to form a group where they can break that barrier outside of just their household. The keyword being “collectively agree.” Once one person in the bubble breaks the agreement and sees another person, that individual, their household, and the rest of their bubble is considered exposed if someone in the bubble were to test positive for COVID-19.
USC has not officially released guidelines on sexual health, like the University of Georgia did earlier this week before taking the guidance down. However, Dr. Van Orman shared the reality of the situation: having an intimate partner links your households.
“If someone has an ongoing regular intimate partner then clearly that person is sort of in their household whether they live with them or not. If I live in one apartment and my intimate partner lives another apartment those two households are linked, so anything that happens to anybody in one of those households happens to people in the other ones of those households so people need to think about that in terms of their kind of exposure group.”
Classes for USC’s fall semester begin Monday. Information will be updated as the situation changes.
Update made August 17, 2020 10:42 p.m.: The story has been updated to include sections ‘Housing’ and ‘Greek Life.’ An image of TrojanCheck’s pass and a video from USC Hotel’s isolation housing were also added.