As summer moves forward, administrators of academic institutions at all levels continue to be plagued by doubts and uncertainties regarding whether schools should be reopened and students readmitted in coming months. When infections occur, youth cohorts have not been affected as drastically by COVID-19 in comparison to adult groups, especially patients 80 years of age and older. Nonetheless, once infected, even if asymptomatically, students have the potential to transmit this deadly disease to adults with whom they come in contact, such as teachers, and older relatives. A significant unknown is the extent to which parents are willing to have their offspring attend school as long as there is a perceived threat of infection.
What Will The College Football Season Look Like This Year?
Many colleges, and even high schools, depend on financial support derived from athletics. College football is a bountiful source of revenue as evidenced by stadiums that seat more than 100,000 fans who not only buy tickets, but even spend generously on concessions. Enlightened officials at some institutions have seen the value of adding alcoholic beverages to what is sold to patrons as a means of enhancing the amount of money flowing into school coffers. Players already are in training on some campuses and reports indicate that some of them are testing positive for the coronavirus. Although many are in superb physical condition, it is not uncommon for offensive and defensive linemen who weigh more than 300 pounds to be classified officially as being obese, a condition that has contributed to mortality outcomes among other segments of the population with this condition who became infected. Given the airborne capability of the coronavirus to be transmitted over a considerable distance by screaming fans at these events, a challenge is presented in figuring out how to adjust social distancing patterns safely in arenas. Fewer seats that are filled also can exert a negative impact on revenues.
Institutions Are Unequal In their Ability To Withstand Revenue Shortfalls
Apart from any health dangers posed by the presence of the appearance of a deadly infectious disease on school grounds, there can be severe financial consequences for failing to reopen some academic institutions. Publicly-funded schools are somewhat shielded from hazards associated with reductions in tuition income and student fee revenues, but the same cannot be said of their counterparts in the private realm. Prior to the appearance of the coronavirus, many states already were reeling financially because of increased pressures arising from growing expenditures in their Medicaid programs. As job losses began occurring on a massive scale in the U.S. beginning in March of this year, that economic contraction typically was accompanied by cancellations of health insurance coverage that is connected to employment status. Individuals so affected by losing their health insurance now have to rely on Medicaid coverage, which adds to the financial woes of many states that will find it increasingly difficult to devote resources to an ailing educational sector. Moreover, a related concern is that revenue obtained through fund raising and philanthropic contributions may not be as robust as it has been previously.
Rethinking Accreditation And Quality Assurance
The past several years have been characterized by a shared sense that current quality review needs to be reimagined to serve students and society more effectively. Judith Eaton, President of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), expressed her thoughts on this matter in June 2020 by identifying five specific steps that can lead to reinventing a review of quality in higher education, a post-Covid redesign of accreditation and quality assurance that, if effective, will establish a foundation for the next era of these important efforts. Accreditation and quality assurance are needed that capture quality, while embracing new providers and creatively using technology that brings students greater opportunity, access, and progress in furthering their education. The five steps are:
Sustain the fundamental value commitments of higher education
Expand the range of activity and scrutiny of quality review
Modify the primary purposes of accreditation and quality assurance
Enlarge the universe of accreditation/quality assurance providers themselves
Redesign the accreditation/quality assurance review process
More June 2020 TRENDS Articles
COVID-19 VACCINE CLINICAL TRIAL CONCERNS
Indicates the importance of ensuring that key demographic groups experiencing the ravages of this disease are represented adequately in upcoming stage three clinical trials. Read More
PRESIDENT’S CORNER
ASAHP President Phyllis King discusses leadership during a time of change with a focus on helping academic teams with transition by working with campus administration to clarify the vision and establish structures that support change. Read More
EFFECTIVE CORONAVIRUS MESSAGES FROM ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS
Identifies the top five communicators based on frequency and consistency of mention according to an annual Student Sentiment Survey conducted by the firm Eduventures. Read More
CONGRESS IN A TIME OF CORONAVIRUS
Contains some details about an initiative by U.S. senators to increase access to telehealth because of its potential to expand availability of health care, reduce costs, and improve health outcomes. Read More
HEALTH REFORM DEVELOPMENTS
Points out how Medicare is on an unsustainable trajectory and identifies fundamental changes that must be addressed in the federal-state Medicaid program. Read More
DEVELOPMENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Describes how doubts and uncertainties are affecting decisions on whether to reopen schools at all academic levels and some thoughts on how to rethink accreditation and quality assurance. Read More
QUICK STAT (SHORT, TIMELY, AND TOPICAL)
Prevalence Of Tooth Loss Among Older Adults, 2015-2018
Opioid-Involved Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations, And Deaths
Personalized Mapping Of Drug Metabolism By The Human Gut Microbiome
Magnetoelectric Materials For Miniature, Wireless Neural Stimulation At Therapeutic Frequencies Read More
AVAILABLE RESOURCES ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONICALLY
Advancing Adolescent Flourishing: Moving Policy Upstream
Preparing For The Next Pandemic
New Data On Community Resilience In The Face Of Disasters Read More
NIH FUNDING AND THE PURSUIT OF EDGE SCIENCE
Reveals the degree to which the NIH is successful in funding work with novel ideas, known as “edge science,” and some reasons why support for this endeavor is not as robust as it could be. Read More
TRANSHUMANISM AND THE PROSPECT OF NEVER HAVING TO DIE
Enthusiasm persists in some quarters that human death can be overcome, but at least in the short term, that quest still has a considerable way to go to reach fruition. Read More