[Senate Hearing 116-507]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 116-507
COVID 19: GOING BACK
TO COLLEGE SAFELY
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HEARING
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION,
LABOR, AND PENSIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON
EXAMINING COVID-19, FOCUSING ON GOING BACK TO COLLEGE SAFELY
__________
JUNE 4, 2020
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
45-220 PDF WASHINGTON : 2021
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COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS
LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee, Chairman
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming PATTY MURRAY, Washington
RICHARD BURR, North Carolina BERNARD SANDERS (I), Vermont
RAND Paul, Kentucky ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania
SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
BILL CASSIDY, M.D., Louisiana CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut
PAT ROBERTS, Kansas ELIZABETH WARREN, Massachusetts
LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska TIM KAINE, Virginia
TIM SCOTT, South Carolina MARGARET WOOD HASSAN, New Hampshire
MITT ROMNEY, Utah TINA SMITH, Minnesota
MIKE BRAUN, Indiana DOUG JONES, Alabama
KELLY Loeffler, Georgia JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
David P. Cleary, Republican Staff Director
Lindsey Ward Seidman, Republican Deputy Staff Director
Evan Schatz, Minority Staff Director
John Righter, Minority Deputy Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
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STATEMENTS
THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2020
Page
Committee Members
Alexander, Hon. Lamar, Chairman, Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions, Opening statement......................... 1
Murray, Hon. Patty, Ranking Member, a U.S. Senator from the State
of Washington, Opening statement............................... 4
Witnesses
Daniels, Mitchell, President, Purdue University, West Lafayette,
IN............................................................. 8
Prepared statement........................................... 10
Paxson, Christina, President, Brown University, Providence, RI... 11
Prepared statement........................................... 13
Summary statement............................................ 16
Hampton, Logan, President, Lane College, Jackson, TN............. 17
Prepared statement........................................... 18
Summary statement............................................ 30
Benjamin, Georges, M.D., MACP, FACEP(E), FNAPA, Hon FRSH, Hon
FFPH, Executive Director, American Public Health Association,
Washington, DC................................................. 31
Prepared statement........................................... 33
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
Statements, articles, publications, letters, etc.
A Plan to Safely Reopen America's Schools and Communities.... 62
Purdue will require all students to be tested for COVID-19
before start of the fall semester.......................... 76
Letters...................................................... 78
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Response by Georges Benjamin, M.D., to questions of:
Senator Collins.............................................. 90
Senator Sanders.............................................. 91
Senator Casey................................................ 91
Senator Rosen................................................ 92
Response by Dr. Logan Hampton to questions of:
Senator Collins.............................................. 93
Senator Scott................................................ 94
Senator Warren............................................... 95
Senator Sanders.............................................. 98
Senator Casey................................................ 103
Senator Murray............................................... 107
Senator Rosen................................................ 107
Response by Dr. Christina H. Paxson, to questions of:
Senator Collins.............................................. 110
Senator Scott................................................ 111
Senator Warren............................................... 111
Senator Sanders.............................................. 112
Senator Casey................................................ 114
Senator Murray............................................... 116
Senator Rosen................................................ 117
Response by Mitchell E. Daniels, to questions of:
Senators..................................................... 118
COVID-19: GOING BACK
TO COLLEGE SAFELY
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Thursday, June 4, 2020
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:04 a.m., in
room SD-430, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Lamar
Alexander, Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Alexander [presiding], Collins, Cassidy,
Murkowski, Scott, Braun, Murray, Baldwin, Murphy, Warren,
Kaine, Hassan, Jones, and Rosen.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR ALEXANDER
The Chairman. Good morning. The hearing of the Senate
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will please
come to order. We want to thank our staff for working through
some technical difficulties this morning and thank the Senators
and our witnesses who are joining us from around the country in
various offices. We are all following the attending physician's
protocol for safe distancing and those of us who are here are
wearing masks on our way in and sitting at least six feet apart
while we are here.
Senator Murray and I will each have an opening statement.
Then we will turn to our witnesses for their statements of
about five minutes each, if they could please summarize them in
that time. And then Senators will each have five minute rounds
of questions. We have a vote at 11:40 a.m. so we will need to
finish this hearing by about noon and hopefully all the
Senators will have had, by that time, a chance to ask their
questions. The question for administrators of 6,000 colleges
and universities is not whether to reopen in August, but how to
do it safely.
Most are working overtime to get ready for one of the
surest signs that American life is regaining its rhythm, 20
million students going back to college. Our witnesses today are
here to tell us their strategies for reopening safely. Mitch
Daniels, President of Purdue in Indiana, Christina Paxson,
President of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island,
Logan Hampton. President of Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee,
Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of the American Public
Health Association in Washington. Purdue, University of South
Carolina, Rice, Creighton, University of Notre Dame, and
others, will finish their in-person classes before Thanksgiving
to avoid further spread of COVID-19 during flu season.
Vanderbilt University will require masks in classrooms. To make
social distancing easier, colleges are rescheduling classrooms
that are usually empty in early mornings, the evenings, on
weekends and summer. Concerts and parties are out. Grab and go
meals, flu shots and temperature checks will be in. Campuses
will offer more online courses.
Recently I was on a phone call with about 90 chief
executives of Tennessee's 127 higher education institutions.
They are planning to resume in-person classes, almost all of
them, in the Fall, but they want Governments to create
liability protection against being sued if a student becomes
sick. Bucking the trend, California's State University system
has announced that it will offer most of its courses only
online. All roads back to college lead through testing. The
availability of widespread testing will allow colleges to track
and isolate students who have the virus or have been exposed to
it so the rest of the student body doesn't have to be
quarantined.
Campuses are exploring using mobile phone apps for tracking
and creating isolation dormitories to isolate students who have
the virus or have been exposed as University of Tennessee,
Knoxville is doing. Widespread testing not only helps contain
the disease, it builds confidence that the campus is safe.
Fortunately, U.S. Assistant Secretary Brett Giroir told our
hearing that there will be 40-50 million tests available per
month by September. That is 4 to 5 times the number of tests
available today and more than any other country.
Dr. Francis Collins, who led the Human Genome Project, now
leads a competitive so called Shark Tank, an enterprise at the
National Institutes of Health to discover new ways to conduct
tens of millions of additional accurate tests with quick
results. Should everyone on campus be tested? On a webinar for
institutes of higher education on Friday, May 29, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention officials said that they are not
recommending that at this time you test every student, but they
are encouraging campuses to work with their state and local
health officials.
However, that does not take into account testing for peace
of mind. Some schools may want to test everyone before they
come back to campus. At least schools may want to think about
randomly testing to detect asymptomatic cases and have the
ability to test everyone in certain categories, health care,
food service, cleaning workers, older faculty, students with
medical conditions, students who are arriving from virus hot
spots, all students in a class or dorm where there is an
outbreak or a person infected. Administrators ask me, where
will I find tests? The answer is, consult your local health
department and your Government--and your Governor. Each state
submits a monthly plan to the Federal Government outlining
testing supplies and needs. Admiral Giroir's team then helps
fill the gaps.
My recommendation is you want your school's testing needs
to be in your state plan. A school can also contract directly
with laboratories who conduct tests, review the Food and Drug
Administration list of authorized tests, or ask for help from a
local university or hospital that has created its own test.
COVID-19 plans should last for at least the full school year.
The Government is pursuing vaccines at warp speed, but no
one expects one in August. In the second semester there should
be more tests, more treatments, better contact tracing and
vaccines. But amidst the flu season and the return of COVID-19,
it will be the Fall of 2021 before we begin to approach normal.
But students returning in the Fall and their families will want
and need to have peace of mind that they, and their loved ones,
are heading back to a safe environment. Testing is the key to
providing that. There are several reasons colleges have an
advantage in providing a safe environment for students and
faculty. One, younger people have been hurt less by COVID-19.
For example in Tennessee, nursing homes account for around 5
percent of cases but 36 percent of the deaths. Compare that
with Tennesseans under the age of 30, 30 percent of cases of
infection, less than 1 percent of deaths. Still, there is much
we are learning about the virus, and Dr. Anthony Fauci has
warned us not to be cavalier about assuming that young people
are not at risk.
Second, colleges are notorious wasters of space. Former
George Washington University President Stephen Trachtenberg
once estimated that a typical college uses its facilities for
academic purposes a little more than half in the calendar year.
He said that he could generate--he said that continues to
generate maintenance, energy, and debt-service expenses that
contribute to the high cost of running a college. He said that
he thought he could run two colleges in the space that he has
one college if he organized efficiently. Well, he was never
able to do it that way.
Keeping students six feet apart will be easier if colleges
embrace a new efficiency and use more of their classrooms and
spaces throughout the day and throughout the year. And maybe
that is a lesson that will last beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
Third, tracking and tracing will be easier to do at colleges.
We know what classes students attend, and what dorms they live
in. If colleges take it a step further, assign seats in
classes, infections will be easier to track. Fourth, a college
can presumably require students to wear masks. Perhaps campuses
can make mask-wearing a part of the campus culture. But college
environments pose a couple of challenges as well. 19 and 20-
year-olds especially don't always choose to do the healthiest
thing. A national survey on drug use and health found that a
third of college students admitted to binge drinking in the
last month, for example.
Fifth, 86 percent of undergraduate students are not living
on campus, according to the National Center for Education
Statistics. That means that many students will leave and
return, potentially exposing themselves and others to the
virus, making social distancing and CDC recommended health
status all the more important. What should the Federal
Government's role be in helping colleges and universities
safely reopen? Providing advice from the CDC, funding for
innovation such as the Shark Tank I mentioned for tests,
encouraging universities to work with states to get included in
their testing plans, helping supplies--provide supplies that
the states don't have, funding such the $14 billion in CARES
Act to address lost revenues, and the Federal Government could
provide some liability protection.
Beyond that, decisions, in my view, ought to be left to the
individual campuses. From the small technical universities to
Harvard, from MIT to the four-year Berea College in Kentucky,
which is tuition free, they are best abled to make their own
decisions. When I became a university president in 1988, I
asked the president of the University of California, David
Gardner, why the University of California was so good. And he
said, well first autonomy and second, the Government money
follows the student to a college of their choice.
The United States is home to 6,000 colleges and
universities, arguably the best system in the world and it has
gotten that way because the institution, campuses have had
maximum autonomy and minimum direction from Washington on
everything from their curriculum, tuition, admissions,
policies, health care plans for students, compensation for
faculty. The campus systems themselves determine what their
policies will be for student behavior and conduct, housing,
safety, and a host of other things.
I would suggest that we follow the same tradition here.
President Trump and Congress should not be telling the
California State University system that it has to open in
person in the fall, nor it should be telling Notre Dame and
Purdue they cannot in person in the fall, nor should be telling
Brown University they can't test everyone if Brown wants to,
and telling the Indiana that it has to, or Purdue that it has
to even though they don't want to. We know that a single lost
year of college can lead to a student not graduating and set
back career goals.
Already, disruption of university research projects has
erased much of the funding that Congress has given our research
universities. Many American colleges will be permanently
damaged or even closed if they remain, as our witness today,
Christina Paxson of Brown says, ghost towns. Two thirds of
college students want to return to campus, according to the
Axios survey. Mitch Daniels, another witness today, says that
at Purdue tuition deposits by incoming freshmen broke the last
year's record.
Colleges and universities are microcities. College
presidents and administrators can make them among the safest
small communities in our country's safest communities in which
to live and work during this next year. In doing so, they will
help our country take its surest step toward normalcy.
Senator Murray.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR MURRAY
Senator Murray [continuing]. So hard to make it possible
for this hearing to be safe and socially distant. Before we
begin, I just want to say that as we see people around the
country, especially young people, protesting for long overdue
change, we must remember the opportunity institutions of higher
education have to help address disparities and systemic racism
and their responsibility to do so.
That means as we look at the dramatic impact COVID-19 is
having on institutions of higher education and discuss ways to
keep students, faculty and staff safe, we absolutely have to
address the unique impact this virus has on Black communities
and other communities of color. We have already seen that
communities of color, tribes, and other vulnerable populations
face some of the harshest impacts from this pandemic.
It is our job to ensure that the students who have been,
and will continue to be, disproportionately impacted by COVID-
19, don't see their education suffer or fall behind. So with
that in mind, today we must recognize and address the
disproportionate impact this crisis is having on those who were
already facing challenges, students of color, first-generation
college students, students experiencing homelessness, and
student parents, and we must let public health and science
drive decisionmaking. The coronavirus crisis has deeply
affected every single aspect of our higher education system and
it will have profound impacts on students and colleges for many
years to come.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced institutions of higher
education to grapple with unprecedented challenges from
widespread closures, to rapid transitions to online education,
to unprecedented student financial need and unemployment, and
sharp revenue losses and looming budget cuts. Many may not be
able to reopen their doors, including many historic and under-
resourced colleges that serve high populations of students who
have low incomes and students of color.
Faculty and staff, from professors and adjunct instructors,
to administrative and support staff, to custodial workers and
food servers, and much more, are wondering if they will have a
job to return to in the fall. And for students across this
country, from graduating high school seniors, to community
college students, to students pursing advanced degrees and
more, this pandemic has completely shattered their notions of a
normal school year as they are forced to navigate this new
world.
Every single student across this country is experiencing
unprecedented disruption. And many students will need
additional support, like advising, tutoring, and mental health
counseling to succeed in the new learning environment. But not
every student is experiencing equal disruption. The pandemic
has hit certain communities, particularly communities of color,
significantly harder than others. And these disparities hold
true for higher education, where certain student populations
are bearing a heavier burden of the crisis than others. Before
the pandemic started, students of color, students who are
parents, first-generation students, LGBTQIA+ students, students
with disabilities, and veteran students were already far more
likely to struggle to meet basic needs like food, housing,
health care, and child care.
But with on-campus resources now widely closed, this
pandemic has exacerbated existing problems for many of these
students. Millions of students who rely on dorms and college-
managed apartment buildings have been forced home. But for many
students, like students experiencing homelessness, former
foster youth, students with unsafe homes, and international
students are unable to return to their home countries. Going
home is not an option. For many students without access to a
computer or the internet, or a safe or quiet place to study,
online learning is not an option.
With many on-campus and community child care providers
closed, the one in five college students who are parents have
even fewer options for child care. As we move toward solving
the truly countless challenges facing our colleges and
students, we absolutely have to keep in mind and address the
unique needs of the students who have been disproportionately
impacted by COVID-19 as colleges begin to reopen safely,
physically or online. We need to ensure that colleges do not
rush into a decision on how to reopen without thorough
consultation with public health officials. There is a very real
possibility, as Dr. Fauci told us the other week, of a
resurgence of coronavirus. That is why colleges and
universities need a detailed plan for how to keep the campus
community safe, regardless of how the pandemic evolves in the
coming months.
Our students, our faculty, staff and college communities
need to know that before colleges reopen their doors, they have
planned for every potential outcome, every contributing factor,
and every scenario. But colleges and universities can't do this
alone. They need in-depth, actionable and detailed guidance
from the Federal Government on best practices when it comes to
how to house and feed students safely, how to minimize class
size and keep students socially distant, how to ensure library
books and other shared equipment are cleaned properly and
often.
When it comes to the broader community, how to keep faculty
and staff members of the larger community safe, and how to
minimize risk when students travel to and from campus. These
are just a few of the questions that need to be answered before
schools can open safely. Doing so requires a complex planning
process that we absolutely cannot get wrong. Colleges and
universities need actual support from Secretary of Education
Betsy DeVos, who instead of working with the higher education
community on how to reopen safely, is forcing colleges and
universities to implement a new harmful, ideological Title IX
regulation during a pandemic that will ensure one thing, that
students, already worried about the pandemic, are now going to
be more unsafe next school year when it comes to sexual assault
and harassment.
While I am glad we have the opportunity to hear from the
witnesses today, this Committee, and the American people,
deserve to hear directly from Secretary DeVos on how she is
working with the higher education community, as well as
Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia on how we can safely protect
workers from the virus, and Secretary of Health and Human
Services Alex Azar on how the Administration is responding to
this health crisis.
Today, we need to not only address the immediate needs of
colleges and students, but we need to begin to plan what the
future of higher education will look like in the wake of the
coronavirus. These truly unprecedented times require bold,
responsive leadership but right now colleges and universities
are not getting what they need from the Federal Government.
While I am fighting to secure additional funding and
address the ongoing needs of colleges and students across the
country, I will continue to push this Administration to not
only implement the law as intended by Congress but to step up
and provide leadership and guidance to our faculty, staff and
students because they desperately need it. Thank you Mr.
Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Senator Murray. We will
now move to the witnesses and then to Senators' questions.
Pleased to welcome all four of our witnesses and will introduce
all four, but let me ask Senator Braun to introduce our first
witness and then I will introduce the other three.
Senator Braun.
Senator Braun. Mitch Daniels. The first time I met you
Mitch was in 2015. I was a freshman legislator and you came
into the Ways and Means Committee. And I remember it was like
the third year I think into the tuition freeze and I think you
had tuition increases for 36 years prior to when you did that.
And as a, entrepreneur, I asked you the question, what are you
going to do to actually lower costs? I remember it vividly, you
said, I am going to look at purchasing across all our
locations, made sense. You were going to tackle fringe
benefits, especially healthcare costs.
I did that back in my own business in 2008 and that is a
rowdy affair when you do it, but when you make it sustainable,
it is great for your employees. There is no doubt about that.
And you said you would turn a four-year degree into a three-
year degree. That impressed me. That was the kind of
entrepreneurial spirit I think we need across the Federal
Government for sure and it addresses high education costs,
post-secondary, and health care costs, the two most
uncontrollable sectors in our economy. It is noteworthy that
you did that without shifting from full-time faculty to part-
time. You did not increase your percentage of international and
out-of-state students, and you signed a book deal with Amazon
that lowered costs by 30 percent, making it to where now
tuition is less in nominal terms than it was back in 2012.
Also borrowing, down 31 percent. You got the back to boiler
program, which is an income share agreement model. Provides, I
think, a better alternative to the Parent Plus and private
loans. All of this is no surprise. As Governor of Indiana, you
took a chronic deficit situation, $800 million a year, turned
our credit rating into AAA. Every position you held from the
time of chief of staff for Senator Dick Lugar who's seat I
proudly occupying now, to advisor to Ronald Reagan, to the
Director of the OMB for President Bush, you have demonstrated
fiscal conservatism, business acumen.
Once again, Purdue leads, this time as a university, leads
reopening for institutions of higher education following the
COVID-19 emergency. In a recent op-ed in the Washington Post,
Mitch rightly argues that not only is reopening campus in the
fall possible, but it is the duty of the university to continue
to provide high value instruction, training, and research for
which the university is nationally respected.
I look forward to seeing how Purdue has, approaches this
unique challenge, how it plans to bring its campus back safely
into educating. I am proud that an Indiana institution is
leading the way for others across the country. I am pleased to
have its leader here today to testify virtually in front of our
Committee where we can discuss these changes at Purdue more in
depth.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Braun. I think I will ask
you to introduce me sometime. That was a good introduction as I
have heard of anybody. Thank you very much. Our second witness
is Dr. Christina Paxson. She is President of Brown University
in Providence, Rhode Island. In April, Brown announced it's
plan to hold classes in person this fall creating a healthy
fall 2020 task force to develop a plan to safely reopen campus.
Dr. Paxson was appointed President of Brown in July, 2012.
Prior to that, she served as Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School
of International and Public Affairs and as the Hughes Rogers
Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton
University. She has been active in the fields of economics and
public health, serving as the principal investigator on several
research projects supported by the National Institutes of
Health and serving on the Board of Directors of the Federal
Reserve Bank of Boston.
Our third witness is Dr. Logan Hampton, President of Lane
College in Jackson, Tennessee. Lane College has announced it is
considering bringing students back to campus in the fall. He
was appointed President of Lane in June, 2014. And prior to
that he served as Vice Provost for Student Affairs at the
University of Arkansas at Little Rock among other positions
serving students. One of Lane college's distinctions is it was
the place where Alex Haley's father taught, raised four
distinguished children. Welcome, Dr. Hampton. And I would like
to turn to Senator Murray to introduce our next witness.
Senator Murray. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I am
delighted that we have the opportunity to hear from Dr.
Benjamin today who is an expert on what we need to be doing in
terms of making sure that our colleges and universities and our
public health system is working correctly when it comes to
having a safe place to return to this fall. So I really want to
thank----
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Murray. Now, we will thank
our witnesses for joining us virtually. We will ask them to
summarize their statements in about five minutes, which will
leave more time for questions by the Senators. And we'll begin
with President Daniels. Welcome, President Daniels.
STATEMENT OF MITCHELL DANIELS, PRESIDENT, PURDUE UNIVERSITY,
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN
Mr. Daniels. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and the Committee for
this invitation and for the good advice I know we will receive
during the next couple hours. Purdue--we teach everything at
Purdue University, but we are the one of the most STEM centric
schools and therefore proceed from science and data when we
can. And we certainly did in this case. I will say that if we
had to make the reopening decision in March or even early
April, we would have not been able to justify saying so, but it
was only as data made plain how highly focused the lethality of
this terrible virus is that we began to make--come to a
different conclusion. As we now know and nationally deaths in
nursing homes alone represent over 40 percent of the reported
fatalities. In our state, 48 percent and a story this morning
suggest maybe well over half.
Meanwhile on the other end of the age spectrum, the typical
college age individual we now know has a 99.99 percent survival
rate much higher than from many other illnesses that do affect
people old and young. It doesn't--the COVID fatality data
suggests it is not even in the top 10 risks facing our students
every year, outranked by many illnesses as well as accidents of
different kinds and I am distressed to say suicide. Meanwhile,
students are telling us very emphatically that they want to be
on campus, they don't want their education interrupted. We
believe that we have fashioned ways and other schools have to
deliver content online very capably but that still deprives the
student of many other experiences that are only available on
campus, in encounters of some kind with faculty and with their
peers.
The plan we have assembled for our university is based on
two basic strategies. One is the protection of the vulnerable
to minimize the risk to those we now know are at serious or
potential danger from this virus. On the other end to maximize
choice, we will say to students and the faculty after you have
surveyed all the precautions that we are putting in place, that
if you are still uncomfortable, please don't come. We have an
online option for you as a student. We have a myriad of hybrid
options available to you as a professor.
A week from today, our Board of Trustees will examine and I
hope approve the third of three sets of actions that taken
together constitute our plan to protect Purdue. Just to give
you the flavor, at least a third of all our staff will continue
working remotely indefinitely. We will lower the occupancy of
classrooms by at least 50 percent.
There will be a 10-foot minimum between any faculty member
and any student, and those students will be wearing masks and
that faculty member will be behind plexiglass. I learned last
night our purchases of plexiglass now exceed 1 mile. We will
de-densify our dining. Indoor seating will be will not occur
indefinitely. A grab-and-go, as the Chairman said, will become
the rule. In our residence halls we have taken out over 1,000
beds. Many doubles will now become singles.
We will rearrange the other so that there is a--we are
looking at 13 to 14 or 15 feet distance between roommates as
they sleep. Social distance will be achieved every way we can.
No convocations, concerts, large gatherings, no parties. We
will spend the millions already on HVAC and disinfection
improvements. And of course, testing. We will have a
comprehensive screening on arrival and extensive testing from
the first day, of course, testing of those who have been in
proximity to people testing positive, and probably a lot of
random testing during the semester. We have over 500 beds
already set aside for the quarantine of positive testers, and
we expect to have many more.
All this will cost, before we are done, tens of millions of
dollars, but we are just going to try to leave nothing to
chance. But I want to finish by saying that we all recognize
the single most important change we must make is in behavior,
is in culture. We will be--we have already begun saying to our
students, if you are uneasy about any of this, please don't
come. We have another option for you. On the other hand if you
are going to come, please be prepared to pitch in and to comply
with the protect Purdue pledge, which we have fashioned
committing each person in our community to all the changes that
I have mentioned and many more. We make no pretense to having
all the best answers.
We made our intentions known early. And not to preach to
anyone else but because we need every day, we think, to
implement effectively a program that comprehensive. We are
encouraged to see now almost all schools coming to a similar
conclusion. We look forward to learning from them and from this
morning's Committee meeting. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Daniels follows:]
prepared statement of mitchell daniels
I express my gratitude to Chairman Alexander, Ranking Member
Murray, and Members of the Senate HELP Committee for the invitation. On
behalf of Purdue University, I thank you for your interest in
supporting the ongoing preparations to protect students and employees
in the coming fall.
We have learned much in the past few months.
On Feb. 1, watching the outbreak of a new virus in China, our
university suspended travel to that country. On Feb. 26, we extended
that ban to visiting other countries reporting the infection. On March
10, we decided to close the Purdue University campus for the spring
semester and move to remote instruction. On March 17, we canceled our
traditional commencement.
At the point when the campus was shut down, if we had needed to
decide on our plans for the fall, we would have felt compelled to
resume with remote instruction and keep the campus closed. For all we
knew, COVID-19 posed a danger across all lines of age and health
status, and a place as densely populated as our campus would be
defenseless against it--operations couldn't be responsibly restarted.
We have all learned a lot since then. What would have been a
reckless and scientifically unjustified decision in late March is now
plainly the best option from both a scientific and a stewardship
standpoint, at least for our particular institution. We're not alone:
Two-thirds of the more than 800 colleges surveyed by the Chronicle of
Higher Education have now come to the same conclusion and will reopen
with in-person instruction in the fall. \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://www.chronicle.com/article/Here-s-a-List-of-Colleges-/
248626.
The most salient discovery the world has made during these terrible
two months is that COVID-19 is a very dangerous disease, specifically
for the elderly and the infirm, particularly those with diabetes,
hypertension, other cardiovascular illnesses or the obesity that so
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
frequently leads to these disorders.
The companion discovery is that this bug, so risky in one segment
of the population, poses a near-zero risk to young people. \2\ Among
COVID-19 deaths, 99.9 percent have occurred outside the 15-to-24 age
group; \3\ the survival rate in the 20-to-29 age bracket is 99.99
percent. \4\ Even assuming the United States eventually reaches 150,000
total fatalities, COVID-19 as a risk to the young will rank way below
accidents, cancer, heart disease and suicide. In fact, it won't even
make the top 10. \5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ (2020). Estimates of the severity of coronavirus disease 2019:
a model-based analysis. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. doi.org/
10.1016/s1473-3099(20)30243-7.
\3\ Data.CDC.gov.
\4\ (2020). Estimating the burden of SARS-CoV-2 in France. Science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.abc3517.
\5\ (2020). Estimating the Risk of Death from COVID-19 vs.
Influenza or Pneumonia by Age. Roy, Avik. https://freopp.org/
estimating-the-risk-of-death-from-covid-19-vs-influenza-or-pneumonia-
by-age-630aea3ae5a9.
This is fundamental information for institutions with radically
skewed demographic compositions. If you're running a nursing home, it
means one thing. New York unintentionally ended hundreds of lives
prematurely by ordering COVID-19 patients into such homes, the worst
possible places for them. \6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ 2020. AP count: Over 4,500 virus patients sent to NY nursing
homes. ABC News. abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/ap-count-4300-virus-
patients-ny-nursing-homes-70825470.
But if you're running a university, the science is telling you
something diametrically different. Our campus, including its
surrounding community, has a median age of 20.5. More than 80 percent
of the total campus population is 35 and under. We may have the
population density of New York City, but we have the age distribution
of Uganda. The challenge for Purdue is to devise maximum protection for
the unusually small minority who could be at genuinely serious risk in
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
order to serve the young people who are our reason for existing at all.
Here's something else we've learned. Our students (and, one
suspects, their trapped-at-home parents) overwhelmingly are eager to
continue their educations, in person and on campus. We know it is not
the case everywhere, but at Purdue, tuition deposits by incoming
freshmen have shattered last year's record by double digits and re-
enrollments of upper-class students are at normal levels.
Forty-five thousand young people--the biggest student population
we've ever had--are telling us they want to be here this fall. To tell
them, ``Sorry, we are too incompetent or too fearful to figure out how
to protect your elders, so you have to disrupt your education,'' would
be a gross disservice to them and a default of our responsibility.
Instead, we have spent every waking minute of the past eight weeks
planning changes to almost everything we do--how we house and feed
students and preserve the value of the tutelage and mentoring by
faculty and advisers, while maintaining a safe physical distance
between the two groups. A panel of scientists and clinicians is guiding
our choices.
We will make our campus less dense in multiple ways. At least one-
third of our staff will be required to work remotely. Our technologists
have applied what they've learned about social distancing to redesign
700 classrooms and labs, and 9,500 dormitory rooms, all of which will
be reconfigured with lower occupancy limits. All large-enrollment
courses will be offered online as well as in person, to accommodate
those who cannot or choose not to come to campus, and to further reduce
in-class numbers.
We will test systematically and trace contacts of anyone testing
positive for the coronavirus. Large numbers of symptomatic Boilermakers
will also be tested. Among the options we are considering include
random testing, tests for those with potential exposure, and tests for
those living in potential ``hot'' spots as determined by contact
tracing.
We will forgo the concerts, convocations and social occasions that
ordinarily enliven campus life. It will be a quieter fall without
fraternity parties, but first things first.
Perhaps most important will be the cultural change on which we have
to insist because, in another lesson of the coronavirus spring, nothing
makes a more positive difference than personal behavior and
responsibility. Wearing masks indoors and in any close-quarters space
reduces viral transmission dramatically all by itself. Combined with
rigorous hygiene and prudent social distancing, facial protection can
probably provide more protection than all the extra disinfecting,
plexiglass-barrier installation, HVAC improvements and other measures
we take.
On arrival in August, each Boilermaker will receive a kit including
face masks and a thermometer for daily temperature-taking as well as
the Protect Purdue Pledge asking for a commitment to at least a
semester of inconvenience, not primarily for the student's own
protection but for the safety of those who teach and otherwise serve
them. I will urge students to demonstrate their altruism by complying,
but also challenge them to refute the cynics who say that today's young
people are too selfish or self-indulgent to help us make this work.
A final thought: We recognize that not every school can or should
view the decision to reopen as we do. Unlike Purdue, many colleges were
already struggling with low enrollment and precarious finances when the
pandemic hit. But given what we have learned, with 45,000 students
waiting and the financial wherewithal to do what's necessary, failure
to take on the job of reopening would be not only anti-scientific but
also an unacceptable breach of duty.
I thank the Committee for this invitation and any guidance you may
offer us in enabling 45,000 purposeful young people to continue their
education without interruption.
______
The Chairman. Thank you, President Daniels, and thanks to
you and our other witnesses for interrupting demanding
schedules to be a part of our hearing.
Dr. Paxson, welcome.
STATEMENT OF CHRISTINA PAXSON, PRESIDENT, BROWN UNIVERSITY,
PROVIDENCE, RI
Dr. Paxson. Good morning, Chairman Alexander, Ranking
Member Murray, and Members of the HELP Committee, and thank you
so much for inviting me to testify in today's hearing. Before I
begin, I want to acknowledge the pain that our country is
experiencing over systemic issues of racial injustice. And in
times like these, our colleges and universities play and
especially critical role in helping communities build
collective understanding and make calls for action. So, thank
you.
Now, Chairman Alexander, you might appreciate the fact that
my grandfather was a longtime faculty member at your
University, the University of Tennessee, where he directed the
experimental research station. And I grew up hearing about the
challenges that University experienced during the Great
Depression. And of course the Great Recession, which I
experienced, was another time of great stress for colleges and
universities. But I can say that whether you are a public or
private institution, large or small, rich or poor, we have
never seen anything like this. Last spring, when the
coronavirus started to spread in the United States, colleges
and universities had no choice but to shutter our campuses.
Testing was scarce. There was no way to know if the virus
was silently spreading through dormitories and classrooms. So
now, as economies are reopening, we are developing plans to
bring research and students back to campus. And I want to
underscore that Brown will not open unless we can do so safely
in compliance with CDC and state guidelines. We will not
compromise on safety. I am cautiously optimistic that we can
reopen if we continue to coordinate closely with the State of
Rhode Island and develop a sound, science based public health
plan for our campus. And this plan must include all of the
things we just heard about, very familiar now, for preventing
the spread of infection, testing and more testing, tracing,
isolation, quarantine, social distancing, masks, and hygiene
measures. We are changing how we use lecture and classroom
spaces. We are adjusting living arrangements in dorms. We are
developing plans for remote teaching among a multitude of other
steps.
This work is complex. It is all-consuming. It is very
expensive. But if this is what it takes to make a safe opening
possible, it is well worth it because there is so much at
stake. First, our students are eager to come back to campus.
Many say that they may delay getting their degrees if they
can't return and that would be bad for them and bad for the
country. Second, a lot of federally funded research is
languishing on the bench--labs doing COVID-19 related work
throughout the spring but important work on things like
Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and new energy technologies, it
simply isn't getting done. Third, the pandemic has created
enormous financial pressures with colleges and universities and
this will get even worse if students can't safely return in the
fall.
Brown is fortunate, we can weather this, but colleges and
universities don't have the resources to do so. And if they
can't reopen, they will have no choice but to lay off even more
of their employees and possibly close forever. Colleges and
universities, as you know, have traditionally been some of the
most stable employers and consumers of goods and services in
their regions. And our missions of education and research drive
upward mobility, reduce disparities, increase innovation, and
support standards of living.
I want to thank you for the support you have already
provided for colleges and universities. Going forward, the
higher education sector can't reopen without your continued
support. So we need help implementing public health plans for
the safety of our students and employees and addressing
declines in enrollment. Another major need is financial aid.
Institutions will spend tens of billions of dollars on aid for
students whose parents have lost their jobs and they may be
unable to return to school without emergency assistance even if
colleges open and we can't risk losing a generation of
students.
Finally, universities, medical schools, teaching hospitals
need estimated at least $26 billion dollars in emergency
support for research that has been adversely affected by the
pandemic. This includes funding for grant contract extensions,
facility support, post-doctoral and graduate student
fellowships. Now, this is a time when partnership between
higher education and Federal Government and State Government
more important than ever for the sake of the research and
innovation that is at the core of America's health care
industry and economic competitiveness, the cities and states
that rely heavily on institutions as major economic drivers,
and especially and most importantly for the sake of our
students. So thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony
today, and I look forward to questions.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Paxson follows:]
prepared statement of christina paxson
Good morning, Chairman Alexander, Ranking Member Murray and Members
of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Thank you for
inviting me to testify at today's hearing, ``COVID-19: Going Back to
College Safely.'' I appreciate the opportunity to share my views on one
of the most important and challenging decisions higher education has
ever faced--how to return students, faculty, staff and researchers to
campus as soon as it is safe to do so, while continuing to provide
excellent educational opportunities to our students.
I am the president of Brown University, an institution located in
Providence, Rhode Island. When our country grappled with the onset of
the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year, institutions of higher
education, including Brown, took swift action and were among the first
to cease onsite operations. The rapid response that occurred across the
country stemmed from our concern for the health of our students,
employees and surrounding communities, and our recognition that college
campuses pose special challenges for addressing infectious disease.
Thus, when the time comes for colleges and universities to reopen,
we must do so safely and in accordance with the advice of public health
experts. I recognize that there is no one roadmap for reopening a
campus. Colleges and universities vary widely in terms of their
financial resources, sizes, access to health care, and the level of
COVID-19 infection in their locations. However, I firmly believe we
share common priorities and principles that guide planning for
reopening our campuses.
First and foremost, the health and safety of the students and
employees who make up a college community are the top priority. As I
argued in a recent op-ed for The New York Times, it should be a
national priority to support colleges and universities in addressing
the challenges and barriers they face in their efforts to reopen
safely. This is a time when partnership between higher education and
Federal Government and state governments is more important than ever--
for the sake of the educational attainment of students across the
country; the cities and states that rely heavily on institutions in
their communities as major employers and economic drivers; and the
research and innovation that is at the core of America's health care
industry and economic competitiveness. I'll address all of these points
in this testimony.
First, it is important to understand that the mode of how we
deliver the educational experience next year will very likely look
different than in past years. It is imperative that colleges large and
small--urban and rural--have the resources to ground our actions
supporting teaching and instruction in evidence-based public health
protocols for safeguarding the health and well-being of our
communities.
Institutions need the support of our Federal Government to gain the
capacity to develop public health plans that build on three basic
elements of controlling the spread of infection: test, trace and
separate. At Brown, as at many colleges and universities, we are
developing plans with the following features:
Testing of all students and employees upon return to
campus, testing for all symptomatic students and employees, and
random testing of asymptomatic members of the community to
monitor levels of infection over time.
Traditional and technology-enabled contact tracing
capacity, developed in close coordination with the Rhode Island
Department of Health, so that the spread of any infection on
campus can be quickly stemmed.
Residence halls that are ``de-densified'' so that
students have single rooms and there are fewer students per
shared bathroom, plus suitable dormitory space set aside for
isolation and quarantine.
Classrooms, libraries and dining halls that are
reconfigured to enable social distancing, and additional
investments in cleaning and supplies for appropriate hygiene.
Large lecture courses that are converted to
``flipped'' mode, so that students watch the lecture online,
and gather together in smaller recitation or problem-solving
sessions with their instructor.
The development of a robust public health education
campaign, so that students understand what they need to do to
keep themselves, their classmates, faculty, staff and community
members healthy.
Additionally, even if most students return to campus, institutions
will also need to provide remote education for students who are unable
to return because of travel restrictions or health conditions.
Putting these elements in place will require an extraordinary
effort, and will create additional financial pressure on colleges and
universities. Institutions will be required to innovate as they never
have before. But in my view, if this is what it takes to safely reopen
our campuses, and provided that students' privacy is scrupulously
protected, it is worthwhile. Institutions need to be supported in their
efforts to safely handle the possibility of infection on campus while
maintaining the continuity of core academic functions.
This path to reopening college campuses requires close coordination
with state and local public health officials, not only to protect
students and employees, but also the local community members they
interact with. At Brown, we are planning for a gradual return to campus
over the summer--starting with the reopening of research laboratories--
that aligns with plans recently announced by Governor Gina Raimondo for
the reopening of businesses and industries across Rhode Island. Even
though coordination between the leaders of our Nation's 4,000 degree-
granting postsecondary institutions and state and local governments
will vary, especially given the differences in approaches to reopening,
it is imperative that we all work together to maintain the health of
our communities as we plan for a range of different scenarios for the
coming year.
It is important to underscore once again that college campuses
should only reopen if it is safe to do so and in accordance with the
advice of public health experts. Should there be a resurgence in
infection as the U.S. economy reopens, it may not be possible to bring
students back to campus in the fall. As many institutions move forward
with resuming mission-critical campus and research operations over the
summer, we must remain vigilant and be prepared to slow or halt efforts
to reopen.
The challenges institutions of higher education face as we develop
plans to safely reopen colleges and universities this fall are immense.
This planning is necessary for two reasons: institutions provide
essential educational and learning opportunities to millions of
students every year; and they make significant contributions to our
local communities as well as the national economy.
Last fall, over 19 million students were enrolled at an American
college or university to obtain some form of advanced learning or
training. If students cannot come back to campus, and if schools do not
take steps to ensure students have access to excellent educational
opportunities, some students may forgo starting college or delay
completing their degrees. This would have a damaging effect on our
country, especially given the role higher education plays in preparing
young people to become productive and effective members of democratic
societies.
As a sector, higher education is a significant component of the
U.S. economy. Degree-granting postsecondary institutions employ about 3
million people, and as recently as the 2017-18 school year contributed
more than $600 billion of spending to the national gross domestic
product. Colleges and universities have traditionally served as anchor
institutions and have been some of the most stable employers and
consumers of goods and services in municipalities and states. Our
missions of education and research drive innovation, advance technology
and support economic development. Educational attainment, including
college and graduate education, enables upward mobility and is an
essential contributor to the improvement of living standards in the
United States and around the world.
If colleges and universities can reopen safely, they will have to
contend with the costs of implementing the comprehensive public health
plans described earlier in this testimony. In addition, they can expect
their students to require significantly more financial aid. This is
especially true for those campuses that have fewer resources to begin
with and are more subject to state budget cuts. In a May 29, 2020,
letter, the American Council on Education and other associations
estimated that higher education will require $46.6 billion to address
near-term financial needs, including need-based aid for students and
costs incurred due to campus closures. This figure does not include
additional costs for reopening in the fall, such as testing, tracing
and isolation. Additional assistance should go directly to
institutions. (For more detailed information please see the attached
letter on institutional and student financial relief needs from the
American Council on Education: https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Letter-
Senate-fifth-supplemental-request-052920.pdf).
Using my own institution as one example, consider that after the
2008 financial crisis, Brown had to increase scholarships by 12 percent
to meet the full financial need of all enrolled undergraduates. Given
that the unemployment rate in May is expected to be about 20 percent,
more than double the maximum during the Great Recession, we anticipate
that our students' financial needs will increase much more than in the
aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Many schools cannot afford to
increase scholarships to meet this need. Without additional Federal
support for financial aid, many of their students may be unable to
return to college for financial reasons, even if their campuses are
open.
Furthermore, it is important to note that international students
and scholars are integral to our institutions. American colleges and
universities attract the best and brightest students from around the
world. To ensure that international students can continue to study
safely in the United States, it is essential that the resumption of
visa processing occurs swiftly and international students receive
expedited visas. Additionally, it is critical that students and
exchange visitors receive clear guidance as soon as possible on any
additional requirements they will have to comply with in order to enter
the country, including testing and quarantine requirements.
In the event that it is not safe to reopen college campuses, many
institutions of higher education will need relief and support from the
Federal Government in order to survive, especially those that were in
precarious financial positions before the pandemic. Already, the
financial impact of the pandemic on institutions of higher education is
staggering and continues to climb. Using Brown as an example once
again, we expect a negative financial impact next fiscal year from
COVID-19 on the order of $100 to $200 million or more, depending on
forecasted losses and increased expenses associated with different
scenarios for reopening.
While we have implemented a strict freeze on hiring and salary
increases for faculty and staff--and senior leaders have taken pay
cuts--we continue to feel deep budget impacts of important measures
that include supporting undergraduate students with travel, moving and
instructional expenses; crediting fees for room and board; waiving the
summer earning expectations of all undergraduate students and providing
more scholarship aid; providing support to graduate students; and
contending with loss of revenue from canceling summer programs.
Colleges and universities across the country are experiencing
similar losses. Most are heavily dependent on tuition, and so remaining
closed in the fall means losing as much as half of an institution's
annual revenue. If this happens, it is expected that a number of
institutions will be forced to permanently close. This would be a
devastating loss for students, lead to a fresh wave of layoffs, and
harm local economies and our country as a whole.
Although most of the discussion around the reopening of college
campuses has focused on students, it is important to acknowledge that
the COVID-19 pandemic has halted a significant amount of the federally
funded research that takes place at research institutions. Restarting
this research must also be a priority.
Over the past several months, universities have kept open
laboratories that conduct research related to COVID-19. It is likely
that one of America's leading research institutions will contribute to
the discovery of a vaccine for COVID-19. Research universities are also
working to identify effective treatments and better testing methods.
This is urgent and necessary work, and it has been gratifying to see
how university-based scientists across the country have stepped up to
help end the pandemic.
In the meantime, however, an extraordinary amount of federally
funded research is languishing on the bench due to this pandemic. This
includes research in areas such as combatting Alzheimer's disease and
cancer, and the development of sustainable energy sources. Putting this
work on hold not only threatens the future of research and discovery,
but also the country's position as the world's leader in innovation.
Our research institutions need urgent relief to preserve research
and lab infrastructure as well as to protect our research workforce--
both of which are needed to emerge intact from this crisis. The Federal
Government can provide assistance in a number of ways, including but
not limited to, additional support for major research agencies; uniform
guidance and policies from Federal agencies to provide flexibility to
cover salaries, benefits and tuition support for graduate students and
researchers; and temporary regulatory and audit flexibility from the
Office of Management and Budget during the pandemic. (For more detailed
information, please see the attached May 27, 2020, letter on research
relief recommendations from the Association of American Universities,
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, Association of
American Medical Colleges, and American Council on Education: https://
www.acenet.edu/Documents/Letter-Senate-Research-Relief-052720.pdf).
Unlike single-sector businesses and organizations in other
industries, institutions of higher education engage in every sector of
the critical infrastructure necessary to our communities. Universities
operate hospitals and medical centers, full-service utility companies,
transportation services, and telecommunications and computing networks.
We provide housing and food services; run daycares, gyms, stadiums,
libraries, performance venues and museums. In doing so, we employ
hundreds of thousands of workers in various trades and professions. In
other words, unlike most single-sector businesses, we must determine
how to address safety concerns across multiple operational settings.
Therefore, efforts at providing relief and support should recognize
the unique role of higher education institutions to serve and support a
broad and complex population of students, faculty and staff, and do so
in as safe a manner as possible. I recognize that the needs of students
and employees are extraordinary, but a full post-pandemic recovery
requires a response that's equally unprecedented.
In the coming months, we will learn how health conditions evolve as
the U.S. economy begins to reopen, and how quickly innovations in
testing, contact tracing and treatment occur. Institutions will
evaluate these factors in order to make fully informed decisions on
reopening that are in the best interests of the health of our
respective communities and our country. I remain cautiously optimistic
that campuses can reopen in some capacity in the fall. As I wrote in my
piece in The New York Times, our duty now is to marshal the resources
and expertise to make it possible to reopen our campuses safely. We are
reliant on partnerships with government to make that happen as soon as
possible.
Thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony for this important
hearing. I want to express my appreciation to the Chairman, Ranking
Member and the rest of the HELP Committee for convening this forum to
discuss an issue that is so important to the future of higher
education, our students and our country.
______
[summary statement of christina paxson]
The health and safety of students and employees is the top priority
in reopening colleges and universities nationwide. Institutions must
have the resources to support teaching and instruction that is based in
evidence-based public health protocols for safeguarding the health and
well-being of our communities.
The support and partnership of our Federal Government is essential
for higher education institutions to gain the capacity to develop
public health plans that build on three basic elements of controlling
the spread of infection: test, trace and separate. Institutions will
also need to be able to provide remote education for students who are
unable to return to campus because of travel restrictions or health
conditions.
Many institutions of higher education are developing plans with the
following features:
Testing students and employees upon return to campus;
testing all symptomatic students and employees; and random
testing to monitor levels of infection over time
Traditional and technology contact tracing capacity
to stem the spread of any infection
Residence halls that are de-densified to minimize
contact and preserve space for quarantine
Campus infrastructures that are reconfigured to
enable social distancing, and additional investments in
cleaning and supplies for appropriate hygiene
Large lecture courses where students watch the
lecture online, and gather only in smaller sessions with their
instructors
Robust public health education campaigns, so each
community member understands what is required of them to keep
the community healthy.
Institutions of higher education that reopen will confront the
costs of implementing comprehensive public health plans, and students
will require significantly more financial aid. The unemployment rate in
May is expected to be about 20 percent, more than double the maximum
during the Great Recession, when Brown was among schools that had
double-digit increases in scholarship aid to meet student need. Many
institutions that cannot reopen will require support to survive deep
financial losses, and their communities will suffer economically.
To ensure that international students can continue to study safely
in the U.S., it is essential that visa processing resumes swiftly, and
international students receive guidance as soon as possible on any
additional requirements for re-entering the country.
An extraordinary amount of federally funded research is
languishing. Research relief is critical to ensure the future of
research and discovery--including for treatments and cures for
disease--but also the country's position as the world's leader in
innovation.
______
The Chairman. Thank you, Dr. Paxson, and I am glad to hear
your grandfather was at the University of Tennessee. My
daughter graduated from Brown.
Dr. Paxson. There we go.
The Chairman. Now our next witness is Dr. Logan Hampton of
Lane College. Welcome, Dr. Hampton.
STATEMENT OF LOGAN HAMPTON, PRESIDENT, LANE COLLEGE, JACKSON,
TN
Dr. Hampton. Thank you, Chairman Alexander, Ranking Member
Murray, and Members of the Committee. Thank you for the
opportunity to testify today. My name is Logan Hampton. I serve
as a 10th President Wayne College in Jackson, Tennessee. Lane
College is a historically black college founded in 1882 by
former slave Bishop Isaac Lane of the Colored Methodist Church.
Lane is an HBCU which consists of 36 buildings across 55 acres,
truly creating an exceptional academic and living environment.
I was asked to testify before the Committee about Lane's plans
to reopen our campus in the fall. Lane college began its moment
to moment for response to the novel coronavirus disease known
as COVID-19 on March 7th, 2020.
Initially, I created and met with a joint leadership team
consisting of 21 members of my direct reports, academic cabinet
,and the marketing team to consider three options for the
remainder of the semester. Option one, vigilance. Continue
face-to-face instruction with residential students while
observing local, state, and Federal, practicing CDC, Tennessee
Department of Health, Madison County Health Department
recommendations. The second option, remote. Move all
instruction online and direct non-essential employees to work
remotely.
Third option, the nuclear option. End the semester on
Friday, March 13, 2020. Lane College joint leadership team
decided to move to remote instruction and service delivery.
Each of the 819 residential students accounts was accredited
$713 or total of $584,305, which is slightly less than 10
percent of the institution's auxiliary budget. 76 percent of
the student body resided on campus. Unfortunately, due to the
pandemic, Lane College laid off 21 employees and continued its
previously imposed spending freeze. Nevertheless, Lane College
students will not experience an increase in tuition, fees, or
room and board for the upcoming academic year. As a result of
the consultation given by UNCL, Lane College was able to
quickly establish a crisis management team with a strategy team
to lead it. This team is charged with offering overall
leadership of the crisis management sector and coordinating the
weekly Lane College C-19 team meeting. That is comprised of the
FRSPH team, members of the Lane College joint leadership team,
and the pandemic proof team.
A strategy team is set to implement a detailed timeline for
reopening that is further articulated in my written testimony.
And due to the fluid developments of COVID-19, the strategy
team has layered Lane College to prepare for three scenarios.
Lane College fast-start, face-to-face instruction. Lane College
VR, all online courses. Lane College Soar, a hybrid of both
online and face-to-face. I would be remiss if I did not thank
Congress and this Committee for passing H.R. 748, The CARES
Act.
I also thank the President for signing this bill into law.
Because of the CARES Act, Lane College has access to a total of
$5,278,608 in direct allocation. While I am thankful for this,
I would be remiss if I did not share with you that Lane College
is bracing for revenue losses that will impact our ability to
operate. And our students are in during tough economic times
that presents unique challenges, especially for students of
color. With this being said, I have a number of important
request to Congress in my written testimony, but my two asks
would be to ask that Congress provided an additional $1 billion
in funding for HBCUs, tribal colleges and universities, and
minority-serving institutions. I would also firmly ask that
Congress increase student grant aid in Title IV of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 by doubling the maximum Pell Grant award.
The majority of my students are Black Americans and Black
Americans are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and the
racism that continues to impact our Nation. If the majority of
my students are disproportionately impacted, then my
institution is disproportionately impacted and needs the
investment. For more information and details regarding my
remarks I ask that you read my written testimony submitted for
your review. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Hampton follows:]
prepared statement of dr. logan hampton
Introduction
Chairman Lamar Alexander, Ranking Member Patty Murray, and Members
of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
My name is Dr. Logan Hampton, and I serve as the 10th President of
Lane College. Lane College is a strong historically black college and
university (HBCU) founded in 1882 by a former slave, Bishop Isaac Lane
of the Colored Methodist Church. Lane is an HBCU that seeks to enroll
and educate those who may not otherwise have an opportunity to receive
a higher education, and we consist of 36 buildings across 55 acres
creating a truly exceptional academic and living environment. On our
campus, we offer award-winning and accredited academic programs in
dozens of majors and minors to include business, entrepreneurship,
criminal justice, social work, health care, and more. We pride
ourselves on being an institution that views our students as life-long
learners and future leaders while viewing our faculty as facilitators
who utilize technology as an integral part of the teaching and learning
process.
Under my leadership, we have been able to establish a more
conventional student residential community with a robust first-year
experience program and improve our arts, recreation, and athletic
facilities.
HBCU History and Statistics
Before I share how Lane College is preparing to reopen in the Fall
semester and the unique challenges caused by the virus named ``SARS-
CoV-2'' causing a disease named ``coronavirus disease 2019'' (COVID-
19), \1\ I think that it is imperative that we all understand the
history of HBCUs to better understand how COVID-19 impacts these
institutions exponentially.
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\1\ U.S. Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. (2020). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID 19). Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/
index.html.
HBCUs were created as early as 1837 to provide African Americans
access to higher education. Noted for their contributions in educating
black, low-income, and educationally disadvantaged Americans, the 101
accredited HBCUs today constitute the class of institutions that
satisfy the statutory definition of the term ``HBCU'' as defined in the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). \2\
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\2\ The definition of an HBCU can be found in Section 322(2) of the
HEA.
HBCUs disproportionately enroll low-income, first-generation, and
academically underprepared college students--precisely the students
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that the country most needs to obtain college degrees. In 2018:
Nearly 300,000 students attended HBCUs; \3\
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\3\ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education
Statistics. (2020). Digest of education statistics 2019 [Table 313.20].
Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/
dt19_313.20.asp.
More than 75 percent of HBCU students were African
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Americans; and
Over 60 percent of undergraduate students at HBCUs
received Federal Pell Grants, and over 60 percent of these
students received Federal loans. \4\
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\4\ UNCF Public Policy and Government Affairs calculations using
2018 data from the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
Data shows that out of 257,451 total undergraduate students at HBCUs,
159,101 students were receiving Pell Grants and 162,179 students were
receiving Federal loans.
HBCUs comprise 3 percent of all two-and four-year non-profit
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colleges and universities, yet they:
Enroll 10 percent of African American undergraduates;
Produce 17 percent of all African American college
graduates with bachelor's degrees; and
Graduate 24 percent of African Americans with
bachelor's degrees in STEM fields. \5\
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\5\ UNCF Patterson calculations using U.S. Department of Education,
National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary
Education Data System.
A 2015 Gallup survey confirms that HBCUs are providing African
American students with a better college experience than African
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American students at other colleges and universities.
55 percent of African American HBCU graduates say
their college prepared them well for post-college life versus
29 percent of African American graduates at other institutions.
\6\
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\6\ Gallup, Inc. (2015). Gallup-USA funds minority college
graduates report. Retrieved from UNCF Website: https://www.uncf.org/wp-
content/uploads/PDFs/USA-Funds-Minority-Report-GALLUP-2.pdf.
HBCUs attained these results at an affordable price for students--
that is, the cost of attendance at HBCUs is about 30 percent lower, on
average, than other colleges--despite limited operating budgets and
endowments that are roughly half the typical size of other four-year
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public and private non-profit colleges and universities.
Since our founding, HBCUs have been, and continue to be, under-
resourced institutions. An issue brief produced by ACE (American
Council on Education) and UNCF (United Negro College Fund, Inc.)
revealed the following:
Public HBCUs rely more heavily on Federal, state, and
local funding in comparison with their non-HBCU counterparts
(54 percent of overall revenue vs 38 percent);
Private HBCUs depend a little bit more on tuition
dollars than their non-HBCUs counterparts (45 percent compared
with 37 percent);
Private gifts, grants, and contracts constitute a
smaller portion of overall revenue at private HBCUs compared to
their non-HBCU counterparts (17 percent vs 25 percent);
Public and Private HBCUs experienced the largest
declines in Federal funding per full-time equivalent student
between 2003-2015; and
In both the public and private sectors, HBCU
endowments lag behind those of non-HBCUs by at least 70
percent. \7\
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\7\ Williams, K. L. & Davis, B. L. (2019). Public and private
investments and divestments in historically black colleges and
universities. Retrieved from American Council on Education Website:
https://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/Public-and-Private-Investments-
and-Divestments-in-HBCUs.aspx.
Despite being under-resourced institutions, HBCUs have a large
economic impact that often goes unnoticed by most. In 2017, UNCF
released a report detailing the economic impact of HBCUs. The report
revealed that in 2014, the impact of HBCUs on their regional economies
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included:
$10.3 billion in initial spending, which includes
spending by the institution for personnel services, spending by
the institution for operating expenses, and spending by
students;
An employment impact of 134,090 jobs, which
approximately 43 percent were on-campus jobs and 57 percent
were off-campus jobs;
$10.1 billion in terms of gross regional product,
which is a measure of the value of production of all
industries;
A work-life earnings of $130 billion for the Class of
2014, which is 56 percent more than they could expect to earn
without their 2014 certificates or degrees; and
A total economic impact of $14.8 billion. \8\
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\8\ Humphreys, J. M. (2017). HBCUs make America strong: The
positive economic impact of historically black colleges and
universities. Retrieved from UNCF Website: https://www.uncf.org/
programs/hbcu-impact.
In regard to Lane College specifically, my institution had the
following economic impact on its regional economy according to the UNCF
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report:
$29,925,452 in total initial spending;
$36,428,355 in output impact;
$23,997,933 in value-added impact;
$17,827,714 in labor income impact; and
475 jobs created in employment impact. \9\
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\9\ (1) Total initial spending accruing to the institution's
regional economy is the combination of three types of spending:
spending by the institution for personnel services (wages, salaries,
and benefits), spending by the institution for operating expenses, and
spending by that institution's students. (2) The output impact was
calculated for each category of initial spending, based on the impacts
of the first round of spending and the re-spending of these amounts--
the multiplier effect. (3) Value-added (gross regional product) impacts
exclude expenditures related to foreign and domestic trade, thus
providing a much more accurate measure of the actual economic benefits
flowing to businesses and households in a region than the more
inclusive output impacts. (4) The labor income received by residents of
the cities that host HBCUs represents 72 percent of the value-added
impact. (5) For the employment impact, on average, for each job created
on campus there were 1.3 off-campus jobs that existed because of
spending related to the HBCU. For all HBCUs combined, 13 jobs were
generated for each million dollars of initial spending in 2014.
In addition to the positive impact HBCUs make on the overall
economy, HBCUs also have a strong impact academically when observed at
the state and local level. An upcoming report to be released by UNCF
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shows that:
HBCUs comprised 8.5 percent of the four-year
institutions across the 21 states and territories in the
analysis;
Across the 21 states and territories in the analysis,
HBCUs enrolled, on average, 24 percent of all black
undergraduates pursuing a bachelor's degree in a college or
university in 2016;
Across the 21 states and territories in the analysis,
on average, 26 percent of all black bachelor's degree
recipients graduated from an HBCU in 2016; and
In Tennessee, HBCUs are 10 percent of the four-year
institutions, but enroll 24 percent of all black undergraduates
and award 20 percent of all black bachelor's degrees in the
state. \10\
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\10\ Saunders, K. & Nagle, B. T. (2018). HBCUs punching above their
weight: A state-level analysis of historically black college and
university enrollment and graduation. Washington, DC: UNCF Frederick D.
Patterson Research Institute.
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Lane College's Response to COVID-19
On the morning of Saturday, March 7, 2020, when I returned to Lane
College from a UNCF meeting, I was reminded that the Lane College
Concert Choir would depart campus on that upcoming Wednesday, March
11th, to begin their Spring Resurrection Tour of the western United
States. Having observed the spread of COVID-19 and the cancellation of
a few events across the Nation, I began to reconsider the choir tour.
By midday, I had enough information to determine that it would not be
in our students, faculty, and staff's best interest to travel on a bus
for parts of 2 weeks, perform for several churches, and visit historic
sites all along the way. So, out of an abundance of caution and in
consultation with Daryll Coleman, Vice President for Academic Affairs,
and Alexis Rainbow, Choral Director, I canceled the choir tour. Thus,
Lane College began its moment-to-moment response to COVID-19 that would
be declared a pandemic the very week the choir was set to depart
campus. Since that fateful Saturday, not a day has passed when my
colleagues and I have not discussed by phone, exchanged text messages,
shared information, participated in a webinar, attended a Zoom meeting,
or made some type of decision regarding COVID-19.
Facing the COVID-19 Storm: Initial Responses
Initially, I created and met with a joint leadership team,
consisting of 21 members of my direct reports, the academic cabinet,
and the marketing team to consider the following three options for the
remainder of the semester:
1. Vigilant--Continue face-to-face instruction and residential
students while observing local, state, and Federal orders and
practicing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
Tennessee Department of Health, and Madison County (TN) Health
Department's recommendations;
2. Remote--Move all instruction online and direct non-essential
employees to work remotely; or
3. Nuclear--End the semester on Friday, March 13, 2020.
The Lane College Joint Leadership team decided to move to remote
instruction and service delivery. We sent emails and hosted the final
mass meeting of 100-plus students, faculty, staff, and administrators
to discuss remote instruction on March 13, 2020. The institution
requested, and was granted, approval by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to move to remote
instruction and proceeded to go on spring break.
Over spring break, the joint leadership team continued to meet and
decided to extend spring break for an additional week to give faculty
additional time to convert courses from face-to-face to online. The
joint leadership team further decided to deep clean and fog all
facilities with an antimicrobial agent. Finally, while Lane College
never closed, the institution did meet and exceed all Federal, state,
and local orders by closing the campus and allowing only essential
employees and residential students to visit. Initially, approximately
200 students remained on campus during their spring break. As the
second week of spring break expired, in response to the extension of
the Federal social distancing guideline through April 30th, Lane
College decided to close residence halls on Friday, April 3rd, and
required all students to vacate the premises, except for forty-two 12-
month contract students, international students, and severely food and
housing insecure students. Each of the 819 residential students'
accounts was credited $713.44 for a total of $584,305.31, which is
slightly less than 10 percent of the institution's budget. Seventy-six
(76) percent of the student body (1,072 total Spring 2020 enrollment)
resided on campus. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, Lane College
laid off 21 employees and continued its previously imposed spending
freeze. Nevertheless, Lane College students will not experience an
increase in tuition, fees, or room and board for the upcoming academic
year.
Facing the Storm: Strength in the Storm
I am pleased to report that while facing this health crisis, Lane
College found it instructive to observe the eagle and lean on the
sacred texts. It has been said that the eagle faces storm winds, waits
for the precise moment for strong winds to blow, and then spreads its
wings with the wind to fly above the storm. The text informs us, ``they
that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up
with wings as eagles . . .'' (Isaiah 40:31). In these perilous times,
we have learned anew to wait on the Lord and learned from the eagle to
face the storm.
COVID-19 has disrupted learning and life at Lane College, but it
has not, and will not, defeat us. Like the eagle, Lane College faced
the storm winds and soared above COVID-19 to complete the Spring 2020
semester remotely with faculty and students teaching and learning,
respectively, from their homes. We learned that, yes, we can deliver
distance education, and, yes, to my staff's great delight, I can even
complete a full Zoom meeting in 30 minutes. This storm has given us a
new perspective and language for our employees and while there was
never any doubt, we affirm anew that the faculty of our institution are
essential. In addition, the residential staff, security officers,
chefs, cooks, servers, the Team Clean custodial workers, and the
controller's staff are essential as well.
Today, I celebrate Lane College faculty for their flexibility; the
essential staff who braved the virus to come to campus daily; those who
worked remotely and learned how to conduct Zoom classes and meetings;
our precious students; and everyone who faced the storm and soared
above with vigilance, patience, and prayer. The entire Lane College
family responded well to the challenge to recruit, retain, and remove
barriers for students.
Lane College's administrative staff, directors, chaplains, and
faculty all joined together to email, text, and communicate with new or
prospective students. The Lane College Academic Division Chairs and
Lane Institute employees led a renewed movement to retain and re-
recruit students by reaching out to current and returning students, and
the staff are re-recruiting any student who attended Lane College
between 2010--2019 but did not earn a degree. Faculty and staff have
committed to removing the barriers to graduation and registration, and
COVID-19 has taught us that some of the things we thought were
important and necessary are neither important, necessary, or really
needed.
Facing the Storm: Soaring Strategies and Tactics
Situated in the city of Jackson in Madison County, Lane College
pays close attention to the current developments in the city, county,
and State of Tennessee. As of May 26, 2020, Jackson-Madison County
declared a state of emergency; ordered bars to close and restaurants to
limit capacity; ordered grocery stores and pharmacies to reserve the
first hour of each day for seniors; and canceled events for the next 30
days. In Jackson-Madison County with a population of 97,984, \11\ the
number of COVID-19 cases equal 177; negative tests equal 4,736; 152
people have recovered; and 2 people have died. \12\
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\11\ U.S. Census Bureau (2020). Annual Estimates of the Resident
Population for Counties: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2019. Retrieved from
https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/popest/2010's-
counties-total.html.
\12\ Tedford, K. L. (2020). Health department confirms 177 cases of
COVID-19 in madison county. Retrieved from https://
www.madisoncountytn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/9315/COVID-19-Demographic-
Information-PDF.
With this being said, Lane College is challenged to soar. To assist
with strategy formation, scenario planning, and tactical deployment,
the institution was most fortunate to have UNCF and its partners to
join us and provide their perspective informed by the 37 UNCF-member
institutions and high-level strategic and tactical consultation and
insights. Of special note, UNCF facilitated our partnership with
sophisticated online partners who have provided training for Lane
College faculty who are new to online instruction and courses to fill
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the gap for our students at no additional cost to students.
My institution continues to rely heavily on the following sources
to develop our overall strategy, tactics, policies, and practices:
CDC;
UNCF;
American College Health Association Considerations
for Reopening Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) in the
COVID-19 Era;
National Association of Independent Colleges and
Universities;
National Collegiate Athletics Association Core
Principles of Resocialization of Collegiate Sport;
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference;
Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities
Association;
Tennessee Higher Education Commission;
Tennessee Department of Health;
Tennessee Economic Recovery Group;
Madison County Health Department; and
The city, county, state, and Federal guidance and
orders.
As a result of consultation given by UNCF, Lane College was able to
quickly establish a Crisis Management Center with a strategy team to
lead it. The Lane College strategy team is made up of four (4) members:
(1) Dr. Sandra Ramawy (Liberal Studies and Education, Academic Division
Chair), response lead; (2) Ms. Tangela Poole (Lane College Controller),
financial lead; (3) Mr. Terry Blackmon (Lane College Registrar),
academic/institutional research lead; and (4) myself. This team is
charged with offering overall leadership of the Crisis Management
Center and coordinating the weekly Lane College C-19 Team Meeting that
is comprised of the Fast Start team, members of the Lane College Joint
Leadership team, and the Pandemic Proof team. My role is to keep the
entire team focused on the institution's mission to ``develop the whole
student with academic excellence as its highest priority;'' maintain
rapid pace; ensure vertical and horizontal communications; and affirm
that data drive our decisions. The strategy team is set to implement
the timeline below.
Fall Decision Timeline
Thursday, June 11, 2020 Board of Trustees COVID-19
Update Meeting
Monday, June 22, 2020 Dragon Academy Summer Bridge
(online)
Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Open campus to remote staff
with COVID-19 restrictions in place
Thursday, July 2, 2020 Board of Trustees COVID-19
Update Meeting
Friday, July 3, 2020 Fall 2020 Announcements
Saturday, July 18, 2020 Spring Commencement, Lane
Field, 6 p.m. (or JF Lane at 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m.)
Saturday, July 25, 2020 Student Leaders to return to
campus
Saturday, August 1, 2020 Freshman move-in to
residence halls
Monday, August 3, 2020 First day of freshman class
Friday, November 20, 2020 Fall 2020 Semester ends
Due to the fluid developments of COVID-19, the strategy team has
led Lane College to prepare for three scenarios: Lane College FastStart
(face-to-face instruction in Fall 2020), Lane College VR (all online
courses in Fall 2020), and Lane College SOAR (a hybrid of both online
courses and face-to-face instruction in Fall 2020).
Lane College FastStart
Should Lane College students return to campus for face-to-face
instruction and subsequently experience a more aggressive COVID-19
season in late Fall 2020, the institution's response will mirror the
response of the Spring 2020 semester and consist of the following:
Protocols established across the campus, particularly
the academic and student affairs COVID-19 protections, to keep
students safe and healthy on campus prior to their departure;
Faculty prior experience in delivering and moving
instruction from face-to-face to online;
The practice of COVID-19 safety protocols for
students, faculty, staff, and visitors to include washing their
hands, wearing their masks, social distancing, and self-
checking for COVID-19 symptoms;
COVID-19 restrictions and recommendations by local,
state, and Federal entities;
Frequent and routine virtual recruiting, admissions,
financial, orientation, and athletic presentations;
The re-recruitment of majors by departmental leaders;
and
Preparations to see a decrease in overall enrollment
and revenue.
Lane College VR
While small and independent, Lane College is primed to deliver
responsive and creative programmatic and curricular solutions. The
institution has sourced digital devices, platforms, texts, course
material, and office applications to support Lane College VR. We will
need to pilot micro-credentials and new course offerings to ensure
successful implementation, but we are cognizant that student success,
including retention and graduation, may be negatively impacted. We are
also cognizant that enrollment may decrease resulting in a 27 percent
to 43 percent decrease in revenue.
Although Lane College has a plan in place to implement Lane College
VR, eliminating face-to-face instruction and moving all classes to a
remote format poses the following unique set of challenges for Lane
College:
The quality of instruction may suffer greatly because
neither the institution nor the faculty have the resources,
human or technical, to fully manage this change;
Nearly 90 percent of Lane College students receive
Pell grants. Thus, the typical student does not have the funds,
equipment, or Internet access to receive instruction remotely;
Many students arrive on campus having endured food
and housing insecurities at home. For some, the Lane College is
the most safe and secure place; and
We do not have online resources to support secure
virtual testing administration or the delivery of science lab
instruction.
Lane College SOAR
Lane College SOAR, the hybrid scenario, offers the greatest
opportunity and challenge for Lane College. Appropriately executed,
this strategy could lift Lane College to heights unimagined previously.
This approach would incorporate aspects of both Lane College FastStart
and Lane College VR. To implement this successfully, the technology
will need to be greatly increased including the IT backbone, help desk,
and on-campus WIFI. A recovering local, state, and national economy may
cause us to see an increase in enrollment, but we have to also prepare
for the likelihood of a decrease in enrollment.
Prior to the UNCF consultation that led to the development of our
Crisis Management Center, Lane College also established three
organizational teams to address the future. The first, preceding the
pandemic, was the Lane College FastStart team, which is made up of 17
faculty and staff members. This team is charged with assisting new
students from the point of admission through the first 6 weeks of the
Fall semester. The team meets twice a week to report on recruiting, new
student orientation, the Dragon Academy (a summer bridge program),
housing, Discovery Week, the first week of freshman class, etc.
As mentioned earlier, in direct response to the pandemic, the Lane
College Joint Leadership team was formed. The members of the joint
leadership team continue to meet twice per week to submit, receive, and
review the most up-to-date information available, make immediate
decisions regarding the operation of the institution and propose
protocols, policies, and responses as needed.
Last, Lane College established the Pandemic Proof team consisting
of 27 members. This team is charged with developing tactical solutions
to prepare for the three aforementioned potential future scenarios of
campus operations in response to COVID-19 (Lane College FastStart, Lane
College VR, and Lane College SOAR). The Pandemic Proof team is
developing tactical solutions for each area of the institution's
operation. \13\
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\13\ For an example of protocols being considered by the Pandemic
Proof team, please see attachment #1.
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Facing the Storm: Requests for Consideration
I would be remiss if I did not thank Congress, and those of this
Committee, for passing H. R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security (CARES) Act. Your time, energy, and effort does not
go unnoticed, and I also want to thank the President for signing this
bill into law. Because of the CARES Act, Lane College has access to a
total of $5,278,608 in direct allocations from Section 18004(a)(1) and
18004(a)(2) of the bill. Of this total, we have received the allocation
for the emergency grant aid for students and the allocation for the
institutions in Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act equaling
$2,430,978. My institution will be using the institutional funds to
reimburse ourselves for COVID-19 related expenses and have already
began to disseminate the emergency grant aid to students. To
disseminate the emergency grant aid, Lane College established two
dispersal tactics:
Lane CARES Fund--$592 was distributed to each Spring
2020 enrolled student to support their needs caused by the
disruption due to COVID-19 to include food, housing, and
transportation. To establish this amount, Lane College surveyed
students and found that 78 percent of the students asked for
funds to support food and 73 percent asked for housing support.
\14\ The survey instrument was sent to each students' Lane
College email address on April 16, 2020, which was
approximately 5 weeks after most students had been away from
campus. CARES funds to support student's food, housing, and
transportation were distributed to each student (except the
international students) on April 30, 2020; and
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\14\ See attachment #2.
The Lane Direct Support Fund--These funds are awarded
on a case-by case-bases. A student may request these funds to
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support allowable educational expenses.
As of May 28, 2020, a total of $659,396.56 has been distributed
from Lane CARES Fund and Lane Direct Support Fund combined.
Thanks to you, Lane College, with her 244 full-time equivalent
employees, applied for, and received, a Small Business Administration
(SBA) Paycheck Protection Program loan to help the institution pay
salaries for the current eight weeks, a period of needed financial
support. We received a total of $2,059,856. We are also currently
participating in the HBCU Capital Financing program deferment of
principal and interest payments during this emergency. We received an
HBCU Capital Financing loan in March 2010 of $29,000,000 with 20-year
fixed rate and variable rate financing and have been making annual
payments of around $2,200,000 of principal, interest, and fees. This
deferment allows us to direct these payments toward sustaining the
needed and necessary operations of our campus.
Please know, Lane College reflects the diversity of private,
nonprofit higher education in the United States. With over 5 million
students attending 1,700 independent colleges and universities, \15\
and more than 1 million employees, the private sector of American
higher education has a dramatic impact on our Nation's larger public
interests. On behalf of UNCF-member institutions, HBCUs, and small
nonprofit colleges, I ask that you do the following:
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\15\ National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
(2019). About the college private sector. Retrieved from http://
www.naicu.edu/research-resources/private-college-factfile-2019/about-
private-colleges.
Invest an additional $1 billion in emergency funding
for HBCUs, Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and
Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). The CARES Act provided a
total of $1.046 billion dollars for HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs in
Section 18004(a)(2). I believe that I can confidently say on
the behalf of my peers and myself that we were ecstatic to
receive the additional support of funding due to the nature of
our institutions and that the amounts received by each
institution will be helpful in allowing us to financially
navigate these present times. However, due to the ongoing
uncertainty around the duration of COVID-19, I believe that it
is imperative for Congress to invest an additional $1 billion
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in our institutions.
These additional funds will allow us to access the resources
necessary to continue to provide quality academic instruction
and learning experiences to our students and these funds will
help us remain afloat given the loss in revenue that we are
braced to receive. More specifically, my institution could use
additional funds to increase the technology infrastructure on
campus; pay for students to acquire personal technology; pay
for WIFI or provide WIFI at no expense; use funds to hire staff
to train faculty and students to deliver and receive online
instruction; provide funds to enhance the Internet backbone and
infrastructure on campus; and provide funding to lessen the
threat of food insecurity for students who depart my campus. I
am thankful for the passage of H. R. 6800, the Health and
Economic Recovery Onmibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, led
by Chairwoman Nita Lowey as this bill provided an additional
$1.71 billion for HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs. It is my request that
the Senate include this level funding for our institutions in
the next stimulus package.
Increase grant aid for students by doubling the
maximum Pell Grant award. Not only am I here to advocate for
the needs of my institution, but I am also here to advocate for
the needs of my students. As I mentioned earlier in my
testimony, 78 percent of the students at my institution asked
for funds to support their ability to eat food and 73 percent
asked for funding for housing support. Because these were the
top two needs of my students, this information further affirmed
what we already knew about students who attend HBCUs being,
largely, from low-income families. Not only did my
institutional student survey affirm this narrative, but the
recent information released by the CDC has exacerbated it by
sharing that black Americans are being disproportionately
impacted by COVID-19. \16\ Because the majority of my students
on my campus are black, my institution, as a whole, is
disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 as well. This means
that my students are experiencing households where their
parents, or caretakers, are either not able to go to work or
have been laid off like so many other Americans. The
unemployment rate increased by 10.3 percentage points to 14.7
percent in the month of April and Black Americans hold the
second highest unemployment rate out of all races at 16.7
percent. \17\ In fact, all Americans of color hold higher
unemployment rates than White Americans, and this new reality
means decreased revenue in households of color, which equals a
decrease in the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) formula used
to calculated the amount of student financial aid. If more
students would be experiencing a decreased EFC, then more
students would need to access the Pell Grant at greater amounts
and greater rates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\16\ The CDC released a report on April 17, 2020 that shared race
and ethnicity data from 580 patients hospitalized with lab-confirmed
COVID-19. This report found that 45 percent of individuals for whom
race or ethnicity data was available were white, compared to 59 percent
of individuals in the surrounding community. However, the report also
indicated that 33 percent of hospitalized patients were black compared
to 18 percent in the community. Information regarding this study can be
found at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/
mm6915e3.htm's_cid=mm6915e3_w.
\17\ U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(2020). Employment situation summary. Retrieved from https://
www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm.
Provide funding for the safety of our students,
faculty, and staff. The safety and well-being of our students,
faculty, and staff cannot be compromised and must be addressed
prior to re-opening the campus. Testing, tracing, and treatment
are essential tools to re-open. As effective COVID-19 testing
becomes available, institutions should be given the testing
resources necessary to safely reopen in a manner that will
protect students, faculty, and staff. This will require Federal
funding to help institutions adequately prepare and effectively
execute the return of students to the classroom as we protect
our campuses and larger communities. Our students need to heal
in a safe and secure living and learning environment. We also
need assistance to help fund the enormous costs associated with
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protecting our new online systems from cybersecurity attacks.
Provide liability protection. The guidance for
Federal, state, and local agencies on COVID-19 is evolving,
ever changing, and sometimes conflicting. Lane College and its
sister IHEs want to provide a safe and healthy environment for
students, faculty, and staff based on the guidance offered.
When that guidance is inconsistent, it is difficult for the
institutions and constituents. I ask that you make it clear
what IHEs should be doing to respond effectively to COVID-19 to
allow us to confidently provide a safe and healthy environment,
which will also aid us in combating any and all lawsuits that
may arise due to the precautionary measures that institutions
are planning to take when reopening in the fall.
Remove the $62,000,000 cap for the HBCU Capital
Financing loan program. In light of the nearly certain
attrition of student and subsequent decreases in retention and
graduation rates, Lane College and other HBCUs would benefit
greatly from deferring payments in the HBCU Capital Financing
loan program. A loss of 100 students over Summer 2020, Fall
2020, and Spring 2021 would cost my institution nearly
$2,000,000 in revenue. Lane College pays $181,329.96 per month
for approximately $2,200,000 per year. Because we are uncertain
of how long COVID-19 will be considered a national emergency,
HBCUs are likely to reach the $62,000,000 cap well within 12
months. Currently, there are a total of 80 loans outstanding to
44 HBCUs under this program with loan amounts ranging from $10
million to $152 million, equating to a total of $2.023 billion.
\18\ The HEROES Act includes this modification, and I ask that
the Senate included this change in any future stimulus package.
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\18\ U.S. Department of Education. (2020). Historically Black
College and University Capital Financing Program. Retrieved from
https://www.ed.gov/programs/hbcucapfinance/awards.html.
Include a technology fund to allow institutions and
students to access broadband. Nearly 300,000 students attend
HBCUs and over 6 million students attend HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs
combined. Our students are largely from low-income households
and while the E-rate program exists in the Universal Service
Fund, this program is primarily for students in k-12 education
and does not include low-income students attending
postsecondary education. In the CARES Act, our institutions
were given the ability to utilize resources to purchase
technological equipment for our students to help them complete
their assignments online; participate in virtual counseling;
receive mentoring and tutoring services online; and complete
other required tasks in relation to their academic program
through distance education. While access to equipment is
important, so is access to broadband. With this being said, I
want to offer my support for S. 3701, the Supporting
Connectivity for Higher Education Students in Need Act,
introduced by Senator Amy Klobuchar, and ask that this bill be
included in the next stimulus packaged to be considered by
Congress. Representative Anna Eshoo introduced a companion bill
in the House of Representatives, H. R. 6814, and this bill has
a total of 12 cosponsors and counting. This piece of
legislation takes a responsible approach to meeting the needs
of our low-income, first-generation college students and the
households they come from while prioritizing HBCUs, TCUs, and
MSIs. According to an article released by the Pew Research
Center, ``roughly three-in-ten adults with household incomes
below $30,000 a year (29 percent) don't own a smartphone . . .
and [more than four-in-ten [adults] don't have home broadband
services (44 percent) or a traditional computer (46 percent).''
\19\ It is imperative that HBCUs and our students have the
ability to access broadband to allow the students to continue
their academic program and complete their education.
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\19\ Anderson, M., & Kumar, M. (2019, May 7). Digital divide
persists even as lower-income Americans make gains in tech adoption.
Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-
tank/2019/05/07/digital-divide-persists-even-as-lower-income-americans-
make-gains-in-tech-adoption/.
Remove the 500-employee limitation for all IHEs. The
CARES Act allows for IHEs with no more than 500 employees to
apply for a loan in the Paycheck Protection Program or apply
for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). One of the primary
benefits to smaller IHEs is that they will be able to receive
additional assistance if needed and even have the opportunity
to receive an advance of up to $10,000 in the EIDL program that
they would then be able to utilize as a grant. These additional
opportunities are great options for our smaller institutions,
and I firmly believe that all IHEs should be able to apply for
these programs. While I am thankful for the interim final rule
issued by the SBA outlining that students participating in the
Federal Work Study (FWS) program will not be counted as student
workers, institutions still have student workers outside of the
FWS program that would still be counted as employees under the
current law. I am thankful that the HEROES Act included this
change, and I ask the Senate to include this modification in
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any future stimulus package.
Allow all IHEs to be eligible to receive loans in the
Main Street Lending Program (MSLP). Colleges and universities
are braced to experience declining enrollments for the Fall
semester that will lead to a loss in revenue. As I have
mentioned previously in my testimony, Lane College is no
stranger to the loss in revenue projected across the higher
education industry, and I strongly believe that my institution
should be able to apply for any and all funding available to
help us weather this storm. The HEROES Act would require the
Federal Reserve to expand MSLP to nonprofits, including
nonprofit private and public IHEs, and I strongly urge the
Senate to include this in any future stimulus package.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Lane College is an institution that not only has a
history of contributing to society, but is an institution that also
provides an invaluable experience for our students, especially our
students who are low-income and first generation. It is my hope that my
recommendations for a future stimulus package be incorporated and that
HBCUs remain a priority not only for the Senate but also for the House
of Representatives and the Federal Government as a whole.
It is an honor to be asked to present this testimony, and I commend
you for your service and for addressing these important issues.
Thank you.
Attachment #1
Pandemic Proof Campus
Health Attack Response Protocols
Protect and Prevent
Y Implement the Evaluate, Respond, Intervene, and
Communicate (ERIC) protocols
` Evaluate (what happened, who was involved,
where, when and how)
` Respond (assess resources and seek help)
` Intervene (initiate direct action to address
the situation)
` Communicate (who else needs to know, when do
they need to know)
Y Restrict, Remove, and Remote
` Restrict access to campus
` Remote instruction
Y Operational Response
` Establish Command Center
` Communication Protocols
` Remote and online opportunities
Remote courses
Remote services
Remote programs
` Financial budget adjustments and projections
Y Restart and Return to New Normal
` COVID-19 protocols
` COVID-19 restrictions
` Office protocols
` Residence hall protocols
Attachment #2
______
[summary statement of logan hampton]
Chairman Lamar Alexander, Ranking Member Patty Murray, and Members
of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
My name is Dr. Logan Hampton, and I serve as the 10th President of
Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee. Lane College is a proud
historically black college and university (HBCU) founded in 1882 by a
former slave, Bishop Isaac Lane of the Colored Methodist Church. Lane
is an HBCU, which consists of 36 buildings across 55 acres, creating a
truly exceptional academic and living environment.
I was asked to testify before the Committee about Lane College's
plans to reopen our campus in the Fall. Lane College began its moment-
to-moment response to the novel coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19,
on March 7, 2020. Initially, I created and met with a joint leadership
team, consisting of 21 members of my direct reports, the academic
cabinet, and the marketing team to consider the following three options
for the remainder of the semester:
1. Vigilant--Continue face-to-face instruction and residential
students while observing local, state, and Federal orders and
practicing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
Tennessee Department of Health, and Madison County (TN) Health
Department's recommendations;
2. Remote--Move all instruction online and direct non-essential
employees to work remotely; or
3. Nuclear--End the semester on Friday, March 13, 2020.
The Lane College Joint Leadership team decided to move to remote
instruction and service delivery. Each of the 819 residential students'
accounts was credited $713.44 for a total of $584,305.31, which is
slightly less than 10 percent of the institution's budget. Seventy-six
(76) percent of the student body resided on campus. Unfortunately, due
to the pandemic, Lane College laid off 21 employees and continued its
previously imposed spending freeze. Nevertheless, Lane College students
will not experience an increase in tuition, fees, or room and board for
the upcoming academic year.
As a result of consultation given by UNCF (United Negro College
Fund, Inc.), Lane College was able to quickly establish a Crisis
Management Center with a strategy team to lead it. This team is charged
with offering overall leadership of the Crisis Management Center and
coordinating the weekly Lane College C-19 Team Meeting that is
comprised of the Fast Start team, members of the Lane College Joint
Leadership team, and the Pandemic Proof team. The strategy team is set
to implement a detailed timeline for reopening that is further
articulated in my written testimony and due to the fluid developments
of COVID-19, the strategy team has led Lane College to prepare for
three scenarios: Lane College FastStart (face-to-face instruction in
Fall 2020), Lane College VR (all online courses in Fall 2020), and Lane
College SOAR (a hybrid of both online courses and face-to-face
instruction in Fall 2020).
I would be remiss if I did not thank Congress and those of this
Committee for passing H. R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security (CARES) Act. Your time, energy, and effort does not
go unnoticed, and I also want to thank the President for signing this
bill into law. Because of the CARES Act, Lane College has access to a
total of $5,278,608 in direct allocations. While I am thankful for
this, I would be remiss if I did not share with you all that Lane
College is bracing for revenue losses that will impact our ability to
operate. Also, our students are enduring tough economic times that
presents unique challenges, especially for students of color.
With this being said, I have a number of important requests to
Congress in my written testimony, but my top two asks would be that
Congress provide an additional $1 billion in funding for HBCUs, Tribal
Colleges and Universities (TCUs) and Minority-Serving Institutions. I
would also like to firmly ask that Congress increase student grant aid
in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 by doubling the maximum
Pell Grant award. The majority of my students are black Americans and
black Americans are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. If the
majority of my students are disproportionately impacted, then my
institution is disproportionately impacted and needs the investment.
For more information and details regarding my remarks, I ask that
you read my written testimony submitted for your review.
______
The Chairman. Thank you, Dr. Hampton, very much for being
with us today. And our Final witness is Dr. Georges Benjamin.
Welcome.
STATEMENT OF GEORGES BENJAMIN, MD, MACP, FACEP(E), FNAPA, Hon
FRSH, Hon FFPH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH
ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, DC
Dr. Benjamin. Thank you, Chairman Alexander and Ranking
Member Murray, and Members of the Committee. Let me just thank
you for letting me be here. Just to remind all of us that
public health decisions are based on risk reduction and all of
these decisions ought to be science-based, data-driven, and
done in close consultation with the state and local public
health authorities. All the current evidence shows that we will
continue to have undetected broad community spread of COVID-19
and we will continue to do so for many months to come. And we
should therefore assume for planning purposes that there will
be people on campus with COVID-19 infection regardless of what
precautions are taken.
To this end, let me just briefly talk about five
overarching issues that I think should be emphasized. The first
one, of course, is maintaining alignment with your policies
with the standards of the surrounding community without
utilizing public health protections that are weaker than those
in place in the community in which the schools sit. The second
one, of course, is recognizing that commuter schools where the
student body comes from relatively narrow slices of the
community, will have a very different risk profile than
residential schools that attract students nationwide and of
course often from around the world. Number three, that
guidelines matter. The CDC guidelines are there.
I think people should use them, certainly focusing on
issues around physical distancing, responses to our hygiene,
which course fundamentally means masks, hand hygiene and
routine cleaning and sanitation of services and facilities are
important, and once you think of these as stack protections
that work together to reduce the risk of infection. I also
believe there should be enforceable workplace regulations to
protect all on campus and recommended that Congress require
OSHA to pose an emergency temporary standard for infectious
disease that will be able to protect all workers from COVID-19.
And also the State of California's aerosol transmissible
disease standard could serve as a model for Congress.
Number four, to achieve adequate disease control in all
these situations, you need to have a very, very robust campus
health program, again, linked to the state and local health
agency, to enhance rapid availability and support for current
disease control practices. Again, as you are working on that
premise that there is going to be a case on campus, we should
obviously assume that while most students are less likely to
have severe disease when infected, the risk for serious disease
is not zero. So rapid PCR testing for COVID-19 and contact
tracing with the Center for Disease Control and a testing
strategy and plan in line with public health authorities is
needed.
The elements should include clearly defined priorities on
testing in terms of who should be tested, the role of symptom
based strategies, as well as testing employees who are high-
risk either because of underlying disease or because of not
only their own campus, but also their off-campus occupations.
One of the things we saw with nursing homes was the off campus
issue and other places where nursing home workers worked, put
them and their patients at risk. Obviously, everyone needs to
be adequately staffed and have enough personal protective
equipment to ensure protection.
Obviously, in the interest of time, I won't go into all the
physical distancing things. You have heard a lot of those
already from the college presidents, and let me endorse that
those are the right--they are all on the right track on the
things that they are going to need to do. Also, let me just re-
emphasize this issue of the disproportionate risk for many,
particularly minorities, in the community. We know very clearly
that African-Americans and Hispanics in particular are
disproportionately at risk because they have more chronic
diseases, so that if they get infected, they are much more
likely to get severe diseases. And while certainly our young
people generally are healthy in school, that many of those
diseases occur in our young people much younger than those of
us who are baby boomers today.
I also must remind everyone that the school is going to be
starting right before the influenza seasons. And so the schools
need to be prepared to address influenza-like illness, which of
course is how COVID-19 also presents. There are a lot of really
unanswered questions about who you screen, the role of
temperature taking, clearly the role of antibody testing,
understanding the state of what we know about the antibody test
today. And clearly, robust communications are very important.
Every one of these colleges already has experience with a sick
kid at school and understand the enormous work involved when a
single case of meningitis hits its campus. This will probably
be worse with COVID-19.
Then I want to just point out scenario planning. I
encourage all the schools to do very active scenario planning
and in my testimony you have the nine that I just thought up in
the middle of the night, but let me just point out about four
of those. Number one, obviously a student who is diagnosed with
COVID-19 who lives on or off campus, on or off in campus
housing. The student faculty or staff member who is identified
through contact tracing but is asymptomatic and exposed your
students.
While you may not have had a large scale event on your own
campus, obviously college campuses are porous and student go
elsewhere to large events, and obviously, tragically, a student
death from any cause on campus may be perceived as COVID, and
obviously managing that from a perspective of the University
from a risk management perspective is going to be very
important.
The last and other considerations, and obviously in the
interest of time I can't go through all of those, but let me
just finally close out with the fact that I think none of this
happens without a robust resource and trained public health
system in the country. And I just continue to encourage
Congress to support the public health systems. And I want to
just thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you
today.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Benjamin follows:]
prepared statement of georges benjamin
Chairman Alexander, Ranking Member Murray and Members of the
Committee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to address you today
on the important aspects of safely returning our Nation's academic
institutions to their pre-COVID-19 pandemic status.
I am Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American
Public Health Association. APHA champions the health of all people and
all communities. We strengthen the public health profession, promote
best practices and share the latest public health research and
information. We are the only organization that combines a nearly 150-
year perspective, a broad-based member community and the ability to
influence Federal policy to improve the public's health.
I am a physician executive, and in addition to having served as a
clinician, I have had the opportunity to serve my community in a
variety of senior management positions to include: as a military
physician serving as the Chief of Emergency Medicine at the Walter Reed
Army Medical Center; as chairman of the Department of Community Health
and Ambulatory Care at the District of Columbia General Hospital; as
interim director of the Emergency Ambulance Bureau of the D.C. Fire and
EMS Department; as Acting Commissioner for Public Health for
Washington, DC; and, finally, as Secretary for Health of the State of
Maryland. I have served as the executive director of APHA for the last
seventeen and a half years.
I am here today to share my thoughts and professional judgment on
the role of community mitigation that should be considered by
institutions of higher education as senior academic and administration
leaders prepare for the return of students for the fall semester. I
recognize that these decisions are not decisions of politicians but
rest in the hands of the leadership of the various institutions who
must work in close consultation with state and local health officials.
I am not a lawyer. I speak as a public health scientist and
professional who has spent a fair amount of time advising senior
leaders on health policy. These are difficult decisions, and I approach
my comments today using the current science to inform what measures and
safeguards I would consider if I were leading a university or college
at this time.
Reopening the Nation's colleges and universities will not come with
a one-size-fits-all solution, and any decisions must be science-based,
data-driven and done in close consultation with state and local public
health authorities. All public health decisions are based on risk
reduction. We should make the assumptions that there will be people on
campus with COVID-19 infection regardless of what precautions are taken
at this state of the pandemic and the level of previously infected
individuals in the community. Current estimates of positive antibody
prevalence ranges from 3-24 percent depending on when you are in the
country. Considering we need to get to approximately 70 percent to
achieve herd immunity as a nation, we still have a long way to go to
break the chain of infection. A recent report from the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention also found that presymptomatic and
asymptomatic spread does occur from infected individuals. \1\ This
means we will continue to have undetected broad community spread of
COVID-19 as we remingle as a society. It also supports the contention
that we need to continue to employ robust community and individual
nonpharmacological mitigation until we reach levels of herd immunity.
While this is best achieved through a national vaccine effort, a COVID-
19 vaccine will not be available for months and certainly not widely
before the fall semester.
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\1\ Evidence Supporting Transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome Coronavirus 2 While Presymptomatic or Asymptomatic. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Emerging Infectious
Diseases. July 2020. Available at: https://www.c.cdc.gov/eid/article/
26/7/20-1595_article.
We have approached this pandemic with a patchwork of authorities
from the Federal to the local levels, and because of this, it will be
important that academic institutions be in alignment, at a minimum,
with the local government, industries and businesses in the surrounding
community in which it sits, because the academic institution is an
integral part of the larger community. Any effort to move forward with
reopening institutions of higher education by employing public health
protections that are weaker than those in place in the surrounding
community would be a critical mistake. While the institutions may seek
to enforce stricter requirements for students, faculty and the
institution's other employees, any variance between the institution's
approach and that of the approach of the community in which it sits
must be integrated in a way that is does not undermine the health
protections. For example, if the surrounding community requires the
wearing of masks, then the institution would have a very difficult time
establishing a no-mask policy, which might be viewed as a health hazard
by the broader community. The converse might not be the case if the
institution is able to articulate a greater health risk to students or
others on a campus. One example might be the close proximity of
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students while in certain settings like laboratories or libraries.
The type of student body that the school is structured to
accommodate is very important as a component of risk assessment.
Institutions that are primarily commuter schools, where the student
body comes from a relatively narrow slice of the community, will have a
different risk profile than residential schools that attract students
nationwide and often from around the world. This is because students
will bring with them the infectious disease risk of the communities in
which they reside. This disease has not struck all communities equally,
and, therefore, the student body will represent the disease outbreak
status of their community at the time of presentation to school on any
given day.
Existing Guidance and Needed Regulations
Academic institutions should first follow the guidelines published
by CDC. \2\ Nothing I say today is meant to be in variance of that
guidance. This includes physical distancing, respiratory hygiene to
include wearing a mask when appropriate and hand hygiene. Sanitization
guidance for the routine cleaning and sanitization of surfaces and
facilities should be followed as well.
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\2\ The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Coronavirus
Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Colleges, Universities, and Higher Learning.
Plan, Prepare, and Respond. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/
coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/colleges-universities/index.html.
In addition to students and faculty, all workers at an institution
should be protected in the workplace by enforceable workplace
regulations. Congress should require the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration to propose an emergency temporary standard (ETS) for
infectious disease to protect workers from COVID-19. \3\ California's
Aerosol Transmissible Diseases Standard could serve as a model. \4\
Without specific safety mandates, academic institutions are left with
little enforceable direction, and the result is the increased potential
for rapid spread of the disease in the workplace and into our
communities.
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\3\ Organization letter urging Congress to pass the COVID-19 Every
Worker Protection Act of 2020. April 29, 2020. Available at: https://
apha.org/-/media/files/pdf/advocacy/letters/2020/200429-every-worker-
protection-act.ashx.
\4\ Cal/OSHA Interim General Guidelines on Protecting Workers from
COVID-19. Available at: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/coronavirus/
General-Industry.html.
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Disease Prevention and Control
All institutions should ensure they have a robust campus health
program. That program must be linked to the local or state health
agency to ensure the rapid availability of support and the most current
information for disease control activities. All institutions should be
working from the premise that they will have a case of COVID-19 on
campus during the academic year. They should also assume that while
students are less likely to have serious disease when infected, the
risk for serious disease is not zero. The academic institution must
have the organizational capacity to rapidly identify such a case or an
outbreak of disease and undertake effective disease containment and
control. This includes the ability to ensure adequate rapid PCR testing
for COVID-19 and contact tracing. A strong partnership with their local
and state health department is essential for testing, contact tracing
and ongoing disease surveillance. Together, the academic institution
and the public health agency should agree on a testing strategy and
plan. Elements should clearly define priorities of testing, the role of
symptom-based strategies and how best to test employees who are of high
risk either because of underlying disease or their on-or off-campus
occupations. Examples of higher risk occupations for consideration
might include cafeteria workers, the health clinic nurse or staff
living or working in residential dorms.
Campus health systems and clinics must have adequate health center
staff, testing and personal protective equipment for providers to
ensure they are fully prepared in the event of positive cases among the
student population, faculty or employees of the institution. The
institution will need to review its overall institutional infection
control policies. This is to ensure the policies form a coherent plan
to address any potential infectious disease because many disease have
similar presenting signs and symptoms.
As academic institutions plan for students' return to school, they
should implement basic risk reduction strategies including four key
nontherapeutic measures in everything they do: maximizing physical
distancing; hand hygiene; controlling respiratory spread (wearing
masks); and sanitization of facilities. Administrations should think of
these as stacked protections that work together to reduce the risk of
infection. Physical distancing can be achieved by maximizing virtual
classes where feasible. This is of particular interest for large
lecture halls where the content can easily be delivery virtually.
Reducing class size through staggered classes and moving to smaller
classes should be done when feasible. There are indeed classes where
this is not feasible because of the need for in-class participation, or
classes that require the use of special equipment--music, physical
activity, design, theater and laboratory-driven classes are examples.
These types of classes bring unique levels of risk that will need to be
managed differently.
Sports activities and other large gatherings pose additional risks
not only to those on campus but also to the broader community. The
ability to physically distance is a major barrier to safely hosting
these activities, as is the number of people who could be exposed due
to large crowds. Current guidance from CDC is based on the level of
community transmission, the size and density of the gathering and the
health risk profile of the attendees. These will be difficult decisions
complicated by the participation of large numbers of supporters from
all over the country for most college and university events. An
infectious exposure could be a flash point for a significant widespread
outbreak. One unanswered question is how sports programs will deal with
screening and the frequency of PCR testing of athletes, the athletic
staff and support personnel should these activities be allowed.
Institutions have a variety of controls over shared living and
study spaces, from school-owned dormitories, to on-or off-campus
fraternity and sorority houses. Plans on managing outbreaks on these
facilities will need to be completed. Many students rely on campus-
provided housing. Plans must be put in place to address the needs of
these students who cannot pick up and go home should the campus lock
down for a few days during disease control efforts. Additionally,
disease control efforts should plan for alternative housing situations
for students who must remain on campus in quarantine or isolation.
There will be students who are not sick enough to be hospitalized but
are too sick to go home and risk infecting other students or faculty.
Institutions should evaluate how to handle the full range of people
who teach, work or attend school on campus. This will be particularly
important for individuals with higher underlying health risks. Like the
rest of society, the academic institution contains a population of
people of all ages with a wide range on preexisting conditions and some
of these conditions have been shown to put people at a higher risk of
severe disease should they get infected with SARS-2, the virus that
causes COVID-19.
There remains a great deal of confusion over coverage for screening
exams and tests despite recent laws that were passed to ensure coverage
for testing. Some schools have health insurance requirements. These
should be reviewed in the context of school policies and procedures to
ensure access to COVID-19 testing and broader health screening and
treatment to ensure there are no barriers to disease control efforts.
Because the return to school proceeds the start of influenza
season, schools should have in place a process to identify and screen
influenza-like illnesses to differentiate between COVID-19 and
influenza. In addition, universal influenza vaccination should be
achieved for all except those who have medical exemptions. Schools must
be rigorous about ensuring all students have received all other
required vaccinations to help with identifying other infectious
diseases of concern that have curative or preventive therapies. I
recognize there are states and academic institutions that do not share
this view on immunizations and allow for religious or other exemptions.
My perspective represents the best science we have today that vaccines
are safe and effective and will be essential for the institutional
response to infectious disease outbreaks this fall and winter.
Unanswered questions include:
How do we screen students for disease before they
come to campus?
What is the role of temperatures?
Is there a role for antibodytesting, recognizing CDC
currently does not recommend antibody testing as a return-to-
work tool?
Resident assistants and other students who provide support in
student residential settings are a good early warning asset of the
institution. Having these individuals properly trained to identify sick
students with COVID-19 symptoms and in the proper procedures for early
disease control could help identify ill students and enhance rapid
referral for testing and medical care.
Institutions will have to develop robust communications plans to
educate students, parents and employees about the institution's COVID-
19 plans for preventing the spread of the disease, testing, isolation
and quarantine for individuals who test positive. It is critical that
all colleges and universities create a centralized resource that
students and employees can turn to for all COVID-19-related issues. A
robust educational campaign about these resources and the health and
safety protections that each institution has put into place is
recommended. Institutional spokespersons will need to be well trained,
clear and consistent about risk communication.
Equity Consideration: Students and Institutions
COVID-19 has demonstrated a disproportionate impact on some
populations, in particular African Americans and Hispanics. This
alarming health disparity is due in part to the greater degree of novel
coronavirus exposure linked to a higher percentage of African Americans
and Hispanics having public-facing jobs, a greater prevalence of
underlying chronic diseases among those populations and longstanding
inequitable social determinants that impact health. These issues must
be factored in as a component of any institution's risk reduction
planning.
Additional equity factors to consider include the fact that some
students rely on a range of enabling services provided by their
colleges and universities, as well as technology support (Wi-Fi and
online access to other campus-based technology). Any campus-wide move
to virtual learning or even a short shutdown will need to address the
ability of these students to thrive and properly participate in virtual
learning if they do not have adequate access to the needed technology.
Tuition and scholarships are not likely to cover unforeseen costs
associated with facility closures or restrictions. Some students also
rely on campus-based supports and opportunities such as income earned
through campus-based employment and campus-based child care. Schools
must have plans in place to ensure low-income students are not
disproportionately impacted by a potential COVID-19 outbreak on campus.
There are also significant disparities in available financial
resources among the country's colleges and universities to address
COVID-19-related activities. There are challenges to basic capacity of
many of our institutions of higher learning that have not yet been
addressed.
Scenario Planning
I cannot over-emphasize the fact that there will be a case of
COVID-19 on campus and institutions should prepare for and practice
several predictable scenarios in advance of reopening such as:
The student with diagnosed COVID-19 who lives in the
dormitory.
The student with diagnosed COVID-19 who lives in a
fraternity or sorority house on campus.
The student with diagnosed COVID-19 who lives in a
fraternity or sorority house or other off-campus housing.
The COVID-19 positive visitor who has left campus.
The student, faculty or staff member who is
identified through contact tracing but is asymptomatic.
The exposure of students, faculty or employees from a
large scale event on campus.
The exposure of students, faculty or employees from a
community event or concert off campus.
A student death from an non-COVID-19 or unknown
infectious disease.
A non student death from a non-COVID-19 or unknown
infectious disease.
I know there are many more considerations academic institutions
have to contemplate as they prepare for the fall semester. Let me just
reemphasize that this is all about risk reduction. While we still have
a lot to learn about SARS-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, we do know
enough to reduce the risk of infection substantially if we don't
underestimate the risks and plan for its mitigation. The ultimate
solution for our return to normal for all of our society is a safe and
effective vaccine. I am optimistic that we will have this important
prevention tool in the next 12-18 months. But until then, we will
continue to rely on community mitigation as our best option.
A Strong, Well-Resourced Public Health System is Essential
None of this is possible without having a robust well-resourced and
trained local and state public health system in every community to
support the academic institutions in their mitigation preparedness and
response. Congress and the Administration must continue to support the
Nation's public health systems as we continue to respond to the COVID-
19 pandemic and the coming influenza season later this year. By basing
our response to this pandemic using the best science available and in
partnership with the community, we can reduce the risk as we receive a
quality education.
In addition to ensuring that the Federal Government is providing
adequate support and assistance for testing and contact tracing and to
the Nation's colleges and universities and students to ensure a safe
reopening, APHA strongly urges Congress to support additional measures
to strengthen the Nation's public health system. Our country's state
and local health departments will serve as critical partner to our
colleges and universities, businesses, state and local governments and
other sectors to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 through testing,
conducting disease investigations and contact tracing to help contain
further spread of the disease, providing the public with the latest
science-based information and data about the disease in their
communities, among many other responsibilities. In order to better
ensure our state and local health departments are adequately prepared
for addressing the current pandemic and future public health
emergencies, we must seriously look at fixing our vastly underfunded
public health system. APHA is calling on Congress to provide $4.5
billion in additional long-term annual mandatory funding for CDC and
state, local, tribal and territorial public health agencies for core
public health infrastructure activities. \5\, \6\ This funding would
support essential activities such as: disease surveillance,
epidemiology, laboratory capacity, all-hazards preparedness and
response, policy development and support, communications, community
partnership development and organizational competencies. This funding
is critical to ensuring our state and local health departments have
broad core capacity to not only respond to the current pandemic but to
better respond to the many other public health challenges they face on
a daily basis. For far too long we have neglected our Nation's public
health infrastructure, and we must end the cycle of temporary infusions
of funding during emergencies and provide a sustained and reliable
funding mechanism to ensure we are better prepared to protect and
improve the public's health from all threats.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ Organization letter to House and Senate leaders urging a
significant, long-term investment in public health infrastructure in
future legislation to speed the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 3, 2020. Available at: https://apha.org/-/media/files/pdf/
advocacy/letters/2020/200403-ph-infrastructure-covid-stimulus.ashx.
\6\ Public Health Leadership Forum. Developing a financing system
to support public health infrastructure. Available at: https://
www.resolve.ngo/docs/phlf-
developingafinancingsystemtosupportpublichealth636869439688663025.pdf.
Congress should also appropriate funding in fiscal years 2020 and
2021 for the public health workforce loan repayment program authorized
in the HEROES Act. \7\ Providing funding for this important program
will help incentivize new and recent graduates to join the governmental
public health workforce, encourage them to stay in these roles, and
strengthen the public health workforce as a whole. The public health
workforce is the backbone of our Nation's governmental public health
system at the county, city, state and tribal levels. These skilled
professionals deliver critical public health programs and services.
They lead efforts to ensure the tracking and surveillance of infectious
disease outbreaks, such as COVID-19, prepare for and respond to natural
or man-made disasters, and ensure the safety of the air we breathe, the
food we eat, and the water we drink. Health departments employ public
health nurses, behavioral health staff, community health workers,
environmental health workers, epidemiologists, health educators,
nutritionists, laboratory workers and other health professionals who
use their invaluable skills to keep people in communities across the
Nation healthy and safe.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Organization letter to House and Senate leaders supporting the
inclusion of the Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Program in the
HEROES Act. May, 14, 2020. Available at: https://apha.org/-/media/
files/pdf/advocacy/letters/2020/200514-ph-workforce-loan-
repayment.ashx.
Thank you again for the opportunity to speak with you this morning.
I look forward to answering any of your questions.
______
The Chairman. Thank you, Dr. Benjamin, and thanks to all
the witnesses. We will now begin around five minute questions
from Senators and I would ask the Senators and the witnesses to
try to keep your answers within five minutes because all the
Senators would like to participate and we have a vote a little
bit before noon. President Daniels, let me start with you. Let
me ask about how much advice you want from Washington in order
to go back to school safely? For example, do you think
Washington, DC, the President, or the Congress ought to tell
you that you cannot open in person or should tell the
University of California system that it has to open in person?
Mr. Daniels. I guess they would be within their legal
rights, but I hope not. As every student is different, we try
to remind ourselves of that, every school in the country is
unique in some way. And I thought your admonition at the
beginning, Mr. Chairman, was on target. I know that others will
find better answers than we have and I hope they will be free
to do that so we can copy them.
The Chairman. Dr. Paxson, in an article you wrote that you
want to test every student, CDC has not recommended that yet.
Other universities have said that is not practical. Do you
think--how much advice do you want from the President or
Congress about how many students you should test and how you
should do the testing?
Dr. Paxson. Well, I think of the CDC guidelines as minimum
standards. Talking to my people, my members of my medical
school as well as parents and students and faculty, they want
testing. They want everybody to be tested. And then we want to
do surveillance testing on a regular basis throughout the year.
It is both peace of mind, but also being able to monitor the
spread of infection. I think it is essential.
The Chairman. Let me ask President Daniels and the other
presidents this question, one of the opportunities we have in
this crisis is to learn from it. We have compressed about 10
years of experience into three months in terms of at least two
things, one is telelearning, what have we learned from that,
and the two is the use of space.
As I mentioned in my comments, colleges are the most
notorious wasters of space in America, I would think. Classes
aren't usually taught in the morning or the evening or on
Saturday. And is it possible that as a result of the
requirement of social distancing that a year experience of
teaching classes at different times and the more efficient use
of space would have some sort of lasting impact? What about the
lasting impact too of what you have learned about telelearning?
Let me start with President Daniels.
Mr. Daniels. Yes, of course, there will be a lasting
effects of this and I think it is highly beneficial. Now, space
utilization has been an issue with us at Purdue for some time
and I hope we have been using it better. There is nothing
unusual about Saturday classes or evening classes here, but
clearly we can do better and we will now.
Yes, we are going to--when you reduce occupancy of our
classrooms to 50 percent or less, by definition you have to use
time and space in ways that you weren't before. I think I made
mention that we now learned so much about telework that at
least a third of our employees, our staff will now be asked and
enabled to work from home on either a constant basis or at
least on a rotating basis. That takes them out of harm's way
and that's going to free up a lot of space that maybe we can
find creative uses for.
The Chairman. Dr. Paxson.
Dr. Paxson. Yes, we are all learning a lot and I appreciate
your question. Just a couple things that we are learning, to
add to what President Daniels said, one is that the shift to
remote learning, students learned and there were many valuable
lessons there. I think in the future we may do more flip
classrooms where large lectures are not done in person. That is
a great thing.
Another related area that is very important is the use of
telemedicine and we discovered especially for counseling and
psychological services when students are in states that we can
work with, and there is some bureaucracy around that, it is
actually an incredibly efficient and valuable way to support
our students.
The Chairman. Dr. Hampton, have you learned anything in
these three months about the use of space that might be a
lasting lesson at Lane College?
Dr. Hampton. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. We certainly learned
that our faculty and our institution that was committed to
residential instruction could be very agile move to remote
instruction. We removed every single course to remote
instruction in the spring and for us, that was that was
absolutely monumental.
I do want to go back and just say to your initial question
that yes, in fact, Lane College will be open in the fall. But
what we need is we need your investment. We need that $1
billion. The greater education community has asked for $46
billion. We need a partnership with the Federal Government to
help us to ensure that we have the standards, that we have the
facilities in place to protect our students to educate them
safely and to deliver on our mission.
The Chairman. Okay. Thank you, Dr. Hampton.
Senator Murray.
Senator Murray. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. If
we are going to safely reopen, public health has to drive
decision making, and according to our public health experts,
that includes making sure students and staff have access to
testing, the ability to safely quarantine if they are exposed
to the virus, and support for isolation and access to medical
care.
Students and staff need to be able to participate in their
classes while also following public health advice to social
distance, wear face masks, and keep themselves and their
families healthy, but public health experts agree, we are not
anywhere close right now to meeting adequate levels--alright,
somebody--is everybody else hearing that?--Dr. Benjamin, let me
just direct this to you. If our country remains at current
levels of testing, are colleges going to be able to keep
students and employees and their communities safe?
Dr. Benjamin. That was always going to the key to success
here. We are finally at about 400,000 test today. We are not
nearly at the 500,000 that we need to be and every state is a
little different. I just looked at a chart today that shows
with a variety of states that are not yet there yet. I think it
will be a real challenge if we can't get to that minimum
500,000 per day. And you may know that several groups like
Rockefeller Foundation believe that we should go to two to
three times that amount per day.
Senator Murray. Okay. I have heard it said that COVID-19 is
the, ``great equalizer'' but we actually know in terms of the
viruses health and economic impacts, nothing could be actually
further from the truth with black communities and communities
of color being at much greater risk of getting sick and dying,
and of falling behind economically because of the pandemic
itself.
Colleges determining how to reopen have to consider those
inequities in selecting the best course of action for both
students and their staff. So I wanted to ask each of our
presidents, may be in this order Presidents Daniels, Paxson,
and Hampton, how specifically are each planning to address the
alarming health disparities impacting our communities of color
as you think about reopening. And I will start with President
Daniels.
Mr. Daniels. One thing that I am very worried about is that
the efforts we have made, and as far as I know every college
and university has made to successfully recruit and then just
as important see through to successful graduation low-income,
first-generation, and minority students, we have all been
making every effort we know how now for some time and I do
worry that these are about to be set back by the tragic factors
that you just mentioned. I am tentatively encouraged that as
our deposits have come in that our URM percentage seems to have
held up.
I was really worried, Senator, that it might put back but
maybe not, but I do worry that our progress will be arrested
and that we are going to have--we will certainly pay special
attention, again, to identifying those who might be vulnerable,
that is mainly faculty and staff but yes, as Dr. Benjamin,
there are some young people who have these comorbidities that
will put them very much in our sights for special attention.
I am sure you're probably right that minorities may well be
disparate disproportionately represented in that group.
Senator Murray. They are, yes. President Paxson.
Dr. Paxson. Thank you for the question. And , I have spent
my life studying health disparities and economic disparities.
And when I look at it, issues of inequity are one of the major
reasons why we should open. Colleges and universities are
places that create level playing fields for students and we can
ensure that all students have equal access to education. The
quality will be the same and health services will be the same
for all students regardless. So it is one of the major reasons
why I want to get students back.
Senator Murray. President Hampton.
Dr. Hampton. Yes, no doubt. Race, racism and health
disproportionately impact our institution at Lane College.
To overcome these barriers, I mean we need the help of the
Federal Government. Yes, we need your guidelines but we also
need your investment. Our students need your investment. Our
students need more money to attend colleges and universities.
Doubling that Pell would help to ameliorate some of those
challenges that their families are having right at this very
moment as they are losing their jobs, as they are being laid
off as a result of COVID-19, and the other impacts of racism.
Those students are students. My students need an additional
investment. Doubling Pell Grant will go a long way to helping
them to afford institution of higher learning.
Senator Murray. Okay. Thank you for bringing that up. In
addition to the disparities I just talked about, there is a
disparity resources amongst colleges as well, and we need to
address that. So thank you very much for that answer. Thank
you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. All right. We will go to Senator Collins.
Senator Collins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This hearing is
incredibly timely because just this morning the University of
Maine and other college presidents issued a document called
sustaining higher education and sustaining Maine, so I know
that they are watching this hearing with great interest. My
first question is for President Daniels.
Colleges and universities are economic engines for their
communities and their states.
In addition to educating students, they employ thousands of
people, administrative staff, food service workers, custodians,
faculty, advisors, student workers. When the campus is closed
to in-person instruction, this had a great impact in Maine on
many hourly workers in particular. The University of Maine
system employs nearly 4,800 employees. My question is this,
should there be different testing protocols for employees who
are going back and forth into their communities and then back
to campus than for students who are living full time on campus?
And are you looking at that?
Mr. Daniels. That is an excellent question, Senator. Thank
you. Yes, we are. It was observed that in many schools, and we
are one, half of our students also live off campus. Now many of
them are very close by. We are going to be working very closely
with their landlords and others try to make certain that they
are following the same practices that we will in the housing
that we administer. I will just say that it has been very sad
to read about so many furloughs, layoffs of some staff and
faculty at other schools.
We haven't done that at Purdue and intend not to do that in
any way possible but it is a significant issue. Our principal
responsibility is to our students and to our university
community, but we are very conscious, as you say, that we are
an economic driver that many other people in the community
around us do rely. And so our responsibilities to them both
from a health safety standpoint and from an operational and
economic standpoint, we try never to lose sight of.
Senator Collins. Thank you. Dr. Paxson and Dr. Hampton, in
Maine more than 7,400 students are served by the TRIO programs
and I have always been a very strong supporter of those
programs because we have a great number of first-generation
college students in my state.
I am very worried that if colleges do not reopen this fall
that we are going to increase the number of people who have
some college but no degree and they end up with student debt,
but no credential to help them pay off that debt. What do you
think of expanding programs like TRIO to make sure that the
students supports are there to encourage students to come back
to school and to complete their degree or earn their credential
if they are attending a community college?
Dr. Paxson. Thank you, and the TRIO program is a marvelous
program and I am fully in support of bringing our lowest income
students and our first-gen students back to campus, and not
just at Brown but nationally. It should be a national priority.
I am also concerned that without increases in financial aid,
and actually I agree with the other speakers on this call, that
Government with Pell Grant would be a great thing to do.
These students, if they don't come back, if they defer, if
they delay, they never come back and they may not get their
degrees. Another related issue, which is I think even more
alarming is that colleges and universities have to close
permanently. They have a lot of students who are going to be
halfway through degrees and finding another institution to
complete their degrees may be very different. So, we need to
keep a close eye on resistance and education degree completion,
especially during this time.
Senator Collins. Thank you.
Dr. Hampton.
Dr. Hampton. Senator, I absolutely support the TRIO
program. Lane College was a strong provider of the Upward Bound
program. And in the most recent round of competition Lane
College lost out by one point. We were one point out of the
funding band. That is 50 to a 100 students. That is six faculty
staff members who we lost and have not been able to provide
services for.
Well, I absolutely support an expansion of the TRIO
program. Lane College is an East Jackson--it is an economic as
a donut. Lane College is a $36 million engine in this area. To
have a strong Lane College means to have a strong Jackson and a
strong West Tennessee, and so I would very much support
expanding TRIO program and getting Upward Bound back at Lane
College.
Senator Collins. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Collins.
Senator Casey.
Senator Casey. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for the
hearing. I want to thank you and Ranking Member Murray for
calling this hearing. I want to thank our three college
presidents and Dr. Benjamin for their appearance as well as
their testimony. It is very informative for us who have higher
education institutions in our state to have this hearing. And I
would just note at the outset that the pleas for help that
higher education institutions have brought to Capitol Hill,
including some this morning, should be mindful.
All Presidents should be mindful that right now as we speak
at the beginning of June, there is no prospect for legislation
right now that is related to COVID-19 in the month of June. I
hope that changes but right now the U.S. Senate is only doing
nominations. I hope that you would bring some pressure to bear
on the majority to begin to negotiate a new piece of
legislation that would address a range of issues including
support for higher education, especially for students. But let
me start with the question of how students will respond to the
change of circumstances on college campuses.
Student compliance with social distancing or enhanced
safety protocols or other measures obviously are the key to
reopening safely. That, you have said that, you are living that
now. There are going to be substantial enforcement challenges
as you know, especially when students are not only on campus
but engaging with or interacting with members of the community
for various reasons. So one of the concerns obviously, and you
all understand this, is the risk of spread within a community,
asymptomatic transmission especially. So I got three questions
for the presidents and I hope I can get a question into Dr.
Benjamin.
Number one is what are the protocols that you are using?
And I know you have outlined some of those. Some of this will
be by repetition. Number two is, how do you enforce those
protocols? And number three is how are you engaging with
students right now or have you already engaged to review and to
make certain what those protocols will be in the enforcement?
So, protocols, enforcement, and then engagement. We can just go
in alphabetical order to President Daniels.
Mr. Daniels. Thank you, Senator. Protocols are essentially
about distance, about masking, about monitoring one's own
system. The pledge I talked about monitoring one's own
symptoms, reporting right away for testing if anything
suspected, all of that. I would say in terms of enforcement,
yes. I really think the most important thing we can do is
foster a culture, I am cultural about this, on our campus. We
are going to appeal to students' altruism. I see it every day
long before COVID came along.
Young people in overwhelming numbers want to do good things
and want to help others more. Well, here is a chance in a huge
way. We are also--I am frankly going to tell them, there are a
lot of cynics out there who don't believe you will do this.
They think you are too selfish and too self-indulgent. So let's
go show them how much you do care about your fellow human
beings young and old. Last, I would just say that this is the
central question. I believe the most important one.
If we do all the other things we have talked about and
don't have reasonable compliance, we probably don't make it and
vice versa. Very interesting study out of Hong Kong showed that
simply reaching 80 percent compliance with masking stops the
spread of infection, lowers the RO number below 1. So this
really is very central. I am hopeful but we are going to do
everything all summer long and all fall to try to foster it.
Senator Casey. Thank you.
Dr. Hampton.
Dr. Hampton. Yes, sir, Senator Casey. We have some practice
with this point. When we went to remote instruction and we had
about 200 students that remained on campus and we began to
practice the CDC guidelines. And we had a group of students who
decided to have a party and they took pictures and posted them.
Well, let me just say they had very good conversations with the
dean of students following that. And so I have every confidence
in our student body. After that our student body practice,
those 200 students, they practiced going to the cafeteria,
getting their lunch going, back to their rooms. They practice
social distancing. They did operate in pods though where you
see a group of students moving around together.
Senator Casey. Thanks so much.
Dr. Paxson.
Dr. Paxson. Thank you. And I can add I think it is very
important that the protocols that students have to follow are
one crystal clear, not ambiguous, not overly complicated, but
grounded in public health goals. That there is an expectation
that a violation of those protocols is a violation of our
student code of conduct and so they are enforceable.
Ideally though you don't do this through enforcement of
rules, you do it through changing culture and developing a set
of norms where students understand that they are protecting
themselves, but they are protecting their fellow students,
their faculty members, people who they respect and love. If we
can get that message through them, I am very confident that we
will do well.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Senator Casey.
Senator Casey. I think I will submit a question for the
record for Dr. Benjamin----
The Chairman. Wait.
Senator Casey. I know we got to go. Thank you.
The Chairman. Sorry, Senator Casey.
Senator Murkowski.
Senator Murkowski. Mr. Chairman, thank you. Thank you for
being here today. Thank you for your leadership in your
respective schools and the leadership that you are showing as
you are guiding your students and your faculty through very
challenging and uncharted times. We worked hard within the
CARES Act to try to ensure that we were able to get direct
relief out quickly to small businesses, quickly to our schools,
quickly to the individuals through direct assistance. And as I
look back through CARES, it seems to me that one group that
kind of got missed were the students, those who are over 16 and
were not dependent on their parents were not able to receive
direct assistance, parents weren't able to receive it on their
behalf. Many times not eligible for unemployment insurance.
When I think about the impact to the students at the time,
they are literally, in Alaska's specific case, a spring break
is underway, and they get the word, don't come back after
spring break. In the University of Alaska's situation, what
they were able to do was provide financial assistance to many
students from everything from ensuring that they had
transportation back to their homes, shipping, their belongings
back, or emergency funds. And I know that tuition costs in many
institutions have been refunded but to what extent have we been
able to make our students whole in terms of the cost that they
incurred.
As we know most students don't have a lot of disposable
income out there where they have got money in savings that they
can pick this up. Were you able to fully reimburse your
students for their cost due to whether it is unexpected travel,
housing, the lost classes? To what extent were you able to
provide that relief to your students? And we will just start
with you President Daniels and go down the line.
Mr. Daniels. I can't say it was fully. I am sure it wasn't
as probably it wasn't in many other contexts around the
country. But I hope it was adequate. We did refund very
substantial percentage certainly of fees, housing costs, and so
forth, and we had an emergency fund which we augmented and came
to the specific relief of students who made application and
were having exactly the kind of troubles that you are having.
I am very attentive though to watching for this fall.
We have increased our financial aid to the extent we could
and we will just have to--we will learn a lot more in the next
few weeks about whether a student, a pre-existing and, or
incoming aspiring freshmen are being prevented by financial
exigency from doing what they are very eager to do.
Senator Murkowski. President Paxson.
Dr. Paxson. Thank you. So like other schools, we really
pulled out all the stops trying to support our students, our
highest needs students as they transitioned home, travel,
laptops, Wi-Fi, books, etc, etc. And I think that was fairly
successful. What we found though is that the needs are
continuing and in some ways growing.
As unemployment has increased, students' families are
losing their jobs. Students' summer jobs have been--they have
evaporated. There is nothing for students to do this summer.
And so while we are doing all we can to try to find them
alternative things and things for pay over the summer, it is
very, very hard to meet that for me. We have waived the
expectation that students will save money over the summer to
meet part of their tuition in the coming year, but we are
getting requests for help with food. That is where we are.
Senator Murkowski. Dr. Hampton.
Dr. Hampton. Yes, we were able to use the student portion
of the CARES Act and distribute that straight directly to the
students bank mobile accounts. We were able to do that on April
30th. 78 of our students communicated to us that they needed
assistance with food. 73 percent of our students indicated they
needed assistance with housing. And so we prorated the amount
for food and housing and we also added in some support for
transportation and we distributed those funds directly to those
students. Now we are using the bonds to help students to return
to college and support their educational needs or any a number
of things for food, for a housing, for digital supplies, for
digital resource, for hot spots. We are supporting those
students on a case-by-case basis.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Murkowski. We have seven
Senators remaining and everybody is doing a good job of staying
within 5 minutes, which I thank you for.
Senator Baldwin.
Senator Baldwin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to ask a
couple of questions first to Dr. Benjamin. Dr. Benjamin, you
stated in your testimony that every school, all schools should
be prepared to have at least one case of COVID-19 on campus.
Last week, I learned from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
that they had run out of the reagent needed to run one of its
testing platforms.
Despite continuous calls for support from the
Administration, the Administration essentially said that
private labs need to rely on existing supply chains for things
like reagent. Can you describe why schools need to have all of
the supplies on hand, not just the testing platforms but
testing supplies in order to respond to the very high
likelihood of new cases?
Dr. Benjamin. The challenge, of course, you have is that
you have a case, and you are going to have to test someone. If
you don't have the capacity within your own campus health
program, you are going to have to have a strong linkage to
someone else that does. The biggest challenge we have had with
all of this testing, frankly, fundamentally has been the supply
line issue.
It is going to require some partnerships. It is going to
require on a daily basis making sure that you have adequate
testing capacity. And just--because it is going to happen and
the way things work in the world as, a case comes in and the
test isn't available, and then all the things that occur after
that which are problems having these as a result of the
inability to test. So they are going to have to have adequate
testing otherwise it can't function at all.
Senator Baldwin. Thank you. I have a second question for
you. I know that in some of the testimony by both Senators and
our witness panel, there were references to the fact that most
of the severe health outcomes from the coronavirus are among
older people. And so, certainly students in the typical student
undergraduate age range are predicted to be more healthy, but I
want to just consider several things as we move forward to
seeing more campuses reopen. According to the American
Federation of Teachers, 40 percent of adjunct or contingent
faculty who comprise 75 percent of total instructional staff
are over the age of 60, and I am also thinking a lot about our
technical and vocational colleges that will probably during a
time of excessively high unemployment see a new age demographic
beyond what they have always already seen as a result of the
Great Recession.
I am very concerned about not only the safety and health of
undergraduate students, but also faculty and the staff that
work on our campus campuses. I am confident that colleges and
universities want to do the right thing, but they need very
clear rules of the road and workers need to know that they are
protected. It is why I worked with several of my colleagues to
introduce the Every Worker Protection Act which actually
requires the occupational safety and health administration to
issue emergency temporary standards that cover all workers and
workplaces and require workplaces to implement infectious
disease exposure control plans to keep their workers safe.
You stated in your testimony that OSHA needs to promulgate
such a standard. Do you agree it is important for the safety of
faculty and staff as well as students they serve that such a
standard not voluntary guidance, but a standard being placed
before colleges and universities move to reopen this fall?
Dr. Benjamin. I have been running big organizations on and
off for a long time. And unless you have standards that
everybody can rely on, you are not going to get anywhere. Those
standards are absolutely important to protect workers because
they create frankly a floor that everybody can rely on. It does
not mean you can't do more than that, but I have always argued
that those kinds of standards are absolutely essential. They
reduce a whole range of your risks. And so I would also agree
with your statements, Senator.
Senator Baldwin. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Senator Baldwin.
Senator Cassidy.
Senator Cassidy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank
the university presidents for thinking creatively about
reopening the school. Dr. Benjamin correctly points out that
even though you are less than 25 and you have less risk, the
risk is not zero of health effects, but what we do know is that
if you miss out on critical years of education, it is an
absolute 100 percent risk that your future economic prospects
are minimized.
President Paxson I am struck by would you say, so far CDC
recommendations seem to be the kind of minimum standard. They
are not actually kind of what would really like. Dr. Benjamin
first going to you knowing, that the Federal Government has
been slow coming out with testing strategies for settings like
universities and that what they do at Lane is going to be
different than what they do it, Brown, different than what they
do at Purdue, Louisiana State University or to Lane just
because of different sizes of schools, is your organization
promulgating or suggesting different strategies so that someone
like President Hampton, God bless him, is able to get his
university reopened and with kind of a strategy about how to
use the testing which is available?
Dr. Benjamin. Well, we are not specifically developing
standards. We are encouraging schools and others develop
learning collaboratives so that they can learn from----
Senator Cassidy. Yes, I apologize because I just have such
minimal time. I do think it is important to have the strategy.
I think it is important to the Federal Government. I think it
is important for others. President Paxson, it appears that you
have put together a strategy. I just want to explore that a
little bit because I think you would inform others. We
understand that if you have an outbreak in a particular
dormitory and it is not other dormitories, intuitively you and
devote resources to the folks in that dormitory. Is that the
beginning of your approach or how would you say that?
Dr. Paxson. Yes, so, the optimal testing strategy is
something we are working on really carefully, it would be with
epidemiologists, and it is going to be data-informed and it is
going to change over time. It depends on prevalence in the
local area. But certainly one of the components would be if
there was a student who tested positive, their dormitory, their
classmates would be people who doing standard contact tracing
protocols would be people who would be tested next----
Senator Cassidy. Let me ask you, one thing we have been
interested in, because there might be a limitation on the
number of tests available, is the ability to batch test. To do,
100 in a dorm but if it tests positive then you do each
individual. Is that part of your strategy?
Dr. Paxson. Well, we are exploring that and that is
something that is still relatively new. Batch testing looks
promising as does waste water testing where you can test stuff
coming out of the dorms and figure out if anybody in the dorm
has it, so we are exploring those options.
Senator Cassidy. You are very delicate when you say stuff
coming out of the dorm. President Hampton, as you put together
your strategy--these folks got medical schools. Again, God
bless you. You are much more constrained in terms of resources,
where are you developing your testing strategy from and what
could be done to help you or those similarly situated, my black
colleges and universities in Louisiana for example, to
implement such a strategy knowing that your student body may
have an increased incidence of those comorbid conditions which
increase risk?
Dr. Hampton. Well, I begin with number one, make the
investment in our institutions. Make that make that $1 billion
dollar investment in the historical Black College Universities,
tribal colleges, MSI's and the $46 billion in the greater body.
Make that investment. We had a little bit of practice with this
during the past spring.
We implemented protocols where the student would present--a
student presented in our health services, then that student was
tested for flu and others. They were screened. And we had one
incident on our campus in the spring with students who remain
on campus where a student was--they had come in contact with
the person and we were able to isolate that person into an
apartment complex, allow that person to go through those 14
days, and then they have that person to not show any symptoms
at all.
Senator Cassidy. Let me ask you because I am almost out of
time the strategy the President Paxson has put together where,
you may do wastewater or but you certainly have a micro-
community within your campus with upon whom you are focusing
because they have shown to be positive at least, one person,
within them. Do you all have a similar set of protocols or
would it benefit you for those to be promulgated by some
organizations such as CDC or another public health
organization?
Dr. Hampton. It would in fact benefit us to have those
promulgated but we do in fact have partnerships with our
Madison County Health Department, with our Christ Community
Health Department, or Health Center, to be able to do testing
for any of our students or in our public who believe that they
have some or someone who may show symptoms, that they will be
able to go get tested and get their results back in 24 hours.
Senator Cassidy. Got it. Thank you. I yield back. Thank
you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Dr. Cassidy.
Senator Murphy.
Senator Murphy. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank
you all. This has been incredibly helpful for all of us. Mr.
Chairman, I want college sports to come back. I want sports in
general to come back. I miss it. For me it is a release from
this job, and I can't wait. At the same time, I want it to come
back for the right reasons and I want it to come back safely.
And so I wanted to ask a series of questions on this topic
because I think it is important. Maybe I will start with you,
Mr. Daniels. I think it is interesting that college sports
teams are coming back for practices before professional sports
leagues are feeling that it is safe enough to come back.
I have read through what your University is doing to try to
protect students that are returning. These are contact sports.
There is no way ultimately to have social distancing for a
football team or a soccer team. And so what happens if you have
an outbreak over the course of summer training or in the early
fall on your football team or on your women's soccer team. What
is your protocol? Do you shut that team down? So they stop
playing the season? Do you just segment off the players who
have tested positive? This is a potential for a super spreading
environment if you are not careful.
Mr. Daniels. I completely agree with you. I think you would
shut it down and I think that will--somewhere out there someone
may very well face this situation. Our teams are resuming
individual workouts later than some but they are coming back to
that. Then group workouts. The conference we belong to has
prescribed some guidelines and we will follow them.
In some cases exceed them, but I think you are quite right.
And we love sports too, but first things first and that starts
with the safety of people, players, coaches, but don't forget
the people who may be at most risk of a spread here are the
older folks, coaches, and others. So I hope we get back but if
it takes longer or if it is subject to interruption then so be
it.
Senator Murphy. Let me ask you one specific question if I
could drill down, what happens if you have got a scholarship
player who doesn't feel comfortable coming back. Let's say they
have got a mother at home or a grandfather that has got medical
complications. If they decide not to play football this year
because they just don't think it's right for them, do they
maintain their scholarship?
Mr. Daniels. Yes, they would. We have honored scholarships
at Purdue for a long time for people who couldn't play or
continue to play some reason, could be injury for some a
personal tragedy. So that would not--that would be consistent
with our policy. And I think I can speak with authority for our
athletic department that we would see that as the right thing
to do and the thing we ought to do.
Senator Murphy. I appreciate that. I will note that is not
right now the standard for all NCAA schools and I think it
would be important for us to make sure it is. And then last and
maybe most importantly, what are you going to do about
attendance at sporting events this fall because that is what I
really worry about. You have the Iowa Athletic Director on the
record. He is a member of your conference saying that right now
his plan is to let everybody into the football stadium and
anybody who wants to come watch can. We had a situation in
Westport, Connecticut before, this was an epidemic were 50
people got together for a birthday party.
One person had coronavirus, one of the first in the
Northeast to have it. At the end of that party, half of them
had it and the virus was off and running on the East Coast. So
it worries me that we are contemplating putting hundreds of
thousands of adults and students into stadiums, especially when
the professional sports leagues don't seem to be entertaining
that idea. What is your understanding today? Are we going to
have fans in stadiums for events in your conferences fall?
Mr. Daniels. Can't speak for any others but we are not
looking at going beyond one-fourth of the capacity of our
57,000 stadium right now. This has been mapped out just as we
have mapped out classrooms and dorm rooms to measure distance
and then exceed the requirements. We would be doing it too. So
it comes out to about a one-fourth on the work we have done
now.
Now we know that outdoors is very different. That it is
very hard to spread this outdoors, but we are still going to
take an abundance of caution approach. I cannot tell you about
indoor sports right now. I don't think I see a way that we can
proceed on anything like the basis that we have all been
familiar with.
Senator Murphy. I appreciate that. That is still, 10,000 to
20,000 people all together for an event. I think that may be a
pretty dangerous endeavor. And I think it is interesting
compared to professional sports who have decided to make a
different decision. I think it is a topic worth continuing to
talk about. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Murphy.
Senator Warren.
Senator Warren. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to start if
I can by quickly thanking Ranking Member Murray for the
comments acknowledging what is happening in our country. We
can't ignore the racist violence that has killed George Floyd
and Ahmad Aubrey and Brianna Taylor and so many, many others.
We must commit ourselves to change to using this Committee as
well as others to advance anti-racist policies in health, in
education, and for workers including today's hearing about
reopening colleges.
Millions of families moving students across this country
are wondering when and how colleges are going to safely reopen
and I know this is a hard question that is going to vary from
campus to campus but President Daniels you wrote a recent op-ed
entitled, why failing to reopen Purdue University this fall
would be an unacceptable breach of duty. So your op-ed makes it
sound like you have already decided you are going to reopen no
matter what come this fall. And in that, you discuss how you
are going to mitigate risks to undergraduate students, but I
notice there is almost no discussion of addressing lists to
workers or faculty who tend to be older and more at risk.
Nothing about the wage workers or hourly workers, workers who
are often black or brown.
These workers are responsible for serving the food in the
dining halls, including the dorms and classrooms and keeping
your campus running. They are particularly vulnerable and they
have the least power and they are getting sick at
disproportionate rates. So President Daniels, Purdue has nearly
17,000 employees, nearly half are staff who won't be able to
work.
Normally this fall they might get sick. They might need to
care for a loved one, and they might have small children that
need care, or because of their age or pre-existing health
conditions, they may not feel safe coming onto a college campus
during a pandemic. So I just want to know if you laid out
publicly a plan for these workers.
Mr. Daniels. Well, thank you Senator----
Senator Warren. Actually, let me just ask specifically. Can
you agree to continue paying them if they can't come to work or
if they decide it is too risky to show up for work?
Mr. Daniels. Well thank for the--I am so glad you asked the
question because first of all you could not have better express
our entire philosophy and strategy. I don't know if you were
here for the opening presentation, but I enunciated it then.
And our entire strategy is built around the protection of the
vulnerable and that starts with faculty and staff. Starting
next week we will have one to one visits with our faculty to
try to figure out what their--we have a grid that attempts to
estimate their degree of vulnerability. There is some we don't
want near campus at all. So we will make an accommodation for--
--
Senator Warren. If I could--I am sorry. I am just limited
on time. Just understand, you haven't put out a plan publicly
yet and it sounds like you haven't worked one out but you are
planning to work it out one-on-one with your employees, is that
right?
Mr. Daniels. Our plan is entirely based on the protection
of the vulnerable and that will include trying to make
individual accommodations for those about whom we have the most
concern. About a third of our staff----
Senator Warren. Well, I was asking whether or not you had
already laid out a plan. And I take the answer on that is no.
Mr. Daniels. No, the answer to that of course is, yes. It
is very comprehensive and I will repeat it if you need it.
Senator Warren [continuing]. Publicly. I just haven't seen
this plan laid out. Because my question is really about who has
power and who has voice in these decision. Best practices are
best practices only if everyone is at the table who is going to
be affected when those plants are being laid out. So I just
want to move on for the time being but I will follow-up in
writing to try to get public commitments that going forward you
are going to include both faculty and staff at the table and
you are going to explain about how this is going to intersect
with their pay and how you safely reopen this campus.
Dr. Paxson, I want to stay on the topic of power and
accountability. In addition to being the president of Brown
University, you are also the vice chair of the Board for the
Association of American Universities which signed a letter last
week from the American Council on Education, which is the very
powerful college law urging Congress to, ``quickly enact
temporary COVID-19 related liability protections for higher
education, institutions, and systems.'' Now, Dr. Paxson, as you
know current law imposes liability only when the college has
behaved unreasonably under all the circumstances.
The law does not impose automatic liability when somebody
gets sick or even when somebody dies. Instead its liability
only when, for example, in a pandemic a college doesn't take
reasonable efforts to clean up common spaces or to separate
desperately sick students. So when colleges lobby to change
that standard and to walk away from it, even if they are
extraordinarily careless with the lives of their students, even
if these colleges take completely unreasonable risks, even if
someone dies, what message does it send to our families and our
students. Would it make you more comfortable or less
comfortable as a parent of an incoming student?
The Chairman. Dr. Paxson, we are well over time but you
take whatever time you need to answer that question.
Dr. Paxson. Thank you very much. I do not want protection
from being careless. That is not what we are about. And if we
are careless, if we don't follow guidelines, that is something
that should not be protected in any way, shape, or form. The
fact is though we are in a brand-new time. We have never seen
this before. We are in uncharted territory.
I think many institutions are very nervous that even if
they play by the rules scrupulously, that they will still be
subject to class action lawsuits, lawsuits--they will probably
prevail if they have done right but the cost of defending those
lawsuits will take money away from tuition, financial aid--not
from tuition from financial aid and all of the support that we
provide for our students. So I am in favor of very carefully
crafted liability protection that in no way, shape, or form
permits us to be careless with people's lives.
Senator Warren. Well, thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Warren.
Senator Warren [continuing]. Over. If I can, I just want to
ask unanimous consent, Mr. Chairman, to enter statements for
the record on this issue from Americans for Financial Reform,
the Student Borrower Protection Center, Public Citizen,
American Association for Justice, and Georgetown Law Professor
David Vladeck. The public should know that a college just like
any institution--has to behave--that is what the law requires.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator. So ordered.
[The following information can be found on page 88]
Senator Warren. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Senator Braun.
Senator Braun. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am going to lead
in with Senator Warren's question and I think it is a valid one
to ask in the sense that the safety of your employees, staff at
universities, as well as your customers which would be the
students, is very important. But underlying the way she phrased
that question would be that it is not in the extreme interest
of the university, of businesses across this country to keep
not only your customers safe, your employees as well. It also
to me, by the way it was stated, assumes that there is not
going to be the agility and the ability to do both of them. And
my question is going to be for President Daniels and you can
continue a response if you want to but I think rest assured for
the people that run the real economy, including teaching our
students, they have in their own best interest to do all of the
things--this kind of bureaucratic approach has been to where it
is tamp down economies may be unnecessarily.
We are able to do two things at once and I think that
argument that you cannot operate safely and keep the disease at
bay might have been an underlying strategic error and how we
have addressed it in the first place. So President Daniels as
any entrepreneur sometimes your plans don't work out the way
you might hope they will. I know when building a business over
37 years, if things were growing great in the moment, I said
hey, something is going to come along to maybe try to derail
it.
Had the data not shown you or if something should change to
where you bring students back to school and I think everything
you have laid out makes it sound like a great plan, let's say
if not, how does your involvement with online education, I
think you call it Purdue Global, would that have been a back-up
plan that would have come into play for your students that
would want to attend on campus? Tell me a little bit about that
and then more broadly how you think that part of post-secondary
education might break the cost curve that has been so tough to
do with traditional education on campus.
Mr. Daniels. Senator, Purdue Global is a separate branch of
our University. It serves a very different clientele. The
typical student there is a 33 year old woman with a job and
usually family responsibilities. It is really aimed at that
enormous universe of Americans who started college and didn't
finish. And helping them get to the finish line and we hope a
better station in life. Now, we learned a lot. I have learned a
lot about online education.
As I mentioned, we will be offering to those students who
can't get here this fall or choose not to come in person this
fall, an online option for their undergraduate education. But
Purdue Global is aimed at basically working Americans. And I
will say to your question, I think the surface is this, with
the damage we have done to this economy, it may be that there
is a much greater need or greater market for very affordable
Purdue online education of the kind Purdue Global and many
other fine schools provide.
Senator Braun. To dig into that a little more deeply, how
long do you think that cost curve will take from the
involvement in online undergraduate as well as what you are
learning from trying to educate older students? Do you think
that is something that is going to be disruptive enough where
like healthcare, for instance, it costs us double here in our
country roughly what it does in most other countries with
results that aren't any better. Do we have that opportunity
through disrupting education in a way since it is the next most
stubborn cost increase each year, through technology, through
something different that most of us might not see at this point
in time?
Mr. Daniels. The exorbitant, even staggering cost of higher
education has been an issue for quite some time now. Thank you
for noting--at Purdue we have not changed our tuition in the
last eight years and have pledged that will last at least
through a 9th. We are less expensive in nominal terms than we
were in 2012 and with the result, I think we have been able to
attract more students and terrific students for whom
affordability and accessibility is a real issue.
Now, in the wake of this terrible pandemic, it seems very
clear. I think that there will be a new pressure on schools, us
and everyone, to find every way possible to make this vital
service we sell a more affordable and I can't imagine you have
any other outcome than that.
Senator Braun. Keep it up. I think leading the way on
trying to make something that is along with health care for
most families--the demand is inelastic. We all want it
ironically of course, classic economics. That is where cost us
the most in this country and we need to do much better. Thank
you.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Braun.
Senator Kaine.
Senator Kaine. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for this
important hearing and to our witnesses, I have been very, very
critical of the Administration's handling of the public health
side of this crisis. There is no reason the United States
should have more than 100,000 deaths. There is no reason that
our economy should have been hammered by this in the way that
it has, especially if you look at what has happened in other
countries. Since I have been critical and I am going to
continue to be also feel like I got to give credit where credit
is due. The Administration has done some things that I want to
thank them for and some are kind of right in this bailiwick,
helping us work out implementation challenges for the CARES
Act. You will remember, Mr. Chairman, after the CARES Act
passed, some thought that the aid was not going to go to
students, might be taxable income.
The Administration worked quickly with us to clarify that
was not the case. Some universities trying to get PPP loans
were told that their students, work study students would be
counted as employees putting them over the 500 limit
disqualifying them for PPP loans. Again, the Administration
worked very quickly to lay that concern and so I got to give
credit where credit is due because I am going to turn soon to
some more criticism. I do want to thank Senator Murphy for
raising the football question because it is an example of how
opening is complicated. Folks who play football are amateurs.
They are not getting paid. Folks who play football are
disproportionally minority.
There has been a number of articles in Forbes and Sports
Illustrated about how football especially in the power five
conference is a big-money thing. I hope we do not, because big
conference football is a big-money thing, risk the lives of
amateurs who are predominantly minority by going back before we
can especially because the NCAA has figured this out when they
canceled spring sports, like baseball, they told all the
athletes if you want another year of eligibility, you can get
it.
Many who lost their last year of basketball or baseball
were sort of heartbroken about it and had to figure out ways to
go and get a master's degree or stay at a college for an extra
year so that they can have that extra year of eligibility. We
can provide that experience for student-athletes if they want
it without jeopardizing their health because football is a
money-making proposition and I hope we will all consider that.
All right, let me get to the critique. Mr. Chairman, you said a
couple of times, your opening statement lays it out so well,
the road to reopening is through testing. The road to reopening
is through testing.
I deeply believe that there is other issues, obviously, but
the road to reopening colleges is through testing. The CDC has
a document that they have put out and continually updated. It
is online right now. It is called Considerations for
Institutions of Higher Education. The most recent update was
May 30. It is a very comprehensive document. I just got in here
on my iPhone. You go through it. Principles to keep in mind,
IHG institution of higher education, general settings, IHG on-
campus housing settings, promoting behaviors that reduce
spread. Sub points under all of these, multiple sub points
under all of these--maintaining healthy environments.
Let's see what else do we have here? So many maintaining
healthy operations room, layout water system supplies, sub-
point, sub-point, sub-point. You go through this endless
document and not a mention of testing. The CDC guideline,
right, preparing for when someone gets sick, endless sub
points. There is not a single mention of testing in the
document that the CDC currently has to give to our
universities. Now, I get it that our universities don't need a
mandate. Test everybody or test one-sixth of students. But
universities don't all have CDC's, they don't have NIH's. They
need guidance. If you are going to give a university guidance
about how to make sure the water system safe or how to limit
the size of activities or what to do when a student gets sick,
it would seem like you would give them some guidance, some
recommendation about testing protocols.
Mr. Chairman, you laid out sort of a good one. Maybe you
test everybody who is sick or anybody in vulnerable population,
and then maybe you would want to do some sentinel testing
randomly to determine the spread of antibody's--and it strikes
me you could give that guidance to our universities without, a
mandate that is too restrictive.
My suspicion is this because this has been more to do in
general with the Administration. They don't want to set goals
for testing because they don't want to be measured against
those goals because they know that if they are measured against
the goals they are going to fall short. The only way you get to
a goal is by stating it. If you don't state it, you are not
going to get there.
I think our CDC does a great disservice to colleges, small,
medium and large if they don't provide some basic guidance
about what a testing protocol that would be successful would
look like. And with that, Mr. Chairman, thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Kaine.
Senator Hassan.
Senator Hassan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to
thank you and the Ranking Member for having this hearing and I
want to thank our witnesses for all that you are doing to help
your students in our communities. Between the COVID-19 crisis
and the rightful outrage following the killing of George Floyd,
this is a deeply challenging time for our country. That is true
at our institutions of higher education. And as we grapple with
how to reopen safely during a global pandemic, we must also
remember that higher education institutions have historically
served as places of civil discourse.
As our local communities and our country works together to
make our systems more equitable and just, I look forward to
working with all of you. My first question is to our three
College presidents. Last week, I sent a bipartisan letter to
Secretary DeVos with Senators Tim Scott, Loeffler, and Booker
urging the Department of Education to ensure that students
receive the financial aid that they are now eligible for due to
the economic impacts of COVID-19. Specifically, we asked the
Department to issue guidance to colleges to help ensure that
students' financial aid eligibility can be appropriately
adjusted and to update the online FAFSA form to capture recent
changes in income for financial aid applicants.
To each of the college presidents and I will start with you
President Daniels, can you speak to how your students have been
economically impacted by COVID-19. I know you have done it a
little bit through this hearing but more importantly why
further action by the Department of Education is needed to help
ensure that students get the financial aid that they are
eligible for.
Mr. Daniels. Well, Senator, I can't say that we know yet.
We are in the process of finding out now which students who
have expressed the desire to come to Purdue will finally come
and can manage it. And I don't doubt that many of them have
encountered significant economic setbacks since they expressed
that intention. We will know much more over the next few weeks.
I am hoping that most of them will be able to do it but I
applaud the initiative that you led and those who joined you.
And clearly we all need to do all we can to get a more swiftly
and directly and flexibly, which is a point I think you just
drew our attention to, to every young person who needs it.
Senator Hassan. Thank you.
President Hampton.
Dr. Hampton [continuing]. Pell Grant. It is no question
that our students have been negatively impacted by COVID-19.
When we did our survey of our students, that survey went to the
students about five weeks after the majority of our students
had been home and those students reported back to us while they
were at home, 78 percent of them said, I need help with food,
73 percent said I need help with housing. Our students need
help now.
They will need to help in the fall. They did their FAFSA
based on the previous income. Those incomes have now dropped.
Their families will have less means to help them come back. So
whether it's online or whether we are face-to-face or whether
it is a hybrid, our students need the help as a result in
COVID-19 and the vicious effects of racism on their parents
income.
Senator Hassan. Well, thank you.
Dr. Paxson.
Dr. Paxson. After the 2008 recession, financial aid at
Brown rose by 12 percent. The maximum unemployment rate during
that recession was 10 percent. We are heading to 20 percent. We
are also hearing from students who are saying, I know my FAFSA
was correct, but it is no longer in any way an accurate
portrayal of my family's economic circumstances. So we are
going to having to go back and revisit all of those aid awards
because we are in an extraordinary time for students and their
parents.
Senator Hassan. Well, thank you. I want to turn the Dr.
Benjamin now if I can. And I know Dr. Benjamin we talked a bit
in your answers about what colleges need to do from a public
health point of view, including robust testing and contact
tracing as part of their strategy as they reopen. But you also
spoken about even with the best public health protocols in
place to ensure that students, faculty, and staff practice
social distancing, recommended hand washing, and wear masks, it
is likely inevitable that there will be spikes in cases on
college campuses.
What protocols do believe should be in place to contain a
detected spike in cases on college campuses? And if colleges
are forced to close, what can be done to ensure that students
leaving campus do not spread the virus in their own
communities?
Dr. Benjamin. Absolutely. The reason why I recommended that
the link very close with their state and local health
departments is so they can very quickly get involved in contact
tracing and disease containment because in many cases these
will involve the community as well. And, they should have
planned for that. They should have pre written guidelines for
how they are going to handle it. Who is on first, how they are
going to manage it. Who is the spokesperson for the University.
How do they link protocols with the state and local health
department so that there is no debate about who is actually
managing the disease outbreak.
I would assume that in most cases the contact tracing
activity will be done by the state and local health department
and not the university but it depends on how big the community
health program is at the University. They may very well want to
be involved in that but if you don't have plans for that, it
will be at best, a mess. So it does require a fair amount of
planning up front and all the various scenarios that they can
possibly think of would be important for them to do.
Senator Hassan. Well, thank you and Mr. Chairman, I have
lost sight of the clock on my screen.
The Chairman. I am afraid we are well----
Senator Hassan. I am going to assume that is about 5
minutes. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Hassan. I would say to the
witnesses we only have two Senators remaining.
Senator Jones.
Senator Jones. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really appreciate
your leadership on having this hearing and Ranking Member
Murray, and also thanks to all of our witnesses. Let me first
associate myself with all of my colleagues comments regarding
the issues that we are facing in America today and the problems
that we are facing, but as we see the issues out there, I am
also seeing some rays of hope. I am seeing folks that are
peacefully demonstrating. I am seeing people that are getting
together to raise their voices, but doing it together locked
arm and arm, black and white, folks of all races, religions,
and walks of life. And I don't think the media often focuses on
that as much as they do in some of the more violent protests,
but we see it happening all the time.
I do think there is rays of hope out there. Dr. Hampton,
would like to ask you, I would like to follow-up a little bit
with you because as you probably know that I have been one of
the champions I think for HBCUs. We have like 13 in my state.
Senators Alexander and Murray have helped us get a lot of
funding for HBCU's recently and I joined with a couple of
colleagues in sending a letter asking for an additional $1
billion funding.
I would like for you to talk just a little bit assuming you
can get that, how would that be invested? How would that be
used by the HBCUs around the country? Either makeup shortfalls
to help with students, infrastructure? How would you use the
additional funding Congress might, can give you?
Dr. Hampton. Yes, sir. In my college we have several
strategies that we are using those funds for. Number one we are
using it to make our campus more safe for our students as they
return to our campus. As I look at the look at our numbers and
our estimates in terms of where we are, I mean, we are going to
need anywhere from $3 million to $6 million to $13 million to
fully be able to convert Lane College from a residential campus
to a hybrid campus that is both, is offering classes online and
face-to-face.
For our purposes, we are going to use those funds to
support the students, to make sure this campus is safe and to
begin the conversion of this campus to be able to deliver at a
high level our online courses. We will need those funds for a
number of different diverse set of--for additional staff, for
learning management, for services, purchase digital devices, to
purchase digital resources, data plans for our students. Our
needs are significant.
Senator Jones. Yes, thank you. I appreciate that. President
Daniels, let me follow-up. As you could probably guess a
Southeastern Conference Senator is going to follow-up on some
of the sports questions that Senator Murphy and Senator Kaine
said. And I really have to two. They asked several that I had.
One would be what steps will you try to take to try to minimize
the risk to these athletes and the coaches going in? Certainly,
you may have to shut down a program if you see something but
what steps will you take to minimize the risk.
Second, of all, the loss of revenue is going to be
significant. The loss of revenue for colleges is going to be
significant. What can Congress do to help make up for that?
What do you plan on doing to make up for the lost revenue that
supports not only your football and basketball programs but
also all of the other sports that you have at Purdue?
Mr. Daniels. Senator, our athletic department has put
together a very protective plan. There will be a lot of
separation, at least initially, between athletes and we would
do lots of testing, very regular testing to try to spot any
infection at the first possible moment and do all the smart
things about that. Again, we believe we could in an outdoor
setting have at least a fraction of the fans. They have to
enter in different ways and obviously be spaced in different
ways.
But we do think that part is possible and consistent with
safe practices. But we are all in very new water here and we
well may change some of these directions as we all learn more.
With regard to the dollars question, I am not sure that a
Federal treasury that has already done with it has done,
borrowed what it has borrowed, wants to be making up athletic
shortfalls. And we at Purdue, I am proud to say, have always
operated self-sufficient Athletic program.
We have never had to impose a fee or on our students who
are not able to play and may not even be that interested in
athletics as much as some of us are. So on the list of huge
problems we have been discussing this morning, I don't want to
minimize this one, but I for one would not urge that you place
that high nearly as high as for example helping HBCUs and some
of these other goals.
Senator Jones. Thank you. I was hoping that would be your
answer. I appreciate that very much and thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Jones.
Senator Rosen.
Senator Rosen. Thank you, Chairman Alexander, Ranking
Member Murray. I want to thank all the witnesses for being here
today, for the work and care that you do to help our students
and those that work at our universities. But I believe we
really need relief for our dreamers and our student veterans.
And the COVID pandemic has severely impacted Nevada's colleges
and universities and the students they are serving. That is why
I was glad to vote for the CARES Act which provided more than
$6 billion to our institutes of higher education to provide
emergency financial aid to students most affected by the
pandemic. The new law intentionally provides significant
flexibility to institutions in determining how to distribute
funding among students, including those who are most in need.
Unfortunately, the Department of Education has decided that
only students who are eligible to receive Federal financial aid
qualify for CARES Act assistance. Since this decision excludes
student veterans, individuals who haven't completed the FAFSA
application, and DACA recipients, many of whom have an added
financial burden of supporting their parents, their siblings,
their children, being the first in their families to attend
college, in April I joined a letter along with several members
of the Committee asking Secretary DeVos to reverse this
decision to prohibit institutions of higher education from
providing CARES Act emergency financial aid grants to
undocumented students, but have not yet received a response.
Dr. Paxson, like our educational leaders in Nevada, you and
your university have long supported protections for dreamers,
given this and the extraordinary situation in which we find
ourselves, do you agree with the Department of Education's
guidance excluding undocumented students on the CARES Act?
Dr. Paxson. No, I don't agree at all. I firmly believe that
if the point is to protect students who are the future of our
country, we should be protecting DACA students veterans and
international students who are here in this country and need
the support.
Senator Rosen. Thank you. I appreciate that. I am going to
ask all the panelists this next question that the Department of
Education in this guidance that was given excluded our student
veterans, veterans that have served our country, protected our
Nation, sometimes our older students that have families, really
important that they continue to get any support they need,
along with those who don't fill out FAFSA applications for many
reasons, maybe they come from foster families or are homeless
youth.
All kinds of reasons that those students aren't filling
out, don't know how to do that. We want to know how your
students are going to help--how you are going to help these
students and if you agree with that just get decision to
exclude the student veterans and let's begin with President
Daniels and we can go on to Dr. Hampton and then return to Dr.
Paxson.
Mr. Daniels. No, thank you, Senator. I agree these, these
don't seem like wise choices. I frankly did not know about the
impact on veterans so thank you for drawing our attention to
that. Other than that I can just say and as we did in a to a
previous question that we are doing all we can to move money to
scholarships and to financial assistance. We do anticipate that
whatever shape our applicants were in just two or three months
ago is very different today we are going to need to do more.
Dr. Hampton. Senator, my college is a veterans friendly
institution. I am not aware of any negative impact that this
ruling had on the veterans at Lane College. However, for those
several students that needed support who were not eligible for
the CARES Act, we were able to fund those students through our
Board of Trustees that made donations to support all of our
students.
Senator Rosen. Thank you. Appreciate that.
Dr. Paxson.
Dr. Paxson. I would just reiterate what I said before, I
think all students are equally deserving. Students who deserve
on economic grounds to be supported need to be supported. We
have not yet received any CARES Act funding. We are awaiting
some guidance from the Department of Education, but our intent
would be to support students equally as well as we can.
Senator Rosen. I just have a few seconds left, but I just
want to address the digital divide. I am going to go really
quickly. Of course we do distance learning. The fact remains,
before coronavirus far too many college graduate students, of
course, they had--lacked adequate broadband access. That
happens in my rural communities up and down the state and our
underserved communities. So what can you do or what are you
planning to do to address this digital divide? It is
particularly in broadband. It might apply to your students? And
I guess you can go--Dr. Paxson, I see you first, so you go
first this time.
Dr. Paxson. We have done a lot of work this spring making
sure all of our students have internet access from home or more
WIFI, hotspots and have done pretty well with that. Another
thing we are focusing on is helping the city of Providence make
sure that all of the high school students in the area have
digital access because that has been a huge problem for a
school education.
Senator Rosen. Fantastic. Thank you. Let's move on to let's
see who I would like to go next. I guess, Dr. Hampton.
Dr. Hampton. Lane College is sourcing and providing digital
devices as well as hotspots for our students and we were able
to use the funds, the CARES Act funds, for some of that.
Senator Rosen. Perfect.
Governor Daniels.
Mr. Daniels. Yes, very similar answer. We had problems.
Fortunately they were fairly limited, generally in rural spaces
as you had suggested, and we were able to come with up
individual assistance as far as I know in any each case. Also
we are blessed as a land-grant school with an extension service
so we do have offices in even very small population counties
and I think that gave us a little advantage in helping those
who were struggling.
Senator Rosen. I appreciate that. I appreciate all you are
doing. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Rosen. I want to thank
Senator Murray and her staff as well as our staff for their
cooperation and their technical expertise today in this
hearing. I want to especially thank the four witnesses who all
have demanding schedules who made time for us. This is of more
value than you might think to us and to our staffs and to the
American people as they listen to President Daniel, Dr. Paxson,
Dr. Logan, Dr. Benjamin. There is no more sure sign that the
American life is regaining its rhythm than when 70, 75 million
students head back to college and back to school, which is
where we believe they will go and our focus this month is to
help make sure they go safely.
Today our discussion has been about colleges. Next week we
will be talking about kindergarten through the 12th grade,
going back to school safely. We will be having other hearings
this month on telelearning, telemedicine, on looking ahead to
the next pandemic as we continue our oversight responsibility.
I am going to include in the record a letter from the American
Council on Education to which one of the Senators referred
earlier. That organization is an umbrella organization
representing most of the 6,000 higher education institutions in
the country. It asks Congress to consider a number of things
including properly constructed liability protection for
institutions as a result of COVID-19.
[The information referred to can be found on page 80]
I also heard that from virtually every one of the 90
Tennessee higher education institutions with whom I had a
discussion by teleconference last week. The issue of testing
came up and my advice to colleges, for example, Dr. Hampton
talked about Jackson, Tennessee. In our state, the Governor
said if in doubt, get a test, and I know that works because I
went to the public health department in my hometown of
Maryville and waited about three minutes in line and got my
negative test which fortunately turned out to be negative a
couple of weeks ago.
For colleges and universities who don't have large
hospitals or their own capacity to create tests, my advice
would be to be a part of the state's plan because according to
law every state submits to the Federal Government its testing
needs for the next month. And then if its needs cannot be met
by the state, the Federal Government will help with that. For
example, with swabs or reagents. Admiral Giroir testified
before our Committee that we should have 10 million tests
capacity in the country this month, which would be about, if my
math is right, the 500,000 tests a day that was mentioned by
Dr. Benjamin.
He also said that he anticipated that there would be 40 to
50 million tests available per month by September. In addition
to that, Dr. Collins is heading up an effort of the National
Institutes of Health to which we call the Shark Tank which
would create a highly competitive environment to see if we can
find one, two, three, four new ways of creating accurate, rapid
tests, which would be tens of millions of more tests so that
there would be an ample supply this fall for universities.
My advice would be, if there is a question for college or
institution about testing, become a part of your state's plan
and let the state look ahead and help with that. This has been
a very helpful--now I have some words I am supposed to repeat.
The record will remain open for 10 days. Members may submit
additional information within that time.
The Chairman. Thank you for being here. Our next meeting
will be next Wednesday, June the 10th, COVID-19, going back to
school safely. The Committee will stand adjourned.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
A PLAN TO SAFELY REOPEN AMERICA'S SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES
Guidance for imagining a new normal for public education, public
health, and our economy in the age of COVID-19
SUMMARY
People across the United States are eager to return to some
semblance of ``normal.'' To do so, we must meet a Herculean challenge:
remaking our society and the places in our lives we hold dear--public
schools and colleges, places of worship, workplaces, restaurants and
more--in ways that hold paramount our ultimate priorities: the safety
and well-being of our children, families and communities; the safety of
our members and every frontline worker; and the health of our economy
and economic well-being of working families.
Physical distancing efforts have slowed the rate of COVID-19
infections, but no expert believes we will eradicate this virus without
a vaccine. Reopening prematurely by relaxing stay-in-place restrictions
and resuming large public gatherings runs the risk of undoing the work
of the last two months. A premature return to full commercial activity
risks a second surge of infections and second lockdown as is happening
in Singapore right now. Even once public health officials deem it safe
to reopen, doing so without the necessary precautions could be deadly.
This document provides a roadmap for navigating the next steps. It
provides specific guidance for transitioning from lockdowns to other
public health tools to limit the transmission of COVID-19. It focuses
on reopening school buildings in particular, because the safe reopening
of public school buildings means students can go to school, and
parents, who work outside the home, can go to work. That is key to the
reopening of the broader economy. \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ School systems have been operating throughout this pandemic. By
reopening schools, we mean having regularized access to school
buildings and other physical learning and service delivery locations.
We expect the plan to evolve and adapt over time. It rests on five
pillars that draw on the best available science and public health
guidance, and the expertise of educators and health practitioners.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gradually, responsibly and safely reopening society requires:
1. Maintaining physical distancing until the number of new
cases declines for at least 14 consecutive days. Reducing the
number of new cases is a prerequisite for transitioning to
reopening plans on a community-by-community basis.
2. Putting in place the infrastructure and resources to test,
trace and isolate new cases. Transitioning from community-
focused physical distancing and stay-in-place orders to case-
specific interventions requires ramping up the capacity to
test, trace and isolate each and every new case.
3. Deploying the public health tools that prevent the virus'
spread and aligning them with education strategies that meet
the needs of students.
4. Involving workers, unions, parents and communities in all
planning. Each workplace and community faces unique challenges
related to COVID-19. To ensure that reopening plans address
those challenges, broad worker and community involvement is
necessary. They must be engaged, educated and empowered.
5. Investing in recovery: Do not abandon America's communities
or forfeit America's future. These interventions will require
more--not less--investments in public health and in our
schools, universities, hospitals, and local and state
governments. Strengthening communities should be a priority in
the recovery.
The AFT held its first press conference on COVID-19 on Feb. 2. Our
union has worked to ensure the safety and well-being of our communities
and our members, and we've been particularly fixated on the frontline
workers who are risking their lives to combat this pandemic. Early on,
we worked to alert our members and allies of the risks of an impending
pandemic; unfortunately, the Trump Administration gave little and often
conflicting guidance. We have remained steadfast in our efforts to keep
people safe, while also fighting to keep our public schools and
universities functioning, and for economic security for workers.
There are no magic elixirs to simply reopen. Reopening demands
comprehensive, transparent action and forthright communication by
Federal and state authorities, and will take the dedication, voice and
forethought of frontline providers and educators and their unions,
school districts, hospitals, local governments and communities. The
alignment in every school and workplace of public health, instruction
and operations is absolutely imperative.
COVID-19 has exacerbated the deep inequalities in our society and
underscored the need for additional public investments to combat this
inequity. As we face growing recessionary forces, we can't simply limp
out of this crisis or revert to a status quo. We need a renewed sense
of national urgency to reimagine a better America and a pathway to a
better life for all.
The challenges facing us should not be underestimated. For example,
even as Governors relax physical distancing requirements (after
observing a reduction in the number of new cases), some communities may
not reflect the statewide trend. Moreover, each workplace faces a
unique set of challenges for preventing the spread of the virus.
Additionally, we must consider the possibility of a resurgence of the
virus in the fall. Communities must be engaged, educated and empowered
to exist under this pre-vaccine new normal.
No one knows our public schools, universities and hospitals better
than AFT members, many of whom will face great risks in carrying out
their jobs. That is why our members and leaders must be at the table in
envisioning and implementing plans to reopen our society at the local
level.
Our commonsense approach requires real partnerships with employers
and community stakeholders on state and local levels. School districts,
universities and hospitals should look to unions and the collective
bargaining process as opportunities to provide genuine participation,
communication and buy-in from the workers ultimately responsible for
ensuring the health and safety of our students, patients and those we
serve. In the absence of collective bargaining, other consultation
processes must be established. There is no substitute for eyes and ears
on the ground in the case of public health and safety.
1. Maintaining physical distancing until the number of new cases
declines for at least 14 consecutive days.
While projections vary, we are likely at least a year away from a
widely available vaccine. Adherence to physical distancing protocols
has flattened the curve, showing early signs of reducing the number of
new cases. Flattening the curve is not a panacea; it does not mean no
additional cases. Its goal is to reduce the number of new cases, to
reduce illness and to ensure the healthcare system is not overwhelmed
by critically ill patients.
Unless and until we have adequate testing capacity, there is simply
no way to know whether we have sufficiently reduced the number of new
cases to consider reopening society. Once we have reduced the number of
cases for at least 14 days with adequate testing in place, reopening
plans can go into effect on a community-by-community basis.
Decisions to phase in less stringent physical distancing
requirements and to begin expanding allowable activities should be
based on established criteria such as a sustained decline of infections
combined with protocols for protecting high-risk populations. This must
be coupled with a robust public health infrastructure with the capacity
for effective disease surveillance, tracing, isolation of those
infected and quarantine.
While most physical distancing requirements come from state
authorities, local decision making has a critical role to play. Even if
a state determines that it can ease or altogether lift physical
distancing requirements based on the 14-day trigger, the number of new
cases in a specific community may not reflect the statewide trend. That
is why it is critical for unions to be in regular contact with their
employers, and with their local and state authorities, as well the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to assess their particular
situation. Unions and employers need to determine whether there is (a)
adequate testing in their community, given the number of confirmed
cases, and (b) then, once there is adequate testing capacity, a
reduction in the number of new cases for at least 14 consecutive days
to make a decision to transition to reopening. This information must be
transparent and available.
Active surveillance of new cases that develop once reopening has
started will identify clusters of disease. Prompt action must be taken
to prevent the widespread resurgence of COVID-19 in a community. It may
be necessary to resume sheltering in place for shorter periods of time
in communities where there is disease resurgence, and plans must be in
place so schools and other workplaces are prepared if they must close
again.
2. Putting in place the infrastructure and resources to test, trace and
isolate new cases.
Transitioning from community intervention to case intervention
requires the capacity to test, trace and isolate new cases as they
emerge. As Governors and public health experts have repeatedly said,
this capacity to test, trace and isolate every new case of COVID-19
must be built now. People with confirmed infection should quarantine
for at least 14 days (or based on the latest CDC guidance). Anyone in
contact with confirmed cases should be traced and tested. Since there
is ample evidence of both asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic spread, it
is necessary to test contacts to ensure the virus is contained. In
addition, anyone who exhibits symptoms consistent with COVID-19 should
be tested immediately.
Serological testing--a test that looks at people's blood for trace
evidence of whether they have come into contact with the virus--also
provides some hope. With serological testing, we may be able to
identify people who have developed immunity and may be less vulnerable
to infection. Concerns about reliability, privacy and government
oversight warrant close consideration by unions in determining whether
and how serological testing is appropriate for the workforces we
represent.
Public health departments are leading testing and tracing efforts,
but they have been defunded for years and are stretched thin for
resources. Estimates suggest that the United States needs to deploy
somewhere between 100,000 and 250,000 contact tracers to adequately
move from community intervention to case intervention.
However, local communities cannot hold their breath for a day that
may never come or the scale that we need. Unions, in partnership with
employers and state and local authorities can help public health
departments in their efforts to test, trace and isolate new cases. And
to contribute to this effort, unions, working with employers and
others, should also consider creating and training in-house contact
tracers and rapid response resource coordinators. These roles would
serve to help people with confirmed diagnoses, and provide available
health and financial supports and resources during quarantine, to
mitigate the isolating and other effects of the experience.
Again, alignment of strategies, logistics and operations is
essential. What we are facing is complicated and unprecedented.
Testing, tracing and isolation must be done in conjunction with other
public health tools and interventions like physical distancing, proper
hand-washing, the use of personal protective equipment like masks, and
other supports and services (for example, food and mental health
services) that communities need.
3. Deploying the public health tools that prevent the virus' spread and
aligning them with education strategies that meet the needs of
students.
Reopening society and the economy hinges on successfully reopening
schools. While there is general guidance on how each community should
respond to mitigate the risk of spreading the virus, public education,
higher education and our healthcare system each face unique challenges.
We must take every precaution to ensure that students, teachers and
support staff are safe at school and not transmitting the virus. This
requires: adopting evidence-based public health measures at every
school and workplace; aligning those measures with necessary
instructional and well-being strategies that meet the needs of students
and staff; and recognizing that this may be a roller coaster because it
may be necessary to resume physical distancing at certain times and on
a rolling basis, to address community-specific outbreaks. Even without
COVID-19, there are many programmatic considerations for educators as
they plan for every school year. Elementary schools programs fare
differently from high schools, so incorporating public health measures
takes planning and resources. The alignment of logistics, educational
strategies and public health tools really matter, which is why the eyes
and ears of frontline workers must be respected.
The following framework for assessing methods for controlling
exposure to hazards in the workplace was initially developed by the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and later
modified by Johns Hopkins University in response to the COVID-19
pandemic. \2\ It is a good starting point.
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\2\ Caitlin Rivers et al., ``Public Health Principles for a Phased
Reopening During COVID-19: Guidance for Governors,'' Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health, April 17, 2020, https://
www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/publications/public-health-
principles-for-a-phased-reopening-during-covid-19-guidance-for-
Governors.
` Physical distancing--Allowing people to work from home and/
or restructuring work to minimize the number of workers
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
physically present in a workspace.
` Screening--Utilizing screening measures at work and school
sites. This could include temperature-taking, if still
recommended as an effective screening measure by the CDC.
` School-based programming and organization--Among many things
discussed below, redistributing work responsibilities to reduce
contact between people.
` Personal protective equipment and sanitization--Providing
medical-grade masks for health professionals and nonmedical-
grade masks for all others, and disinfecting schools on a
regular basis, in addition to providing hand-washing and
sanitizing stations.
A. Reopening Our Schools
First and foremost, we must do all we can to ensure students,
teachers and support staff are safe at school and are not unknowingly
transmitting or contracting the virus. This will require a number of
steps that anyone who has consumed any news has heard repeatedly:
screening and testing, contact tracing, and isolation and quarantine
measures, as well as ongoing prevention measures like frequent hand-
washing and some degree of physical distancing. There won't be a one-
size-fits-all process, or a hard open where every school in every
district immediately turns the lights on; we may be opening and closing
for a number of months while we secure these measures and develop ways
to keep everyone safe. In addition to the immediate public health tools
and interventions, we must plan for a curriculum-based academic year,
and for the panoply of appropriate educational and social-emotional
supports our students need. We must be prepared for the trauma, the
transition and the many instructional issues--including the effects of
learning loss and the digital divide.
Revisiting the community school model is a way to do all of the
above. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, community schools created a
community hub where students and families could get access to health
services, where marginalized communities received support, and where
necessary services were available in one place. This model is needed
even more now, given the effects of the pandemic--from the inequalities
that have been exacerbated, to the need for care before and after
school so that essential workers can continue to work and other parents
can return to work.
If experts deem it safe, summer may be a way to start planning a
community school model that incorporates the collaborative partnerships
and community resources families have used, including meals and medical
care, while schools were closed. \3\ Summer is a way to try things
other countries are doing, including Denmark, Germany, Israel and
Norway, which are bringing in small groups of students who need
instruction first, including students with special needs whose needs
were hardest to meet during closure.
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\3\ John King and Randi Weingarten, ``What Comes Next for Public
Education?'', The Hill, April 24, 2020, https://thehill.com/opinion/
education/494521-what-comes-next-for-public-schooling.
A voluntary multiweek summer session could provide enrichment and
``catch-up'' time. It also would enable trying, on a smaller scale,
protocols that may work when schools open more broadly, including
staggered scheduling, increased hand-washing, and nightly school
cleaning. And summer can be an opportunity to expand grab-and-go
nutrition programs, as food insecurity remains a pressing issue for far
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too many students.
Now is the time for unions and employers to work on all issues for
returning to school. This includes programming, space, operations,
logistics, calendar, and aligning all the public health interventions
with all the schooling interventions: ensuring students' healthy
social, emotional and academic development; nurturing productive
relationships; building resilience; supporting diversity and inclusion;
and rebuilding the school community.
While COVID-19 has upended much of our lives, it has reinforced the
value and importance of public schooling. Teachers and school staff
across this country continue their heroic efforts to make distance
learning work and support their students--with many parents working
valiantly to support them as well. This experience has made clear that
there is no substitute for a safe and welcoming neighborhood school.
While our public schools have been woefully under-resourced, and we
must continue the fight to change that, this next two years is an
opportunity to visualize what schooling looks like in a post-pandemic
era, to ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive.
i. School-Based Public Health Interventions
Even after shelter-in-place orders are lifted, physical
distancing--including limiting the number of people who can be in a
school, a hall, an auditorium or a classroom--will play an important
role in school safety. Physical distancing measures are the most
effective intervention but also the most disruptive. It is a real
possibility that even after schools open, targeted building closures
could happen around the country in response to community outbreaks.
That is why, even though online education is not a substitute for the
in-person learning and socialization that happens in schools, schools
must prepare for hybrid measures: both in-school and remote education.
Handling emergent cases:
Districts, in partnership with unions, will need to develop
protocols for the referral, tracing and isolation of students and staff
who are exhibiting COVID-19-related symptoms or with confirmed
diagnoses. Any plan should, at minimum, include:
Entry process/screening:
` Hand-washing on entry to all schools, with soap and water or
hand sanitizer;
` Screening for symptoms in children and staff, including
temperature-taking if recommended by the CDC;
` An isolation room;
` Clear protocols for communicating with students, parents and
staff who have come into close/sustained contact with confirmed
cases;
` Limiting access to the nurse's office and creating a
secondary area for triage for other student illnesses or
injuries;
` An ability to transfer healthcare staff to sites with more
cases, without diminishing support available to students
elsewhere in the district; and
` Communicating directly and immediately with parents and
community regarding cases and how the district responded.
Protections for at-risk staff and at-risk students: COVID-19
disproportionately affects people 65 and older and those with
underlying chronic health conditions. Reopening plans should consider
providing these workers with the option to deliver instruction remotely
while students are in the building, with students under the supervision
of qualified staff. At-risk students should have a similar option to
learn remotely while their teachers and peers are in school.
ii. School-Based Public Health Reorganization
Prolonged physical distancing practices may prove impossible for
certain populations. Schools serve diverse populations, from very young
children, to students with severe behavioral issues, to others with
physical limitations that may make strict adherence to a six-foot
distancing standard difficult. This will require efforts to reorganize
the school day and school operations to maintain health and safety
standards.
It is critical to recognize that different schools, different
districts and even different rooms will require tailored solutions.
` Smaller class sizes. One of the most important measures
districts can take is to reduce class sizes. Class sizes of 25
or more students in a small classroom pose obvious risks to
student health and safety. Class sizes of 12-15 students will,
in most circumstances, make it possible to maintain physical
distancing protocols.
` Split scheduling. Alternating days of the week or times of
the day may offer schools a way of limiting the number of
students physically present in the building at any given time.
Knowing that split scheduling may cause disruption for parents
and guardians, schools should consider putting in place after-
school care with safety protocols for students and families
most in need.
` Monitoring access to school facilities. Schools should
closely monitor access to school facilities and limit the
number of visitors granted access to school facilities.
` Transportation. Districts should consider modifying
transportation to provide staggered arrival times and multiple
arrival locations to limit large gatherings of students.
` Staggered lunch and meal times. Meals should be staggered
throughout the day, and schools should consider having students
eat in classrooms with appropriate protocols to keep the
classroom clean.
` Special student populations. Additional considerations and
planning will be needed for students with disabilities,
underlying health conditions, asthma or respiratory illness,
and special education requirements.
` Training for staff, students and parents. Districts should
consider providing up-to-date education and training on COVID-
19 risk factors and protective behaviors.
` Alternative plans for after-school programs, sports,
recreation and physical fitness. These activities may need to
be adjusted using the above protocols.
` Space and time considerations. This includes the need for
portable classrooms or additional space if schools are
overcrowded.
` Additional supports. This includes professional development,
small-group instruction, and all the other social-emotional and
academic programmatic supports necessary during this
transition.
iii. PPE and Sanitization
` Availability of and training on how to effectively use PPE.
Educators and support staff need appropriate PPE and training
on how to properly put on, use, take off and dispose of it.
` Hand-washing stations and protocol. Schools should set up
hand-washing stations upon entry to school buildings. Hand-
washing recesses can be integrated into the schedule throughout
the day for all students and staff.
` Daily sanitizing. School facilities should be thoroughly
sanitized on a daily basis to prevent transmission of the
virus, increasing staff as necessary.
iv. Mental Health Supports for Students
Our collective response to COVID-19 requires much more than
limiting the spread of the virus. Prolonged physical distancing, death
and illness in our families and communities, and economic dislocations,
will leave many students and faculty with ongoing trauma and mental
health issues, and it is incumbent on us to meet their needs now more
than ever. We know from brain science that lack of psychological safety
and the impact of adverse childhood experiences impede and even prevent
learning. These impacts will be widespread. This will require
additional staff with expertise in mental health, to provide trauma and
sensitivity training for all staff, students and parents. All staff
should be trained on how to identify students struggling with trauma
and refer them to mental health professionals for additional support.
v. High-Quality Instruction
Teachers and school support staff have responded to the crisis with
verve and creativity, creating an entirely new educational delivery
system remotely with no advanced notice and little, if any, training.
If anything, the pandemic has proven that teachers, when given the
freedom to teach, will rise to the occasion to deliver high-quality
instruction to their students.
` Blended in-person and distance learning models. When school
attendance is not possible or is limited, districts could
consider a temporary blended model that distributes educational
time between in-person learning and distance learning or fully
remote instruction. Recognizing the dangers of excessive time
on devices, especially for young students, districts should
develop age-appropriate student learning schedules with teacher
input.
` Expanded access to broadband and technology to close the
digital divide. Districts should identify students and
educators who lack sufficient access to the internet and the
hardware that has become critical to distance learning, and
determine solutions for equal access to learning opportunities
for those who are unable to connect with the school digitally.
` Professional development. Professional development and
collaboration time for teachers--before the school year begins,
and ongoing--will be more important than ever. This should
include not only relevant content, but should address teaching
in the new instructional environment, and trauma-informed
practices.
` Rethinking student assessments. An extensive review of all
assessment programs to limit the loss of learning time to
excessive testing, and to prioritize assessments that provide
teachers critical information. Special effort will be needed
for appropriate diagnosis of students' learning levels and
needs given the truncated traditional school year. These
diagnostics should be teacher-friendly and accompanied by
access to relevant instructional resources and supports to fill
gaps.
` Performance evaluation. Districts should put formal
evaluations on hold during the reopening period until they
develop new expectations for the possibility of instruction
that alternates between in-person learning and distance
learning. Informal evaluation focused on helpful feedback
should continue.
` Role of data. Beyond refocusing schools on the fundamental
values of public schooling--a focus that has been lost over the
years--it is also time we repurpose the role of information and
data in our schools. For too long officials have used school
and student data solely for accountability purposes. As we
reopen our schools, we need to primarily use these data to
guide instruction, identify and share best practices, and help
collectively solve mutual problems.
` Teaching and learning. The considerations laid out above
must be placed in the context of the overall instructional
program as well as supplemental services and co-curriculums--
all of which will require significant adjustment. Consideration
of the needs of students--particularly students with
disabilities and special needs, economically disadvantaged
students, and English language learners--will help ensure that
the program works for all.
As the CDC guidance suggests, schools can be information hubs and
places to practice key protocols to help stop the spread of the virus.
We are facing a new normal, and at least in the near future, schools
will not be the same. In the short term, this new normal requires more,
not fewer, resources--nurses, mental health professionals, and
additional instructional and other support. This crisis provides an
opportunity to reimagine America's public schools as inclusive and
welcoming places for all children to thrive and learn.
Perhaps, out of crisis, we will put our children's and their
educators' well-being first. That means, just as we must listen to the
healthcare experts to help ensure everyone's safety through this
outbreak, we must listen to frontline educators, staff and
administrators to ensure children's new normal is one that meets their
needs.
B. Reopening Our Colleges and Universities
Institutions of higher education have been essential to our defense
against this pandemic, and they will be essential to economic recovery
in the new era. American colleges and universities have produced many
of the people who have helped us through this crisis--physicians,
nurses and other frontline medical professionals, as well as supply
chain logisticians, information technology personnel, materials science
engineers and innovators, and more, who will be urgently needed at
every step of what is to come.
College campuses are, historically, exceptionally open physical
environments, with most spaces, including buildings, accessible to the
public virtually all day, and with a wide range of students, faculty,
staff, community members, vendors, outside organizations and other
people--all of whom are potential COVID-19 vectors--moving in and
through the work site, and to off-campus locations both near and far.
The extended duration of daily campus operations--7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
daily is not at all uncommon--allows minimal or no window for deep-
cleaning procedures.
All of this means that the dislocations caused by the COVID-19
crisis pose a unique existential challenge to American higher
education. Because of decades of disinvestment, many institutions--
public and private--are revenue-dependent, and are currently not
situated to survive even a 10 percent or 20 percent decline in
enrollment, or the closure of campus housing for a semester or two.
While prospective students at elite institutions consider taking ``gap
years,'' the students who would and should attend public colleges and
universities are in danger of dropping out of college entirely. And
college and university workers rightly fear that this confluence of
factors will combine with an aggressive transition to online modes of
instruction to result in institutional collapse.
It is critical to remember that the higher education workforce
skews older than average, and is, by the CDC's definition, at
heightened risk from coronavirus. And they are, in the majority,
struggling financially. Most teachers in higher education are gig
workers. Seventy-five percent are employed one year or semester at a
time. One-third of them are making less than $25,000 per year, one-
quarter of them are food-insecure, and 43 percent of them have put off
seeing a doctor for financial reasons in the past year.
To keep these institutions afloat, and to grow the educational
infrastructure we will need in order to come back as a nation from the
coronavirus, a program of investment similar to the grant program that
has helped to stabilize small businesses in this time is needed. We
must invest in our institutions of higher education like never before,
with the college equivalent of Title I: $50 billion in funding to
public institutions of higher education and minority-serving
institutions. This money should flow through states with a formula that
emphasizes enrollments of low-income individuals, and encourages
greater support for institutions that derive larger shares of their
operating budgets from state and local sources.
Specific recommendations for our colleges and universities include:
i. Physical Distancing
` Faculty must decide whether and how online instruction is
possible and, with the guidance of campus and public health
officials, how any in-person or hybrid instruction can be
conducted safely.
` As much as possible, college and university staff--both
professional and classified--must be afforded the opportunity
to continue telework.
` To encourage the greatest extent of physical distancing,
institutions must do everything possible to close the digital
divide for faculty, staff and students, thereby lessening the
need for anyone to be in shared space in order to access the
internet.
` Residential colleges and universities must implement
physical distancing measures for both residents and staff in
campus housing, dining facilities and other common areas
including libraries, if they remain open. Institutions should
consult with, or employ, public health specialists to advise in
an ongoing way about how to accomplish this.
` To prevent fear pushing faculty or students into physical
proximity when physical distancing could and should be
maintained, institutional leaders must expeditiously work with
institutional accrediting agencies, programmatic accreditors,
and union and employer sponsors of workforce training programs,
to assure students and faculty that the responsible movement of
instruction into remote/online and hybrid space will not be
penalized.
` Create and utilize campus public health teams to evaluate
and recommend action on potential problem areas on campus, and
to assess and improve the institution's capacity for testing,
tracing and isolation.
ii. Campus-Based Solutions
` Flexible graduation requirements. Be flexible about program
and graduation requirements, course timelines and sequences,
requirements for professional certification, and other areas of
historic stringency that may conflict with the need for
physical distancing. Consider adjusting upper-level courses to
account for changes in the preparedness of students who have
taken lower-level courses online during this interval.
` Protections for academic freedom. Attend to academic freedom
and student/faculty privacy in a remote learning environment.
The safety of open discussion in a contained classroom could be
compromised by the possibility of recordings that get widely
circulated.
` Data security. Establish rules, including contract language,
that reassure faculty and students that corporate education
vendors will not be using this crisis to enhance their data
mining and in turn appropriate that data to expand
prefabricated curriculum.
` Prepare for ongoing disruption. To the extent an institution
is reopening, make and propagate plans for disruptions to in-
person instruction caused by surges in COVID-19 cases.
` Protections for at-risk populations. Create and enforce
policy and practices to prevent replicating and worsening the
virus's disproportionate impact on older people and people with
underlying health conditions that place them at greater risk.
Be especially attuned to the needs of older faculty and staff,
or those with underlying health conditions or with household
members who have underlying health conditions, to be able to
work out of proximity to others.
` Adjust compensation for additional instructional time. To
maximize educational value and ensure compliance with physical
distancing, plan to pay teachers, particularly adjunct teachers
and graduate assistants, for the time they are asked to spend
meeting either in person or virtually with smaller groups of
students than had met in the past.
iii. PPE and Sanitization
` Identify and provide appropriate PPE for employees and
students.
` Establish cleaning regimens; properly protect and train the
custodial staff who conduct the cleaning.
` Appropriately and regularly sanitize public buildings,
especially campus residential and dining facilities.
iv. Physical and Mental Health Considerations
` Community health liaisons. Add trained nurses and counselors
to oversee the handling of identified cases of illness in the
college or university community, and to direct those in need of
resources.
` Protocol for new cases. Expand campus health resources,
including isolation rooms for students identified with COVID-19
symptoms. Establish criteria for when residential students with
COVID-19 symptoms, or who are diagnosed as COVID-19 positive,
will be excluded from regular campus activities, and identify
the procedure that will be followed to relocate the student
either on or off campus.
` Resources for degree completion. Strengthen and expand
existing programs to help students maintain continuous
enrollment and progress toward degrees--e.g., small-dollar
grant programs, transportation and child care assistance.
C. Readying Our Hospitals and Health Systems
The lessons of this pandemic demonstrate the dangerous consequences
of being ill-prepared. The inability of our decimated public health
infrastructure to handle a pandemic puts the problems with our
corporatized healthcare system on full display. In the absence of
widespread immunity to COVID-19, new infections could surge once
shelter-in-place orders are lifted and society begins to reopen.
Experts additionally talk about a possible second wave of outbreaks in
the fall. Without a robust public health infrastructure, and absent
enforcement of strong protective guidelines and a supportive response
plan by the Federal Government, union leaders in the health sector must
engage in meaningful ways of holding employers accountable.
The gap between our public health system and private healthcare
corporations must be addressed. A lack of transparency and a funding
model that has starved resources from the public health system not only
reward pharmaceutical and large healthcare corporations. They also
establish a power imbalance that minimizes the voices of patients and
workers in setting standards of care and in helping shape how care
should be delivered. Notwithstanding the challenges with our current
system, evidence-based practices, enactment and enforcement of
protective regulatory standards, and collectively bargained terms are
necessary to ensure healthcare workers can care for patients without
fear of harm to themselves and their family, should a resurgence of the
virus occur.
Worker safety is patient safety. Our healthcare workforce has borne
the brunt of workplace infections and deaths related to COVID-19, owing
in large part to the crisis rationing of PPE and the diminution of
Federal standards and guidelines that conform with the highest
standards of patient safety. It is imperative that nurses and other
health professionals are at the table during employer debriefs and when
preparedness plans are evaluated and modified, to ensure our healthcare
workforce is not working in hazardous conditions. Health and safety
issues must be addressed before another surge in infections occurs. PPE
supplies must be adequate in number and quality, and all staff should
be fit-tested and fully trained for use of PPE.
State reopening plans phasing in the return of elective medical
procedures and routine care require a hard look at where we have failed
to keep our patients and healthcare workforce safe. With COVID-19,
nurses and healthcare professionals are working in conditions where
protective measures of infection control have failed and their
expertise and training have been overlooked. Infection control measures
in patient care environments have necessarily been adjusted during the
pandemic and will require ongoing adjustment as reopening occurs.
Factors like patient flow, room setup, and visitor policies will
influence the ability to limit transmission in clinical settings. And
union leaders will need to press healthcare employers to ensure they
are ready to quickly implement preparedness plans in the event of a
resurgence.
There is a need to stabilize the healthcare workforce, as areas
hard-hit by the virus have seen an increased need for critical care
nurses, but a decrease in need for other nurse specialties. Resulting
layoffs and substantial job loss in healthcare contribute to the
overall unemployment rates, prompting the need for effective deployment
of our healthcare workforce; this is a key component of reopening and
preparation for a second surge in infections. Nurses on medical floors
with low patient counts, for example, could be trained to augment
staffing in critical care areas where staffing numbers are low due to
infection rates among clinicians. Rather than tactics like recruitment
from abroad, we should first implement retraining to redeploy existing
staff based on patient needs.
Mending well-being and emotional resilience among the healthcare
workforce will also be a necessity. Stressors abound for healthcare
workers caring for acutely ill COVID-19 patients in isolation in
hospitals and other healthcare settings. Whether related to stressors
like employment of strict biosecurity measures, the isolation from
family and friends, the heightened workload demands, or even the risk
of disease, our healthcare workforce will require a period of
reintegration--even though most of their facilities have remained open.
The systematic failure of employers and the Federal Government to
prepare for a pandemic resulted in an extraordinary level of
unnecessary trauma across the healthcare workforce, and those things
must be addressed.
4. Involving workers, unions, parents and communities in all planning.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to this crisis. Rebuilding
community after a complex public health and economic crisis necessarily
involves thousands of people navigating recovery who are as new to the
experience as the average person; thus, the effectiveness of our
collective response depends on the collective action of each community.
Communities and workers must be educated, engaged and empowered. This
is an unprecedented situation; the eyes and ears of practitioners are
essential to ensure that the public health, instruction and logistics
of reopening are operationalized as seamlessly as possible.
Schools, colleges, hospitals, and local and state governments will
need to engage workers and community stakeholders at every level of the
decision making process to ensure that the mitigation strategies
embedded in reopening plans are responsive to the specific
vulnerabilities of each workplace and that there is regular and open
communication regarding the policies and procedures to keep everyone
safe. Without transparency and joint decision making, there is a real
risk of distrust, the spread of misinformation, and a lack of
compliance with reopening plans.
Collective bargaining is the best way to ensure that workers are
represented in decision making and that health and safety standards are
enforced to the benefit of workers and the communities they serve. In
the absence of collective bargaining, workers and employers can use
meet-and-confer arrangements to formalize reopening plans and ensure
accountability.
Protections for Workers and Community
Strong, clear and enforceable workplace health and safety standards
must be in place to protect workers' voices during the reopening
process. Employers and joint bodies administering the phased reopening
plans need to know where there are faults in the plan and noncompliance
issues. In addition to OSHA protections available in some states,
workplaces and other authorities should develop policies to protect
workers who speak up about health and safety issues, as healthcare
professionals are frequently subject to gag orders, and many have lost
their jobs for speaking up about safety concerns. \4\
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\4\ Theresa Brown, ''The Reason Hospitals Won't Let Doctors and
Nurses Speak Out,'' New York Times, April 21, 2020, https://
www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/opinion/coronavirus-doctors-nurses-hos-
pitals.html.
To ensure that health and safety measures are implemented, workers
who voice concerns publicly should be protected from employer
retaliation that could result in their discipline or dismissal. Workers
must have the right to refuse work if they fear exposure to the virus
because they have not been provided proper protections or training to
do their jobs safely. The surest way to protect workers in these
instances is to put these protections into collective bargaining
agreements. Workers have and will face great risks in transitioning to
reopening, and their voices should be treated as a public health
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resource, not a liability.
In general, unions and employers, consulting with diverse community
stakeholders, should treat the collective bargaining process as an
opportunity to solve problems facing school districts, universities and
hospitals as they plan for and manage reopening. Consultation
provisions can be built into the agreement to ensure that all parties
are regularly discussing and solving problems as they arise.
Collective bargaining can also be used to fight for the resources
workers and communities need. AFT affiliates from across the country
have been fighting for smaller class sizes, more nurses and counselors,
safe patient staffing, resources for community schools, and other
supports for students. Public schools should continue to be reimagined
as community hubs--places where students and families can get access to
community health services, be regularly educated about how to stay
healthy, and learn where to go to receive testing and treatment. Strong
community and family engagement has been a cornerstone of transforming
struggling schools to support students. When practitioners and school
administrators work together to support these efforts the results are
even stronger and more sustainable.
This kind of investment around a whole-community approach is what
will not only mitigate the disproportionate harm this crisis has caused
the most vulnerable communities, but help reverse the inequality that
existed long before this pandemic.
A Seat at the Table
All community members are struggling with the fear and anxiety of
reopening before a vaccine is widely available. In order for
communities to trust reopening plans, they need a seat at the table to
make decisions, and to feel engaged and empowered to help their
community implement them.
Reopening plans need to address specific challenges in each
community. Some schools have a network of healthcare providers that
deliver services to students and the school community, and others
don't. Some universities have student populations with no home to
return to in the event campus is closed. African Americans face higher
rates of infection and death. Older workers and those with chronic or
underlying conditions are at higher risk of having life-threatening
cases of COVID-19.
To address these issues, state and local unions should start
planning committees now, for the next school year, and use a needs
assessment tool to map out the risks of reopening. These committees can
also help align the resources available across sectors--education,
public health and public safety--to mitigate those risks. The guidance
on the available public health tools and strategies for preserving
high-quality instruction discussed in section three is a good starting
point, as is any overture to invite parents and community groups to
join you.
The plans that come out of needs assessments not only should
provide guidance to employers, but also should become official policy
upon adoption by school boards and other governing bodies and/or
included in collective bargaining agreements to ensure compliance and
accountability. Workers and community stakeholders need the power and
voice to enforce these reopening plans, and to make sure they work to
fulfill health, safety and educational goals.
Effective communication depends on a high degree of trust. Without
the trust of workers and community stakeholders, workplaces will be
challenged to ensure compliance with reopening plans. Communication
before and during phased reopening must be transparent about the
stakeholders involved in the decision making process, the factors used
to make decisions, and the nature of the decision making process
itself. We must remember that our communities are eager to return to a
sense of normalcy, as they are feeling the grief of lost loved ones,
economic insecurity due to lost jobs and incomes, and prolonged
isolation.
Perhaps most importantly, communication needs to be clear about the
actions people can and must take to protect themselves and others from
COVID-19. Employers may simply not have the ability to effectively
communicate those actions to workers and the community at large, and
they will need to call on the help of union and community stakeholders
to deliver the message into the community. A ``whole school-whole
community'' approach has been the most effective at limiting the spread
of the virus and keeping panic at bay. The AFT has worked tirelessly to
ensure our members and communities are properly informed.
5. Invest in recovery. Do not abandon America's communities or forfeit
America's future.
The paired crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting
economic devastation make reopening the public square especially
complex. We know we must reignite the economy, and a safe reopening of
schools and other workplaces is a necessary step toward recovery. While
we are eager to put people back to work, send children back to school,
and repair the damage done to the economy and our families' well-being,
to rush this process or fail to put in place the safeguards advised by
public health experts will risk both a second surge of infection and an
even deeper economic downturn.
The toll this has taken on America's working families and our
communities is incalculable, and the hole gets deeper with each passing
day. This particular moment requires our Federal Government, in
particular, to respond appropriately. In addition to what has already
been done, a substantial and immediate Federal investment in our
states, cities and towns is critical to ensure that we are continuing
to respond to the pandemic, clearing the way for a safe reopening, and
supporting our families and communities.
A Plan to Support State and Local Governments and Other Critical
Services: Public Schools, Public Safety, Public Health, the U.S. Postal
Service and More
Businesses large and small have shut down operations, and more than
26 million workers have filed for unemployment in recent weeks,
threatening to crater tax revenue for state and local governments. Even
with the $2 trillion CARES Act rescue package passed in March, the
White House predicts 20 percent of Americans will be unemployed by
June. Governors from all 50 states have issued emergency declarations
and taken steps to reallocate their budgets. Now, these Governors,
Democrats and Republicans alike, are calling for the next COVID-19
relief bill to include another $500 billion to stabilize their states
and prevent another wave of layoffs, because they're desperate to avoid
the cuts to public services like schools, healthcare centers and public
safety. More will be necessary to provide for a safe reopening and
address new needs created by this crisis.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested that Congress
should let state and local governments go bankrupt, putting teachers,
nurses, bus drivers, firefighters, EMTs and other public employees out
of work, plundering pensions and retirement security, and plunging even
more families and seniors into poverty. His plan would gut public
education, Medicaid, public health services and mental health
treatment--the essential public services that never recovered fully
from the austerity measures imposed after the Great Recession of 2008.
We cannot forfeit our future or abandon our communities. To survive
as a Nation, we must help our public schools, universities, hospitals,
state and local government, and the Postal Service provide services
that will be more needed than ever; this will require an immediate,
massive reinvestment in public services. The CARES Act and related
legislation provided an important first step in a Federal response, but
more is needed. Congress should, in the next iteration of its response,
do at least the following:
` Support the National Governors Association's call for $500
billion in additional funds to meet the states' budgetary
shortfalls that have resulted from this unprecedented public
health crisis.
` Provide at least $175 billion for the Education
Stabilization Fund distributed directly to local education
agencies and institutions of higher education, with minimal
state set-asides, in an equitable and targeted fashion. Also
provide $50 billion in direct funding for public colleges and
universities and minority-serving institutions. Given
anticipated loss of tax revenues, they will need substantially
more Federal support to deliver crucial public services, such
as educating our Nation's public school students, sustaining
public higher education and maintaining a public service
workforce.
` Invest in voluntary summer school, after-school programs and
community schools that will make up for the instructional time
lost during the 2019-20 school year, by providing significant
additional funding for Title I and the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act as well as additional funding for
high-quality, voluntary summer school and extended learning
time. While the full extent of the current crisis continues to
evolve, we already know that, despite their best efforts to
support students and families, our schools will be faced with
students who have experienced extended months of learning loss,
significant poverty, trauma and unmet social-emotional needs.
` Increase investment to close the digital divide. High-speed
broadband, reliable mobile service, modern technology and
hardware are no longer optional. They are now core
infrastructure needs of businesses, schools and homes. \5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ Congressional Budget Office, ``CBO's Current Projection of
Output, Employment, and Interest Rates and a Preliminary Look at
Federal Deficits for 2020 and 2021,'' April 24, 2020, https://
www.cbo.gov/publication/56335.
` Substantially increase Medicaid funding, provide free COVID-
19 testing and treatment for all regardless of immigration or
insurance status, and increase support for providers assisting
underserved populations. \6\
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\6\ American Federation of Teachers, ``A Decade of Neglect: Public
Education Funding in the Aftermath of the Great Recession,'' https://
www.aft.org/sites/default/files/decade-of-neglect-2018.pdf; Trust for
America's Health, ``Pain in the Nation Update: Deaths from Alcohol,
Drugs and Suicide Reach the Highest Levels Ever Recorded,'' February
2018, https://www.tfah.org/article/new-report-funding-for-public-
health-has-declined-significantly-since-the-great-recession/.
` Provide for the personal protective equipment, cleaning
supplies and other materials necessary to help our public
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
institutions reopen safely.
` Cover 100 percent of COBRA health insurance premiums for
those workers now unemployed through no fault of their own, or
who lost health insurance due to the death of the carrier.
Ensure resources are available, and that proper testing and
safety provisions can be in place, before schools reopen.
` Permanently expand eligibility for unemployment benefits to
many previously uncovered workers (including the self-employed,
independent contractors and gig workers), and extend
unemployment benefits for an additional 13 weeks.
` Boost SNAP maximum benefits by 15 percent and increase the
SNAP minimum payment from $16 to $30. This will help provide
adequate nutrition assistance to meet the overall need and spur
economic recovery. Every day there is new evidence of the depth
of food hardship and economic dislocation. Each $1 of Federal
SNAP benefits during a downturn generates between $1.50 and
$1.80 in economic activity.
` Increase by a minimum of 15-percentage points the Federal
Medical Assistance Percentages, which determines Medicaid
spending. This increase should be added to the 6.2 percentage-
point increase adopted in the Families First Coronavirus
Response Act, and increases should be retroactive to Jan. 1,
2020, and should last until at least Dec. 31, 2021.
` Cancel student debt. As a Nation, we are now paying the
price for our decades of neglect of the systems through which
collective effort once enabled us to take on herculean
challenges. This includes our neglect of our system of higher
education, which has produced fewer essential professionals
than we need and has, in shifting the burden of its costs to
individual students and families, effectively demanded lifetime
personal indenture of those who undertake college, graduate and
professional education. In the economic catastrophe we now
face, for its stimulative effect alone, it is time to free
people who have attended college of the burden of student loan
debt.
Given these needs, Congress should make at least a $750 billion
investment in state and local government to stabilize public services,
which will help put us on a path to reopen safely and allow for a real
recovery for all our communities. This administration spent trillions
on a corporate tax cut in 2017; it must be prepared to invest a
comparable amount on the anchoring institutions that have been key to
fighting the virus and are central to any recovery plan: Public
schools, universities, hospitals, state and local governments and the
U.S. Postal Service provide services that will be more needed than
ever, and we need a massive investment in them right now.
In partnership with the AFL-CIO and partner unions, we developed
five economic essentials to address the stark realities now faced by
workers across all sectors:
` Keep America healthy--protect and expand health insurance
for all workers;
` Keep frontline workers safe and secure;
` Keep workers employed, and protect earned pension checks;
` Keep state and local governments, our public schools and the
U.S. Postal Service solvent and working; and
` Keep America competitive--hire people to build
infrastructure and make long-overdue investments in this key
pillar of the economy.
We have all watched harrowing reports of abusive and unsafe
conditions for essential workers in meatpacking plants \7\ and
warehouses \8\ across the country. On April 28, AFT-affiliated nurses
and healthcare professionals in 10 states filed 24 separate OSHA
complaints \9\ for lack of necessary personal protective equipment
despite their ongoing exposure to COVID-19 patients as part of their
jobs. The president must use the power of the office to protect workers
with the aggressive enforcement of Defense Production Act and OSHA
standards. He must cease using the power of the presidency, his public
press conferences and his Twitter account to endanger the lives of
working people.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Ken Anderson, ``Trump Orders Meatpacking Plans to Remain
Open,'' Brownfield AG News, April 28, 2020, https://
brownfieldagnews.com/news/trump-orders-meatpacking-plants-to-remain-
open/.
\8\ Alina Selyukh, ``Amazon Warehouse Safety `Inadequate,' N.Y.
Attorney General Office Says,'' NPR, April 27, 2020, https://
www.npr.org/2020/04/27/846438983/amazon-warehouse-safety-inade-quate-n-
y-attorney-general-s-office-says.
\9\ Olivia Messer, ``OSHA Complaints Flood in from COVID-19
Frontline Health Workers,'' Daily Beast, April 28, 2020, https://
www.thedailybeast.com/osha-complaints-flood-in-from-covid-19-frontline-
health-workers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Progressive Economic Agenda
With interest rates and inflation at historic lows, the Federal
Government should continue to borrow to fulfill its role and to support
state and local government services. It is not the time to be concerned
about deficits. And the Federal Government should be prepared to raise
taxes. We are trying to both save lives and ensure the quality and
dignity of those lives. It is completely appropriate to ask our future
selves to help pay for that. We must fund our future if we want our
children to inherit the potential to fulfill the promise of the
American dream.
States also will have an important role. In Illinois and
California, there are initiatives on the ballot this fall to raise
revenues by asking those who have more to pay more. These are the right
policies to pursue at the moment, and more states should look to
emulate these efforts in the coming days. While there is an argument
that raising taxes in a recession has an economic cost, the economic
and social costs of cutting services and creating further suffering are
far greater. We can afford to make these investments, we cannot afford
to fail.
CONCLUSION: A LIVING DOCUMENT
This plan to reopen our society is a living document, guided by
constantly evolving expert advice about how best to keep our children,
our workers and our communities safe from the continued spread of
COVID-19 and what resources are needed to put communities back on the
road to recovery.
It rests on the fundamental belief that without a vaccine, we must
take specific steps to map out our new normal, which must include: some
elements of physical distancing; infrastructure for testing, tracing
and isolation; deploying public health interventions in our schools and
workplaces and aligning them with the necessary educational supports;
involvement of workers and community in the development of reopening
plans; and significant investments in states, localities, schools,
healthcare and the Postal Service--the essential systems that have
carried us through this crisis and will need continued support.
Together, as the people on the frontlines of carrying our country
through this crisis, we will work to carry our communities through the
recovery that follows.
______
Purdue will require all students to be tested for COVID-19 before start
of the fall semester
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind--As the next step to protect the health and
safety of everyone on campus and the community, Purdue University
announced today (July 8) that it is formulating plans to require and
pay for all West Lafayette-bound students to be tested for COVID-19
before moving into residence halls and attending classes this August.
The program will be led by Dr. Esteban Ramirez, chief medical
officer at the Protect Purdue Health Center (PPHC), and was developed
in consultation with the Protect Purdue Medical Advisory Team. Dr.
Ramirez is an experienced internist and clinical assistant professor at
the Indiana University School of Medicine-West Lafayette. Under Dr.
Ramirez' direction, the PPHC is the University's virtual health center
launched last week to coordinate the overall workflow of COVID-related
case management on campus.
Through its Protect Purdue initiative, undergraduate, graduate and
professional program students will soon be provided instructions and
assistance on how and when to get tested for COVID-19, beginning in
early August before traveling to campus.
Student test results will be sent to the Protect Purdue Health
Center, and those testing positive should not travel to West Lafayette
or come to campus for any reason until they isolate for 14 days and are
medically cleared to return by the PPHC.
Failure to complete a COVID-19 test and have those results filed
with the Protect Purdue Health Center prior to arrival will affect a
student's ability to move into a residence hall or begin in-person
classes when they resume on August 24. Academic support will be
available through virtual consultations with staff specializing in
student success to help undergraduate students navigate their continued
academic progress if they must isolate because of COVID-19.
For students already on campus or arriving for various early start
programs throughout July, the University and the Protect Purdue Health
Center are developing plans to rapidly sample and test individuals
through a combination of resources provided by on-campus, local and
outside partners.
The University will cover costs of all student testing. Purdue is
expecting a potentially record number of freshmen this fall, with a
student body of more than 40,000 total.
``Our comprehensive Protect Purdue Plan affords us the unique
flexibility and adaptability to respond to rising COVID-19 cases across
parts of the country and help protect our Purdue community in real
time,'' Ramirez said.
``We are committed to facilitating the testing of our students who
span the Nation and the globe before they return to the residence
halls, classrooms and West Lafayette community this August by way of
our Protect Purdue Health Center,'' Ramirez added. ``Through these
preventative and proactive measures, we take another important step to
protect the student body, our faculty, staff, overall campus and
members of the local community--particularly the most vulnerable--amid
concerning national trends.''
Undergraduate, graduate and professional program students: All
students living on campus this fall will be required to be tested for
COVID-19 and have a negative test result on file with the Protect
Purdue Health Center prior to moving into their residence hall in
August.
Those students living off campus also will be required to be tested
for COVID-19 and have negative test results on file with the PPHC prior
to participating in an on-campus program in August or attending their
first in-person class.
Specific instructions will soon be provided on how and when to get
tested for COVID-19 in August before traveling to campus, while
allowing adequate time for processing and reporting test results before
arrival.
For students participating in Early Start, Summer Start and other
programs throughout July, as well as students already at Purdue for
work, research or classes this summer, special arrangements have been
made to test them on campus or in collaboration with local testing
partners.
Faculty and staff: Faculty and staff are not required to be COVID-
19 tested at this time provided they are not sick, experiencing any
symptoms of COVID-19, and have not been exposed to someone who has
tested positive for COVID-19.
All faculty and staff, particularly those working on campus this
summer and fall, are encouraged to adhere to the components of the
Protect Purdue Pledge, particularly monitoring and reporting any signs
or symptoms of COVID-19 to the Protect Purdue Health Center by calling
765-496-INFO (4636) or toll-free at 833-571-1043. The caller will be
connected to a registered nurse case manager, who will help determine
the appropriate course of care, which could include self-quarantine and
a COVID-19 test.
Integrated Monitoring and Surveillance Plan: The Protect Purdue
Health Center, the single-point health center for all things COVID-19-
related for the Purdue community, is staffed with a dedicated team of
physicians, registered nurses, case managers, contact tracers and
support staff. Ramirez said the PPHC is working closely with the
Protect Purdue Health Monitoring and Surveillance Team as well as the
Medical Advisory Team to ensure the safety, health and well-being of
individuals and the community.
As the semester progresses, the Protect Purdue Health Center will
provide ongoing case management, which will include monitoring and
testing of both symptomatic individuals and close contacts who might
have been exposed to positive individuals. The protocols for testing
and contact tracing have been developed in accordance with the
guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and
the Indiana State Department of Health.
When the comprehensive Protect Purdue Plan was announced on June 12
for reopening the campus this fall, the University began the
capabilities to rapidly assess, sample and test any student, faculty or
staff member reporting COVID-19 symptoms and those identified through
clinically relevant contact tracing.
About Purdue University:
Purdue University is a top public research institution developing
practical solutions to today's toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 6
Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World
Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world
discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning,
Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to
affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most
fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate
debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the
next giant leap at purdue.edu.
Media contact: Tim Doty.
______
Letters of Support
(AAU), (APLU), (AAMC), (ACE),
November 6, 2019
Hon. Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader,
U.S. Senate,
S-226, United States Capitol,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Charles Schumer, Minority Leader,
U.S. Senate,
322 Hart Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Richard Shelby, Chairman,
U.S. Senate,
304 Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Patrick Leahy, Vice Chairman,
U.S. Senate,
437 Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Leader McConnell, Leader Schumer, Chairman Shelby and Vice
Chairman Leahy:
We represent the leading national voices for the research
universities, medical schools, and teaching hospitals at the forefront
of our Nation's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. We thank you for
your continuing efforts to mitigate the pandemic's harmful health,
economic, and societal consequences. In April, we wrote to Congress
identifying $26 billion in research relief funding needs due to
disruptions caused by COVID-19. Today, we reiterate the urgency of that
request and ask that the Senate provide supplemental appropriations for
Federal research agencies of at least $26 billion in its next pandemic
relief bill.
COVID-19 has caused enormous disruptions to federally supported
research and inflicted serious and detrimental impacts on our Nation's
research enterprise. The relief that we are requesting would make
significant strides in avoiding long-term and devastating impacts to
Federal research which underpins the ability of our Nation's patients,
doctors, innovation and energy industries, and farmers, ranchers, and
fishers to have access to globally competitive, American innovations.
Federally supported research at academic institutions and core
research facilities utilized by agency-funded researchers has been
disrupted, delayed, and, in some cases, indefinitely shut down. The
research workforce is experiencing extraordinary strains during this
crisis. It threatens to erode our Nation's scientific and technical
expertise and talent base, which would put our competitiveness and
security at risk. Addressing these serious threats has generated
bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House. In the past month,
214 Members of Congress have signed letters asking congressional
leadership to support emergency funding to preserve the research
workforce. \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ April 29, 2020 bipartisan letter from 181 Members of the House
to leadership requesting $26 billion in research relief for Federal
research agencies; May 4, 2020 bipartisan letter from 33 Senators to
leadership requesting $26 billion in research relief for Federal
research agencies.
This emergency relief funding is especially critical to maintaining
and advancing U.S. competitiveness during this crisis through
innovations supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the
Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Defense (DOD), and Energy (DOE), the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), and other Federal research agencies. There
has been an extraordinary response from academic scientists who, where
possible, have pivoted to coronavirus research during this emergency,
but much other onsite research has necessarily stalled due to
widespread stay-at-home orders. Scientists have been doing what they
can to move projects forward remotely, but with many researchers unable
to work in their labs and fields during the pandemic, emergency relief
funds are urgently needed at the Federal research agencies to extend
the duration of research projects and ensure the objectives of these
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal research investments that have already been made are met.
We cannot afford to lose the Nation's scientific research workforce
at this critical juncture. At a time in which we are in a global race
for talent, this agency funding will directly support graduate
students, post-doctoral researchers, and early career faculty in
completing their studies and ensure career stability for America's
future researchers.
We urge that at least $26 billion in emergency research relief
funding be appropriated to Federal research agencies to support the
research workforce, mitigate the disruptions to research and core
research facilities, and ramp up research that has been halted or
slowed. These funds do not expand the Nation's investment in research,
but are desperately needed just to preserve the current investment.
This recommendation is based on the best available information at this
time from the Federal research agencies, the duration of the public
health emergency and its impacts on research activities, and our
understanding of the complexities of restarting research at research
institutions in every state nationwide. We recommend this funding be
apportioned to Federal research agencies, at minimum, as follows:
Department of Defense (DOD)--$3 billion
Department of Energy (DOE)--$5 billion
National Institutes of Health (NIH)--$10 billion \2\
National Science Foundation (NSF)--$3 billion
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA)--$2 billion
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)--$380 million
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ At a May 7, 2020 hearing of the Senate Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions Committee, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins NIH
Director testified that ``The estimates are something like $10 billion
of NIH funded-research that is going to disappear because of the way in
which this virus has affected everybody requiring this kind of
distancing and sending people home.'' He also indicated, ``I worry
particularly about trainees who have lost time, who are really quite
concerned about what this does to their professional career.'' https://
www.help.senate.gov/hearings/shark-tank-new-tests-for-covid-19.
As part of the at least $26 billion for Federal agencies, we
request supplemental appropriations for other Federal agencies with a
research budget greater than $100 million, including NOAA, NIST, EPA,
the Institute for Education Sciences, and others. Like the
aforementioned major Federal agencies, significant research disruptions
necessitate additional funding to these agencies to protect the
research workforce and complete taxpayer-funded research projects.
These estimates are based on currently available information, which
includes an estimated duration of laboratory closures that began in
March, continued into May, and will persist to varying degrees as
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
institutions begin ramping up research.
Without these funds, the consequences for our Nation's university
research and scientific enterprise are dire. Agencies will be forced to
choose between abandoning new research opportunities of national
importance or discontinuing existing research projects that are not yet
completed. This would undermine the public's investment in research and
slow discovery and innovation, while at the same time jeopardizing a
generation of scientists and engineers critical to America's innovation
capacity and economic competitiveness for years to come.
Thank you for your consideration and leadership during this
extraordinary time of crisis.
Sincerely,
Mary Sue Coleman,
President,
Association of American Universities.
Peter McPherson,
President,
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.
David J. Skorton, MD,
President and CEO,
Association of American Medical Colleges.
Ted Mitchell,
President,
American Council on Education.
______
American Council on Education,
Washington, DC,
May 29, 2020
Hon. Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader,
U.S. Senate,
317 Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Charles Schumer, Minority Leader,
U.S. Senate,
322 Hart Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Leader McConnell, Minority Leader Schumer:
On behalf of the organizations listed below, we express our
appreciation for the financial support provided to postsecondary
students and institutions in the several enacted supplemental
appropriations acts. As you consider next steps to help America recover
from the novel coronavirus pandemic, we write to reiterate our request
for the additional support outlined in our April 9 letter. \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The letter can be found at: https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/
Letter-House-Higher-Ed-Supplemental-Request-040920.pdf. Underlying
assumptions and data used in the letter can be found here: https://
www.acenet.edu/Documents/Higher-Education-Recommendations-4th-
Supplemental-Assumptions-040920.pdf.
As you are well aware, institutions of higher education, their
students, and faculty and staff continue to face unprecedented
challenges as a result of the pandemic, including dealing with
shuttered campuses and the rapid transition to online learning, as well
as an unwavering commitment to ensuring the health and safety of their
entire communities. During the second half of the current school year,
our institutions lost billions of dollars beyond the $14 billion
appropriation for students and institutions in the CARES Act. Still, we
are deeply grateful that Congress provided those emergency resources.
This lifeline enabled colleges and universities to assist their most
vulnerable students and address immediate needs related to the effects
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
of the pandemic on our campuses.
In the April 9 letter we detailed our request for $46.6 billion to
help address near-term campus financial needs, including increased
need-based aid for students due to declining family incomes, and
revenue losses stemming from enrollment declines and closures of campus
facilities that provide auxiliary services.
As we look to summer and the 2020-21 school year, we expect even
greater losses. Recent surveys conducted by several higher education
associations indicate that the $46.6 billion estimate is far lower than
the actual impact will be. For example, in one such survey three-
quarters of institutions reported total current-year revenue losses of
up to 20 percent, while a smaller percentage, roughly 5 percent,
reported even higher losses. The outlook is worse for the upcoming
year. Many more institutions believe their losses next year will exceed
20 percent.
As referenced in our April 9 letter, we firmly believe that direct
distribution to institutions is the best way to ensure that Federal
funds actually reach the students and schools they were intended to
help. While we share many of Congress's concerns regarding the
implementation of the CARES Act, it is equally clear that using the
existing Federal system for providing aid to institutions is the
fastest way to get support to where it is needed. By pairing this rapid
disbursal of funds with statutory language that gives campuses broad
flexibility and authority to use funds in ways that best match the
unique needs of students and their institutions, Congress can bypass
the kinds of bureaucratic limitations that hampered the effectiveness
of some CARES aid. The language included in the HEROES Act effectively
addressed this issue, and we recommend its inclusion in any future
supplemental legislation.
Unfortunately, Federal support for higher education has
historically been used by states to supplement other areas of state
budgets, leaving higher education vulnerable to massive cuts in state
support and students vulnerable to tuition increases. In order to
guarantee that states do not simply reduce their funding to
institutions of higher education in proportion to new Federal
assistance, Congress must include a maintenance of effort (MOE)
provision as a condition of receiving funding. No state should be
allowed to cut higher education disproportionately to cuts in its
overall budget. Furthermore, it's critical to include an expansive
definition of ``higher education'' that includes direct support to
institutions and state student financial aid programs.
Colleges and universities employ nearly 4 million people
nationwide, and are already struggling to maintain their faculty and
staff. Some campuses have closed, others have declared financial
exigency, and many have furloughed employees and cut budgets further.
In addition to massive increases in expenses and precipitous declines
in revenues, institutions are now experiencing the effects of cuts to
state higher education budgets, which will only get much worse.
Additional emergency aid is critical to stabilize institutions
financially and support students who will come to campus this fall with
substantial unmet need. Losses of the magnitude we expect to see in the
fall would necessarily weaken not just colleges and universities, but
the economic health of their surrounding communities and regions.
We appreciate your understanding of the substantial needs our
institutions have and thank you for the support Congress has already
provided to higher education through the CARES Act and other
legislation. we are requesting our members understand the Federal
Government cannot fully address all of their existing needs, and we are
not asking you to do so. Rather, the $46.6 billion we are requesting
will serve as a lifeline for students and campuses into the fall. We
are proud of the innovative measures already underway as campuses
strive to serve their students under these unparalleled circumstances
and with limited resources, but there is only so much that can be done
without additional Federal support, given the scope of the crisis
institutions are facing.
For these reasons, we look forward to working with you to ensure
that this critical funding is included in the legislation you will be
considering.
Sincerely,
Ted Mitchell,
President.
On behalf of:
Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
Achieving the Dream
American Association of Colleges Nursing
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions
Officers
American Association of Community Colleges
American Association of State Colleges and Universities
American Association of University Professors
American Council on Education
American Dental Education Association
American Indian Higher Education Consortium
APPA, Leadership in Educational Facilities
Associated Colleges of the Midwest
Association for Biblical Higher Education
Association of American Colleges and Universities
Association of American Universities
Association of California Colleges and Universities
Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities
Association of Chiropractic Colleges
Association of Community College Trustees
Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges
Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities
Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in
Massachusetts
Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in New Jersey
Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of
Pennsylvania
Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode
Island
Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design
Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities
Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities
College and University Professional Association for Human Resources
Common App
Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges
Council for Advancement and Support of Education
Council for Christian Colleges & Universities
Council for Higher Education Accreditation
Council of Graduate Schools
Council of Independent Colleges
Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia
Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions
Council on Social Work Education
Council of Independent Nebraska Colleges Foundation
EDUCAUSE
ETS
Georgia Independent College Association
Great Lakes Colleges Association
Higher Learning Commission
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida
Independent Colleges and Universities of Missouri
Independent Colleges of Washington
Independent Colleges of Indiana
Kansas Independent College Association
Louisiana Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
Maryland Independent College and University Association
Michigan Independent Colleges & Universities
Minnesota Private College Council
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
NASPA--Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education
National Association for College Admission Counseling
National Association of College and University Business Officers
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
National Association of Schools and Colleges of the United
Methodist Church
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
National Association of System Heads
National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Council for Community and Education Partnerships
Network of Colleges and Universities, Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America
New England Commission of Higher Education
North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
Online Learning Consortium
Oregon Alliance of Independent Colleges & Universities
Phi Beta Kappa Society
Quality Matters
Rebuilding America's Middle Class
Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Assoc.
UNCF (United Negro College Fund, Inc.)
UPCEA
WASC Senior College & University Commission
Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
Yes We Must Coalition
______
National Education Association,
June 9, 2020
Hon. Lamar Alexander, Chairman,
Hon. Patty Murray, Ranking Member,
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
428 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray:
On behalf of our 3 million members and the 50 million students they
serve, we would like to submit for the record the following comments in
connection with the June 10 hearing, ``Going Back to School Safely.''
Physically opening schools at the beginning of the 2020-21 school
year is the goal of most districts and states, but the decision to
reopen must be rooted in health and safety--not driven by an arbitrary
start date. To reopen schools safely, we will need to provide personal
protective equipment (PPE) for students and educators; modify
classrooms, cafeterias, and school buses to permit social distancing;
intensify instruction and support for students traumatized by the
impact of the coronavirus on their families and communities; and more.
Doing so will require significant investments at a time when schools
are facing budget cuts that are expected to far exceed those during the
Great Recession.
Looming State Budget Shortfalls
America officially entered a recession in February, according to
the National Bureau of Economic Research. More than 40 million
Americans are jobless. The unemployment rate is nearly 14 percent, the
highest since the Great Depression. States and localities are
struggling to fund public education in the face of dramatically rising
costs and sharply declining tax revenues as consumers dial back
spending on virtually everything except groceries and Netflix
subscriptions.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 500,000 public
education jobs have already been lost. If the economic damage wrought
by the coronavirus pandemic goes unchecked, nearly 2 million
educators--one-fifth of the workforce--could lose their jobs over the
next three years, according to a new analysis by the National Education
Association.
These job losses would profoundly impact the 50 million students
who attend public schools, their families, and communities--especially
low-income students whose schools rely on Title I funding to lower
class sizes, hire specialists, and offer a rich curriculum. By
comparison, 300,000 education jobs were lost during the Great
Recession. In other words, the COVID-19 recession could be more than
six times as bad for education as the 2008 financial crisis.
Students Need More--not Less
The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on a hard truth that
our members across the country already knew: Not all students have
access to the educators, resources, and tools they need. It has also
fully revealed the long-standing digital divide and exacerbated
inequities like the homework gap--the inability to do schoolwork at
home due to lack of internet access. Nationwide, as many as 12 million
students are affected--roughly 1 in 5--and a disproportionate share are
African American, Hispanic, live in rural areas, or come from low-
income families.
To help contain the spread of COVID-19, public schools in nearly
every state shut down and abruptly switched to online instruction,
putting students without access to the internet at even greater risk of
falling behind their peers. Taking into account all these factors,
McKinsey & Company estimates that African American students could lose
the equivalent of 10 months of learning, Hispanic students 9 months of
learning, and low-income students more than a full year of learning due
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead of addressing these issues, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos
has used resources provided by the CARES Act to push her failed
privatization agenda, which has been repeatedly rejected by Congress.
``Microgrants,'' her latest scheme, are just another name for vouchers
that divert taxpayer dollars from public to private and religious
schools.
Next Steps
Decisions about reopening America's schools should be grounded in
health experts' findings and recommendations, input from educators,
access to protection, and equity--treating racial and social justice as
an imperative, not an expendable aspiration.
The HEROES Act recognizes this is the right approach. It includes
$915 billion in direct relief for state and local governments that can
be used to pay vital workers such as educators and $90 billion in
additional education funding that could save more than 800,000
education jobs at all levels from kindergarten to postsecondary. The
HEROES Act would also ensure that taxpayer dollars go where Congress
intended: to the public schools that educate 9 out of 10 students.
To help reopen schools safely, NEA urges Congress to provide at
least $175 billion more for the Education Stabilization Fund, at least
$56 million in directed funding for protective equipment, and at least
$4 billion to create a special fund, administered by the successful E-
Rate program, to equip students with hot spots and devices to help
narrow the digital divide and close the homework gap.
We thank you for the opportunity to submit these comments and stand
ready to work with Congress to reopen America's schools safely.
Sincerely,
Marc Egan
Director of Government Relations,
National Education Association
______
The Education Trust,
June 24, 2020
Hon. Lamar Alexander, Chairman,
Hon. Patty Murray, Ranking Member,
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
428 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray, and Members of
the Committee:
Thank you for the opportunity to testify earlier this month during
the ``COVID-19: Going Back to School Safely'' hearing. As mentioned in
my testimony, the challenges that face us right now in terms of the
impact that COVID-19 has had on our educational system, as well as
students and their families, are significant, but they are not
insurmountable. As states and education leaders consider the safest,
most equitable way to reopen our Nation's schools this fall, it is
clear that additional investments are needed at the Federal level to
both stabilize budgets in the face of significant revenue loss and to
cover the costs associated with reopening (including, but not limited
to personal protective equipment, cleaning and sanitation materials,
and expenses related to additional staff and services). In response to
the Chairman's request for more information on the costs associated
with reopening K-12 schools, as well as additional considerations that
Congress should address as they continue to provide relief and support
to our Nation's education system, and to state and local governments,
The Education Trust would like to provide the Committee with the
following thoughts and recommendations:
Additional Federal Interventions and Investments Are Needed
The recession induced by COVID-19 has already and will continue to
decimate state and district revenues. On top of that, states,
districts, and schools will face additional costs to provide the
academic, health, and emotional support that students will need when
they return to school. Estimates of these added costs range from $2
million per district (which could add up to at least $30 billion) to
$116.5 billion. The Learning Policy Institute estimates that between
decreases in state and local revenue, and increases in expenses, K-12
systems might need $230 billion to stabilize budgets for this fiscal
year and next.
In recognition of both increases in cost and reductions in revenue,
we, along with 70 other organizations, urge Congress to provide at
least $500 billion total in additional state stabilization funds, the
K-12 share of which should be at least $175 billion.
Cuts to State Budgets Threaten to Hurt Students in Schools with the
Greatest Need
The 2008 recession taught us that high-poverty districts are more
likely to be impacted by state and local losses in education revenue.
Therefore, it is critical that additional stabilization funding from
Congress be distributed in a way that provides more funding for the
highest need districts--those that serve more students from low-income
backgrounds, have lower property tax bases from which to raise
additional revenue, and have been more impacted by the pandemic.
Funding should be allocated based on the share of aid received through
the ESSA Title I formula, because that is the Federal Government's most
efficient and equitable existing mechanism to distribute those dollars.
States need help, and the Federal Government should step in to
provide that support. But that doesn't diminish states'
responsibilities to continue to invest in their public education
systems, and to provide the resources that districts and schools need
to provide a high-quality education for all students, particularly
Black, Latino, and Native students, and students with higher needs--
including students from low-income backgrounds, students with
disabilities, English learners, students experiencing homelessness or
foster care, or students involved in the juvenile justice system.
Therefore, additional funding to states should be coupled with stronger
maintenance of effort (MOE) requirements than were prescribed for CARES
Act funding, and those requirements should at the very least maintain,
if not enhance, equity in school funding.
Specifically, we recommend three resource equity conditions for
states to receive additional stabilization funding:
State Maintenance of Effort requirement to ensure
states are still investing in education. States must continue
to prioritize education, regardless of how much total state
budgets are impacted. Therefore, to get these additional
dollars, the state must show that state education spending
remains at least the same percentage of the state's spending.
State Maintenance of Equity requirement to protect
our highest need districts from disproportionate cuts. Even
with additional Federal investment, it's likely that many
states will have to make cuts to education support for
districts. Our highest need districts--those serving the
highest concentrations of students from low-income backgrounds
and those with the least local wealth to make up for the cuts--
must be spared from these cuts. Therefore, to get these
dollars, states must show that any necessary cuts are smaller
per student in the highest need districts than the rest of the
state.
District Maintenance of Equity requirement to protect
our most vulnerable schools from disproportionate cuts. Even
with Federal investment, it's likely that many districts will
have to make cuts to their budgets. And we saw in the aftermath
of the Great Recession, nearly 300,000 teachers and other staff
lost their jobs, and the layoffs disproportionately affected
students of color and students from low-income backgrounds.
Therefore, to get these dollars, districts must show that any
necessary cuts--including cuts to personnel--are smaller in the
highest poverty schools.
Congress Must Continue to Prioritize the Needs of Students, Schools,
and States Going Forward
As Congress continues to juggle many competing legislative
priorities prior to the end of this session, we urge lawmakers to
realize that the impact of this virus will be felt well beyond this
academic year. This was the core of my message before your Committee:
The vast majority of education equity issues that plagued our Nation
prior to the pandemic have only been exacerbated by COVID-19. If
policymakers do not continue to address the most pressing equity issues
beyond this moment, with the intent to close achievement and
opportunity gaps for students from low-income backgrounds and students
of color, then we risk failing a generation of students. We urge this
Committee and your Senate colleagues to also support the needed
investments to ensure that all students can access distance learning,
provide the essential nutritional supports so students do not go hungry
as schools remain closed, and allocate dedicated funds to assess and
address learning loss as students return to brick and mortar
classrooms.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment further on this important
topic. The Education Trust stands ready to support your Committee and
the Senate at large as the need to provide for our Nation's students
during this uncertain time persists.
Sincerely,
John B. King Jr.
President and CEO,
The Education Trust
______
Perdue University,
July 9, 2020
Hon. Lamar Alexander, Chairman,
Hon. Patty Murray, Ranking Member,
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
428 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray:
Thank you for the opportunity to testify on June 4, 2020 at the
hearing ``COVID-19 Going Back to College Safely.''
In response to the follow-up questions from members of the
Committee related to the important topic of the hearing, I submit for
the record the ``Protect Purdue Plan,'' released after the hearing on
June 12, 2020. The plan outlines in great detail how Purdue is
preparing to welcome students this fall, while protecting those most
vulnerable in our campus community. And, just this week we added to our
plan a means to require and pay for all West Lafayette-bound students
to be tested for COVID-19 before moving into residence halls and
attending classes.
While I wouldn't presume that Purdue's approach will be a perfect
fit for every college and university, the principles of our strategy
should have broad appeal. In summary, those principles are:
1. Expect each Boilermaker to assume personal responsibility to
``Protect Purdue--myself, others, our Purdue community.''
2. Implement personal health safety practices and protocols.
3. Enact health safety changes in physical spaces.
4. Offer a range of instructional options for students and
faculty.
5. Identify and protect the most vulnerable members of the
Purdue community.
6. Engage our stakeholders with consistent, compelling and
timely communication and clear guidance.
7. Advance our research mission in a safe and responsible way.
8. Anticipate and plan for contingencies.
With critical research operations ramping up on our campus,
preparation for our annual freshman orientation, Boiler Gold Rush, just
40 days away and classes beginning shortly after, the entire campus is
working overtime to ensure a safe return for students and staff. Our
Protect Purdue Plan is a comprehensive review that should answer every
question relevant to the hearing topic while allowing our team to stay
focused on the important mission ahead of us. Again, thank you for
allowing me the opportunity to share our perspective and for your
service to our great nation.
Best,
Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr.
President
______
American Council of the Blind,
June 17, 2020
Hon. Lamar Alexander, Chairman,
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
428 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Alexander:
I am writing on behalf of the three undersigned blindness advocacy
organizations: the American Council of the Blind, the Association for
Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired, and
the American Foundation for the Blind. The following are comments based
on the June 10, 2020, U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee hearing entitled ``Going Back to School Safely.'' These
comments briefly discuss issues significant to the blind community that
must be considered when reopening schools in the fall of 2020.
When reopening schools this fall, several considerations for blind
and visually impaired students must be taken into account. Although the
blind community accounts for only a small population of students,
without considering the accommodations they may need, it is likely they
may fall through the cracks.
First, social distancing is an important consideration for all
students in public schools; steps need to be taken to prevent the
spread of the virus. However, special considerations for blind and
visually impaired students must be thought out. When working with young
blind and visually impaired students, social distancing can present
extra challenges. For instance, if a teacher of the visually impaired
(TVI) is teaching a student how to read and write braille, situations
exist where actual hand-on-hand instruction is necessary. Thus, unique
policies and procedures should be considered for these specific
situations. In such settings, an extra emphasis on the procurement and
use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for both the student and
teacher is essential. Blind students also touch more surfaces; they use
their hands to find things like doors or stair handrails. Thus,
cleaning policies must be implemented and practiced religiously.
Funding is another critical need as states begin to determine how
to reopen school in the fall of 2020. The presenters during the hearing
effectively communicated the various problems that have impacted school
districts' funding, making additional funding essential to reopen
schools. In addition, more funding is needed for the specific
educational needs of blind and visually impaired students. Technology
has been, and will continue to be, a significant need during the
pandemic. If students receive any level of remote learning, whether
full-or part-time, laptops and other platforms are necessary to carry
out remote teaching. Such technology costs money. School districts
often have to provide students with laptops or other kinds of devices.
But when supplying a blind or visually impaired student with the same
technology, additional software is often necessary. For instance, if
students are supplied with a basic PC, additional software that costs
about $1,000 is needed to enable the blind student to use the computer
independently. While discussing the distribution of electronic devices,
it must also be known that many devices are inaccessible for blind or
visually impaired users. Some tablets, for instance, are not designed
with accessibility functions. This prevents blind students from using
them independently. Sometimes, an alternative device can be provided.
However, this causes the student to use a completely different product
and makes working alongside their classmates difficult. Senator Murray
emphasized the necessity of an equitable education for all students.
The digital divide is a barrier to such equity.
Another example of inaccessibility can come via the use of
alternative methods of teaching. Penny Schwinn was cited as promoting
the use of television programming, such as PBS, as an alternative
teaching method. However, to be fully equitable for blind and visually
impaired students, audio description must be provided for all programs
used for educational purposes. Without such description, the child will
not fully participate in the educational process; without description
of the scenes on TV, the students miss out on ideas and concepts.
Several of the panelists touched upon the need for extra in-person
time for students with disabilities. This is an important topic to
consider. Again, students who are blind often require hands-on
instruction. Although TVI's have been known to be extremely creative
when working with students remotely, education will be more effective
if provided in-person. However, such practices should not override
health and safety. Thus, states must get creative to find ways to work
with students with disabilities on a more regular basis without
exposing them to the coronavirus.
It must also be stressed that waivers to the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) should never be considered when
planning how to return to school in the fall. Accommodations for
students under IDEA are essential for disabled students to receive a
free and appropriate public education (FAPE). It may be easy to think
that finding ways to lessen the responsibilities of school districts
will help schools get back on their feet more quickly. But in doing so,
a whole community of students will be negatively impacted. The
presenters acknowledge that almost all students will be behind in some
way because of the changes presented by COVID-19. Waivers to IDEA will
only exacerbate the level at which students will fall behind.
Finally, presenters proposed diagnostic testing for students in the
fall to examine where students stand after the multitude of changes
this spring and summer. Testing does appear to be an important tool in
getting students back on track. However, the process of testing blind
and visually impaired students comes with its own set of challenges.
For instance, the process of getting the tests in braille or large
print can often be difficult for school districts, causing the students
to lag behind. Thus, when diagnostic tests are being put into place,
the challenges that accompany the implementation of such tests must be
thought out far in advance.
Thank you for the opportunity to offer our comments. If you have
any additional questions, please contact Claire Stanley.
Sincerely,
Claire Stanley
Advocacy and Outreach Specialist,
American Council of the Blind.
Stacy Cervenka
Director, Public Policy,
American Foundation for the Blind.
Mark Richert
Interim Executive Director,
Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and
Visually Impaired.
______
Americans for Financial Reform,
June 3, 2020
Hon. Lamar Alexander, Chairman,
Hon. Patty Murray, Ranking Member,
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
428 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray:
As our Nation struggles to emerge from the first phase of the
COVID-19 pandemic and attempts to safely resume a broad array of
economic activity, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has aggressively
lobbied Congress to immunize businesses from legal liability if they
carelessly risk coronavirus infection for employees or customers and it
results in harm. \1\ Lobbyists representing higher education, led by
the American Council on Education, are also now asking for immunity
from liability. \2\ The undersigned organizations representing
students, consumers, and workers strongly oppose proposals to immunize
colleges because it would remove accountability for those that engage
in careless actions that make their students or workers sick. If
students or workers contract COVID-19 due to bad practices by a college
or university, those harmed deserve the right to seek justice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Implementing a National Return to
Work Plan: Resolution of Regulatory and Legal Liability Issues
(Accessed on June 3, 2020); https://www.uschamber.com/coronavirus/
implementing-national-return-to-work-plan#liability; https://
www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/06/851262646/as-
businesses-reopen-a-fight-is-brewing-over-worker-safety-lawsuits.
\2\ American Council on Education, Letter to Congress Requesting
Immunity from Liability (2020); https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/
Letter-Congress-pandemic-liability-052820.pdf.
Each year, students and families will pay or finance hundreds of
billions of dollars in higher education expenses. \3\ The decision to
pursue higher education is often one of the largest financial decisions
an individual or family will make in a lifetime. Amid unprecedented
uncertainty about when and how colleges will safely resume educating
tens of millions of people, current and prospective students and their
families need to be able to trust that their college will act
reasonably to keep them safe.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ National Center on Education Statistics, Fast Facts:
Expenditures (Accessed on June 3, 2020); https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/
display.asp?id=75.
Immunity from legal liability could empower the worst actors in the
higher education sector to gamble with students' lives. For example,
Liberty University, a member of the higher education lobbying group
that has been a leading proponent of creating this immunity, \4\ has
already ignored recommendations by public health officials and reopened
its campus, placing thousands of students at risk. \5\ As could have
been predicted, Liberty's students quickly fell ill. \6\ If lawmakers
bestow legal immunity on the higher education sector, it would validate
such reckless decisions and encourage others to similarly ignore basic
steps that would help keep students and workers safe.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ American Council on Education, Membership Directory (Accessed
on June 2, 2020); https://www2.acenet.edu/crm/members-directory/.
\5\ Noor, P., `It is ungodly': students react to Liberty University
reopening, THE GUARDIAN (March 31, 2020);https://www.theguardian.com/
us-news/2020/mar/31/liberty-university-reopening-coronavirus-jerry-
falwell-jr.
\6\ Arciga, J., Nearly a Dozen Liberty University Students Sick
With Coronavirus Symptoms After Falwell Reopened Campus, THE DAILY
BEAST (March 29, 2020); https://www.thedailybeast.com/nearly-a-dozen-
liberty-university-students-sick-with-coronavirus-symptoms-after-
falwell-reopened-campus.
As Congress considers lobbyists' demands for immunity, lawmakers
should also evaluate any potential action in the context of past abuses
by many of the worst actors in higher education. In the wake of the
last recession, for-profit colleges aggressively marketed themselves as
a refuge from a weak labor market. \7\ Instead of delivering on
promises of financial success for students and alumni, many of the
largest schools pursued brazen schemes to defraud students by peddling
bogus job placement statistics and false claims about the economic
value of these degrees. \8\ Years later, after saddling borrowers with
billions of dollars in debt and driving money back to executives and
investors, some of these schools collapsed under the weight of their
own lies and abuses. \9\ Others that survived converted to private,
nonprofit status, blending into the ranks of the schools now lobbying
for this unprecedented legal protection. \10\ Common across the most
predatory schools during the prior era: a relentless drive to exploit
economic anxiety and upheaval in pursuit of revenue.
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\7\ U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions,
For Profit Higher Education: The Failure to Safeguard the Federal
Investment and Ensure Student Success (2012);https://
www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/for-profit-report/PartI.pdf.
\8\ Kamenetz, A., Corinthian Colleges Misled Students On Job
Placement, Investigation Finds (November 17, 2015); https://
www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/11/17/456367152/corinthian-misled-
students-on-job-placement-investigation-finds.
\9\ Douglas-Gabriel, D., Feds found widespread fraud at Corinthian
Colleges. Why are students still paying the price?, THE WASHINGTON
POST; https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/09/29/
feds-found-widespread-fraud-at-corinthian-colleges-why-are-students-
still-paying-the-price/.
\10\ Shireman, R. These Colleges Say They're Nonprofit--But Are
They? THE CENTURY FOUNDATION (August 24, 2018); https://tcf.org/
content/commentary/colleges-say-theyre-nonprofit/.
The recent bipartisan Congressional Review Act vote rejecting the
Trump Administration's ``Borrower Defense'' rulemaking was, in part, a
rebuke of an effort by the Department of Education to restore schools'
authority to use forced arbitration to block access to the courts. This
regulatory maneuver was similarly intended to shield predatory schools
from liability for their abuses. If granted immunity now, lawmakers
would be inviting bad actor schools to exploit students and employees
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
in the midst of this pandemic, putting their lives in jeopardy.
Our concerns extend beyond the health and safety of the millions of
students. Colleges and universities are some of the largest employers
in their communities, employing more than four million people
nationwide. \11\ These workers include not only faculty and
administrative staff, but also healthcare providers, food service
workers, and the cleaning and maintenance workers responsible for
reopening campuses across the country. Last month, a wide array of 140
organizations representing workers, consumers, and seniors wrote the
Senate Judiciary Committee to oppose immunity proposals, explaining
that the Federal Government ``has substantially stepped back from its
role to protect the health and safety of workers during this pandemic,
and is dangerously relying on employers to self-police. Under these
circumstances, the specter of unsafe workplaces is a significant
concern . . . . Immunity would only exacerbate these problems.'' \12\
These very same concerns apply no less to colleges.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ National Center for Education Statistics, Enrollment and
Employees in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2017 and Financial
Statistics and Academic Libraries, Fiscal Year 2017 (January 2019);
https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019021REV.pdf.
\12\ Public Citizen et al., Letter to U.S. Senate Judiciary
Committee Opposing COVID Immunity for Businesses (May 12, 2020);
https://www.citizen.org/wp-content/uploads/Covid-Coalition-Letter-to-
Senate-Judiciary-final-5-12-2020.pdf.
For more than a decade, schools have increasingly outsourced
essential functions to independent contractors that employ
predominantly low-income workers. These workers are also among the
communities hardest hit by the public health effects, communities of
color. For example, in a 2018 survey of food service workers at the
City University of New York, 96 percent identified as a person of
color. \13\ Almost 50 percent were living below the Federal poverty
line for a family of two. \14\ Limiting corporate liability and
enacting widespread immunity will subject these workers, who are
already most at risk, to being forced to either return to potentially
unsafe environments or face longer term unemployment consequences. Over
the past few months, too many struggling workers have had to make the
impossible trade-off between their health and their financial security.
We should not add to an already devastating crisis by allowing more
companies and schools to make these decisions with impunity then
removing the only recourse of those who are harmed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ Retail Action Project, Struggling to Feed Their Own Families:
A Survey of CUNY's Food Service Workers (2018); https://
d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/rwdsu/pages/390/attachments/original/
1522074292/CUNY-report.pdf?1522074292.
\14\ Id.
Students depend on schools to make responsible decisions that
protect the health and safety of their campuses and communities.
Students lack the power to dictate the terms on which colleges will
demand a return to academic life, potentially forcing students to
choose between pursuing a higher education and staying safe. Students'
and workers' access to justice offers a critical counterweight to the
economic pressure that may drive colleges to reopen too quickly and
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hastily, without proper attention to health and safety.
For these reasons, we urge you to reject higher education
lobbyists' demands to grant immunity from legal liability to colleges
and universities. To discuss the concerns outlined in this letter,
please contact Alexis Goldstein at Americans for Financial Reform or
Mike Pierce at the Student Borrower Protection Center.
Americans for Financial Reform
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Center for Responsible Lending
Clearinghouse on Women's Issues
Consumer Action
Consumer Federation of America
Consumer Federation of California
Consumer Reports
Consumer Watchdog
Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety
Demos
Education Reform Now Advocacy
Hildreth Institute
Housing & Economic Rights Advocates
Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc.
National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients)
National Indian Education Association
PHENOM (Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts)
Project on Predatory Student Lending
Public Justice Center
Public Law Center
Robert Shireman, Director of Higher Education Excellence, The
Century Foundation
SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center
Service Employees International Union
The Collaborative
The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS)
THE ONE LESS FOUNDATION
U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)
UNITE HERE
VOICE-OKC
Women's Rights and Empowerment Network
Student Borrower Protection Center
______
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Responses by Georges Benjamin, to Questions of Senator Collins, Senator
Sanders, Senator Casey, and Senator Rosen.
senator collins
Question 1.
Three quarters of the programs offered at Maine's community
colleges are the only ones of their kind in the state, and the vast
majority (71 percent) of Maine's community college students, are
enrolled in career and occupational programs, many of them hands-on in
nature. By definition, these skills-based programs--such as for auto
mechanics, CNAs, machinists, radiological technicians, the culinary
arts--have a necessary face-to-face component where physical distancing
is very challenging, or may not be possible. This type of coursework
has been critical to ``up-skilling'' our workforce. How should
community colleges respond both to safety concerns as well as the
overwhelming need for the workforce training they offer?
Answer 1. These are indeed classes that do not lend themselves
easily to a fully virtual environment because of the hands-on component
and would rank in the highest risk category as defined by the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (e.g. Highest Risk: Full-sized
in-person classes, activities, and events. Students are not spaced
apart, share classroom materials or supplies, and mix between classes
and activities). The goal should be to reduce the risk by creating
hybrid training whenever possible and by implementing additional risk-
reduction strategies when students must be together in class because of
the hands-on component of their education. I would suggest moving the
lecture component of the training, and any demonstrations that can be
done virtually, to a virtual environment whenever possible. In many of
these classes there is an observational component that can be moved to
a remote or larger classroom environment to accommodate substantial
physical distancing. Also, there is the opportunity to adopt virtual
reality experiences for some of these classes. Schools could partner
with engineering or computer divisions of schools to conduct these
classes. For example, some medical schools have gone to virtual reality
experiences for some traditional classes such as physical examination,
procedural skills and anatomy. There is no substitute for the real-life
experience, but this will provide students the opportunity for a
repetitive emersion experience with no risk of infection. When the
students do have to get together for the hands-on component, I
recommend three key risk reduction tools: smaller class sizes with as
much physical distancing as possible; mask wearing; and offering
frequent hand hygiene opportunities. These recommendations are in line
with the spirit of the CDC guidelines.
senator sanders
Question 1.
As a public health scientist and professional, you stated that
colleges and universities have a role in ``community mitigation'' and
``risk reduction'' when opening campuses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
You also said to assume there will be people on campus infected with
COVID-19 and that the academic institution and the public health agency
should agree on a testing strategy and plan. In addition, you said that
COVID-19 has demonstrated a disproportionate impact on some
populations, in particular African Americans and Hispanics, and that
institutions should assure equity in education whether on campus or by
distance learning. What is the American Public Health Association
(APHA) doing to develop standards and best practices, especially
addressing the unique needs of at risk populations that could be useful
to institutions as they prepare to open campuses? How can Congress help
APHA develop those standards into Federal guidance, and would Federal
funding be needed to ensure that institutions understand the guidance
and can promptly implement it to ensure the health and safety of
students, faculty, staff and guests on campus?
Answer 1. There are an amazing number of expert groups that are
creating standards to supplement the CDC guidance. Many of these expert
groups include APHA members. We have been curating these tools and
resources and have shared them on our website for many of them that we
believe are of the best quality. It includes the CDC guidance but also
several more. The page can be found at https://www.apha.org/topics-and-
issues/communicable-disease/coronavirus/guidance.
Question 2.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, state
revenues are declining precipitously, and costs are rising sharply,
with many businesses closed and tens of millions of people newly
unemployed. In addition, states will worsen the recession if they
respond to this fiscal crisis by laying off employees, scaling back
government contracts for businesses, and cutting public services and
other forms of spending. Based on your discussions with state public
health officials, do you expect that the loss of state revenues will
negatively impact the ability of states to help colleges and
universities prepare to open their campuses during the COVID-19
pandemic, placing the burden on students, faculty and staff to ensure
their own health and safety on campus? What is APHA doing to work with
state public health officials to ensure that states will commit the
financial resources necessary to ensure the health and safety of
college campuses?
Answer 2. We believe that, just as in past recessions, state and
local public health agencies will lose operating capacity through
hiring freezes and local job losses. Emerging fiscal shortfalls at the
state and local levels run the risk of this happening right in the
middle of this pandemic further complicating the Nation's ability to
respond. We are already experiencing layoffs in the private healthcare
sector. This is a critical problem as states and local public health
agencies need to ramp up their testing and contact tracing capabilities
in order to respond to the recent surge of infections as we reopen
society. APHA has been advocating for Federal funding for public health
and raising awareness for further support at the state and local level.
Specifically, We have advocated for increased funding for public health
infrastructure as well as the creation of and funding for the public
health workforce loan repayment proposal currently under debate in
Congress.
senator casey
Question 1.
Student behavior on campus and compliance with social distancing
guidelines and enhanced safety protocols will be key to reopening and
maintaining safe operations. What we have learned over the last several
months is that safety is not only about our own risk, but about the
risk to the broader community, especially as evidence mounts that there
is a significant amount of asymptomatic transmission occurring. What
are the precautions and considerations necessary to ensure the safety
of not only students, faculty and staff, but the broader communities in
which they engage?
Answer 1. It is essential that colleges and universities conduct
their planning in concert with the local communities in which they
reside. By aligning policies and procedures with the broader community,
and closely consulting with the local and state health authorities,
higher learning institutions can be sure that an infected individual
anywhere (on-or off-campus; student or not) is identified and offered
sound medical advice and care for both themselves and their contacts.
This would include appropriate isolation and quarantine guidance.
Question 2.
Affordable and readily accessible personal protective equipment, as
well as testing and contact tracing mechanisms are key to making a safe
return on campuses. Dr. Benjamin, in your estimation, will these
components be readily available by the fall to ensure that campuses,
representing nearly 20 million students, can safely reopen? What are
some of the additional metrics colleges should consider as they make
these determinations?
Answer 2. The nation is still on the edge of having adequate
supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) today. While I
anticipate supplies will increase, the entire nation will be competing
for these supplies as we ramp up our return to near normal activities.
That means the availability of gloves, masks and PPE relevant to the
work environment will be an urgent issue for both the health sector and
schools at all levels (daycare, elementary and secondary). I am unsure
whether we have adequately thought through the supply chain issues
involved to ensure an adequate supply of PPE. Congress should ask the
administration for a plan that estimates the need for PPE at full
reopening of our society and to identify any gaps. Then we need to
ensure all colleges and universities are fully resourced for their PPE
needs. The last thing we need as a nation is for our students to get
sick because we don't have the PPE to protect them in school. Schools
should evaluate and secure their supply lines for PPE for both their
campus health systems and for other campus workers whose daily jobs
require specific PPE.
senator rosen
Question 1.
The Nevada System of Higher Education has three separate groups
focused on preparing to safely re-open campuses this fall. One of
these--the COVID Reopening Task Force--includes students, medical
personnel, education leaders, and public safety staff, who are all
reviewing various plans and providing recommendations to the
Chancellor. At this point, our schools are planning to re-open in the
fall, but with various modifications, including: no large lectures; a
mix of remote and in-person instruction; single-occupancy dorm rooms;
and increased cleaning, testing, and tracing. Each of the schools are
also consulting with health and education experts in order to follow
best practices.
What education and health experts do you consult with on
best practices when determining whether and how to reopen?
Answer 1. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
remains the best and most informed agency in the county on these
issues. We will also be reviewing the findings from the National
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which has an expert
committee looking at school guidance for K-12. This study is expected
to be completed by the end of July. Some of their findings may be
useful for higher education as well.
Question 2.
It is absolutely critical that we ensure the health of our students
and faculty is protected as colleges and universities navigate how to
move forward with their important role in fostering new ideas,
educating our future workforce, and conducting critical research. We
also need our institutions of higher education to continue to be strong
partners with our health care system as we work to fight COVID-19, and
also look for new ways to engage. In Nevada, we have seen our colleges,
universities, and researchers go above and beyond. Just a few examples:
the UNLV School of Medicine in Las Vegas jumped in to provide curbside
testing early on; UNR in Reno has been researching new ways to address
COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment; and the Desert Research Institute is
leading public health research to map spread of the virus, risk, and
exposure. We've heard of engineering departments using 3D printing to
make masks and swabs, and students creating new programs to bring
groceries to homebound seniors. The list goes on.
I'd like to hear about how else our institutions of
higher education can adjust their focus to help meet the future public
health, medical, and related workforce needs to address both the
current pandemic and the disparities in our health care system that
have been laid so bare through this crisis.
This crisis has really highlighted how critical
investment in our public health system is. What other resources, tools,
or guidelines are needed to ensure the safety of students and faculty
in the unique environment of a college campus, while also leveraging
the knowledge and creative problem-solving that comes from these
critical institutions?
Answer 2. The public health system in America is a Federal, state
and local partnership. This issue has been studied many times and has
had numerous reports written on what the solutions are. Accompanying
this has been the lack of national leadership at the Federal level with
the mandate to build it [a robust public health system] and the
commitment of policymakers at all levels to sustain it. The nation must
invest in a state-of-the-art public health system now if we are going
to avoid a repeat of the COVID-19 experience and its economic
consequences. As I stated in my testimony, In addition to urging
Congress to adequately fund CDC through the annual appropriations
process, we are urging Congress to provide $4.5 billion in additional
long-term annual mandatory funding for CDC and state, local, tribal and
territorial public health agencies for core public health
infrastructure activities. We are also calling on Congress to
appropriate funding in fiscal years 2020 and 2021 for the public health
workforce loan repayment program authorized in the HEROES Act.
Providing funding for this important program will help incentivize new
and recent graduates to join the governmental public health workforce,
encourage them to stay in these roles, and strengthen the public health
workforce as a whole.
Question 3.
According to the latest data provided by the National Center for
Education Statistics, close to 20 percent of students attending
institutes of higher education have at least one disability that
impacts the way they learn. While colleges and universities have done
much to ensure student learning continues in the wake of the pandemic
by transitioning to online learning platforms, students with
disabilities may encounter increased barriers in their pursuit of
academic success at no fault to the institutes themselves. Students
with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder may struggle with
prolonged online sessions. Students who are hearing impaired or have
auditory processing deficits may have difficulty communicating with
other students when closed captioning is not available in video
conferences or in streaming lessons, especially when they rely on an
American Sign Language interpreter or reading lips. Furthermore,
students with physical disabilities may not have access to the
assistive technologies needed to successfully complete their
coursework. Institutes of higher education have worked hard to support
this sudden transition to virtual learning for all students, but this
pandemic has had unintended hardships, particularly for those students
with disabilities.
How can we ensure that all students can continue to
be supported in their educational endeavors, whether physically
in the classroom or virtually through distance learning, even
beyond the pandemic?
Answer 3. Ensuring that all students have equitable access to a
quality education should be a top priority of the U.S. Department of
Education as well as the colleges and universities themselves. We
really need to better understand how to meet the needs of individual
students to enable them to fully participate in our educational systems
in this evolving educational environment. We should anticipate that we
will need to craft new and more innovative technologies as well as
educational funding streams (Federal, state and local) to support them.
______
Responses by Logan Hampton, to Questions of Senator Collins, Senator
Scott, Senator Warren, Senator Baldwin, Senator Sanders, Senator Casey,
Senator Murray, and Senator Rosen.
senator collins
Question 1.
Three quarters of the programs offered at Maine's community
colleges are the only ones of their kind in the state, and the vast
majority (71 percent) of Maine's community college students are
enrolled in career and occupational programs, many of them hands-on in
nature. By definition, these skills-based programs--such as for auto
mechanics, CNAs, machinists, radiological technicians, the culinary
arts--have a necessary face-to-face component where physical distancing
is very challenging, or may not be possible. This type of coursework
has been critical to ``up-skilling'' our workforce. How should
community colleges respond both to safety concerns as well as the
overwhelming need for the workforce training they offer?
Answer 1. As President of Lane College, a Historically Black
College and University, I do not believe that I am the expert on the
needs and challenges of community colleges. However, if I look at this
question in the lens of my own institution, I believe that the safety
of the students, faculty, and staff are the utmost concern. On my
campus, we are putting processes in place to ensure that programs that
rely more on hands-on learning are able to be offered in the Fall with
the proper safety measures in place. For instance, preparing for our
FastStart model (face-to-face), Lane College has designed each
classroom such that the instructor will be 10 feet from the students
and students will be 6 feet from one another. While yet exploring how
we will deliver choral instruction, faculty propose that the director
will stand behind a barrier and the students will wear masks and
shields during rehearsal.
senator scott
Question 1.
In the past few years, we have seen an unprecedented show of
support from Congress and the Administration for HBCUs. Last year, the
Senate unanimously approved the HBCU PARTNERS Act, which promotes
partnerships between HBCUs and Federal agencies. Congress also passed
the FUTURE Act, securing permanent funding for HBCUs and other Minority
Serving Institutions (MSIs). As a response to the devastating impacts
of COVID-19 pandemic, we directed more than $1 billion in CARES Act
relief funding to HBCUs and other MSIs. From my conversations with Dr.
Artis, president of Benedict College, broadband access remains a major
hurdle for far too many students and schools, particularly in rural
areas. I, along with several of my Republican colleagues, have drafted
a letter requesting support and consideration for broadband access to
bolster the technological infrastructure that could ensure a successful
reopening this fall. The letter also highlights the unique opportunity
that HBCU's have to combat the COVID-19 pandemic's devastation on
communities of color.
(A) Mr. Hampton, how can the Administration and Congress help your
school, as well as other HBCUs and MSIs, strengthen the technological
infrastructure that allows these institutions a continuous opportunity
to contribute to American innovation?
Answer A. As I indicated in my testimony, the next stimulus bill to
be passed by the House and Senate should include a technology fund to
allow institutions and students to access broadband. Technological
infrastructure is very important to ensure a successful start to the
Fall semester and my institution, along with other HBCUs, are in need
of additional resources to make this possible.
The CARES Act gave our institutions the ability to utilize
resources to purchase technological equipment for our students to help
them complete their assignments online; participate in virtual
counseling; receive mentoring and tutoring services online; and
complete other required tasks in relation to their academic program
through distance education. Lane College has been proactive by forming
a strategy team to come up with three scenarios to prepare for the Fall
with two scenarios incorporating online classes and services: Lane
College VR and Lane College SOAR (please refer to my testimony for more
details regarding these scenarios). While we are preparing for a
successful return for our students with the resources provided, we
still have the following concerns:
The quality of instruction because the institution as
a whole faculty remain in need of additional resources, human
or technical, to fully manage the change to all online courses
and support secure virtual testing administration or the
delivery of science lab instruction; and
The ability of our students to access broadband
because nearly 90 percent of Lane College students receive Pell
Grants who tend to not have the funds, equipment, or Internet
access to receive instruction remotely;
As I mentioned in my testimony, I want to offer my support for S.
3701, the Supporting Connectivity for Higher Education Students in Need
Act, introduced by Senator Amy Klobuchar, and ask that this bill be
included in the next stimulus package to be considered by Congress.
This piece of legislation takes a responsible approach to meeting the
needs of our low-income, first-generation college students and the
households they come from by helping them access the technological
equipment and broadband services. This bill also prioritizes HBCUs,
TCUs, and MSIs when disseminating broadband equipment and incentivizing
partnerships to deliver broadband services.
(B) I understand that many HBCU's are tuition dependent and count
on steady enrollment. The HBCU's Partners Act helps these institutions
identify alternative revenue sources to build the academic and cultural
infrastructure to attract a diverse pool of students. What do you
project the enrollment rate will be in the fall in light of COVID-19?
Answer B. Due to the fluid developments of COVID-19, the strategy
team developed at Lane College has begun the preparations for three
scenarios: Lane College FastStart (face-to-face instruction in Fall
2020), Lane College VR (all online courses in Fall 2020), and Lane
College SOAR (a hybrid of both online courses and face-to-face
instruction in Fall 2020). If we officially decide on Lane College
FastStart, then we are preparing for a decline in enrollment resulting
in a 27 percent to 43 percent decrease in revenue. If we proceed with
the other two scenarios, we may see a steady enrollment or potential
uptick. As of now, we are officially projecting an enrollment of 910
total students (23 percent decrease in headcount) with 531 residential
students (47 percent decrease in housing).
(C) Many colleges currently have tools at their disposal to
recalculate financial aid eligibility resulting from a loss of income,
but what are some ways you think we can make students and families more
aware of these options? How important are financial aid options to the
matriculation of students to schools?
Answer C. Because Lane College serves a student population that
consists of 90 percent of Pell Grant students, I believe that financial
aid options are extremely important to the matriculation of students to
schools. Many of our students come from humble means and need
additional support to access postsecondary education. For this very
reason, I strongly believe that Congress should double the maximum Pell
Grant to help offset the cost of college for these students. Our
students need help with the overall cost of attendance and should not
have to take out a Parent PLUS loan to do so.
To better inform students of their ability to have their financial
aid packages altered due to a change in their income or dependency
status, I believe that it is important to enhance all financial aid
counseling provided to students. It is vitally important that Master
Promissory Notes are easy to read and understand for all students and
families, and it is important that financial aid counseling take place
before students or parents sign the dotted line for a loan. Annually,
students should be contacted about their financial aid status so that
they know how to continue to make informed decisions moving forward.
senator warren
Question 1.
How, specifically, will you ensure that faculty (including adjunct
faculty) and staff (including hourly workers) are at the table for all
decisions regarding when and how to repopulate your campus this fall?
How will you engage and solicit their viewpoints, and how will you
ensure that those viewpoints are taken into consideration for all
decisions?
Answer 1. Lane College has already started a process where we have
a joint leadership team, consisting of 21 members of my direct reports,
the academic cabinet, and the marketing team to take part in
considering how Lane College will reopen this Fall. In addition to
this, we have a FastStart team and a Pandemic Proof team.
The joint leadership team was created in direct response to the
coronavirus (COVID-19) and this team made the determination to move all
classes online in the Spring of 2020. We hosted the final mass meeting
of 100-plus students, faculty, staff, and administrators to discuss
remote instruction on March 13, 2020, and the members of the joint
leadership team continue to meet twice per week to submit, receive, and
review the most up-to-date information available; make immediate
decisions regarding the operation of the institution; and propose
protocols, policies, and responses as needed.
The Lane College FastStart team is made up of 20 or so faculty and
staff planning for the Fall. This team works with new students from the
point of admission through the first six weeks of the semester. At
present, we are projecting 311 new students (23 percent decrease).
The Pandemic Proof team consists of 27 members including faculty,
staff, and administration. This team is charged with developing
tactical solutions to prepare for three potential future scenarios of
campus operations in response to COVID-19 (Lane College FastStart, Lane
College VR, and Lane College SOAR). The Pandemic Proof team is
developing tactical solutions for each area of the institution's
operation.
Question 2.
How, specifically, will you ensure that students are at the table
for all decisions regarding when and how to repopulate your campus this
fall? How will you engage and solicit their viewpoints, and how will
you ensure that those viewpoints are taken into consideration for all
decisions?
Answer 2. Lane College is in constant contact with, and receiving
feedback from, several groups of student leaders including the new
student orientation leaders, Power of Potential scholar leaders, Dragon
Academy peer leaders, and residential assistants. Further, Lane College
has done two surveys: CARES funding and pulse enrollment surveys. Last,
we will conduct a student town hall.
Question 3.
Given what we know about coronavirus now, and understanding this
could change, under what conditions would you consider abandoning plans
to repopulate your campus, again moving everyone to remote instruction,
and shutting down the majority of outreach and research activities?
What process would you follow to undertake this decision?
Answer 3. As I indicated in my testimony, Lane College is preparing
for three scenarios when considering reopening this Fall: Lane College
FastStart, Lane College VR, and Lane College SOAR. All three of these
scenarios are still being developed by a strategy team created at Lane
College to manage our Crisis Management Center and each scenario is
described in more detail below.
Lane College FastStart--Should Lane College students
return to campus for face-to-face instruction and subsequently
experience a more aggressive COVID-19 season in late Fall 2020,
the institution's response will mirror the response of the
Spring 2020 semester and consist of the following:
Y Protocols established across the campus, particularly
the academic and student affairs COVID-19 protections, to
keep students safe and healthy on campus prior to their
departure;
Y Faculty prior experience in delivering and moving
instruction from face-to-face to online;
Y The practice of COVID-19 safety protocols for students,
faculty, staff, and visitors to include WWSS: washing their
hands, wearing their masks, social distancing, and self-
checking for COVID-19 symptoms;
Y COVID-19 restrictions and recommendations by local,
state, and Federal entities;
Y Frequent and routine virtual recruiting, admissions,
financial, orientation, and athletic presentations;
Y The re-recruitment of majors by departmental leaders;
and
Y Preparations to see a decrease in overall enrollment and
revenue.
Lane College VR--While small and independent, Lane
College is primed to deliver responsive and creative
programmatic and curricular solutions. The institution has
sourced digital devices, platforms, texts, course material, and
office applications to support Lane College VR. We will need to
pilot micro-credentials and new course offerings to ensure
successful implementation, but we are cognizant that student
success, including retention and graduation, may be negatively
impacted. We are also cognizant that enrollment may decrease
resulting in a 27 percent to 43 percent decrease in revenue.
Lane College SOAR--Lane College SOAR, the hybrid
scenario, offers the greatest opportunity and challenge for
Lane College. Appropriately executed, this strategy could lift
Lane College to heights unimagined previously. This approach
would incorporate aspects of both Lane College FastStart and
Lane College VR. To implement this successfully, the technology
will need to be greatly increased including the IT backbone,
help desk, and on-campus WIFI. A recovering local, state, and
national economy may cause us to see an increase in enrollment,
but we have to also prepare for the likelihood of a decrease in
enrollment.
How we actually proceed will be based on our belief of our ability
to truly keep our students, faculty, and staff safe. We moved to
complete online instruction in Spring 2020, and are preparing to
continue in this manner in the Fall if we believe that we are unable to
be completely sure that we can use proper testing materials to ensure
the safety of everyone involved.
Question 4.
Do you intend to require students, faculty, or staff to sign
waivers before repopulating campus this fall?
Answer 4. Yes, Lane College will require students, faculty and
staff to sign the waiver below:
NOTICE
COVID-19 ENTERING CAMPUS, COLLEGE FACILITY OR COLLEGE-RELATED EVENT/
ACTIVITY PROTOCOLS
Lane College is committed to protect the health, safety and well-
being of our community during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic. We want to communicate the procedures as we do our part
pursuant to Federal and state guidelines to prevent exposure to and
spread of COVID-19.
PRIOR TO ENTERING CAMPUS, ANY COLLEGE FACILITY AND/OR COLLEGE-
RELATED EVENT/ACTIVITY (you must complete the self-check below each and
every time that you enter campus and/or leave your residence hall room
during the health emergency). Each employee, student, vendor,
contractor, or visitor must affirm the information below:
SELF-CHECK: I affirm that I am free of COVID-19 symptoms for 72
hours including:
FREE OF FEVER greater than 100 degrees, without fever
reducing medication
RUNNY NOSE
COUGHING
SNEEZING
SORE THROAT
DIFFICULTY BREATHING
FEELING ILL
UPSET STOMACH or DIARRHEA
CHILLS
REPEATED SHAKING WITH CHILLS
MUSCLE PAIN
HEADACHE
NEW LOSS OF TASTE OR SMELL
Furthermore, I affirm:
I HAVE NOT TRAVELED TO A COVID-19 HOTSPOT in the past
14 days.
If I have TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID-19, I will
provide documentation that I am free of the disease.
If I have BEEN IN CONTACT WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS TESTED
POSITIVE, I will contact my supervisor, advisor, faculty member
or College official prior to coming to Campus, leaving my
residence hall, and/or entering a College facility and self-
quarantine for 14 days.
If I TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID-19, I will contact my
supervisor, advisor, faculty member or College official prior
to coming to Campus and/or leaving my residence hall.
The self-checker is not a substitute for professional
medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
WHILE AT THE COLLEGE OR COLLEGE-RELATED EVENT/ACTIVITY, further,
each employee, student, vendor, contractor, or visitor is aware that
Lane College is an open campus and welcomes visitors, vendors and
contractors. With the on-campus protocols in place,
I assume and accept all risks and responsibilities
related to contracting the COVID-19 virus.
I further acknowledge that COVID-19 is extremely
contagious and believed to spread mainly from person-to-person
contact. As a result, Federal, state, and local governments and
Federal and state health agencies recommend social distancing.
Lane College has put in place preventative measures pursuant to
Federal and state guidelines to reduce the spread of COVID-19;
however, the College cannot guarantee that you will not become
infected with COVID-19. By visiting the campus, residing in on-
campus housing or participating in any Lane College event or
activity, on-or off-campus, you acknowledge the contagious
nature of COVID-19, voluntarily assume the risk that you may be
exposed to or infected by COVID-19 and voluntarily agree to
accept sole responsibility whether a COVID-19 infection occurs
before, during, or after visiting campus, while residing in on-
campus housing, or participating in an event or activity.
I will practice the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), Tennessee Department of Health and Madison
County Department of Health recommendations that include, but
are not limited, to the following WWSS:
Wash your hands
Wear your mask
Social distance (maintain 6 feet distance)
Self-check (WWSS).
If YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, please visit the CDC for
further information https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/
return-to-work.html#practices-restrictions.
THIS NOTICE IS BASED ON CURRENT RECOMMENDATIONS AND MAY BE UPDATED.
senator sanders
Question 1.
Postsecondary education in the United States has traditionally been
funded through a mixture of Federal and state government
appropriations, institutional endowments, and student payments of
tuitions and fees. However, recently, there has been a massive
reduction in Federal and state investment in institutions of higher
education, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities
(HBCUs), that has left students bearing a larger proportion of the
price of college. What has been the impact of the loss of investment in
colleges on the ability of your students to pay for costs related to
the COVID-19 pandemic? What has been the impact of the loss of
investment in colleges on the ability of your school to prepare for and
respond to the COVID-19 pandemic? With the loss of income and budget
cuts, how will your institution prioritize safety and provide adequate
staffing as campuses reopen? How will your institution ensure that
every student, regardless of financial status, students with
disabilities, LGBQT+ students, students with unsafe homes, students of
color and students from low-income families will have free access to
testing and a vaccine, when available?
Answer 1. The cost of college remains a barrier to many students,
especially low-income, first-generation college students, and I am
proud to say that Lane College has no plans to increase its tuition,
fees, or room and board for the upcoming academic year. HBCUs continue
to provide lower tuition and fees to students compared to other
institutions, and Lane College is no exception. As it relates to the
loss of state investment in HBCUs, Lane College is a private
institution and does not rely on state funding; however, investment in
my institution and all HBCUs is vitally important, which is why I asked
for another $1 billion dollar investment in HBCUs, Tribal Colleges and
Universities (TCUs), and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) in the
next stimulus package. Also, HBCUs have yet to receive the full
authorized amount of $375 million in Title III of the Higher Education
Act of 1965, and our institutions need to no longer be short-changed.
Because HBCUs have been playing catch-up since our individual foundings
due to systemic racism, we all have resource issues. We experience
greater challenges accessing private gifts, contracts, and grants. We
also have endowments that lag behind those of non-HBCUs by at least 70
percent, and public and private HBCUs experienced the largest declines
in Federal funding per full-time equivalent student between 2003-2015.
Due to these realities depicting the lack of investment in HBCUs, we
are in dire need of equitable funding.
In addition to our funding issues, our Pell-grant-majority student
population is the most vulnerable of all students and have been
impacted at large degrees due to COVID-19, since the majority of
students attending HBCUs are black. As I mentioned in my testimony, we
have learned that Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by
COVID-19 at much higher rates and this means job losses and strained
finances in the households of Black American families as well. Due to
these additional outside factors, along with the fact that Black
Americans simply get hired at lower rates than White Americans and make
less money on average than White Americans, our student populations are
struggling even more now. Because of this, I have asked Congress to
double the maximum Pell Grant to help these very students afford a
postsecondary education. Now is the time to truly help. While I am
thankful for the emergency funding provided to students through H. R.
748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act,
our students need a more reliable stream of funding that they can
utilize for the duration of their undergraduate academic career.
Last, the safety of all of our students, faculty, and staff is of
utmost concern to us at Lane College. We have sent several notices out
to our students on how to remain safe during this time, and it is a
priority for Lane College. It is our desire to provide free testing to
our students and we are working to ensure that this is a reality. We
have partnered with Christ Community Health Center to provide free
testing to students, faculty, and staff. Christ Community will test and
produce the results in 24 hours.
In regard to safety, below is an example of the correspondence we
have had with our students and our plan for safety.
COVID-19 CAMPUS EXPECTATIONS
If you are well and free of symptoms from the novel coronavirus
(COVID-19), Lane College expects the following of you on campus:
a. Practice social distancing by conducting business remotely
by email, telephone, Zoom, Skype, Google Hangout, etc.; and
b. Continue to practice the recommendations of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
Y Wash your hands;
Y Avoid touching your face;
Y Avoid close contact with people;
Y Sneeze or cough into a tissue or the inside of your
elbow; and
Y Clean and disinfect frequently used items and surfaces.
COVID-19 is extremely contagious and is believed to spread mainly
from person-to-person contact. As a result, Federal, state, and local
governments and Federal and state health agencies recommend social
distancing. Lane College has put in place preventative measures to
reduce the spread of COVID-19; however, the College cannot guarantee
that you will not become infected with COVID-19. By visiting campus or
participating in any Lane College event or activity, on or off campus,
you acknowledge the contagious nature of COVID-19 and voluntarily
assume the risk that you may be exposed to or infected by COVID-19 and
voluntarily agree to assume all of risks and accept sole responsibility
whether a COVID-19 infection occurs before, during, or after visiting
campus or participating in an event or activity.
If you are sick or have symptoms, do not return to campus. Please
remain where you are, quarantine, and isolate yourself. In particular--
--
If you have a FEVER (temperature above 100), do not
return to campus
If you have a RUNNY NOSE, do not return to campus
If you have a COUGH, do not return to campus
If you are SNEEZING, do not return to campus
If you have a SORE THROAT, do not return to campus
If you have DIFFICULTY BREATHING, do not return to
campus quickly consult a medical provider or emergency room
If you are FEELING ILL, do not return to campus
If you have an UPSET STOMACH or DIARRHEA, do not
return to campus
If you have CHILLS, do not return to campus
If you have REPEATED SHAKING WITH CHILLS, do not
return to campus
If you have MUSCLE PAIN, do not return to campus
If you have HEADACHE, do not return to campus
If you have NEW LOSS OF TASTE OR SMELL, do not return
to campus
If you have BEEN IN CONTACT WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS
COVID-19, do not return to campus
If you have traveled out of the country or traveled
to a COVID-19 hotspot in the past 14 days, do not return to
campus . . . (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/
symptoms-testing/symptoms.html).
Please remember, if you TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 IN THE NEXT 14
DAYS, YOU MUST REPORT YOUR POSITIVE TEST TO HEALTH SERVICES OR HUMAN
RESOURCES.
COVID-19 STUDENT AFFAIRS PROTOCOL
Health Services
Health Services will offer the latest CDC
recommendations and treatment options as indicated.
If you have a fever or cough, remain isolated and
contact Health Services at [redacted] for evaluation.
Health Services' evaluation process will consist of
the following:
Y Triage (ask a series of questions) and test for Flu,
Strep Throat, and UTI
If positive for Flu--treat
If positive for Strep Throat--treat
If positive for UTI--treat
If the above tests are negative, this will indicate
``fever of unknown origin.''
Y Student will be isolated in designated area for 14 days
Y Face mask(s) must be worn around others
Housing and Residence Life
Students who remain on campus must agree to report
any COVID-19 symptoms to Health Services for diagnosis (see
Health Services COVID19 protocol).
To maintain CDC-recommended social distancing
practices, students who remain on campus are not permitted to
have guest visits for any amount of time. (NO VISITATION)
Team Clean custodial staff is completing regular
cleaning of the public areas in the residence halls.
Hand sanitizers, hand wipes, and/or hand spray
sanitizer will be available at the front desk of each residence
hall.
Students who fail to comply with the COVID-19
protocols may be disciplined and removed from campus housing.
As a reminder, Lane College will NOT be responsible
for any items left in a student's room.
Dining Services
Campus dining is open to Lane College students,
faculty, and staff.
Y Brunch (10 a.m.--2 p.m.) and dinner (4 p.m.--7 p.m.)
meals will only be served.
No reusable service ware (plates, cups, utensils) and
limited self-service options to reduce the opportunity for
cross-contamination.
Y Meals and food will be served in to-go containers.
Y Beverage containers and plastic ware will be provided.
Y Diners should maintain CDC recommended social distancing
(keep 6 feet apart).
Y Sneeze guards were added to serving lines
Campus Safety and Security
To assure the safety of the Lane College community, a
10 p.m. curfew has been implemented. Please remain within your
residence hall during the curfew.
Non-emergency incident reports can be made 24 hours a
day by utilizing the LiveSafe app or calling [redacted].
Counseling and Disability Services
Please call [redacted] or [redacted] to schedule an
appointment to talk with a Lane College Counselor.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis,
please call the 24-Hour Crisis Line at [redacted] or the State
Crisis Line at [redacted].
Religious Services/Chaplain
Please call [redacted] to schedule an appointment to
talk with a Lane College Chaplain.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis,
please call the 24-Hour Crisis Line at [redacted] or the State
Crisis Line at [redacted].
First Year Experience (FYE)
Interview/Selection of the 2020 Dragon Academy peer
advisors will be held via Zoom/FaceTime/Phone the week of March
30.
Lane College Dragon Academy 2020 begins June 6th
(Move-In). Applications will be available via the Lane College
website and official social media platforms.
The FYE office is available between the hours 2
p.m.--5 p.m. for a small number of students (5 or less) who
need computer access.
Please call Rev. McKindra at [redacted] to schedule
your visit to the office.
Intramural and Recreational Services
At present, nonessential facilities including
recreational facilities are closed in response to the State of
Emergency issued by the city of Jackson.
If and when the State of Emergency is lifted, please
follow these protocols while utilizing the recreation/weight
room in the Stone Amenities:
Y Recreation/Weight Room will only be open Monday--Friday,
9 am--11 a.m.; and 2 p.m.--4 p.m.
Y Only seven (7) individuals will be allowed into the
weight room at one time.
Y Upon entering Stone Amenities, all individuals must
sanitize their hands.
Y Please wipe down/sanitize each recreational machine
BEFORE and AFTER each use.
Y Attempt to avoid using recreational machines directly
beside another machine that is being used by someone else.
Y Do not partner with other persons when working out.
Avoid making mouth contact with the water fountain.
Avoid spitting in the water fountain.
Practice social distancing by avoiding direct contact
with others.
If sweating, keep as dry as possible by using cloth
towels, paper towels, or anything that can minimize
perspiration.
Y DO NOT share towels, water bottles, or anything that can
spread germs.
Y Avoid horseplay at all times.
Before exiting the building
Y Please wipe all sweat from your body.
Y Wash/sanitize your hands with soap and water.
Y Make sure that you are properly clothed.
Campus Life
No events will be scheduled.
Limited programming options, usually through virtual
channels, will be available for students remaining on campus.
Student organizations can only meet via virtual
meetings.
Student Government Association and Royal Court
nominations and elections will be conducted remotely (on-line
format).
The New Greek Members Presentation Show has been
canceled.
HBCU Wellness
Student Projects will be completed through video
conference formats.
Student Leadership and Engagement
The Office of Student Involvement and Leadership
continues to research creative ways to keep our students
engaged while practicing social distancing during the COVID-19
pandemic.
Y All face-to-face programs and activities have been
canceled.
To ensure that students still have the opportunity to
develop as leaders, the following adjustments have been made:
Y Cheerleading Tryouts: The Lane College Cheerleading
Program has postponed onsite tryouts until June 12-14,
2020. Students have the option to submit video footage. For
more information about video submissions, please contact
Mr. Quentin Giles or call/text [redacted].
The Campus Activities Board will transition their weekly
meetings to video conference meetings through Zoom.
Orientation Leadership (OL) Institute will use Blackboard
to complete Orientation Leadership training.
National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS) will
continue membership training through the NSLS members' portal. All
face-to-face programs will move to online programming.
Lane College Book Store
At the conclusion of the spring semester, please
return your textbooks before returning your room key to
Housing.
Y Textbook Returns for Spring 2020:
` April 20-April 24, 2020
` 8:30 AM-5 PM
` Graduating seniors must return textbooks
before picking up Regalia.
Question 2.
According to a report from the American Federation of Teachers,
``Army of Temps,'' 75 percent of all instructional workers in American
higher education are contingent or adjunct--effectively, temporary
workers. Of those workers, almost 40 percent are over 60; 65 percent
are over 50. We know from other industries in which workers have no
meaningful job security--Uber and Lyft drivers, seasonal farm workers,
and the like--that workers in such industries often feel pressured to
come to work even when they are sick, and even when conditions where
they work are not conductive to their health. What do you plan to do to
make sure that these workers, the majority of teaching staff in higher
education in the United States, are safe from COVID-19 on your
campuses, and what do you recommend others do? How do you plan to
reasonably accommodate those who the CDC has designated at being at
heightened risk of COVID-19 complications, particularly those who may
not feel that they have the job security to raise their concerns about
their own health at work?
Answer 2. By in large, the safety protocols that I outlined in the
previous questions that were directed toward students are also
practiced by the faculty and staff at my institution. More
specifically, Lane College has ensured the safety of our faculty and
staff by allowing faculty and staff to work remotely. Any faculty or
staff whose job function allowed was given the opportunity to work
remotely. Essential employees, of course, were required to come to
campus including security, dining services, academic support, IT,
residential, financial aid, controller's and custodial staff.
Currently, access to the campus is, and will be, restricted to
students, essential staff, and faculty. The campus will reopen on July
6, 2020.
Question 3.
As the president of Lane College, a Historically Black College and
University (HBCU), you mentioned the unique challenges faced by your
students--and your institution--due to revenue losses that will impact
the ability of Lane College to operate, even with funding provided by
the CARES Act. In addition to your request that Congress provide an
additional $1 billion in funding for HBCUs, Tribal Colleges and
Universities (TCUs) and Minority-Serving Institutions, you also ask
that Congress increase student grant aid by doubling the maximum Pell
Grant award. Would the additional $1 billion in funding and the
additional student aid be sufficient to help your students pay for
additional expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic? Since Lane
College provides a high quality college education to students seeking
to improve their lives and that of their families, what else can
Congress do to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on
African American students to ensure that your school and other HBCUs
continue to not just operate but thrive?
Answer 3. As you mentioned, I did articulate in my testimony that
Congress should provide funding of an additional $1 billion to HBCUs,
TCUs, and MSIs along with asking for Congress to double the maximum
Pell Grant for students. However, the assumption is that those two
aforementioned asks would suffice in the short-term depending on how
long the national emergency will last and how long it will take for
jobs and health to be restored. If it takes 18 months for a vaccine to
be created, then it will also take time for the vaccine to be
disseminated to everyone in the country. In addition, there will likely
be a cost to institutions to provide the vaccine to students, much like
the costs associated with providing COVID-19 testing, and this is yet
another cost to my institution. I am still unsure at the present moment
of what my enrollment will look like in the Fall and beyond, so I am
almost certain that even the $1 billion ask that I have in my testimony
will likely not be enough overall to successfully recover from the
impacts of COVID-19. Also, when I ask for a doubling of the maximum
Pell Grant award, it is not to be taken as a temporary measure but as a
permanent measure. Our low-income students deserve a fair chance at
completing their postsecondary education free from the worry of not
being able to afford their education or not being able to successfully
pay back their loans.
senator casey
Question 1.
The COVID-19 pandemic has provided unprecedented disruptions across
our education system. Students may have changed financial
circumstances, increased family obligations or other challenges that
necessitate additional support or flexibility. In particular, students
whose personal circumstances require it, may need additional
flexibility to switch institutions. Have you considered developing more
robust transfer policies to accommodate these students? If so, what
changes are you proposing?
Answer 1. Yes, we have considered transfer protocols, in so much as
I have directed faculty and staff to remove all possible barriers to
students enrolling. We are working with consultants to help identify
opportunities to improve our processes and protocols.
Question 2.
According to a survey by Active Minds, 80 percent of college
students indicate COVID-19 has negatively impacted their mental health.
Students returning to campus may face increased anxiety about their own
health, the health of their parents and loved ones at home. Students
who are immunocompromised or otherwise medically vulnerable may also
face increased anxiety and isolation from their peers. As you consider
reopening in the fall, how are you preparing to support the increased
mental health needs of your students and faculty?
Answer 2. When Lane College decided to move all classes online, we
sent emails and hosted the final mass meeting of 100-plus students,
faculty, staff, and administrators to discuss remote instruction on
March 13, 2020. As students moved out of the residence halls at the end
of the semester Counseling Services sent staff to engage students. In
our communications, we shared a wealth of information to include
information regarding mental health services. Further, it bears noting,
that in virtually every meeting of the Pandemic Proof and Fast Start
teams, one of my colleagues mentions the trauma that our students have
endured and are enduring. The faculty and staff are most sensitive to
the traumatic impact of COVID-19 on our students. Please see our COVID-
19 Student Affairs Protocol below.
COVID-19 STUDENT AFFAIRS PROTOCOL
Health Services
Health Services will offer the latest CDC
recommendations and treatment options as indicated.
If you have a fever or cough, remain isolated and
contact Health Services at [redacted] for evaluation.
Health Services' evaluation process will consist of
the following:
Y Triage (ask a series of questions) and test for Flu,
Strep Throat, and UTI
If positive for Flu--treat
If positive for Strep Throat--treat
If positive for UTI--treat
If the above tests are negative, this will indicate
``fever of unknown origin.''
Y Student will be isolated in designated area for 14 days
Y Face mask(s) must be worn around others
Housing and Residence Life
Students who remain on campus must agree to report
any COVID-19 symptoms to Health Services for diagnosis (see
Health Services COVID19 protocol).
To maintain CDC-recommended social distancing
practices, students who remain on campus are not permitted to
have guest visits for any amount of time. (NO VISITATION)
Team Clean custodial staff is completing regular
cleaning of the public areas in the residence halls.
Hand sanitizers, hand wipes, and/or hand spray
sanitizer will be available at the front desk of each residence
hall.
Students who fail to comply with the COVID-19
protocols may be disciplined and removed from campus housing.
As a reminder, Lane College will NOT be responsible
for any items left in a student's room.
Dining Services
Campus dining is open to Lane College students,
faculty, and staff.
Y Brunch (10 a.m.--2 p.m.) and dinner (4 p.m.--7 p.m.)
meals will only be served.
No reusable service ware (plates, cups, utensils) and
limited self-service options to reduce the opportunity for
cross-contamination.
Y Meals and food will be served in to-go containers.
Y Beverage containers and plastic ware will be provided.
Y Diners should maintain CDC recommended social distancing
(keep 6 feet apart).
Y Sneeze guards were added to serving lines.
Campus Safety and Security
To assure the safety of the Lane College community, a
10 p.m. curfew has been implemented. Please remain within your
residence hall during the curfew.
Non-emergency incident reports can be made 24 hours a
day by utilizing the LiveSafe app or calling [redacted].
Counseling and Disability Services
Please call [redacted] or [redacted] to schedule an
appointment to talk with a Lane College Counselor.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis,
please call the 24-Hour Crisis Line at [redacted] or the State
Crisis Line at [redacted].
Religious Services/Chaplain
Please call [redacted] to schedule an appointment to
talk with a Lane College Chaplain.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis,
please call the 24-Hour Crisis Line at [redacted] or the State
Crisis Line at [redacted].
First Year Experience (FYE)
Interview/Selection of the 2020 Dragon Academy peer
advisors will be held via Zoom/FaceTime/Phone the week of March
30.
Lane College Dragon Academy 2020 begins June 6th
(Move-In). Applications will be available via the Lane College
website and official social media platforms.
The FYE office is available between the hours 2
p.m.--5 p.m. for a small number of students (5 or less) who
need computer access.
Please call Rev. McKindra at [redacted] to schedule
your visit to the office.
Intramural and Recreational Services
At present, nonessential facilities including
recreational facilities are closed in response to the State of
Emergency issued by the city of Jackson.
If and when the State of Emergency is lifted, please
follow these protocols while utilizing the recreation/weight
room in the Stone Amenities:
Y Recreation/Weight Room will only be open Monday--Friday,
9 am--11 a.m.; and 2 p.m.--4 p.m.
Y Only seven (7) individuals will be allowed into the
weight room at one time.
Y Upon entering Stone Amenities, all individuals must
sanitize their hands.
Y Please wipe down/sanitize each recreational machine
BEFORE and AFTER each use.
Y Attempt to avoid using recreational machines directly
beside another machine that is being used by someone else.
Y Do not partner with other persons when working out.
Avoid making mouth contact with the water fountain.
Avoid spitting in the water fountain.
Practice social distancing by avoiding direct contact
with others.
If sweating, keep as dry as possible by using cloth
towels, paper towels, or anything that can minimize
perspiration.
Y DO NOT share towels, water bottles, or anything that can
spread germs.
Y Avoid horseplay at all times.
Before exiting the building
Y Please wipe all sweat from your body.
Y Wash/sanitize your hands with soap and water.
Y Make sure that you are properly clothed.
Campus Life
No events will be scheduled.
Limited programming options, usually through virtual
channels, will be available for students remaining on campus.
Student organizations can only meet via virtual
meetings.
Student Government Association and Royal Court
nominations and elections will be conducted remotely (on-line
format).
The New Greek Members Presentation Show has been
canceled.
HBCU Wellness
Student Projects will be completed through video
conference formats.
Student Leadership and Engagement
The Office of Student Involvement and Leadership
continues to research creative ways to keep our students
engaged while practicing social distancing during the COVID-19
pandemic.
Y All face-to-face programs and activities have been
canceled.
To ensure that students still have the opportunity to
develop as leaders, the following adjustments have been made:
Y Cheerleading Tryouts: The Lane College Cheerleading
Program has postponed onsite tryouts until June 12-14,
2020. Students have the option to submit video footage. For
more information about video submissions, please contact
Mr. Quentin Giles or call/text [redacted].
The Campus Activities Board will transition their weekly
meetings to video conference meetings through Zoom.
Orientation Leadership (OL) Institute will use Blackboard
to complete Orientation Leadership training.
National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS) will
continue membership training through the NSLS members' portal. All
face-to-face programs will move to online programming.
Lane College Book Store
At the conclusion of the spring semester, please
return your textbooks before returning your room key to
Housing.
Y Textbook Returns for Spring 2020:
` April 20-April 24, 2020
` 8:30 AM-5 PM
` Graduating seniors must return textbooks
before picking up Regalia.
Question 3.
For our colleges and universities that serve a diverse population
of students and their families, there will be significantly different
abilities to get to campus and to safely participate in instruction and
activities or even get back to campus. For students with disabilities
that have secondary health conditions, such as diabetes or asthma,
there will be greater risks. Wherever health services are provided,
they need to be equitably provided for students with all types of
disabilities.
I'm concerned as well for students of lesser economic means.
The expense of returning to campus will be greater for them.
The precautions they will need to take will be more expensive
for them. The risks for them will be greater. If there are
added expenses for single rooms, health care services,
increased tuition--all of those costs will be more difficult to
bear for them.
Low-income students may also face additional challenges. The
expense of returning to campus will be greater for them. The
precautions they will need to take will be more expensive for
them. The risks for them will be greater. If there are added
expenses for single rooms, health care services, increased
tuition--all of those costs will be more difficult to bear for
them.
For these groups of students, reopening campuses may mean they
cannot or will not attend. They may not have the money or wish
to risk their health. How will you ensure that we do not see an
expansion of the gap in access and completion of postsecondary
education for poor and disabled students, thus reinforcing
decades of discrimination and lack of access to a college or
graduate education that can lead a person out of poverty or
prevent them from falling into poverty?
Answer 3. At Lane College, we value all of our students and have
put processes in place to help them during this challenging time. In my
testimony, I mentioned that we have received the allocation for the
emergency grant aid for students and the allocation for institutions in
Section 18004(a)(1) of H. R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security (CARES) Act equaling $2,430,978. My institution will
be using the institutional funds to reimburse ourselves for COVID-19
related expenses and have already began to disseminate the emergency
grant aid to students. To disseminate the emergency grant aid, Lane
College established two dispersal tactics:
Y Lane CARES Fund--$592 was distributed to each Spring
2020 enrolled student to support their needs caused by the
disruption due to COVID-19 to include food, housing, and
transportation. To establish this amount, Lane College
surveyed students and found that 78 percent of the students
asked for funds to support food and 73 percent asked for
housing support. The survey instrument was sent to each
students' Lane College email address on April 16, 2020,
which was approximately 5 weeks after most students had
been away from campus. CARES funds to support student's
food, housing, and transportation were distributed to each
student (except the international students) on April 30,
2020; and
Y The Lane Direct Support Fund--These funds are awarded on
a case-by case-bases. A student may request these funds to
support allowable educational expenses.
As of May 28, 2020, a total of $659,396.56 has been distributed
from Lane CARES Fund and Lane Direct Support Fund combined. My goal is
to use these funds to support our students needs and to ensure that our
students who may have disabilities are also provided with financial
assistance. In addition, I have called for Congress to double the
maximum Pell Grant to help low-income students better afford their
postsecondary education. With the negative side effects of COVID-19,
our low-income students need all of the financial assistance they can
receive to continue their education.
senator murray
Question 1.
President Hampton, what is your opinion on Secretary DeVos'
decision to exclude non-Title IV eligible students from being eligible
for emergency financial aid under the CARES Act, contrary to
congressional intent?
Answer 1. I believe that all students should be able to receive
financial assistance under the CARES Act regardless of whether or not
they are eligible for Title IV aid. Title IV aid is not the same as
emergency grant aid and all of my students, and their families, have
been impacted. At Lane College, we have already began to disseminate
our emergency grant aid; however, with the new interim final rule, we
now have to go back to double check that we are abiding by the rules of
the Department of Education. To ensure that all Lane Students were
treated similarly, we used funds raised from our Board of Trustees to
support non-Title IV eligible students (approximately 5 students).
Question 2.
President Hampton, what is your opinion on Secretary DeVos'
decision to block institutions of higher education from using
institutional stabilization funds provided by Section 18004(a)(1) of
the CARES Act to defray lost revenues, contrary to congressional
intent?
Answer 2. As I mentioned in my testimony, a loss of just 100
students over Summer 2020, Fall 2020, and Spring 2021 would cost my
institution nearly $2,000,000 in revenue. We need all the help we can
get and having the ability to use the resources available to us to
defray lost revenues is the goal. I am thankful that Lane College
received $2,847,630 is Section 18004(a)(2) of the CARES Act, allowing
us to use these funds to defray lost revenues.
senator rosen
Question 1.
The Nevada System of Higher Education has three separate groups
focused on preparing to safely re-open campuses this fall. One of
these--the COVID Reopening Task Force--includes students, medical
personnel, education leaders, and public safety staff, who are all
reviewing various plans and providing recommendations to the
Chancellor. At this point, our schools are planning to re-open in the
fall, but with various modifications, including: no large lectures; a
mix of remote and in-person instruction; single-occupancy dorm rooms;
and increased cleaning, testing, and tracing. Each of the schools are
also consulting with health and education experts in order to follow
best practices.
How flexible are your plans to re-open campuses this
fall? Do you envision adapting your plans as the semester
progresses?
What education and health experts do you consult with
on best practices when determining whether and how to reopen?
Answer 1. In my testimony, I mentioned that Lane College is
considering three scenarios: Lane College FastStart (face-to-face
instruction in Fall 2020), Lane College VR (all online courses in Fall
2020), and Lane College SOAR (a hybrid of both online courses and face-
to-face instruction in Fall 2020). We are definitely flexible and plan
to adapt as necessary, just like we did for Spring of 2020 when moving
to complete remote instruction. As a result of consultation given by
UNCF, Lane College was able to quickly establish a Crisis Management
Center with a strategy team to lead it. The Lane College strategy team
is made up of four (4) members: (1) Dr. Sandra Ramawy (Liberal Studies
and Education, Academic Division Chair), response lead; (2) Ms. Tangela
Poole (Lane College Controller), financial lead; (3) Mr. Terry Blackmon
(Lane College Registrar), academic/institutional research lead; and (4)
myself. This team is charged with offering overall leadership of the
Crisis Management Center and coordinating the weekly Lane College C-19
Team Meeting that is comprised of the Fast Start team, members of the
Lane College Joint Leadership team, and the Pandemic Proof team. the
Pandemic Proof team consisting of 27 members. This team is charged with
developing tactical solutions to prepare for the three aforementioned
potential future scenarios of campus operations in response to COVID-19
(Lane College FastStart, Lane College VR, and Lane College SOAR). The
Pandemic Proof team is developing tactical solutions for each area of
the institution's operation. For more details on what this team is
working on, please see attachment #1 in my testimony.
The campus will reopen on Monday, July 6, 2020 for the remote
employees to return. In response to the Lane College Board of Trustees,
the commencement celebration will be held virtually on July 18, 2020.
Student success will be achieved on our healthy, safe, and
supportive campus with healthy scholars practicing personal
responsibility. Our mission continues, even facing COVID-19, to develop
the whole student with academic excellence as our highest priority.
Please see below to learn more about our plans to ensure safety on our
campus.
1. Healthy: Clean and treat facilities to ensure a healthy
environment
a. All facilities are cleaned two times per day this fall.
b. Team Clean, the facility staff, has expanded personnel
to clean high touch areas.
c. Team Clean has added cleaning agents designed to clean
COVID-19.
d. We are yet exploring means to treat facilities.
i. I have organized a pandemic proof biodefense
team.
ii. The team members are made up of biology and
chemistry faculty and facility and medical
personnel.
2. Safe:
a. In our hybrid model, students, faculty and staff will
have the option to teach, learn, work and/or study remotely
or face-to-face.
b. The Pandemic Proof Team, made up of 27 faculty and
staff, has worked and is working to address the many
challenges presented by the coronavirus and COVID-19.
c. The chief of campus security has been working since
spring break to improve campus access.
i. Campus traffic and access will be
restricted.
ii. Campus access is limited to Lane College
students, faculty, staff, and the guests who
have checked in through the security office.
d. The faculty have set-up the classrooms to ensure the
instructor is 10 feet from students and the students are 6
feet from one another.
3. Supportive: We have all experienced significant trauma. Our
students, faculty, and staff have been negatively impacted by
COVID-19 and the evolving, conflicting, and nuanced responses
and reactions. I encourage my community to continue to be
vigilant, patient, prayerful, flexible and to listen
empathetically to one another. ``We all need someone to lean
on'' in these times (Bill Withers).
a. Our information technology have sourced and secured
hardware, software, and tools to support online learning.
More needed and more to come.
b. Health Services and the Office of Administration have
secured PPE and sanitizers including 13,000 masks.
Healthy Scholars Practicing Personal Responsibility
1. I ask community member to take personal responsibility for
WWSS: Wear your mask, wash your hands, social distance and
self-check.
2. SELF-CHECK: Each and every time that a member returns to
campus or a student leaves their residence hall room, each of
us will be required to affirm that we are free of COVID-19
symptoms for 72 hours including:
a. FREE OF FEVER greater than 100 degrees, without fever
reducing medication
b. RUNNY NOSE
c. COUGHING
d. SNEEZING
e. SORE THROAT
f. DIFFICULTY BREATHING
g. FEELING ILL
h. UPSET STOMACH or DIARRHEA
i. CHILLS
j. REPEATED SHAKING WITH CHILLS
k. MUSCLE PAIN
l. HEADACHE
m. NEW LOSS OF TASTE OR SMELL
n. Furthermore, each will affirm: I HAVE NOT TRAVELED TO A
COVID-19 HOTSPOT in the past 14 days.
o. If I have TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID-19, I will provide
documentation that I am free of the disease.
p. If I have BEEN IN CONTACT WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS TESTED
POSITIVE, I will contact my supervisor, advisor, faculty
member or College official prior to coming to the Campus,
leaving my residence hall, and/or entering a College
facility and self-quarantine for 14 days.
q. If I TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID-19, I will contact my
supervisor, advisor, faculty member or College official
prior to coming to Campus and/or leave my residence hall/
r. Though the self-checker is not a substitute for
professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, in
combination with the other interventions, wear your mask,
wash your hands and social distance, it has proven to slow
the spread of COVID-19.
The College has partnered with the Madison County Health Department
and Christ Community Health Center to develop protocols and testing for
our community. The staff participated in webinars including those
hosted by the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities
Associations with the Tennessee Department of Health.
Question 2.
It is absolutely critical that we ensure our students' and
faculty's health is protected as colleges and universities navigate how
to move forward with their important role in fostering new ideas,
educating our future workforce, and conducting critical research. We
also need our institutions of higher education to continue to be strong
partners with our health care system as we work to fight COVID-19, and
also look for new ways to engage. In Nevada, we have seen our colleges,
universities, and researchers go above and beyond. Just a few
examples--the UNLV School of Medicine in Las Vegas jumped in to provide
curbside testing early on; UNR in Reno has been researching new ways to
address COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment; and the Desert Research
Institute is leading public health research to map spread of the virus,
risk, and exposure. We've heard of engineering departments using 3D
printing to make masks and swabs, and students creating new programs to
bring groceries to homebound seniors. The list goes on.
I'd like to hear about how else our institutions of
higher education can adjust their focus to help meet the future public
health, medical, and related workforce needs to address both the
current pandemic and the disparities in our health care system that
have been laid so bare through this crisis.
Answer 2. Institutions of higher education exist to educate our
Nation's students so that they can become doctors, nurses, lawyers,
engineers, etc. As it relates to COVID-19, institutions of higher
education are able to become leaders in research to learn more about
this virus and are able to teach courses on how to successfully respond
to a pandemic. Institutions of higher education can also partner up
with companies in the workforce to learn what their needs are and offer
necessary and needed training and programs to ensure that those needs
are met. There are a number of collaborations that could exist between
an institution of higher education and the workforce, especially
programs that would provide a passageway for our HBCU students to
obtain a job after graduation.
Question 3.
According to the latest data provided by the National Center for
Education Statistics, close to 20 percent of students attending
institutes of higher education have at least one disability that
impacts the way they learn. While colleges and universities have done
much to ensure student learning continues in the wake of the pandemic
by transitioning to online learning platforms, students with
disabilities may encounter increased barriers in their pursuit of
academic success at no fault to the institutes themselves. Students
with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder may struggle with
prolonged online sessions. Students who are hearing impaired or suffer
from auditory processing deficits may have difficulty communicating
with other students when closed captioning is not available in video
conferences or in streaming lessons, especially when they rely on an
American Sign Language interpreter or reading lips. Furthermore,
students with physical disabilities may not have access to the
assistive technologies needed to successfully complete their
coursework. Institutes of higher education have worked hard to support
this sudden transition to virtual learning for all students, but this
pandemic has had unintended hardships, particularly for those students
with disabilities.
How can we ensure that all students can continue to
be supported in their educational endeavors, whether physically
in the classroom or virtually through distance learning, even
beyond the pandemic?
Answer 3. The Lane College Counseling and Disability Services
provides accommodation services to student with disabilities.
Counseling Services is currently conducting workshops with faculty and
staff to make us aware of the breadth of services that the Center
provides to assist students. Further, the Center has several tools
(i.e. Kurzweil assistive technologies) available to assist students
with disabilities.
Last, though Lane College has limited resources, we are committed
to providing access to all of our students and removing barriers.
Currently, our student body has a number of students who present a
diversity of disabilities. I am pleased that our campus accommodates,
assists, and graduates these students without regard to their
disability.
______
Responses by Dr. Christina H. Paxson, to Questions of Senator Collins,
Senator Scott, Senator Warren, Senator Sanders, Senator Casey, Senator
Murray, and Senator Rosen.
senator collins
Question 1.
Three quarters of the programs offered at Maine's community
colleges are the only ones of their kind in the state, and the vast
majority (71 percent) of Maine's community college students are
enrolled in career and occupational programs, many of them hands-on in
nature. By definition, these skills-based programs--such as for auto
mechanics, CNAs, machinists, radiological technicians, the culinary
arts--have a necessary face-to-face component where physical distancing
is very challenging, or may not be possible. This type of coursework
has been critical to ``up-skilling'' our workforce. How should
community colleges respond both to safety concerns as well as the
overwhelming need for the workforce training they offer?
Answer 1. Brown is a residential, four-year university with
challenges and operations that likely are very distinct from a
community college. Every institution necessarily will develop plans
that align with their specific circumstances, geography, populations
and curricula--whether they are rural or urban, have residential
students or commuter populations, offer courses traditionally in
smaller or large classes, or offer courses in person or online. My
testimony is not intended as a roadmap for colleges and universities.
Rather, my hope is to help build understanding among the honorable
Members of the Committee of the complicated decisions all higher
education institutions are confronting, and the important role of state
and Federal Governments in supporting schools to ensure we can open our
campuses safely.
senator scott
Question 1.
Ms. Paxson, in your op-ed in the New York Times, you brought
attention to how university closures particularly affect low-income
students. I appreciate your sentiment and concern for our most
vulnerable students. Many students and families have recently become
unemployed or suffered a significant drop in income due to COVID-19. In
a letter to the U.S. Department of Education, Senators Hassan,
Loeffler, Booker, and I asked the Department to ensure financial aid
administrators have the support, guidance, and flexibility of the
Department to fairly and efficiently execute ``Professional Judgment''.
This tool allows financial aid administrators a mode to recalculate
financial aid eligibility when a student's expected family contribution
has abruptly changed.
(A) Many colleges currently have tools at their disposal to
recalculate financial aid eligibility resulting from a loss of
income, but what are some ways you think we can make students
and families more aware of these options? How important are
financial aid options to the matriculation of students to
schools?
Answer 1. Brown University is committed to meet the full
demonstrated financial need of our students who are eligible for
Federal and institutional funding throughout the academic year and
their time at Brown. Therefore, students and families are required to
apply for financial aid each year, but also encouraged to update the
Office of Financial Aid if there are any changes to the family's
financial situation. The situations include, but are not limited to, a
loss of a job, a material reduction in hours and wages, a fire
destroying a business or home, and large medical expenses. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, Brown's Office of Financial Aid created a process to
continually check in with families throughout the year to determine if
they have experienced a significant change in their family's financial
situation. The process involves special coding in our financial aid
system for these families, so we do not lose track of them throughout
the year. Brown also created a funding opportunity through the College
for students to request funding for unexpected expenses.
More broadly, the Department of Education could provide information
on the website studentaid.gov encouraging students and families to stay
in contact with their financial aid offices regarding any changes to
their family circumstances. There are processes available to all
colleges and universities to request additional Federal aid for
students based on these types of changes. The funding may not always be
grants or scholarship and may include loans, however, making students
and families aware of the options can be critical to a student's
decision to continue their education.
senator warren
Question 1.
How, specifically, will you ensure that faculty (including adjunct
faculty) and staff (including hourly workers) are at the table for all
decisions regarding when and how to repopulate your campus this fall?
How will you engage and solicit their viewpoints, and how will you
ensure that those viewpoints are taken into consideration for all
decisions?
Answer 1. Several ad hoc administrative committees were created to
provide high-level oversight of ongoing issues arising from the global
novel coronavirus pandemic. Membership on the committees include
students, faculty and staff. While the work of the committees is
specific to the unique circumstances of the pandemic and does not fall
within the University's established governance committees, offices and
structures, these ad hoc groups are working with relevant faculty and
staff colleagues from across the University and engaging the existing
governance structures throughout the process.
Question 2.
How, specifically, will you ensure that students are at the table
for all decisions regarding when and how to repopulate your campus this
fall? How will you engage and solicit their viewpoints, and how will
you ensure that those viewpoints are taken into consideration for all
decisions?
Answer 2. Last spring, the University developed a survey of first-
year and returning undergraduate students to collect information about
the choices they would most likely make under each of three planning
scenarios for the fall that were under consideration. The intent was to
gather information to guide and refine Brown's plans for the fall in
conjunction with a wide variety of additional factors, data points and
considerations--ranging from input from graduate students (who were
surveyed independently) and faculty, to the evolution of the pandemic
itself, to the availability of COVID-19 diagnostic tests.
Student preferences served as one factor in the complex effort to
develop solutions that protect the health and safety of students,
faculty, staff and the extended community, while maximizing teaching,
learning and research operations to the greatest extent possible. I'll
also reiterate that students are members of some of the ad hoc
committees created to provide high-level guidance and oversight
surrounding the pandemic. Students are playing a critical role on
Brown's Healthy Fall 2020 Task Force, which is taking the lead on
developing training and a public education campaign around health
protocols.
Question 3.
Given what we know about coronavirus now, and understanding this
could change, under what conditions would you consider abandoning plans
to repopulate your campus, again moving everyone to remote instruction,
and shutting down the majority of outreach and research activities?
What process would you follow to undertake this decision?
Answer 3. I don't expect that we ever will experience again or in
the same way the situation confronting colleges and universities when
COVID-19 first arrived on campuses in spring 2020. In March, it was
necessary to move everyone to remote operations completely and
immediately to establish the public health protocols, digital and
online operations, and modified approaches to facilities and space use
that later allowed a transition to resuming the most essential
operations onsite. Today, we are equipped with safety measures,
equipment and knowledge that might lead to a new process of decision
making in the event of a major surge in COVID-19 cases in the region,
across the country and around the world, but with outcomes I would
hesitate to try to predict.
At Brown, we are basing all decisions regarding public health on
the best available science. At all times, we are aligning with the
guidance of the Rhode Island Department of Public Health (RIDOH) and
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Our plans,
policies and guidance to Brown community members will adapt and be
updated as guidance from those agencies evolves with our understanding
of COVID-19. If at any time we felt that the status of the pandemic
would not allow us to safely manage an outbreak of coronavirus on our
campus, or its impact on the Providence community, we would develop
plans to allow the most essential functions to continue while
prioritizing keeping our community safe. We learned, even at the height
of the pandemic, that with proper safety measures and safeguard for
personal health, essential operations can continue.
Question 4.
Do you intend to require students, faculty, or staff to sign
waivers before repopulating campus this fall?
Answer 4. Brown University does not intend to require students,
faculty, or staff to sign waivers before returning to campus this fall.
senator sanders
Question 1.
Postsecondary education in the United States has traditionally been
funded through a mixture of Federal and state government
appropriations, institutional endowments, and student payments of
tuitions and fees. However, recently, there has been a massive
reduction in Federal and state investment in institutions of higher
education that has left students bearing a larger proportion of the
price of college. What has been the impact of the loss of investment in
colleges on the ability of your students to pay for costs related to
the COVID-19 pandemic? What has been the impact of the loss of
investment in colleges on the ability of your school to prepare for and
respond to the COVID-19 pandemic? With the loss of income and budget
cuts, how will your institution prioritize safety and provide adequate
staffing as campuses reopen? How will your institution ensure that
every student, regardless of financial status, students with
disabilities, LGBQT+ students, students with unsafe homes, students of
color and students from low-income families will have free access to
testing and a vaccine, when available?
Answer 1. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown
University has been guided by a clear set of principles: protect the
health and safety of Brown students and employees; protect the
financial well-being of vulnerable members of our student and employee
populations; protect Brown's mission of education and research,
including focusing resources on Brown's highest academic priorities;
and protect the long-run financial health of the University.
Guided by these principles and our core values, in responding to
the pandemic, we have supported undergraduate students with travel,
moving and instructional expenses; credited fees for room and board;
and are waiving the summer earning expectations of all current and
admitted students, covering this with scholarship aid. We are providing
support to address the distinct needs of graduate students during this
period of uncertainty, and we have remained committed to sustaining our
current workforce and to taking steps to avoid layoffs. We have also
offered the option to tenure-track faculty to extend the tenure clock
by one year. Throughout this period, we have partnered with Providence
and Rhode Island to assist with increasing local community needs,
described in this letter.
The University's actions in support of our community have been the
right things to do, and through increased expenditures and declining
revenue, have increased our fiscal year 2020 budget deficit by nearly
$40 million. We expect this negative financial impact to grow by an
additional $100-200 Million over the course of next year depending on
how prevalent the coronavirus remains. That being said, we will
continue to meet the full demonstrated need of all admitted students,
and all COVID-19 testing will be free of charge to students, faculty
and staff.
Question 2.
According to a report from the American Federation of Teachers,
``Army of Temps,'' 75 percent of all instructional workers in American
higher education are contingent or adjunct--effectively, temporary
workers. Of those workers, almost 40 percent are over 60; 65 percent
are over 50. We know from other industries in which workers have no
meaningful job security--Uber and Lyft drivers, seasonal farm workers,
and the like--that workers in such industries often feel pressured to
come to work even when they are sick, and even when conditions where
they work are not conductive to their health. What do you plan to do to
make sure that these workers, the majority of teaching staff in higher
education in the United States, are safe from COVID-19 on your
campuses, and what do you recommend others do? How do you plan to
reasonably accommodate those who the CDC has designated at being at
heightened risk of COVID-19 complications, particularly those who may
not feel that they have the job security to raise their concerns about
their own health at work?
Answer 2. For the past several months, multiple working groups at
Brown have been exploring a range of options for safe operations for
the 2020-21 academic year amid the global pandemic. This planning has
been guided by advice from medical and public health professionals, and
informed by guidelines coming from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH). The focus
at all times has been how we can best protect the health of our
students, staff, faculty and Providence residents while delivering
Brown's world-class education, continuing critical research, and
remaining a valued neighbor in our city, state and region.
Currently, cases of COVID-19 are trending down in Rhode Island, and
the state has moved into Phase 3 of its reopening plan. In light of
these trends, we are planning for the return of students to campus this
fall, based on a three-semester academic calendar and other policies
and practices that will reduce the density of students, faculty and
staff on campus, and give all students the opportunity to spend two
semesters on campus.
All students will be given the option to enroll in their courses
remotely, whether they are on campus or not, and all faculty will be
given the option of teaching in person or remotely. As noted above,
limiting in-person class sizes to 20 students will enable safe
distancing of students and instructors within classrooms. In addition,
every classroom space will have a six-foot or greater separation
between individuals. Faculty with health or other concerns have the
option to teach, mentor and advise online in the fall. Should the
public health situation not improve, this option will be extended
throughout the spring and summer semesters as well.
Brown established a COVID-19 Workplace Safety Policy, which sets
out the requirements for work that is authorized to take place on
campus in a safe and orderly manner. This policy applies to every
member of the University community.
Testing and contact tracing for all Brown employees and students
are essential for campus safety. Over the summer, we are piloting a
testing program that will be implemented for all employees and
students. We have also established a contact tracing team for all
employees at Brown as well as a separate contact tracing team for all
of our students.
We have also continued to provide regular education on and support
for workplace safety for all Brown faculty and staff. Symptomatic
employees receive immediate support for paid time off by the University
for ten business days if they must be in quarantine as a result of
being exposed to COVID-19 or in isolation if they have been positively
diagnosed for COVID-19. If employees need additional time off for more
than 10 days due to exposure or a positive diagnosis, there are
additional leave programs that employees can request. Paid time off for
ten business days is also available to our employees who are not sick
but must provide care to dependent(s) or to care for a household member
who has been exposed to COVID-19 or positively diagnosed with COVID-19.
In addition to paid time off for ten business days and leave options,
employees may also qualify for alternative work arrangements to address
care for a dependent or for a household member who may need additional
time to recover from COVID-19.
Any employee at high risk who feels unsafe to report to work can
request a variety of leave options, alternative work arrangements or a
reasonable accommodation. All supervisory employees have received
specific training on the available options to provide immediate support
to an employee who is at high risk and cannot perform their work on
campus.
senator casey
Question 1.
The COVID-19 pandemic has provided unprecedented disruptions across
our education system. Students may have changed financial
circumstances, increased family obligations or other challenges that
necessitate additional support or flexibility. In particular, students
whose personal circumstances require it, may need additional
flexibility to switch institutions. Have you considered developing more
robust transfer policies to accommodate these students? If so, what
changes are you proposing?
Answer 1. To support our students who plan to start or resume their
studies at Brown in the fall, the University will continue to meet the
full demonstrated financial need of our students who are eligible for
Federal and institutional funding throughout the academic year and
their time at Brown. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown eliminated the
summer earnings requirement for students and replaced the amount with
University scholarship. This resulted in an increase between $2,700--
$2,900 for all students receiving aid. In addition, the Office of
Financial Aid created a process to continually check in with families
throughout the year to determine if they have experienced a significant
change in their family's financial situation. Brown also created a
funding opportunity through The College for students to request funding
for unexpected expenses.
If students transfer to other institutions, coordination between
institutions of higher education will play a critical role to ensure
that transfer students receive robust orientation, academic and
financial support.
Question 2.
According to a survey by Active Minds, 80 percent of college
students indicate COVID-19 has negatively impacted their mental health.
Students returning to campus may face increased anxiety about their own
health, the health of their parents and loved ones at home. Students
who are immunocompromised or otherwise medically vulnerable may also
face increased anxiety and isolation from their peers. As you consider
reopening in the fall, how are you preparing to support the increased
mental health needs of your students and faculty?
Answer 2. Brown University has the good fortune of having an
integrated model of care, represented by a combination of mental health
and physical health care clinicians. Together they share in the
holistic support and care of all Brown students. The Counseling and
Psychological Services (CAPS) department is staffed by dedicated and
committed mental health professionals who remain prepared to continue
their support of students and whatever mental health challenges they
may be experiencing, wherever they are located. When students
transitioned to a virtual learning environment, CAPS staff continued to
support and care for students by transitioning to telehealth. In our
preparation for a fall reopening, we are preparing for CAPS to offer a
blend of on-campus services for those who return to campus and
telehealth services to serve students who may be in remote locations.
This will continue to make mental health care maximally accessible. The
services provided by CAPS include same day availability, urgent care
access, ongoing longitudinal therapy and support offered in groups and
workshops. We have also learned the value of transitioning groups and
workshops to virtual platforms and will continue to build on those
models. We have also long understood the power of embedding mental
health services in programs such as our medical school and will
continue to expand upon that model. In addition, we have a robust
student health service that is staffed by primary care clinicians who
are comfortable providing care to the ``whole student.'' Our integrated
model of health and wellness care is structured such that Brown
University Student Health Services clinicians collaborate with CAPS
clinicians in the mental health care of students on a daily basis. As
we prepare to move into a new, state-of-the-art Health and Wellness
Center in the Spring-Summer of 2021, these services will become co-
located. We expect that students will experience the benefits of this
model of collaborative care in even more profound ways.
Question 3.
For our colleges and universities that serve a diverse population
of students and their families, there will be significantly different
abilities to get to campus and to safely participate in instruction and
activities or even get back to campus. For students with disabilities
that have secondary health conditions, such as diabetes or asthma,
there will be greater risks. Wherever health services are provided,
they need to be equitably provided for students with all types of
disabilities.
I'm concerned as well for students of lesser economic means.
The expense of returning to campus will be greater for them.
The precautions they will need to take will be more expensive
for them. The risks for them will be greater. If there are
added expenses for single rooms, health care services,
increased tuition--all of those costs will be more difficult to
bear for them.
Low-income students may also face additional challenges. The
expense of returning to campus will be greater for them. The
precautions they will need to take will be more expensive for
them. The risks for them will be greater. If there are added
expenses for single rooms, health care services, increased
tuition--all of those costs will be more difficult to bear for
them.
For these groups of students, reopening campuses may mean
they cannot or will not attend. They may not have the money or
wish to risk their health. How will you ensure that we do not
see an expansion of the gap in access and completion of
postsecondary education for poor and disabled students, thus
reinforcing decades of discrimination and lack of access to a
college or graduate education that can lead a person out of
poverty or prevent them from falling into poverty?
Answer 3. Maintaining the financial well-being of students and
employees, especially those who experience the greatest impact, is one
of the principles guiding the University's planning and decision
making. We have demonstrated this in a multitude of ways since COVID-19
affected our community.
Guided by the priority to ensure the health and safety of our
students, faculty and staff, the University moved quickly to relocate
students and transition to remote learning. We supported students in
numerous ways to ensure that they could transition safely and have the
resources needed to engage in their courses and continue their
education progress. We supported:
Moving and travel expenses for undergraduate
financial aid recipients
Students working remotely or those whose research has
been put on hold
Students facing food insecurity while they are away
from campus
Technology needs to support remote learning,
including internet connectivity, computers, and course-specific
software and materials
In addition, recognizing that employment
opportunities would be limited in this economy, we eliminated
the summer earnings expectation.
Brown University has a team of professionals in the Student
Accessibility Services Office to support the specific needs of students
including undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral
trainees. University Human Resources supports faculty or staff members
who may need accommodations or services due to a disability or medical
condition. Specific attention is being devoted to the needs of
individuals with specific accommodations in their housing, dining and
learning during the University's response to the pandemic.
Brown University remains committed to attracting and supporting
students from families of all income levels, and to meeting the full
demonstrated financial need of admitted undergraduate students. The
University also has processes in place to support those students with
the highest financial need through The College's E-Gap fund. This
includes support for travel or other requirements to support student
success.
In the year ahead, students also have the option of taking courses
fully remotely should they choose given their health conditions or
other circumstances.
senator murray
Question 1.
I am concerned about Secretary DeVos requiring schools, including
colleges and universities, to implement a sweeping new Title IX
regulation in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a uniquely
challenging time to be enacting such a policy.
President Paxson, do you agree that implementing a safe and
equitable re-opening is a priority right now and that achieving
compliance with this far-reaching regulation during a nationwide
pandemic and time of racial unrest stretches the capacity of
institutions?
Answer 1. As your question notes, institutions must focus on
planning for a safe and healthy campus-based operation. Thus, limiting
our adoption of these regulations to 100 days is challenging and does
not reflect the dynamic conditions in which these rules will operate.
The August 14 deadline does not allow institutions to devote adequate
time to fully assess the best way to adopt these changes within their
Title IX policies and to contemplate the effects on other codes of
conduct, policies, and practices.
The August 14 compliance deadline also places undue burden on our
faculty, staff and students. People are stressed and anxious from the
demands of COVID-19 and the sudden transition to remote learning. Our
community is shouldering the effects of self-isolation, care for sick
family members, financial instability and graphic reminders of racial
inequity and chronic disparities in our health care and criminal
justice system. Accordingly, we will be offering a higher degree of
care for our constituents as we begin the fall semester regardless of
the format in which we operate.
Institutions must have the time needed to consider due care and
effectiveness for their unique campus cultures in handling sexual
harassment and gender-based violence.
I am in full agreement that sexual violence and gender-based
discrimination occurs at alarming rates and is unacceptable. Campuses
must continue to do what is necessary to prevent and address this
behavior when it learns of its occurrence, and any conduct that
interferes with someone from fully realizing their educational goals.
My concerns rests predominately with the lack of time given to comply
with the regulations.
Question 2.
President Paxson, what is your opinion on Secretary DeVos' decision
to exclude non-Title IV eligible students from being eligible for
emergency financial aid under the CARES Act, contrary to congressional
intent?
Answer 2. I believe that colleges and universities need
governmental support for student financial aid. Brown and other schools
collectively will spend tens of billions of dollars on aid for students
whose parents have lost their jobs during the pandemic and who may be
unable to return to school without emergency assistance from their
college or university. It is my personal conviction that DACA and
undocumented students, as well as veterans, should be eligible for the
much-needed Federal financial support in this time of a global pandemic
and the resulting economic downturn.
Question 3.
President Paxson, what is your opinion on Secretary DeVos' decision
to block institutions of higher education from using institutional
stabilization funds provided by Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act to
defray lost revenues, contrary to congressional intent?
Answer 3. If colleges and universities can resume campus operations
safely this fall, they will have to contend with the costs of
implementing comprehensive public health plans, including expenses for
testing, contact tracing and isolation/quarantine of students. In
addition, during the course of the pandemic, colleges and universities
have incurred significant unbudgeted and unanticipated expenses for
support for undergraduate students with travel, moving and
instructional expenses; crediting fees for room and board; waiving the
summer earning expectations of all undergraduate students and providing
more scholarship aid; providing financial support to graduate students;
and contending with loss of revenue from canceling summer programs.
Additional assistance from the Federal Government is needed and should
go directly to institutions to cover these costs.
senator rosen
Question 1.
The Nevada System of Higher Education has three separate groups
focused on preparing to safely re-open campuses this fall. One of
these--the COVID Reopening Task Force--includes students, medical
personnel, education leaders, and public safety staff, who are all
reviewing various plans and providing recommendations to the
Chancellor. At this point, our schools are planning to re-open in the
fall, but with various modifications, including: no large lectures; a
mix of remote and in-person instruction; single-occupancy dorm rooms;
and increased cleaning, testing, and tracing. Each of the schools are
also consulting with health and education experts in order to follow
best practices.
How flexible are your plans to re-open campuses this
fall? Do you envision adapting your plans as the semester
progresses?
Answer 1a. Brown's plans are based on the best current available
data and public health recommendations. However, we recognize there is
still great uncertainty about how the pandemic will evolve across
regions of the country and the world, and the pace at which treatments
and vaccines will be developed. I have informed all students, faculty,
staff and alumni that everyone in our community will have to approach
this year understanding that we may need to make mid-course changes or
adjustments to how instruction is offered, housing is configured, and
public health protocols are implemented on campus. As always, we will
approach any changes based on community principles that place a premium
on the health and well-being of our students and employees.
What education and health experts do you consult with
on best practices when determining whether and how to reopen?
Answer 1b. Our planning has been guided by expert advice from
medical and public health professionals and informed by guidelines
coming from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the
Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH). The focus at all times has
been how we can best protect the health of our students, employees and
Providence residents.
Question 2.
It is absolutely critical that we ensure our students' and
faculty's health is protected as colleges and universities navigate how
to move forward with their important role in fostering new ideas,
educating our future workforce, and conducting critical research. We
also need our institutions of higher education to continue to be strong
partners with our health care system as we work to fight COVID-19, and
also look for new ways to engage. In Nevada, we have seen our colleges,
universities, and researchers go above and beyond. Just a few
examples--the UNLV School of Medicine in Las Vegas jumped in to provide
curbside testing early on; UNR in Reno has been researching new ways to
address COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment; and the Desert Research
Institute is leading public health research to map spread of the virus,
risk, and exposure. We've heard of engineering departments using 3D
printing to make masks and swabs, and students creating new programs to
bring groceries to homebound seniors. The list goes on.
I'd like to hear about how else our institutions of
higher education can adjust their focus to help meet the future
public health, medical, and related workforce needs to address
both the current pandemic and the disparities in our health
care system that have been laid so bare through this crisis.
Answer 2. The pandemic has magnified the deep disparities that
exist in the United States. Institutions of higher education have a
critical role to play through teaching, research and service to address
these persistent issues.
The University has created a seed fund to support research in this
area--both COVID-19 related research aimed at finding treatments--and a
fund aimed specifically at addressing the origin and implications of
bias and racism in the US. Academic centers, departments, and
institutes have developed substantial programming to raise awareness
and understanding of the range of issues, bringing experts from across
the disciplines to share and advance knowledge.
In addition, Brown has a long and valued partnership with Tougaloo
College, a historically Black college in Mississippi. As part of
efforts to respond to the current national climate and fortify the
partnership, Brown's School of Public Health and Tougaloo College
recently announced the Health Equity Scholars program. With the goal of
expanding voices and perspectives in public health by changing the
makeup of public health leadership, the scholars program will begin by
admitting up to five Tougaloo graduates into Brown's Master of Public
Health program this fall and in subsequent years. Scholars will receive
a full-tuition scholarship, enhanced mentorship and internships focused
on training the next generation of public health leaders. We will work
over the coming academic year to identify additional avenues for
expanding upon the Brown/Tougaloo partnership in response to current
times.
Question 3.
According to the latest data provided by the National Center for
Education Statistics, close to 20 percent of students attending
institutes of higher education have at least one disability that
impacts the way they learn. While colleges and universities have done
much to ensure student learning continues in the wake of the pandemic
by transitioning to online learning platforms, students with
disabilities may encounter increased barriers in their pursuit of
academic success at no fault to the institutes themselves. Students
with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder may struggle with
prolonged online sessions. Students who are hearing impaired or suffer
from auditory processing deficits may have difficulty communicating
with other students when closed captioning is not available in video
conferences or in streaming lessons, especially when they rely on an
American Sign Language interpreter or reading lips. Furthermore,
students with physical disabilities may not have access to the
assistive technologies needed to successfully complete their
coursework. Institutes of higher education have worked hard to support
this sudden transition to virtual learning for all students, but this
pandemic has had unintended hardships, particularly for those students
with disabilities.