[closeparen]

Universities would seem uniquely capable of just going into hibernation for a while. They do it every summer, after all. That tradition is even because of infectious disease risk!

What does it really cost to park a campus in "summer mode" a while longer?

[blaser-waffle]

> Universities would seem uniquely capable of just going into hibernation for a while. They do it every summer, after all. That tradition is even because of infectious disease risk!

Most don't go into hibernation at all I grew up in Ithaca NY and both Cornell and Ithaca College ran summer camp programs through the summer. I later went to school in VA and saw the same thing -- tons of folks using the Uni even during the "off" season.

Summer school classes went all summer and there were always non-trivial amounts of students on campus, including living in dorms.

Research didn't just stop because the students went away -- in many cases the research kicked into high gear since the profs didn't have to teach.

Colleges with agriculture programs don't just let their fields die during the summer; same for schools that have restaurant or hospitality management programs.

[dubya]

Schools, particularly those without large endowments, often have large debts they have to service and rely on tuition for much of that. Building facilities is not cheap, and state governments have been providing less funding.

[patrickthebold]

The people who work there might have been planning on 3 months w/o pay, but are expecting a job in the fall.

[elliekelly]

I wonder whether tenured professors can be laid off/furloughed?

[williamstein]

Yes, they can be furloughed. This happened during the 2008 financial crises, and it already happened a few days ago at Univ of Arizona.