Reopening Campus – Part 1

Since March 2020, the return of UG students has always been a much-awaited topic of discussion. With the PG students returning to campus in a phased manner in the last couple of months, the UG community has eagerly been waiting for an update. With increasing vaccination numbers and the active caseload at an all-time low, the student community is buzzing with hopes for any information from the administration regarding the matter. But the threat of a third wave still looms over the nation.

As the discussion and debate on the return of UG students heat up, it becomes important to analyse issues in retrospect. It hasn’t been long since the last time graduating students were on campus. In October 2020, the administration began calling back PG students on campus, followed by the graduating UG students in March 2021. This was also the time when the devastating second wave of the coronavirus hit the country, and its adverse effects were seen on campus too. With students being asked to vacate rooms, and active cases on campus reaching the three-digit mark, chaos ensued in the final months of the even-semester. 

In March 2021, with the UG students coming back on campus, the protocols and logistics on campus were completely in alignment with the government guidelines, and precautionary measures were being taken. So what went wrong? While the initial testing and quarantining measures were being followed as decided, a major fallacy in the plan that came forward was the absence of regular testing and monitoring of numbers. After the initial RT-PCR tests, there was an absence of monitoring of symptoms for students on campus. Also, with multiple staff members coming in and going out of campus, the campus wasn’t exactly isolated from the city. It was left to the students to report if they were feeling any of the COVID symptoms, and subsequently, if they tested positive, the entire wing would have to be quarantined and be under lockdown. This was one of the reasons for the social stigmatisation of coming forward since it implied that the remaining people would have to face the consequences, which led to a sense of irresponsibility creeping in. 

In March 2021, several instances of blatant flouting of rules and regulations came forward. A digital footprint indicating the clear violation of guidelines came forward, and the students on campus were seen disrespecting the gravity of the pandemic. Scenes from campus included social gatherings, celebrations in confined spaces and disregard of curfews and lockdown. In a specific incident, a student had broken quarantine and went on to roam the campus. In another incident, a COVID positive student had complained to the staff of the Health Center without a mask, which led to the staff being quarantined as well. With the second wave hitting the country and the lack of cognizance by the campus community, the number of cases escalated quickly. This eventually led to sending back the students in the middle of both the semester and the pandemic since the facilities and resources on campus proved insufficient.

In conversation with a graduating student on campus, a concern brought forward was that of the curfew. While the curfew was imposed city-wide, it also brought certain problems to light. Students mentioned how only the evenings were available to them post their classes and lab work and that the curfew implied that they had to stay within their hostels. This, in turn, inadvertently led to increased social gatherings within confined spaces and contributed to the chain reaction. A work-around for the rules was found, and this led to catastrophe. One of the major points also brought forward was that while PG students were also violating the regulations, there was a lack of accountability and a ‘time of our lives’ attitude displayed by the graduating UG students on campus, leading to large gatherings and parties. However, it is becoming apparent that students now better understand the gravity of the situation and the responsibility that they possess.

In addition, it has also come forward in recent days that masks are not being religiously worn at all places, including labs, offices and messing areas by PG students and staff. With the resumption of open messing areas and academic offices, people are susceptible to the spread of the delta variant of the virus. With masks not being worn diligently and a lack of regular testing and monitoring post-arrival, there exists a need for the entire campus community to be more cognizant of the responsibility and take adequate note of regulations that need to be followed.

The following summer of 2021 was crucial for the Students’ Gymkhana. On 7th June 2021, the Students’ Senate decided to form a subcommittee to ‘deal with the obstacles in return of the students to the campus.’ The subcommittee intended to develop Standard Operational Procedures to ensure the safety and health of the student community when on campus. The subcommittee discussed and formulated plans on the following fronts:

• Formulation and enforcement of rules and regulations for student residents
• Logistics related to COVID-19 at the Hall level, including but not limited to quarantine issues (duration, batch size etc), sanitation, food delivery etc.
• Proper dissemination of information, developments and policies
• Resolving issues of movement of student residents on the campus after quarantine in order to strike a balance between safety and personal freedom
  

The following major takeaways were made in the minutes of the meetings of the subcommittee:

• It was announced that every department has been appointed a coordinator to stay in constant touch with the students of their respective departments. Their primary task is to disseminate information and make sure departmental concerns, such as laboratory constraints are addressed well.
• The final set of guidelines included minimising contact between residents and workers and constituting a Hall Task Force for each hall of residence. The Hall Task Force is supposed to communicate guidelines and instructions from the Institute to the students of the hall and maintain Whatsapp groups with members of each wing. If any person does not feel healthy, then a 7-step procedure was also proposed to handle such situations.

The formulation of the Hall Task Force is a mechanism to ensure that a breakout like last time is prevented and that the situation can be arrested before it begins to spiral for the worse.

The minutes of the sub-committee meetings have been attached in the annexure to the article.

In an email dated 30 August 2021, The Chairperson, Students’ Senate shared the resolution proposed by the President, Students’ Gymkhana and submitted it to the administration regarding the plan for the return of UG students.

The resolutions’ proposals call for the return of UG students beginning 20 September 2021, and that priority is to be given to students with resource constraints highlighted in the online semester. About 12%(~365 students) of the UG Y18, Y19 and Y20 were assumed to be facing certain constraints, among which 165 and 200 are estimated to be double dose and single-dose vaccinated, respectively. The proposal also called for the return of UG Y18 students, citing the upcoming placement season and high vaccination numbers of the student strength. The resolution postscript mentioned the following statement by the Student Body – “..collectively promise to uphold the undertaking that would be sent by the institute. We will also adhere to the guidelines and believe that those who will violate the rules should be penalised. The student body will stand by the institute in any cases of violations which are committed particularly with respect to the pandemic.”  

The resolution was received by the administration, and an initial meeting was held with regards to the proposals made and the calling back of UG resource-constrained students was presented. However, any substantial update from the administration will only be given after the Heads Group convenes, and there may be a delay due to the evaluation of resource constraints. Students have begun organized efforts on social media and otherwise to bring attention to this issue and display their disappointment due to the lack of information themselves. Reports of classes being interrupted via voice or chat and asking the professor to address the issue have started flowing in since 6th September. Amidst conversations of mass mailing, interrupting more classes, boycotting mid-semester exams and student opinion surveys – it’s important to understand that the decision to reopen campus lies with the Heads Group consisting of the Director, DoSA, DoAA and the HoDs of all departments. Several professors have sympathized with the students on the issue already and cannot do much except convey the grievances.

A significant part of the promise of UG students returning to campus rests on the shoulders of the student community already on campus and those who may return in the coming weeks. If the student community can display a sense of responsibility and accountability to the stakeholders by following the SOPs and guidelines, it should be safe to proceed with the return of all students in a phased manner. Since the country has risen from the abysmal state that it faced in the second wave, cities are opening up, and the vaccination drive is in full gear, the situation now is very different and considerably safer than the one during the second wave. Many students are suffering from serious problems related to mental health or financial situation, to cite a couple, due to the endless online semesters and it is becoming more and more imperative to reopen the campus. At the very least, the UG student community demands dialogue (in the form of an open house) and a detailed response. Multiple petitions for the same have been circulated via social media.

ANNEXURE: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bVtLpznHtt0yrHUI__Ph1BGfVUjZL5zz?usp=sharing

– The Editorial Board, Vox Populi.