LOUISIANA HIGHER EDUCATION PREPARING TO OPEN SAFELY THIS FALL

BATON ROUGE, La. – Students returning to Louisiana’s colleges and universities can do so safely this fall if they following public health guidance according to experts from the Office of Public Health, but campuses will look and feel different in an effort to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. Dr. Alex Billioux, Assistant Secretary of Health for the Louisiana Office of Public Health shared prevention and mitigation strategies for opening campuses with members of the Board of Regents during their monthly meeting, outlining what the future of higher education may look like in the age of Covid.

“We’ve been particularly hard hit in Louisiana, but we also have a great turn-around story in terms of Covid,” said Dr. Billioux. “Now we want to be sure we’re best prepared to resume the critical work of education, which is so important to restarting our economy. As we anticipate moving into Phase II, we’ve had great input from our colleges and universities in terms of thinking about mask-wearing, dormitories, food service and looking at CDC guidance to come up with solid plans to protect students and campus communities. We look forward to ongoing partnerships to assist with testing and expert guidance throughout this pandemic,” Dr. Billioux said.

“We are laser-focused on both the safety and education of our students. Our unified message to our students is clear: don’t defer your college dreams. You can persist and you must stay safe,” said Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed. “Our campuses are incubators of knowledge - from education and training to innovation and critical research towards a treatment and a vaccine. Each of these items is mission-critical to us and vital to Louisiana’s recovery.”

LSU System President Tom Galligan and University of Louisiana System President Jim Henderson shared the options being considered in their phased return to campus plans, which will be finalized in the coming weeks. Each stressed that flexible in person, hybrid and remote learning opportunities will play a big role in keeping campuses healthy and students on track throughout the semester. New procedures could include:

Large classes remaining online,
Smaller classes held in larger lecture halls so social distancing can be achieved,
In-person career and technical education, labs and clinicals to include Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and a focus on social distancing,
Masks to be worn in all classrooms,
Hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes and hand washing stations widely available,
Two-person dorm rooms with recovery and isolation sites available for students,
Consideration for adjusting academic calendars to begin early and complete the semester before Thanksgiving with final exams online, and
High-risk students continuing courses remotely.

“Education is the lifeline people need in this pandemic and this is what makes Louisiana special. We get it done,” said Board of Regents Chairman Marty J. Chabert. “With the strategic leadership of our four system presidents and their campuses, paired with our public health advocates, Louisiana is well positioned to transition back to campus safely this fall and I know we are all looking forward to getting back to the business of educating our students on site.”

Moving forward, Regents will coordinate with the Office of Public Health to host two webinars to ensure all campuses, public, private and proprietary, have the appropriate safety information, guidelines and resources to welcome students back to campus. These online meetings will also connect student health centers and campus medical directors with the state’s Regional Medical Directors who can assist with testing and continued support as transitions are made to different phases of re-entry.

Additionally, Louisiana Community and Technical College System President Monty Sullivan shared that his campuses will be seeking a $40M investment to focus on rapid workforce development efforts designed to credential as many as 20,000 individuals in the short term. The Reboot Louisiana Program links the state’s community and technical colleges to high demand regional economic development needs to support a post-Covid workforce.