New Report: COVID-19 Planning Guide and Self-Assessment Toolkit for Higher Education

Center News

Published

June 15, 2020 –  The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Tuscany Strategy Consulting, and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation have released a new guide and accompanying self-assessment calculator designed to provide practical planning resources to help higher education institutions gauge how effectively they are addressing a range of COVID-19 scenarios.

According to the report, “COVID-19 Planning Guide and Self-Assessment for Higher Education Globally,” colleges and universities are facing unprecedented challenges related to COVID-19. The current pandemic may represent an inflection point, fundamentally altering how people work, socialize, and learn. The resulting academic, financial, ethical, and operational questions are complex and stakes are high. The authors of this toolkit believe that higher ed institutions need near-term tools to ensure continuity through this pandemic.

The report focuses on 4 central planning questions:

  • Does your institution have sufficient health and safety materials and protocols to address the unique challenges of COVID-19?
  • Does your institution have sufficient financial resources to address the unique challenges of the pandemic?
  • Has your institution developed a quality academic program for the year?
  • Has your institution developed the requisite new management and oversight capabilities necessary to manage through the pandemic?

The new resource, which is available at OpenSmartEDU.org, is intended to accommodate a wide range of higher education institutions: public, private, large, small, comprehensive, specialized, urban, and rural. It includes a robust planning guide with activity sets for departmental heads; a self-assessment calculator to quickly assess the stage of risk mitigation attained by an institution; and, coming soon, a project planning template to assist with implementation and evaluation.

The authors say to successfully address the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, the first task is to acknowledge that all major dimensions of higher education will need to be reimagined. The goal is to ensure that institutions offer a high-quality education in a safe environment for all involved, whether faculty, staff, or students.

You can access the new report here.