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letter sent Friday to President Biden by ACE and more than three dozen other higher education associations suggested a range of ways that colleges and universities may be able to help the country fight and conquer COVID-19.
Among the areas outlined in the letter are supporting vaccination efforts, enhancing testing and tracing initiatives, and utilizing higher education experts.
“Many of our member institutions already are working hard to help their communities confront the challenges posed by the pandemic, while other colleges and universities may wish to volunteer once they are made aware of opportunities to assist,” ACE President Ted Mitchell writes in the letter. “Although not all colleges and universities have the resources or capacity to provide assistance, we reach out today to make it clear that many institutions of higher education are willing and able to step forward to support the administration’s national pandemic strategy and outline some ideas for how they can do so.”
For instance, institutions can help deliver vaccine shots by utilizing available freezer capacity and existing infrastructure for long-standing campus flu vaccination efforts and using sports facilities and auditoriums with nearby parking to serve as mass vaccination sites. Existing laboratory capacity can be used to enhance COVID-19 testing and tracing initiatives in local communities, and higher education experts such as researchers can be temporarily placed in federal agencies where scientific or other expertise is urgently needed.
Other areas outlined in the letter include preventing mass migration super-spreader events, including by vaccinating students by late spring, consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations, as students return home at the end of the semester; addressing campus mental health needs; and helping to address K-12 learning losses.
The letter notes that not all colleges and universities can or should do everything on the list. Rather it is intended as an illustration of the range of ways that institutions can help combat COVID-19.
“At key moments in our history, U.S. colleges and universities have collaborated with the federal government to help tackle great national challenges, from marshalling resources and know-how during World War II to producing many of the most significant scientific and medical breakthroughs of the last century,” the letter states. “During the current crisis, American research universities, medical schools, and teaching hospitals have been on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. Although not all colleges and universities have the resources or capacity to provide assistance, we reach out today to make it clear that many institutions of higher education are willing and able to step forward to support the administration’s national pandemic strategy and outline some ideas for how they can do so.”