A resolution passed by the Dane County Board of Supervisors calling to send UW-Madison students home and move to fully remote learning faced opposition from the university, amid increased enrollment numbers and housing contract cancellations.
At the same time, 720 students have cancelled their housing contracts and are moving out of university housing. Another 475 students have deferred their admission or enrollment to next year — 80 percent of which are international students, according to The Cap Times.
The Dane County Board of Supervisors passed the resolution Oct. 1 in a 24-9 vote with four abstentions. The decision came in response to several county supervisors voicing their concerns over the rapid spread of COVID-19 after students returned to Dane County.
Chancellor Rebecca Blank issued a statement in opposition to the resolution, and instead emphasized the university’s success in thwarting new cases when it decided to move classes online and restrict undergraduate student’s movements to essential activities after a sharp spike of infections during the first week of school.
Blank also touted the positive effects of newly implemented health protocols, stating that “no faculty or staff have become infected in classrooms or lab settings.”
“Campus cases now average 19 cases per day, with a positivity rate of 1.8 percent,” Blank said. “This is a lower infection rate than Dane County in general and far below the Wisconsin state average.”
The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce also opposed the county’s resolution on the grounds that it would cause “unnecessary economic hardship” on businesses.
“Ending in-person classes and sending students ‘home’ is not a productive public health strategy and sends a terrible message to the students that are members of our community,” the Chamber said in a statement.
While the fall semester started under unusual circumstances, UW welcomed its second largest freshman class of 7,306, including a record number of applicants up 4.6 percent from last year.
However, 250 students have withdrawn from UW-Madison this fall, about 0.5 percent of the student body, though the number does not stray much from last year’s 208 withdrawals in the fall.
The cancellations come despite Chancellor Blank’s assurances that health protocols will keep the UW community safe along with her belief that students can stay on campus.
UW graduate student Laura Downer also held a similar position to Blank on the resolution, believing sending students home would be counterproductive.
“Sending all students from residence halls home is unsafe and unrealistic,” Downer told the Wisconsin State Journal. “If we close residence halls and move classes online, this will encourage students to engage in more reckless behaviors.”
In addition, Blank pointed out that a vast number of students will stay in Madison, regardless of how classes will be administered.
“Given the low case numbers at UW, our extensive testing and massaging regime and our student’s commitment to being part of the Madison community, we disagree with calls for the university to send student(s) home,” Blank said in a statement.
