Residential Spread

For our final episode of the year, we talk about "Endemic COVID." It's not here yet, so why do so many people want to convince us that it is? What will the push for endemic COVID mean for higher education? What will it mean for the future of our show? Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_yMHtACiS8N4e6IIZK1dyvuu365AoeFjiF1Zeyf7VnA/edit?usp=sharing

This week, Aimi Hamraie joins us to discuss the Critical Design Lab. The lab has developed strategies for accessible teaching during the pandemic, hosted a series of remote-access nightlife parties, and is currently working on the Remote Access Archive, which seeks to track and document "the ways disabled people have used remote access before and during the COVID-19 pandemic." https://www.mapping-access.com/ Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j16jsJAG5TkG5cUuk2MWh6y3P36TOmX-SfbRKN8Ue2Y/edit?usp=sharing

We're extending the Halloween season into mid-November to talk about that most scary of all experiences: the email from upper admin. We share some truly spine-tingling examples of the genre and discuss the features that make them simultaneously scary and formulaic. Transcript:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1glS732ztWrmq_bhKSukfW456wvW05IT0WQoa3juaSog/edit?usp=sharing

This week, we are going through some headlines related to higher education and the coronavirus. We talk academic freedom in Hawaii and Florida and about bad dorms at Howard and UC Santa Barbara. Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U2VVsvvn5OPxKnPCtXJ8cYmCuwE1ojg_a8uuI_sXnts/edit?usp=sharing

After the University System of Georgia voted unanimously to put new limits on the protections of tenure, the entire system may face censure from the AAUP. What does that mean? We take a look at the list of schools currently facing AAUP censure to find out. Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12xkAZEScNuyVpsjfag9eMLMdCyEjZN_dHgGg9bJj0ls/edit?usp=sharing

This week, we are joined by Travis Chi Wing Lau, an assistant professor of English at Kenyon College. Travis is currently working on a book titled "Insecure Immunity: Inoculation and the Anti-Vaccination, 1722-1898," which explores the British cultural history of immunity and vaccination in the 18th and 19th centuries. We talked to him about researching, writing, and teaching during the pandemic and about how he understands the impulse towards the "COVID hot take." Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16s1j2RQ6uStdmrybzHk8ASeuvECONZVAJP7fbmIsU-M/edit?usp=sharing

Why do so many people seem to think that "Zero Covid" is a bad goal? The discourse around this idea is so toxic--and wide spread--that we spend 35 minutes unpacking this concept and how it gets (mis)used to denigrate efforts to stop and mitigate the spread of COVID-19. We also squeeze in some "Bad Art Friend" talk. Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ASKTSu2DMBnv-LKPrvhggx-8H04r-hNWrikFJ8CCyao/edit?usp=sharing

This week, Matthew Boedy tells us about his efforts to keep an accurate count of COVID-19 cases on college campuses in Georgia. He explains how different counting and testing practices at each school makes it harder to understand the state of the pandemic, and discusses why he thinks that the Board of Regents in Georgia will, under no circumstances, change their current approach to the pandemic. See his updated count here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tCijdezYBswB6fjFZcLPxalbRBolAR9DDOLjBjc-oaM/edit?usp=sharing Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KM04WxbHSXj2rR1W9sY1Y3fEl5wlksalBqKD3E0RYx4/edit?usp=sharing

Brown University Economist Emily Oster returned to the news last week when her team launched their new "COVID-19 School Datahub." The Datahub seems to suggest that the most pressing consequence of the pandemic has been...shifts to remote learning.  We explain why Oster's data--and the claims she derives from it--is so troubling (and so lucrative). Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1taL0yOkdAv1GaLCVWW4lZ-Qb3BVewHYgU8FCrt0dPck/edit?usp=sharing 

This week, we bring you a conversation we recorded last month about how we got to a place where colleges in Georgia would be teaching in person with few COVID mitigation policies in place. We've now spent nearly a month teaching under those conditions, and while a lot of things have happened, the big picture remains the same: the Board of Regents and school administrators are intent on going forward with unsafe teaching, learning, and working conditions. We discuss where those policies came from and spend a not insignificant time discussing a uniquely Atlanta institution: the Taco Mac. Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1taL0yOkdAv1GaLCVWW4lZ-Qb3BVewHYgU8FCrt0dPck/edit?usp=sharing

On August 20, Dr. Cornelia Lambert resigned from her lectureship at the University of North Georgia instead of teaching in unsafe conditions. We spoke with her about her decision, the ramifications of them, and how higher ed's response to the Delta Wave is a new low for the "neoliberal death machine." We also hear a bit about Dr. Lambert's plans for a course on the history of infectious diseases. Relevant Reading: "Two UNG Professors Resign Citing Lack of COVID Rules" (https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/education/two-ung-lecturers-resign-citing-lack-covid-rules/) University of North Georgia Lecturers Resign instead of Teaching in Person (https://www.ajc.com/education/university-of-north-georgia-lecturers-resign-instead-of-teaching-in-person/XGCBWJJBRBE5FKUJQP7EEZW2ZI/) Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19LbUfx2LEM9lmD1GAH6PdZ8_01-lbr4gae73pYbr2NI/edit?usp=sharing

We "celebrate" Labor Day by calling attention to an important report on job loss in the University System of Georgia conducted in November of 2020 by the United Campus Workers of Georgia. What they found was that schools were not "chopping from the top." We talk job loss and disaster capitalism during the pandemic in our first bonus episode of the season! Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Tyu8hM73xJ-fbRu4Rdw07d8_3R3PZqZNffuJVrem8f4/edit?usp=sharing

Perhaps the only podcast that ever wanted to become irrelevant is back for a third season. We kick off the fall with a discussion of the Delta Variant and what schools are and are not doing to mitigate spread on college campuses.  Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Pp7d1hDXLH8d748cXdKr3O0Czkpn8IBsXPWBCI7XS38/edit?usp=sharing

In our series finale, we talk about schools' efforts to return to "normal" in the fall. What does "normal" mean, after the past 15 months? And how did the pandemic expose the problems with business as usual in higher ed? Georgia Department of Public Health Interactive COVID Vaccine Dashboard: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/3d8eea39f5c1443db1743a4cb8948a9c Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lOivOKKeTolAhGy3_ikE9czDJqPkFisu9V4MD7sTTd0/edit?usp=sharing

This week, we start with a Temperature Check that highlights how few schools are requiring students to be vaccinated for coronavirus in the fall. But we use that as a jumping-off point for a broader conversation about the complexities of conversations about vaccines. That conversation starts with Eula Biss's On Immunity: An Innoculation, but it takes us to Greek myth, to eighteenth-century satirical prints, and to Lee Edelman's No Future.  "100 U.S. colleges will require vaccinations to attend in-person classes in the fall.": https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/us/colleges-vaccinations-enrollment.html On Immunity: An Inoculation: https://www.amazon.com/Immunity-Inoculation-Eula-Biss/dp/1555977200 "Miami school bars vaccinated teachers from seeing students": https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56905752 "The cow-pock,-or-The wonderful effects of the new inoculation!": https://www.themorgan.org/blog/cow-pock-or-wonderful-effects-new-inoculation "No, We Don’t Know if Vaccines Change Your Period: We do know that researchers do not study menstruation enough.": https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/20/opinion/coronavirus-vaccines-menstruation-periods.html Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IWVyYXYVTFDtlDvzrc4q4OK3UDevXBMPfbGGdlKjZPg/edit?usp=sharing

This week, we discuss the "College for All" bill with Aimee Loiselle and Eleni Schirmer, members of the organization Scholars for a New Deal for Higher Education. The org is "a group of teachers and scholars who believe that generous government reinvestment in our system of higher education is a necessary foundation for a democratic, equitable, and just society." Scholars for a New Deal for Higher Ed: https://scholarsforanewdealforhighered.org/ College for All Bill Summary: https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/the-college-for-all-act-fact-sheet-2021-FINAL.pdf College for All Bill Text: https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/AEG21437-2.pdf Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LwBvf0QSUc2J0ZllNJJRgbWb15vjTlnEbLhcw_7ZQig/edit?usp=sharing

With limitations on travel during the coronavirus pandemic, many academic conferences went fully virtual over the past year. This week, we talk about our experiences attending and presenting our work at those conferences. What did we miss about the in-person experience? What did we like about digital conferences that we'd like to see more of when things return to "normal"?  "Academic Conferences After the Pandemic": https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/learning-innovation/academic-conferences-after-pandemic Tips for making a virtual conference more realistic: https://twitter.com/JuliaFtacek/status/1379765946840199169?s=20 Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WVz8jnxloAo-g3Z8JyjhMtzxr6Burp8IfchmvXei7Qs/edit?usp=sharing

This week, Rick Hart and Alex Ames, student activists with the Students Against Sonny group, explain why the Georgia Board of Regents' reported plan to make Sonny Perdue the next chancellor is so dangerous. Shortly after we recorded this episode, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the board has paused the chancellor search. Listen as we discuss the historical origins of the notion of a politically independent chancellor in Georgia and Rick and Alex explain what they want from the chancellor search. Sign their petition: https://www.change.org/p/sonny-perdue-students-against-sonny-protecting-the-future-of-georgia-higher-ed "Sonny Perdue under consideration to lead Georgia's higher ed system": https://www.ajc.com/politics/politics-blog/sonny-perdue-under-consideration-to-lead-georgias-higher-ed-system/2I6E6D4EKBGUNFA5BTBYJBBJJE/ "The Jolt: "How badly do Sonny Perdue’s allies want him overseeing Georgia’s universities?": https://www.ajc.com/politics/politics-blog/the-jolt-how-badly-do-sonny-perdues-allies-want-him-overseeing-georgias-universities/ATWSHP254BG27C6UAX5G6DOTIM/ "Georgia Board of Regents Pause Search for New Chancellor": https://www.ajc.com/education/georgia-board-of-regents-to-pause-search-for-next-chancellor/XCZWFRVWJRBPXOMOULXCEKHJXE/ Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u65niVVZwXMMhWT_vIvTs9bhr6kqbGjoD3BGdCPECRM/edit?usp=sharing

This week, we wrap up our budgets miniseries by talking about one last "revenue stream" for colleges and universities: students! We all know that students pay tuition, but as we learn this week, some students are worth more money to schools than others, and that impacts how schools recruit and who they admit. We also get into how the U.S. News and World Report college rankings incentivizes schools to solicit applications from students it has no intention of admitting, and connect that to the increasing anxieties for students around applying to college.  "International Enrollment Drop to Hit Higher Ed's Credit for Years": https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/04/05/international-enrollment-drop-hit-higher-eds-credit-years "University launches $750 million comprehensive fundraising campaign, ‘Time to Rise: The Marquette Promise to Be The Difference’": https://www.marquette.edu/email/today/campaign-4-08-21.php "Duke admits record-low 4.3% of regular decision applicants": https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2021/04/duke-regular-decision-application-decisions-record "Private Schools have become Truly Obscene": https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/04/private-schools-are-indefensible/618078/ "A Pandemic Financial Success Story?": https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/04/06/how-private-college-fortified-finances-amid-pandemic Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TjXxUevauZ9AxYiwcSkEgo85pSKOIkfuLNGDlFscCCA/edit?usp=sharing

This week, we return to the subject of Public-Private Partnerships (P3s). We are also checking back in with Corvias, the Rhode Island-based development company that operates many dorms across the University System of Georgia. Corvias's interactions with USG during the pandemic show one example of what can happen when the terms of a P3 deal stop benefitting the private partner. ‘Ethics and Best Practice’: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/03/10/new-documents-reveal-strained-relationship-between-u-system-ga-and-dorm-operator "Corvias Campus Living Secures $548.3 Million In Private Financing For First-Of-Its-Kind Public-Private Partnership With The Board Of Regents Of The University System Of Georgia": https://www.corvias.com/news/corvias-campus-living-secures-5483-million-private-financing-first-its-kind-public-private "As U.S. soldiers battle landlord, confidential records shine light on his lucrative business": https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-military-developer/ "School’s back: How the neoliberal “privatization of risk” explains the deadly decision to re-open campuses": https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2020/10/08/schools-back-how-the-neoliberal-privatization-of-risk-explains-the-deadly-decision-to-re-open-campuses/ Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R0WzbUP9k_L8V6iToapSBJLfbH-F78enVsTUCw-c4gA/edit?usp=sharing

This week, we are joined by Ben Bergholtz to talk student fees. Ben Bergholtz is a former Brittain Fellow who is now Assistant Professor in the School of Literature and Language at Louisiana Tech University. Ben received his PhD from Louisiana State, which has one of the highest student fees in the nation. Ben talks to us about the political climates and misplaced administrative priorities that encourage the ballooning of student fees and talks about his relationship to LSU's (in)famous lazy river, which was paid for in part with student fees! We also explain why you should never believe upper administrators when they tell you how much their institution pays their graduate student employees! "LSU Graduate Student Fees Among Highest in the Nation" -- https://www.lsureveille.com/daily/lsu-graduate-student-fees-among-highest-in-the-nation/article_02d79ca0-661f-11e9-a7ff-9f0e0cfe6ea9.html "New Fund Helps Graduates Finish Degrees" -- https://t.co/2NQUn5lu3p?amp=1 “The hidden cost of college: rising student fees” -- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/08/24/the-hidden-cost-of-college-rising-student-fees/ Transcript -- https://docs.google.com/document/d/12pecNNkuMmcMAFy-NQnWE36AVzPDqHzD1-fu7Vx3ApA/edit?usp=sharing

Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) are arrangements between public institutions like colleges and universities and private, for-profit businesses. They've become increasingly popular in recent years, as public funding for higher ed dries up. This week, we look at how one recently retired provost imagines using the pandemic as an excuse to create more opportunities for private profit in a public institution. "Executive-Level Administrator Salaries": https://www.higheredjobs.com/salary/salaryDisplay.cfm?SurveyID=48 "Looking at the Future of Georgia Tech Through the Lens of the Pandemic Experience": https://news.gatech.edu/2020/07/10/looking-future-georgia-tech-through-lens-pandemic-experience  Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F7DjhgGnjTNavseh5bIuwVqoHB7ywvVBUcvR75tn5wI/edit?usp=sharing

The NCAA calls its athletes "amateurs" to justify not paying them. But what if the real amateurs are the big-money donors who get to play GM with their multi-million dollar donations? This week, sports economist Andy Schwarz explains how schools benefit--and are re-shaped--by their relationships with these donors.  We also cover the racial dynamics of these relationships, the exploitation of athletic labor by the NCAA and its member schools, and Atlanta strip clubs. “Suspending the rules for Faculty Layoffs” https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/01/22/firing-professors-kansas-just-got-lot-easier “KU AD explains vetting of Les Miles, says parting ways ‘absolutely the right decision’” https://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article249803443.html Transcript https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GcD9l4P_P9SxV6KGUqbHzl1bxCNm23xAhJCHOmk0RvQ/edit?usp=sharing

This week, we attempt to process a year of living with and in the coronavirus pandemic.  "On the front page, a wall of grief" (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/21/insider/covid-500k-front-page.html) "One year after Georgia's first COVID-19 cases, NPR Analysis Ranks The State Last In First Vaccine Doses" (https://www.wabe.org/one-year-after-gas-first-covid-19-cases-npr-analysis-ranks-ga-last-in-first-vaccine-doses/) Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uyVkM8hskqLDadFI7C2e7T72kLQ8jHl_aOE4zKtnL0o/edit?usp=sharing

This week, we continue our investigation of higher ed budgets by talking endowments. Why aren't schools using them to address the budget crises brought on by the pandemic? None of us are money experts, so we welcome a special guest, Kelly Grotke (@kgrotke2), to explain endowments to us. Kelly Grotke is an independent scholar and researcher with over 15 years of experience in securities valuation. She is a boardmember overseeing the 1833 Just Transition Fund, which raises money to support union staff laid off by Oberlin College in favor of outsourced contract labor with lower pay, less job security, and fewer benefits. Read Kelly's piece on endowments, "Are Endowments Damanging Colleges and Universities":  https://prospect.org/education/are-endowments-damaging-colleges-and-universities/#.YCgH_UFyEu8.twitter Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hXYGlG5XMlnv6-fnrVcUpwTH9oKzu9Y5YXf6J3uTvgA/edit?usp=sharing

In this episode, we introduce a series of episodes that ask how money works in higher ed, and how the coming austerity cuts in the sector often reflect larger, existing administrative priorities rather than any coronavirus-based reality. This week, we look at those existing--and looming--cuts in light of Naomi Klein's concept of "disaster capitalism," which she defines it in her 2007 book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism https://naomiklein.org/the-shock-doctrine/ "How Power Profits from Disaster" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/06/naomi-klein-how-power-profits-from-disaster "Job-Focused or Cheaper?" https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/job-focused-or-cheaper "Overview of Georgia's Fiscal Year 2022 Budget" https://gbpi.org/overview-of-georgias-2022-fiscal-year-budget/ Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RtSz8RmpUoJVi_LbzrnUqnHS3jg8-GGjknPMHXEyX4Q/edit?usp=sharing

Last week, we tried to make sense of Brian Kemp's public media campaign against teachers who want to be vaccinated. This week, we put that fight into context by tracing the longer history of conservative attacks on the very idea of teaching as a professional career. “Governor: We Must Strengthen the Teacher Pipeline” (https://www.ajc.com/education/get-schooled-blog/governor-we-must-strengthen-teacher-pipeline/SLJJE7XBLVF5VH7TSEHFIRBAWY/) “Strengthening the Teacher Pipeline Won’t Matter if the Destination is the Sewer” (https://www.ajc.com/education/get-schooled-blog/opinion-strengthening-teacher-pipeline-wont-matter-if-destination-is-a-sewer/HKTUADQ5OZBSTIBOABHWJZGJLU/) Work Won't Love You Back (https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/work-wont-love-you-back/) "What's at Stake in the Fight over Reopening Schools" (https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/whats-at-stake-in-the-fight-over-reopening-schools) Transcript (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Jau5YmpmjOLSBMd1SO_UtJCjVy79-TeDiUNslNg7rfA/edit?usp=sharing)

Teachers in the state of Georgia are not being vaccinated yet, and the one county that tried to do so was raided by the GBI! Why does the governor seem so proud of the fact that the state is not protecting teachers? This week, we begin a two-part series on how Brian Kemp's fight with teachers over vaccines is part of and contributes to a larger pattern of working to de-emphasize the value of teaching as a profession in conservative conversations both in Georgia and across the United States. "CDC expected to release new guidelines for reopening schools" https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/11/health/new-cdc-guidance-schools-anticipated/index.html "Rural community in shock after Georgia raids clinic vaccinating teachers" https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rural-community-shock-after-georgia-raids-clinic-vaccinating-teachers-n1256858?fbclid=IwAR0tLFAJRJn7JTtA1JRtXgBgEbtyzi8AJ7TaUSoSxwWMpdDJ6cgvKLfgRbs "Anxiety Mounts As Georgia Educators Wait For COVID Vaccine" https://www.gpb.org/news/2021/01/29/anxiety-mounts-georgia-educators-wait-for-covid-vaccine "Kemp says Atlanta’s teachers can’t move up the vaccine line" https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/kemp-says-atlantas-teachers-cant-move-up-the-vaccine-line/XSPU34SHZ5FZTJ6DVXIAREXHVY/ Episode Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a6LKb7MlKRi6UFVbRE1J7OurpjyC00DhMDUhWzNWWeU/edit?usp=sharing

This week, we welcome former Brittain fellow Jesse Stommel (@jessifer) to talk about the rise of ed tech in the age of COVID. Fair warning: this is a scary episode, because these companies are scary--for students and for faculty! "Exam Anxiety: how remote test-proctoring is creeping students out" https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/29/21232777/examity-remote-test-proctoring-online-class-education "How teachers are sacrificing student privacy to stop cheating" https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/recode/22175021/school-cheating-student-privacy-remote-learning Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hf2MTDDjeDjqX-ptyW0xtWAboOR8iPS0TT91KuXB5as/edit?usp=sharing

Joe Biden's COVID plan is out, and we are here to break down what it might mean for colleges and the people who live, work, and teach in them. "National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness" (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/National-Strategy-for-the-COVID-19-Response-and-Pandemic-Preparedness.pdf) "Billions in Aid Head to Colleges" (https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/01/15/education-department-releases-billions-aid-colleges) "COVID-19: The Biden-Harris Plan to Beat COVID"" (https://www.whitehouse.gov/priorities/covid-19/) Episode Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nkP_RQGnFwzTqxXhOi0Ob_9T4xNAFIeL2vKCk3cywMQ/edit 

This week, we talk new COVID variants--which are far more contagious--and schools that aren't updating their protocols to address these new challenges. "Still going to the grocery store? With new virus variants spreading, it’s probably time to stop": https://www.vox.com/22220301/covid-spread-new-strain-variants-safe-grocery-store-n95-masks-vaccine?fbclid=IwAR3Cu9YpfO4rcotJY69qxJkJ-vRzuJsBEB4kD3dwQNVyfBbXq5uC0hT34ok "What you can do to avoid the new COVID variant right now": https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/well/live/covid-b117-variant-advice.html "Emerging Coronavirus variants may pose challenges to vaccines": https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/health/coronavirus-variants-immunity.html Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lE0auZq30yamn15t0LRifDE7nIOfL-9BDX9wSMP3Td4/edit?usp=sharing

We're back! We kick off the new season by taking stock of the state of the pandemic--and higher ed--at the start of the Biden administration. "Joe Biden to speed release of COVID-19 vaccines upon taking office" https://abc7news.com/biden-covid-vaccine-joe-covid-19-vaccination-appointments-how-to-get/9468172 "Biden's Choice for Education Secretary": https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/01/04/biden-selects-miguel-cardona-education-secretary Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10bifbS010GJBVTkmRyOkohfMi_11EgE3vI12NrPeDcg/edit?usp=sharing

Residential Spread will be back with our first full episode of season two next week. For now, enjoy this brief teaser, in which we offer resolutions for the show and for ourselves.  Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16GQURGG32mt_NevjUchzM6_752wMT1DLp3xfb7duTUQ/edit?usp=sharing

In our first season finale, we give higher ed their final exam. To help us, we welcome Benjy Renton (@bhrenton). Benjy tells us how he went from a student in a cancelled study abroad program to one of the foremost experts in COVID-19 and higher education, what schools did right (and wrong) in the fall, and how they can re-think definitions of success in the spring.  A brief fact-check: two days after we recorded this episode, the New York Times updated its campus COVID case number to 324,000, and even more people connected to the White House tested positive. "College COVID Outbreak Watchlist" "Where We Stand with COVID-19--November 13" "Benjy Renton '21 Garners National Recognition for Contact Tracing the White House" Transcript  

Colleges are increasingly using social media “stars” to advertise the “college experience” and build their brands. But what happens when they get COVID on campus? "What Happens When College Social Media Influencers Get COVID?" "Welcome the COVID Influencer" "Big Influencers on Campus" "Colleges are Hiring Students as COVID Safety Influencers" "Now Influencers are Throwing Parties at Colleges Across the Country" Transcript

This week, we are joined by Mark Sample, associate professor and chair of Digital Studies at Davidson College. Mark helps us better understand the purpose of the now-ubiquitous COVID-19 dashboard. Do these dashboards give you an important snapshot of the state of the pandemic on your college campus or in your state? Or are they simply the "Best Deception"? "A Tool to Inform Too Often Confuses" We Rate COVID Dashboards "Mission Control: A History of the Urban Dashboard" "Behind Georgia's COVID-19 Dashboard Disaster" Episode Transcript

Recently, people across the United States have begun putting a lot of faith into statistical models produced by number crunchers that are meant to tell us something about future events. No, we aren't talking about the 538 election forecast! We are talking about the spread of COVID-19 spread in schools. Special guest Lindsey Grubbs joins us to walk us through how to think critically about data is gathered, presented, and interpreted.  Transcript Links "Schools Aren't Superspreaders" COVID-19 School Response Dashboard "Georgia Withholds School COVID-19 Count from the Public" "Local Leaders Scrounge for Coronavirus Clues as de Blasio Ceases Public Early Warnings of Outbreaks" "Inside the Schools Open Full Time Right Now: What the Data Really Tells Us about COVID-19 Transmission and Safety in the Classroom"  "Return of students to US colleges probably led to surge in Covid cases"

Over the summer and into the fall, students, faculty, and staff participated in Die Ins to protest their colleges' re-opening plans. This week, we trace the history of the Die-In protest. Where did it come from? What are its advantages and limitations as a tool to push back against university administrations during the COVID-19 pandemic?  "Surviving and Thriving: AIDS Activism Then and Now" "Short History of the ADA Sit In" NPR Throughline: "ADA Now!" Transcript

This week, we are joined by Nathan Kalman-Lamb (@nkalamb), Lecturing Fellow at Duke University and co-host of of the End of Sports podcast (@EndofSportPod). Nathan helps us answer an important question: why the hell are we playing college football during the COVID-19 pandemic? We also force him to play a game of "Who said it?: College Football Coach, College Administrator, or GOP Politician." The game is harder than it sounds! "Cancelling the College Football Season Isn't Enough" "LSU's head coach: 'Most' of our players have had COVID" "SEC tells players COVID cases 'on every single team' are unpreventable" "SEC warns of fines, bans for coronavirus protocol violations" "Why America Needs College Football" "Why America Needs College Football--Part 2" Episode Transcript

Who is responsible for maintaining the "campus experience" that schools continue to sell to students during a pandemic that makes campus life inherently unsafe? As Brittain Fellow Kent Linthicum discovered when he sought to answer that question, in Georgia Tech's School of Literature, Media, and Communication, contingent faculty have been tasked with teaching the vast majority of in-person classes. This week, Kent joins us to discuss why those of us with the least job security are being put into the riskiest situations. "Course Delivery and Contingency During COVID-19" Transcript

This week, we ask whether Foucault can help us understand why universities are so insistent on enforcing COVID-19 protocols through punitive measures--and why students seem so eager to internalize that logic.  "Northeastern University Dismisses 11 Students for Attending Hotel Party" "Additional Information Regarding Last Night's Quad Gathering" "URGENT: Message about the Start of Classes" "Lawn Games, Anyone?" "UGA Announces No Tailgating, but Allows for Gathering in Lots" Transcript

This week, we welcome guest Andy Cole, the editor-in-chief at The George-Anne, the student newspaper at Georgia Southern University. We talk about his career in journalism, student journalists' role in covering COVID-19, and how he responded when a school administrator accused him of having an "agenda." "Does the George-Anne have an Agenda?" Support Student Journalism at The George-Anne Episode Transcript

This week, we welcome guests Zainub Ali and Maggie Mitchell. Zainub and Maggie are undergraduates at the University of Georgia, and they spent the summer protesting UGA's punitive housing cancellation fee, which the school refused to adjust in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode, Zainub and Maggie discuss their kafkaesque efforts to combat those policies. Check out their instagram account, #WaivetheFeeUGA: https://www.instagram.com/waivethefeeuga/ Episode Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GnJhzO-v6GqFSYMSitiVqzt4ZGXN7uF7pLyCuxnIs_Y/edit?usp=sharing

This week, we welcome Krystin Gollihue, who is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of North Alabama, and who used to be one of our colleagues in the Brittain Postdoctoral Fellowship at Georgia Tech. She is an expert in, among other things, how institutions communicate during crisis. She helps us understand why schools are so bad at communicating about COVID-19. "Why do Corporations Speak the Way they Do?" UGA's "Plan for a Phased Return to Normal Operations" "Changes to College's Fall Plans: Mapped" Transcript Theme song credit: Canon in D Major by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3473-canon-in-d-major License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Before resuming in-person classes, many colleges forced, cajoled, or otherwise pressured students, faculty, and staff to sign behavioral pledges and liability waivers. Are these documents even legal? What, exactly, are they for? This week on Residential Spread, we discuss those questions and Boston University's absolutely baffling Instagram account, @fckitwontcutit. "Op-Ed: Your college may ask you to sign a waiver for harm inflicted by COVID-19. Don’t do it" "Boston University gives PhD Students a Choice: Come Back to Campus or Lose your Health Insurance and Salary" @fckitwontcutit Instagram Account "Legal Expert: Don't Sign COVID-19 Liability Waivers" "Students at Penn State Forced to Sign COVID-19 Liability Waiver to Participate in Fall Semester" "Georgia Legislature Passes Bill to Limit COVID-19 Liability Claims" Transcript Theme song credit: Canon in D Major by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3473-canon-in-d-major License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Last week, Georgia Tech Housing announced a plan to relocate residential students living with roommates into individual dorms and offered prorated refunds. Within 24 hours, it reversed course entirely, made the relocation optional, and cancelled requests for refunds. To provide context for this week, we bring you an interview with Alexandra Marlette, a former RA at Georgia Tech. She tells us that none of GT Housing's response to COVID-19 is surprising. "To Combat COVID, Georgia Tech wants students to move into single rooms" "Inaction and Turnover Plague Housing" Twitter thread on Georgia Tech attempting to hire students to transport students to quarantine "Maintaining the Campus Experience in the Time of Social Distancing" Episode Transcript Theme song credit: Canon in D Major by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3473-canon-in-d-major License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This week, we welcome Jason Helms, associate professor of Rhetoric in the English Department at Texas Christian University. This summer, Jason "went viral" when he tweeted that TCU had refused his request to teach online to protect his 2-year-old daughter, who has a congenital heart defect. In part due to Jason's savvy navigation of media, TCU reversed course.  He reflects on the experience with us. Jason's viral twitter thread "Who gets to teach remotely?" Jason's thread reflecting on the experience Episode Transcript Theme song credit: Canon in D Major by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3473-canon-in-d-major License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Over the summer, both Notre Dame and UNC-Chapel Hill came forward with ambitious plans to return to on-campus instruction. Late last week, less than 10 days into the start of their respective fall semesters, both schools made major announcements: Notre Dame said they would pause in-person classes for two weeks, while UNC-Chapel Hill gave up and sent students home. Why were these schools so surprised by the absolutely predictable transmission of COVID-19 on their campuses? What are the broader consequences of this reversal? And can Rudy explain Notre Dame's reckless plans for in-person instruction? In this week's episode, we ask these questions and more.  Message from University leaders on important changes for Fall 2020 Roadmap Michigan State, Notre Dame back off of fall re-opening plans Editorial Board of the Daily Tar Heel: "We all saw this coming" Notre Dame HERE Campaign images Episode Transcript

Celebrate the first day of classes at Georgia Tech with the team at Residential Spread!  In this episode, we explore Georgia's Board of Regents. We ask why a body with so little experience in education (and so many conflicts of interest) is making unilateral decisions about higher education in Georgia. Then, we consider past, present, and potential future efforts to challenge that authority. Statement of Academic Faculty of Georgia Tech on the COVID-19 Crisis and Fall 2020 Semester "State’s top professors: Public campuses need freedom to chart own course through pandemic" Statement from USG Presidents (in support of Board of Regents) "After decades of public service, legal woes mount for deposed Georgia Regent" "SEC charges former Georgia regent Dean Alford with defrauding investors" Fact check: Cade Joiner is in fact a resident of Brookhaven. Corey regrets his error. For more details on the #CritU reading group:  https://twitter.com/nonmodernist/status/1289963998050258944?s=20 Transcript

In our first episode, we compare universities’ responses to COVID-19 in the spring, when case numbers were low but rising, and the fall, when they are high and steady. We also wistfully remember the days when an academic job market existed and friends could share snacks while preparing for campus visits. Links AJC Covid Dashboard Open Letter RE: Online Teaching During Coronavirus “Colleges face Rising Revolt by Professors” Tweet from @CabreraAngel Tweet from @CabreraAngel @Aslavitt thread: “We can virtually eliminate the virus any time we decide to” “Georgia schools still free to choose their own start date” United Campus Workers of Georgia Episode Transcript Theme song credit:  Canon in D Major by Kevin MacLeod  Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3473-canon-in-d-major  License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this sneak peak of Residential Spread, we discuss the origin of our show's title. We take it from the name of the mode of course delivery at Georgia Tech that includes the most in-person contact. We discuss how the label is at once evocative of fungi and indicative of higher ed's motivations for pushing face to face instruction in the fall . "COVID-19 Information for Faculty and Instructors" Episode Transcript Theme song credit: Canon in D Major by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3473-canon-in-d-major License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/