ACUHO-I News Blog

The New York Times has now chimed in on the Higher-Education-and-H1N1 conversation, with an article on how various institutions are trying to get ahead of a potential pandemic. Most are advising students to be clean and hygenic; to not go out in public when sick and to convalese at home with the help of their parents, if possible.

The exception is the United States Military Academy, where going home isn’t an option. Incoming cadets who have had recent contact with a flu victim were tested for the virus, and personel switched to elbow bumps rather than handshakes for a while, to slow the spread of the virus. Only six cadets have gotten the flu, so their strategies are apparently working.

The advice is similar or the same as what we’ve already heard about H1N1, but it’s helpful to have for the sake of justifying policies and actions. Inside HigherEd summarizes the guidance, also check the source at the CDC.

There are a few items that jump out:

• Pre-plan flu buddy systems so healthy students can bring food to their ill roomates or friends.
• Create a system that ensures ill students are visited by a staff member.
• Consider reducing the size of large gatherings. Also think about moving furniture, such as desks and couches, farther apart so very close contact is minimized.
• Pre-plan the vaccination process, so when the vaccination is ready (perhaps late October) the process can go as smoothly as possible.
• Plan accommodations and education for students in special circumstances, for example: Pre-college students and students with health issues that put them at additional risk.

Here’s our latest collection of information on H1N1, the vaccine, and plans for dealing with infections.

Many thanks go to Jon Zuhosky, library intern, for researching some of the items in this post!

Many universities and colleges have pandemic plans; this one from North Carolina Central University details the responses for each department, including residence life. Also look at appendix A, which describes each person’s role, their alternates and the protective gear necessary. This presentation, from the University of Kansas, is among the pandemic-oriented items available in the online library. These, and examples such as the University of Florida H1N1 plan that we blogged about, can help when crafting or modifying your own plan. Also, look at the American College Health Association’s Guidelines for Pandemic Planning, the ACHA’s H1N1 site and the CDC’s page for higher education institutions.

In the news:

• Instutions’ plans for dealing with a potential outbreak of Swine Flu and their student education campaigns are discussed here, here, and here.
• The University of Oklahoma is experiencing a small outbreak of H1N1, but fortunately the cases are mild so far. One case has been confirmed at the University of Illinois-Springfield. The University of South Florida Polytechnic has two cases. H1N1 came to sorority rush at Louisiana State University; no word on whether H1N1 sung the songs properly.
• In Teaching the Quarantined, Inside HigherEd explores the problem of maintaining classes when sick students are cautioned to remain isolated for seven days. The Chronicle of Higher Educationhas an article on online teaching in times when face-to-face get-togethers are discouraged: In Case of Emergency, Break Tradition–Teach Online. The Chronicle article discusses other events (a flood, for example) that forced colleges and universities to change their delivery methods.
• Here’s a page of CDC Q&A on the H1N1 vaccine, which is supposed to be ready in the fall, perhaps by late October. On NPR, an expert spoke about the his vaccine distribution plan.
• Most Americans are not very worried about the impact of Swine Flu. Let’s hope our nonchalance doesn’t contribute to apathy, and that H1N1 turns out to be a blip on the collective consciousness by mid-2010.

Norb Dunkel is the Assistant Vice President and Director of Housing and Residence Education at the University of Florida. (Does anyone have a title that’s longer than that? Post to the comments!) Norb has generously provided the text of an announcement given to University of Florida housing professionals in preparation for H1N1 and students’ return to campus. They’ve also posted this on their website. Parents were provided the link in a pre-move-in e-mail.

Among the highlights:

• Tips on staying healthy: Sleep in, then eat pie.
  No wait. That’s not it. The tips are the usual: Cover coughs, wash hands, use hand sanitizers, get plenty of sleep, and eat well. (Which may include pie.)
• Tips on what to do if you become ill: Stay home; stay hydrated and avoid close contact with others. Self-isolate for at least 24 hours beyond when your fever breaks. You do not need to go to the student health center unless you develop severe symptoms: difficulty breathing, abdominal pain or pressure, sudden dizziness, confusion, persistent vomiting or flu symptoms that initially improve then worsen again, with an accompanying fever and cough.
• Tips on what to use for cleaning surfaces that may be contaminated, provided courtesy of the EPA.
• Some Q&As that parents or students are likely to  find useful.

University of Florida Flu Notice

This just in from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices: People 24 and under, since they seem to be more vulnerable to the H1N1 virus (AKA, Swine Flu) should receive the vaccination. Other priority groups are: pregnant women, health care employees, those who care for infants, and adults with chronic health issues or compromised immune systems. The CDC acknowledges that this could complicate the fall session on college campuses. The H1N1 vaccine is not yet available (clinical trials are ongoing) but the CDC says it can be administered on the same day as the seasonal flu vaccine.

Here’s the CDC’s interim instructions for higher education institutions; here is information about the pandemic in general, including the states that are hardest hit.

…but they’re not getting it. According to a study by the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, a subset of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, 7 million Americans aged 18 to 25 were designated as needing treatment for alcohol or drug abuse in the past year, but only 7 percent of them are getting it. The study was also conducted in 2002, when similar numbers prevailed. Most feel they do not need help; among the 4 percent who did feel they needed treatment, just over 32 percent of them tried to seek it out. For details, see the report here.

“Conversations,” a regular department in the Talking Stick magazine, is dedicated to capturing dialogue between high-level professionals on the topics that affect campus housing. The July+August 2009 issue featured a conversation on student substance abuse that was so thorough and valuable, that it all couldn’t fit on the printed page.

The following is the complete conversation featuring Valerie Randall-Lee (Northeastern University in Boston), Dan Pedersen (St. Cloud University in Minnesota), and Paul Hubinsky (Illlinois Institute of Technology in Chicago). After reading, please share your own thoughts about student substance abuse and the efforts your campus is making to address it in the comment section.

(more…)

In a Chronicle of Higher Education essay, Jennifer Lynn Hughes, an associate professor in the psychology department at Agnes Scott College, points out accommodations that can be made for students who have Asperger’s Syndrome. Universities are required, of course, to make “reasonable” accommodations for students with diagnosed and declared disabilities. What qualifies as reasonable is not defined, but most institutions will do their best to help a qualified student succeed if this can be done without disadvantaging other students. Housing professionals are familiar with these issues, of course, as more students with disabilities and mental disorders are able to attend college than in years past. What sorts of accommodations have been requested at your institution? Were you able to fulfill them?

Despite rising awareness and prevention campaigns, alcohol-related deaths, drunk driving, and binge drinking are all on the rise on college campuses, according to a new study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

The findings have been published in a special edition  of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs devoted to college drinking problems. Fourteen studies in the issue report the results of projects funded by the NIAAA’s Rapid Response to College Drinking Problems initiative which, between 2004 and 2005, selected 15 college campuses to help develop programs to combat the problem. These figures show that drinking-related accidental deaths among 18- to 24-year-old students rose from 1,440 in 1998 to 1,825 in 2005. Reported binge drinking went from 42 percent to 45 percent. And students who admitted to drinking and driving increased from 26.5 percent to 29 percent.

Ralph Hingson, Sc.D., M.P.H., is the lead researcher for the project and the director of the NIAAA’s division of epidemiology and prevention research. In a release he expressed his concern over the numbers and pointed out that, “the irony is that during this same time period, our knowledge of what works as far as intervention in this age group has increased. That knowledge isn’t yet being put into place.”

A copy of the report is available as a PDF download here.

A contributor to this problem on many campuses is the so-called “Thirsty Thursdays,” where students begin their weekend celebrations (and associated alcohol consumption) a day early because they have no classes scheduled for Friday.  InsideHigherEd.com last week reported on the study which was based on the responses of 895 undergraduates at the Loyola College in Maryland in fall 2008.

In the report, students who did not have a Friday class reported drinking an average of 3.38 drinks on Thursday nights, roughly four times more than those with a Friday class before 10 a.m. These trends were consistent for all respondents, regardless of gender, class year, or individual propensity to drink.

Inside Higher Ed reports that several campuses have decided to close briefly because of H1N1 (AKA Swine Flu). It’s a campus-by-campus judgement call at this point, and many campuses are operating as usual, despite several suspected H1N1 sicknesses or confirmed cases. The situation is hardly alarming, given a relative smattering of cases among college students, but campus professionals in all areas are staying cautious as spring semester ends and summer conferences and events begin, which will bring people in a wide variety of age ranges and immunities to campuses.

Confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of the H1N1 infection on college campuses continued to make news over the weekend. Higher education institutions — and the associations that serve them — have responded by making a number of resources available to members, staff, and students.

ACUHO-I has collected many of these resources in one place on its Web site. Similar resources are being posted on this blog and the ACUHO-I online network as well. Again, members are encouraged to register for the network if they are not already a member and use this resource to share information and ask questions.

Higher ed professionals will share their questions on Thursday, May 7 from 1-2 p.m. (EST) as NASPA hosts the “Swine Flu:Campus Planning, Preparation & Implementation” conference telephone call with Henry Chung, MD, the associate vice president of Student Health and the executive director of the Student Health Center at New York University. The call is free for NASPA members (though long-distance charges do apply). Register for the phone call here.

Finally, below is a video posted by the White House over the weekend discussing the government’s response to the virus and steps to help prevent its spread.

News reports continue to update the number of suspected and confirmed cases of swine flu (or, more accurately, the H1N1 Influenza virus) on college campuses. InsideHigherEd.com is reporting instances at the University of Delaware, San Diego State University, California State University at Long Beach, and the University of Notre Dame.

A Google map, showing cases on an United States college campus has been set up by The International Association of Emergency Managers-Universities and Colleges Committee and the University of Oregon. It includes cases reported by an institution on their Web site, press release, or other official communication.

While these cases have not caused major disruptions of campus activities, the story does detail a number of cases where campuses are scuttling study-abroad programs in Mexico and bringing faculty and students already in Mexico back to campus.

ACUHO-I will continue to monitor the story and report new developments via this blog. Also, on the ACUHO-I online network, (if you’re not already a member, sign up only takes two minutes) members are encouraged to utilize the Health & Safety forum to post questions and share information  about steps being taken on their campus. The forum also allows the posting of files, so members can share policies, procedures, and planning documents).

UPDATE: The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) has posted a page on its Web site filled with links on crisis management and pandemic preparedness. The most recent updates include links to specific campus’s pages and other resources.

It’s still too early to see if it’s a case of media overload or a true emergency, but campuses can’t be too careful when it comes to student health. The Chronicle today reported on “just-in-case” precautions happening in student health centers everywhere. As Kent W. Bullis, the medical director at Ball State University in Indiana said in the story,  “You’ve got young people who are relatively densely packed into small areas, and you have a relatively mobile society. It’s the ideal place for something like this to spread.”

The American College Health Association has responded as well. Its Web site has been continually updated with new information as well as links to special sites set up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States Deparment of Health and Human Services, and the World Health Organization.

Currently, the health departments are recommending common sense precautionary measures such as covering the nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing as well as frequent hand washes. People who are ill are being asked to stay home from work or school to limit contact with other people.