As Chapel Hill shifts classes online, what’s next for NC State and rest of UNC System?

UNC-Chapel Hill’s move to remote classes for undergraduates applies only to that UNC System school, the system’s leader said Monday.

President Peter Hans said each of the system’s 17 schools — including N.C. State, N.C. Central and UNC-Charlotte — are different, and he expects “situations to evolve differently.”

No other school has yet reported the kind of coronavirus issues that would prompt a decision like UNC-Chapel Hill made Monday, just over a week since classes started, Hans said in a statement.

“Taking personal responsibility and enforcing community standards are essential for the success of this semester and for protecting public health,” Hans said.

“In any circumstance, we will be grounded by reliable public health data and prevailing local health conditions,” he said. “I will continue to stay in close contact with our chancellors and fully support their efforts to fulfill our core educational mission in safe learning environments.”

Hans’ statement came shortly after UNC-Chapel Hill announced all undergraduate classes would move online starting Wednesday.

Earlier Monday, the university reported 130 students tested positive for COVID-19 last week, and four clusters of cases had been reported over the past three days in on- and off-campus housing. A cluster represents at least five cases.

NCSU cases, party complaints

N.C. State has reported 20 confirmed COVID-19 cases since March, including four new cases last week, according to the school’s dashboard, which is updated weekly. Those numbers also don’t reflect tests done at local pharmacies or testing sites, or faculty and staff test results.

N.C. State has not reported any campus outbreaks after completing the first week of classes, officials said Monday. A university spokesperson said 35 students are living in a residence hall set aside to isolate or quarantine up to 166 students.

The university is investigating complaints of parties, spokesman Mick Kulikowski said, but could not verify that students were involved in an alleged party over the weekend from which video was shared on social media.

N.C. State Police have referred multiple calls for off-campus parties to Raleigh Police, Maj. David Kelly said. Raleigh Police said only one of four 911 calls for COVID-19-related violations over the weekend was near N.C. State.

No citations were issued, Raleigh Police spokeswoman Laura Hourigan said.

Vote of no confidence at Appalachian State

In Boone, faculty at Appalachian State University on Monday passed a resolution of no confidence in Chancellor Sheri Everts, citing a lack of transparency, lack of support for faculty, and her inaction in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Faculty Senate also passed a resolution holding the UNC Board of Governors and Everts responsible for COVID-19 illnesses and death resulting from the decision to reopen campus.

Monday was the first day of classes at Appalachian State. Faculty Senate members were debating the resolutions as they learned that UNC-Chapel Hill was moving to all online classes for undergraduates.

The Appalachian State COVID-19 dashboard said 47 students and 11 employees were in isolation Monday with active cases. The university has students answer questions daily about symptoms, a “passport” that grants access to campus.

ECU identifies first cluster

East Carolina University in Greenville announced Monday its first cluster of cases at Gateway Residence Hall, according to a news alert from the school.

The school did not say how many students had tested positive but that officials are working with the Pitt County Health Department to trace contacts.

ECU has tested 1,458 students since the week of June 7, with 108 positive tests — or a positive rate of 7.4%, according to ECU’s testing dashboard.

The university has 17 staff members who have tested positive in the same time frame.

But cases have risen in the past two weeks as students have returned to school. There were 29 positive tests last week, according to the dashboard.

Students returned to residence halls Aug. 5. That following weekend, police said they shut down at least 20 parties, including one with about 400 people, Lt. Chris Sutton, who heads ECU Police Department’s emergency and event management, told McClatchy News.

College students return to Durham

Like in Chapel Hill, the main concern in Durham related to Duke and N.C. Central University students is large, off-campus parties, Durham Mayor Steve Schewel said.

Duke, a private institution, is not part of the UNC System.

Schewel said he has received a few complaints since Duke students started moving in more than a week ago. He contacted Duke over the weekend to make sure a hotline for reporting student violations of COVID-19 rules, “is working as we need it to work,” he said Monday.

“I think what we need to make sure is that Duke is responding with urgency to the calls ... in a timely fashion,” Schewel said.

Duke has required mass testing as students returned to campus before they can move into a residence hall or attend class on campus.

Last week, the university announced four positive cases among students from 3,116 initial tests, according to The News & Observer.

Monday, the university said it now has 11 student cases out of 5,765 tests since Aug. 2. That includes the four from the first announcement.

The students are in mandatory isolation, Duke said.

A group of student-athletes who came back to campus in July have been tested regularly, the school has said, as well as their coaches and staff. Those tests found 26 positive cases of COVID-19, and the students have now been cleared to return to their routines.

Spokespeople for the Durham Police Department said Monday they are unaware of any complaints but also said the department does not identify complaints involving college students.

N.C. Central also has reported positive coronavirus cases — four students, six employees and one contractor since July 1, according to the school’s COVID-19 dashboard. Students started moving in Aug. 4, and will start classes Aug. 24, according to a school calendar.

However, NCCU’s count doesn’t include people with confirmed cases who haven’t been on campus in the past 14 days.

Ayana Hernandez, a spokesperson for NCCU, said the school hasn’t had any complaints related to students. She didn’t respond when asked whether the school might shift to remote learning after UNC’s decision.

Noise, trash in downtown Durham

Suja Thomas, a data scientist who lives in a downtown Durham apartment, said she has concerns about the many Duke students that moved into her complex this month. Noisy nights and trash in the common area have become regular, she said.

“I have stepped out onto broken glass from broken beer bottles when I exited my building,” she said.

The worst thing, Thomas said, is students aren’t wearing masks in common spaces.

“Some of them do, don’t get me wrong, but it is not consistent,” she said.

She reported her concerns to the Duke hotline on Wednesday, but was told nothing could be done about off-campus reports at that time, Thomas said. Someone took her complaint when she called back on Saturday. She was notified to check on her complaint Sept. 14 — a month away.

It doesn’t seem like the apartment complex nor Duke is really managing the situation, she said.

“I have basically no confidence that kids their age are going to understand the enormity of what is happening and could, honestly be expected to change their behavior,” Thomas said. “I definitely also do not want to live in a college dorm.”

This story was originally published August 17, 2020 at 6:41 PM with the headline "As Chapel Hill shifts classes online, what’s next for NC State and rest of UNC System?."