After two and a half semesters’ worth of COVID-19 response, ETSU President Brian Noland sat down with East Tennessean staff to discuss his takeaways and perspectives on ETSU’s handling of the pandemic, as well as plans moving forward.
Noland expressed pride in the community first and foremost, saying he managed to avoid his main fear of non-compliance with campus guidelines. Current plans include a return to a majority of classes being held on-campus if vaccination goals are reached. Noland’s ideal ratio would be 70% of courses in-person which would mirror statistics from before the pandemic.
“I do not see us shifting back to as remote of a posture as we’re in now, you know, one of the things that I’ve been so proud of is the fact that the campus has done all the right things,” said Noland. “Everything that we’ve asked of the students they’ve done. When we moved to singles, folks moved to singles. When we moved to online, people moved online. People still wear their masks. I’ve got a whole office, everyone in my office has been vaccinated; we’re all still wearing our masks. The key to the fall is vaccination.”
According to Noland, cases peaked in July 2020, but highs had reached 46 in late November 2020 and 21 this March. In total, ETSU has documented 756 cases across the ETSU COVID-19 dashboard’s reporting period, with 76.7% of cases occurring in the student body. Discovery of active cases on campus has tapered heavily in the new year, with only 3 documented since April 18. Part of this drop can be attributed to ETSU Health’s vaccination drive, which to date has administered 1,808 Johnson & Johnson vaccines, according to administration data.
“The surprise has been the resiliency of the campus,” said Noland. “No matter what presented itself, the campus continued to move forward. You know, this time last year, commencement was online. We’ve never done that before, and I thought the commencement exercises were fantastic. They were extremely moving. We were able to move our way through semesters, you know we’re going to have 3,000 and something students graduate this weekend.”
Noland said the university plans to use the summer semester as a transition period with a focus on expanding vaccine access for those who intend to take it. Noland mentioned that private schools and select public universities created vaccine requirements to enroll in the fall but did not expect the state to support a similar decision at ETSU.
In terms of budget concerns, ETSU received full expected funding from the state of Tennessee and was given a planning budget to begin the drafting process for a new humanities building, as well as funding for Lamb Hall renovations. Noland said that the Committee for 125 is still evaluating potential opportunities, but the university budget moving forward will maintain an inward focus on matters such as employee pay and retention.
You must be logged in to post a comment.