Marquette University President Michael Lovell was among higher education leaders on a virtual call with Vice President Mike Pence to discuss possibilities of best practices to bring students back to campus in the fall.
The call led by Pence also included Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator doctor Deborah Birx.
In total, fourteen higher education leaders from universities across the United States, including Marquette, Purdue University, the University of Virginia, Carnegie Mellon University and Stanford University, were on the call.
The conversation was to “discuss the all-of-America approach to respond to COVID-19 and drive America’s phased economic revival,” the White House news release said.
In the call, guidelines released by President Donald Trump and the Center for Disease Control, which calls upon colleges and universities to “develop, implement and maintain a plan to ensure the health and safety of students, faculty and staff,” were discussed.
The guidelines were drafted for leaders of higher education institutions to provide an overview to plan, prepare and respond to the coronavirus. They include guidelines for institutions of higher education to work together with local health departments in order to help slow the spread of the disease and protect students, staff and faculty and to help ensure a safe learning environment.
“Many participants on the call discussed working groups they developed on campus to provide data-driven strategies for re-opening,” the release said.
The call also discussed the importance of opening and maintaining research labs to assist with COVID-19 research, testing and tracing.
“The discussion provided insight into a new chapter of re-opening America, and what colleges and universities are doing to meet their individual needs, aligned with state leadership,” the release said.
This story is developing.
This story was written by Shir Bloch. She can be reached at [email protected]
