The COVID–19 pandemic, caused by coronavirus SARS-CoV–2, has resulted in almost 2.2 million cases globally and over 670,000 cases in the United States as of April 16th, 2020 (Dong et al. 2020), and is responsible for unprecedented disruption of higher education. During the initial stages of this pandemic, universities across the United States were faced with making difficult decisions on whether or not to cancel international travel, transfer to online learning, shift faculty/staff to remote work, limit campus housing, and close campus for all non-essential personnel, often without explicit or uniform guidance from state and national leadership. Universities typically rely on government agencies at the federal, state, and local level for guidance on how and when to respond to national emergencies, including public health emergencies. During March of 2020 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), Department of Education (ED), Governors, and state and local public health departments provided guidance and directives relevant to pandemic response decision making (CDC 2020b; WHO 2020b). In early March, the CDC sent state and local governments evidence-based mitigation strategy guidance to support locally appropriate decisions to slow the spread of COVID–19, which included social distancing, limiting large gatherings, and prohibiting travel to Italy, South Korea, and China (CDC). These community mitigation strategies were designed to reduce COVID–19 incidence and to protect individuals at increased risk of severe illness, healthcare personnel, and other critical workforces (CDC 2020a).
At present, while the exact mechanisms of SARS-CoV–2 transmission are still not completely understood, the majority of guidelines aim to reduce person-to-person contact, with nationwide closures of schools (K–12), universities, retailers, dining establishments, places of worship and other areas where people congregate. Recently, local guidelines have included wearing masks, of any quality, when in public to reduce inhalation of infectious respiratory droplets, which are thought to remain airborne for up to 3 hours following coughing or sneezing by an infected individual (van Doremalen et al. 2020).
A large concern at the university level is the potential role asymptomatic individuals play as carriers of SARS-CoV–2 (Al-Tawfiq 2020; Rothe et al. 2020), with growing evidence suggesting young adults returning from mass gatherings like Mardi Gras, may have contributed to ongoing transmission (CDC COVID–19 Response Team 2020). This was also observed in China, where travelers departing from Wuhan before the Chinese Spring Festival were likely the main infection source for other cities in China (Zhong et al. 2020). The effectiveness of cancelling spring break and other types of travel remains unknow but warrants investigation.
One COVID–19 systematic review of school closures, published early in the pandemic, on April 6th, 2020, indicated that there was no clear research quantifying the contribution of school closures to COVID–19 control (Viner et al. 2020). However, a 2014 UK study concluded that school closures could reduce transmission of pandemic influenza if instituted early in outbreaks (Jackson et al. 2014). Implementing social distancing and closing public spaces, including university settings, will likely reduce the risk of intergenerational transmission from students who could then pass the infection on to high risk family members or others in their social networks (WHO 2020a).
The swift, severe, and global nature of COVID–19 offers an important opportunity to systematically examine and learn from risk communication, mitigation, and decision making at the university level during a global public health emergency. To learn from what happened at the onset of the U.S. COVID–19 outbreak, this study describes timelines in public university decision making for canceling international travel, switching to online learning, transitioning faculty/staff to remote work, limiting on-campus housing, and implementing campus closures. Lessons learned can inform how decisions are standardized and implemented for whether to resume in-person university operations Fall 2020.