{"id":19948,"date":"2020-03-12T23:37:40","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T23:37:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=19948"},"modified":"2020-03-14T21:49:54","modified_gmt":"2020-03-14T21:49:54","slug":"the-new-coronavirus-is-hitting-colleges-and-universities-hard-but-donors-can-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/the-new-coronavirus-is-hitting-colleges-and-universities-hard-but-donors-can-help\/","title":{"rendered":"The new coronavirus is hitting colleges and universities hard, but donors can help"},"content":{"rendered":"

William Plater<\/a>, IUPUI<\/a><\/em>; Gene Tempel<\/a>, Indiana University<\/a><\/em>, and Genevieve Shaker<\/a>, IUPUI<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Amid concerns about the deadly coronavirus pandemic, a rapidly growing number of colleges and universities are closing their classroom doors<\/a>, forcing faculty to teach students online instead of in person.<\/p>\n

The risks posed by COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, are both dramatic and abstract. Without a vaccine, scientists can\u2019t say<\/a> how long it will last or what its full impact will be in any regard \u2013 including on higher education<\/a>. There was almost no time to forge a plan to cope with either the logistical or financial consequences before they began to unfold.<\/p>\n

We are scholars<\/a> of philanthropy<\/a> who have examined the responsibilities<\/a> of people in charge of overseeing<\/a> colleges and universities.<\/p>\n

At this point, we are growing increasingly concerned about the hundreds<\/a> of colleges and universities that were already on financially shaky ground<\/a> before COVID-19 began to spread. We fear that some may never recover<\/a> whenever things finally get back to normal.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Closures and mergers ahead<\/h2>\n

A school facing closure or merger with another campus within a few years now may be even more likely to close and to close sooner.<\/p>\n

As schools rush to respond to the spread of COVID-19<\/a>, these concerns are bubbling up at some colleges and universities that had not previously acknowledged that they were running into trouble. Naming institutions in this circumstance would jeopardize them even more.<\/p>\n

Institutions large and small, ranging from The Ohio State University<\/a>, with nearly 70,000 students, to Antioch University\u2019s Seattle campus<\/a>, with fewer than 700, are replacing in-person classes<\/a> with an online learning format<\/a>. They are holding meetings with software<\/a> that otherwise would have just required a table and chairs, restricting travel<\/a> and nixing study abroad<\/a> programs.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, they are deciding whether and how to quarantine students<\/a> and communicating constantly with parents<\/a> about all of these logistical nightmares.<\/p>\n

Administrators are already worrying about how the crisis will affect enrollment during the 2020-2021 school year<\/a> as they both curtail international student recruitment<\/a> and support the foreign students<\/a> who are already here \u2013 and isolated \u2013 in the U.S.<\/p>\n

All of this has major repercussions. Schools are recalculating student financial aid<\/a>, hosting athletic events<\/a> in empty arenas and stadiums, and taking other steps<\/a> to foster what health authorities call \u201csocial distancing<\/a>.\u201d
\nThe economic blows could be especially brutal for schools that were already struggling before they had to cope with sudden, unplanned and still undefined expenses and lost revenue. And with very limited exceptions, we don\u2019t expect that insurance will foot a lot of these bills<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

What donors can do<\/h2>\n

Donors can do their part for colleges and universities in crisis<\/a>. If dispatched quickly, philanthropy could also help reduce the financial toll that the new coronavirus<\/a> is taking on campuses everywhere, especially for vulnerable students who rely on financial aid, part-time work, childcare and reliable schedules.<\/p>\n

Consider what happened to Sweet Briar<\/a>, a women\u2019s college near the small town of Amherst, Virginia. In 2015, the college\u2019s president and trustees were convinced that the institution could not overcome its enrollment and financial management difficulties, despite its US$65 million endowment. The mayor of Amherst<\/a> urged the school\u2019s leaders to reconsider in a letter that emphasized the damage that closure would cause the local community.<\/p>\n

Many of its graduates sued<\/a> to prevent the closing, as did members of the faculty<\/a> and the local county government<\/a>. The alumnae then went on to raise enough money<\/a> to rescue the school.<\/p>\n

Happily, the college has now raised a total of $63.9 million<\/a>. By many accounts<\/a>, it\u2019s on the road to what could prove a complete recovery.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sweet Briar is bouncing back from financial woes.<\/span>
\nAnnette Teng<\/a>, CC BY-SA<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Therefore, in our view, alumni, foundations and governmental agencies with the ability to do so should consider providing emergency cash infusions to aid colleges, and particularly students who need financial help due to quarantines, canceled trips, interruptions of work and many more unforeseen contingencies. Foreign students especially may need temporary support. But colleges and universities may also need help to meet payroll for staff and others in danger of reduced hours or layoffs and to provide basic services such as food or counseling.<\/p>\n

To be sure, large-scale philanthropy typically does not get dispatched quickly<\/a>, nor do schools usually launch major fundraising campaigns overnight. And philanthropy alone can\u2019t resolve institutions\u2019 deeper issues.<\/p>\n

And donors don\u2019t have to wait to be asked to help. Alumni, parents, local corporations and community foundations can make a difference by working together, as the foundations in Seattle<\/a> are doing, and as alumnae and community supporters of Sweet Briar did.<\/p>\n

Portions of this article originally appeared in a previous article published on Feb. 3, 2020<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

[You\u2019re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation\u2019s authors and editors.<\/em> You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter<\/a>.]\"The<\/p>\n

William Plater<\/a>, Chancellor\u2019s Professor Emeritus of Public Affairs, Philanthropy, and English; Executive Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Faculties Emeritus, IUPUI<\/a><\/em>; Gene Tempel<\/a>, Professor of Philanthropic Studies and Founding Dean Emeritus, Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy; President Emeritus, Indiana University Foundation, Indiana University<\/a><\/em>, and Genevieve Shaker<\/a>, Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, IUPUI<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

William Plater, IUPUI; Gene Tempel, Indiana University, and Genevieve Shaker, IUPUI Amid concerns about the deadly coronavirus pandemic, a rapidly growing number of colleges and universities are closing their classroom doors, forcing faculty to teach students online instead of in person. The risks posed by COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, are both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":19949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[292],"tags":[7627,7689,7777,687,7598,7775,2181,3050,7778,7776],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19948"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19948"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19965,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19948\/revisions\/19965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}