One university’s students step in to track Covid-19 cases

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For this week’s newsletter, Molly Stellino, a recent college graduate and Hechinger Report intern, is taking the reins. Read below to find out how some college students and faculty are using social media to share how and where Coronavirus is spreading on campus. -- Delece Smith-Barrow

Arizona State University, one of the largest universities in the country, brought students back to campus this fall, but many of them don’t feel safe. Because of inconsistent information from the university about cases of Covid-19 on campus, students and faculty have taken matters into their own hands. They have created social media accounts to crowdsource information, however imperfect, to track the number of coronavirus cases on campuses, show where students are partying and offer tips for staying safe.

The university sends infrequent emails about how Covid-19 is tracked on campus, according to many students and faculty members, who also say it does not have a robust dashboard for Covid-19 updates.

“What do we have to do to get an ACTUAL dashboard with full (and anonymized/aggregated, of course) #COVID19 stats by campus location?” the ASU Community of Care Coalition tweeted on August 28.

Students and faculty are using Twitter to crowdsource information about what’s happening locally. One group launched ASUcovidTracker in August, and now more than 3,000 people follow the account. It has screenshots of emails from administrators about how many students are living in isolation dorms and from off-campus student apartment complexes about the number of positive cases, plus videos of students partying. It also records information about new cases through a Google Form. The account says it uses screenshots of test results to verify cases and then tweets information about new cases.

Another Twitter account, the ASU Community of Care Coalition, launched in August to advocate for a safer campus. The coalition is “a concerned group of ASU faculty, staff, and graduate students,” according to one of its first tweets. Along with writing a letter urging postponement of in-person instruction, the coalition shares useful articles and tips from the community about possible outbreaks.

Catherine Novotny, a senior studying political science at ASU, said although it’s not a perfect system, she relies on word of mouth and the ASUcovidTracker to stay informed. “Information is really what's gonna keep us safest right now,” Novotny said. “There’s a lot of confusion. And I think that just makes everything worse.”

ASU recently said there are 803 known cases among students and faculty and that the institution cannot inform students if a person in their class has contracted Covid-19. In August, ASU released on its website a misleading calculation of the percentage of positive tests. Instead of dividing the total number of positive tests by the number of tests conducted, the standard way to calculate the number, the university divided the number of tests by the total student and faculty population. If calculated in accordance with the Johns Hopkins guidelines, the percentage would have been double.

Students, parents and teachers in the comments deliberated among themselves in attempts to clear their confusion about the number of positive tests. “[ASU] shouldn't require people to read all the past updates along with the newest to get a clear picture of what’s happening,” one user wrote.

One user on Twitter asked the university to comment on an anonymous tip about how ASU can’t inform students if someone in their class has tested positive. ASU responded, “There are strict privacy rules, based on Federal law, about sharing students’ personal medical info.” An FAQ page on the ASU website reads, “Only close contacts or high-risk exposures (less than 6 feet distance for greater than 10 minutes) will be asked to quarantine as a result of their possible exposure.”

But this information is buried toward the bottom of the page, and it has caused students and faculty to question the policy because there has been no widespread enforcement of social distancing in classrooms.

“When you release misleading data, when you hide data, you’re undermining basic public trust in science and health information and public health,” said David Boyles, an English instructor at ASU. “Everything happening here is like a microcosm of what’s happening at the state level in Arizona, what's happening at the national level with the Trump administration where we don't have clear, consistent science-based fact-based information about what's going on.”

What are the best ways for colleges and universities to communicate how their campuses are handling Covid-19? How can students make sure their safe if they are on campus? Email or tweet me your thoughts.

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