LOOKING AHEAD

Getting a mammoth public research university to pivot on a dime is no small feat, but this spring the University of Iowa rapidly changed course in a matter of weeks in response to the threat of the novel coronavirus.

Classes were moved online, residence halls and campus buildings were shuttered, research was slowed or halted, and most non-medical faculty and staff were sent home to work remotely. Within the College of Public Health, these huge changes were successfully orchestrated by dedicated administrators, faculty, staff, and students. A special nod goes to the staff of the Office of Information Technology and Office of Teaching, Learning & Technology at both the university and college levels, who ensured the transition to working and learning remotely was as seamless as possible.

“I want to thank all the members of our college for the extraordinary efforts they have made and continue to make every day to respond to the unprecedented challenges facing us at this time,” says Edith Parker, dean of the College of Public Health. “This crisis has required each of us to adapt to drastically changed circumstances, and I am grateful for the creative, positive ways everyone in our community has responded.”

Going forward, the university will employ a strategy of “right, not fast, as we consider a gradual, purposeful, and safe resumption of daily activities on our campus,” UI President Bruce Herald told the Board of Regents in late April.

The UI has announced that courses for all summer sessions will be conducted virtually and that events scheduled to be held on campus will be canceled through July 31, 2020. As of this writing, the University of Iowa plans to resume face-to-face instruction this fall.

Parker is leading the UI Health and Safety Work Group, one of several subgroups embedded within the UI’s Critical Incident Management Team. Additional CPH experts collaborating with the UI on reopening issues include Renée Anthony, Fred Gerr, Corinne Peek-Asa, Laurie Walkner, and Rima Afifi. The teams are creating operational scenarios and guidance that will be used by the campus in order to reopen safely and deliberately.

Parker also represents the University of Iowa as one of 14 members of the Big Ten Conference’s newly formed Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases. The task force was formed to provide counsel and sound medical advice to ensure the health, safety, and wellness of the Big Ten’s students, coaches, administrators, and fans.

In addition to the pandemic’s toll on physical and mental health, the crisis is resulting in deep economic and social costs both globally and close to home. Since March and projected through August, the university, not including UI Hospitals & Clinics, will lose an estimated $76 million.

Despite these challenges, the University of Iowa has many strengths, foremost among them its creative and collaborative community of alumni, faculty, students, and staff.

“As we all know too well now, change is one of the only things you can count on in life. But there is no place better at embracing change than the University of Iowa,” Herald said in a message to campus. He continued, “Over the summer and into next fall, we will chart a course that will allow our campus to take charge of as much of our future as we can. We will expect change, and we will react to it as thoughtfully and carefully as we can. Working together, with a common purpose, we can be the change we want in the world.”

Updates on the UI’s plans and procedures can be found at coronavirus.uiowa.edu.