FRONTLINES: Interview with Dr. Sarah Van Orman
The Mary Christie Quarterly FRONTLINES column features an interview on preparing for and responding to public health challenges on college campuses advanced by COVID. Gerri Taylor, co-Chair of the COVID-19 Task Force at the American College Health Association (ACHA), interviews Dr. Sarah Van Orman, MD, MMM, FACHA, a key member of the COVID-19 Task Force and the Reopening Guidelines’ writing team. Dr. Orman is the Associate Vice Provost, Chief Health Officer of the University of Southern California Student Health, and Division Chief of College Health at the Keck School of Medicine.
Highlights from the conversation include the role leadership plays in public health infrastructure and how college health professionals are managing supporting students, given the past two years: “There was not enough recognition of how grueling this has been for the last year and a half on our college health professionals, because in some ways they almost did it too well.”
Mental and Behavioral Health
Main Stories
The Boston Globe details how college students are coping with another round of campus closures amidst the rise of the Omicron variant. The current public health crisis has prompted administrators to announce delays to in-person learning for the spring semester, at the same time that students are feeling increased stress and burnout. Higher education leaders worry about students’ mental health, and campuses plan to remain open for the semester with testing and safety precautions. David Hamer, an epidemiologist at Boston University, says, “All schools, whether they stay open or go remote, need to consider student mental health, which has suffered due to the long periods of isolation and stress during the past two years.”
The New York Times reports on high school students struggling as a result of the disruptions of the pandemic. Liberty High School in Bethlehem, PA welcomed back 2,800 students in the fall and its wellness center has been overwhelmed with students struggling with anxiety and depression. Principal Dr. Bailey says fights have been frequent and teachers are reporting burnout and exhaustion. “I think kids are just feeling like — after witnessing Trump, political unrest, what happened in the streets with Black Lives Matter, now the pandemic — the world’s out of control. So they’re like, ‘The world’s out of control, why should I be in control?’”
Other News
The Chronicle’s advice column discusses the benefits of administrators meeting and working with the parents of college students. “Student success in recent years has been threatened by a global pandemic and its attendant financial and mental-health crises. We can’t ignore the families in helping the students,” writes columnist David Perlmutter.
In an op-ed for the New York Times, psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Slater argues for more effective mental health screening and intervention strategies, particularly for young people of color who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID. “We also need to improve access to care and preventive services, especially to reach suicidal teenagers,” Slater writes.
The Washington Post covers how recent COVID travel disruptions have meant that international students are living in winter break housing feeling isolated and anxious. Georgetown student, Kelly He, notes the difficulty of journeying home, “It’s almost impossible to book a flight,” since options to China have become scant, costly, and susceptible to cancellation.
In an op-ed for The Boston Globe, David Roochnik, a retired professor of philosophy at Boston University, argues about the culture of work that weighs on college students’ mental health.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Diverse Education reports on findings that showed the Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) course is helping diversify the field of computer science. A study of high school graduates from the classes of 2016 and 2019 found that students who took AP CSP were three times as likely to major in computer science. The course was originally developed by The College Board in hopes of allowing more students to become computer scientists and addressing systems of inequalities in STEM.
Diverse Education presents a news roundup of higher education’s journey in 2021. The article touches on topics such as how college campuses have contributed to their communities by distributing vaccines; the political debates ignited in higher education from the events of this past year; historic investments in HBCUs; enrollment gaps, and more. Dr. Lynn Pasquerella, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, says that it can be “an exciting time for institutions to continue to build on the lessons from the past year and ‘reimagine higher ed in a way that goes beyond performative allyship and demonstrates that we’re truly committed to racial equity.’”
Student Success
The Washington Post reports on major enrollment declines at community colleges, which are built to advance accessibility and social mobility for those from low to moderate income families. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, enrollment rates at community colleges dropped by 15% in the fall. Community college leaders are concerned about the repercussions it may have for the future of vulnerable students.
In an op-ed for The Hechinger Report, Deborah Delisle, president and CEO of All4Ed and former assistant secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education, and Chris Gabrieli, chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education and lecturer at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, emphasize the importance of taking action to combat plummeting college enrollment numbers. “As Congress narrows the scope of President Biden’s social spending bill, the Build Back Better Act, it is vital to maintain its proposed investments in college retention and completion grants, as well as community college and industry partnership grants,” Delisle and Gabrieli state.
College Affordability
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Biden administration has extended the pause on student loan payments for another 90 days. Payments will now resume on May 1, 2022. The Education Department said the administration will evaluate the Omicron variant’s financial impact on student borrowers during the pause. On Wednesday, the president stated, “We know that millions of student-loan borrowers are still coping with the impacts of the pandemic and need some more time before resuming payments.”
The Hechinger Report and GBH News report that the U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, called on colleges to stop the practice of withholding transcripts over unpaid balances. In a keynote address on financial aid, Cardona advocated for higher education leaders to look for ways to embrace long-term change by re-evaluating longstanding institutional policies. Policies such as enrollment and transcript holds for students with unpaid balances, he says, “block retention and completion for our most underserved students.”
Coronavirus: Safety and Reopening
The Chronicle reports a list of colleges that will start their January classes online, as part of their Live Coronavirus Updates. As the highly contagious Omicron variant continues to spread, experts are concerned that a wave of infections will hit before the new year, in congruence with college students returning to classes. Anita Barkin, co-chair of the American College Health Association’s COVID-19 Task Force, says delaying in-person instruction allows time for colleges to assess the status of the ongoing situation.
Inside Higher Ed reports that seven of the University of California campuses will start their classes online in January in response to the rise of the Omicron variant. On Monday, the large UC system’s schools – Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Riverside – all announced delays to in-person instruction until further reassessment of the public health situation. Additionally, other colleges, such as Loyola Marymount University, Oakland University in Michigan, and McDaniel College in Maryland will also delay returning to campus.
Higher Ed Dive examines which state-wide legislative events influenced one campus to go back and forth on mask mandates. The University of Tennessee at Knoxville started off its semester with mask mandates, akin to the majority of colleges, yet changed course due to legal conflicts and state and federal demands. After announcing that the university would become mask-optional, some students and faculty have expressed concerns about safety. Other institutions, such as the University of Georgia and the University of Kansas, have also rescinded mask or vaccine requirements after the suspension of Biden’s order.
