(2021, June) | Useful to all those working in, involved with, or attending institutions of higher education (IHEs)

The Department of Education adds Volume 3 to its ED COVID Handbook series, this time focusing on Strategies for Safe Operation and Addressing the Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education Students, Faculty, and Staff.

The 54-page volume is divided into chapters that highlight key areas of concern and discuss strategies for addressing those areas:

  • Safe Practices for In-Person Learning
  • Supporting Higher Education in Navigating Online Learning in a Pandemic
  • Broadband and Device Access for Higher Education Students, Faculty, and Staff
  • Basic Needs Supports for Students
  • Student Caregivers
  • Mental Health Needs of Students and Staff
  • Commitments to the Community
  • Available Federal Funding and Flexibilities

Access Volume 3 in PDF at:
https://www2.ed.gov/documents/coronavirus/reopening-3.pdf

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Priority Areas Spotlighted in Volume 3

Volume 3 addresses specific priority areas of interest to the higher education community with an eye towards both a response and a recovery that leaves our nation’s students and IHEs stronger than before the COVID-19 pandemic began. As enumerated in the volume (p. 5), those priorities include:

  • Practices to aid IHEs in implementing the CDC’s Guidance for Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) and resources by identifying common prevention strategies and providing examples of actions IHEs can take with funding from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF);
  • Institutional responses to ongoing challenges and potentially lasting impacts on underserved populations, including supporting the provision of basic needs or the sudden transition to online learning;
  • Ways in which IHEs have already been and can continue to be sources of support to their communities’ ongoing response and recovery from the pandemic; and
  • A catalog of the resources and administrative flexibilities offered to IHEs as they address rapidly changing conditions and needs on the ground, including resources that support both students and IHEs under the ARP.

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About Volumes 1 and 2

Volume 1 | Strategies for Safely Reopening Elementary and Secondary Schools
https://www2.ed.gov/documents/coronavirus/reopening.pdf
This first handbook was originally released in February 2021 and updated in April. It focuses on health and safety measures that schools can use to successfully implement the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) K-12 Operational Strategy. See its Table of Contents further below.

Volume 2 | Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students’ Needs
https://www2.ed.gov/documents/coronavirus/reopening-2.pdf
The second COVID-19 handbook provides additional strategies for safely reopening all of America’s schools, while promoting educational equity to address long-standing opportunity gaps that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. The volume spotlights research-based strategies for addressing the social, emotional, mental-health, and academic impacts of the pandemic on students, educators, and staff.

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Volumes in Brief | CPIR Infographics

To get a better IDEA of what each volume discusses, we’ve developed a brief summary of each. Access the Key Points to Share briefs in PDF and in accessible Word format, as well as connect with the Volumes 1 and 2 themselves, at:
https://www.parentcenterhub.org/reopening-schools-key-points-to-share/