Postsecondary Resources
Postsecondary Resources
For faculty and leaders at colleges and universities, resources on protecting and supporting students, continuing education online and managing other challenges resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.
Reopening Guidance and Checklists
Recording of the Centers for Disease Control’s COVID-19 Stakeholder Call for Institutes of Higher Education
American College Health Association’s guidance on reopening colleges
McKinsey & Company’s Coronavirus: How should US higher education plan for an uncertain future?
Reopening Plans and Surveys
Survey of Colleges on Opening by the Chronicle of Higher Education
Federal Guidance and Action
U.S. Department of Education has compiled a list of resources from federal departments and agencies for higher education institutions.
Centers for Disease Control offers the most up-to-date information on COVID-19, including Resources for Institutes of Higher Education
New legislation allows Veterans Affairs to treat online learning from institutions closed because of COVID-19 the same as face-to-face courses so the VA doesn’t reduce student housing allowances and other payments.
Federal COVID-19 Stimulus Package: Funds for K-12 and Postsecondary Education - SREB’s summary of the Education Stabilization Fund portion of this emergency relief package.
Explore Where the Money for Higher Ed in the CARES Act Might Go on the Open Campus site.
American Council on Education simulates distribution of CARES Act: Higher Education Relief Fund from NASFAA
Southern Education Fund’s summary of Cares Act funds for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Allocations for section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act from the Office of Postseconary Eduation.
Guidance for interruptions of study related to Coronavirus (COVID-19) from the Federal Student Aid office.
Guidance from the Department of Education on the Clery Act from Education Dive
Press release from the Department of Education: Coronavirus Public Health Emergency Underscores Need for Department of Education’s Proposed Distance Learning Rules
Testing
ETS is temporarily offering an at home option for the GRE General Test and TOEFL iBT in selected areas where students are unable to go to test centers.
Accreditation
Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions COVID-19 page
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges has a list of SACS colleges that have submitted Temporary Emergency Relocation of Instruction related to the Coronavirus outbreak.
From the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, quick links to programmatic accreditors and changes to their policies.
COVID-19 resources for institutions and accreditors from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
Planning for Closures and Continued Learning
How University of Kentucky College of Education students are completing field experiences/student teaching
Beyond the Food Pantry – The Hope Center has created this guide to help colleges support students during this crisis.
Emergency Meals-to-You -A national effort coordinated by the Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to distribute food boxes to students in rural counties while schools are closed.
The Chronicle of Higher Education has a number of free resources, including:
- a collection of advice for teaching online
- a private Facebook group for campus officials
- a tracker with the latest updates on coronavirus.
Teacher Preparation
State Policy Flexibilities in Response to COVID-19: Avoid Failing the Next Cohort of New Teachers - An SREB brief provides policy recommendations to ensure this year’s graduating teacher candidates are able to enter the workforce for the next school year.
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education’s COVID-19 resource page
Student-Teachers In Limbo During School Shutdowns. Here’s How States Can Help from Education Week
What Happens to Student-Teachers When Schools and Colleges Close Due to Coronavirus? from Education Week
Shifting the Clinical Experience Using Virtual Formats - tips and advice from U.S. Prep.
WEBINAR from U.S. Prep: High-Quality Clinical Experiences in Virtual Settings on Monday, April 13 from 10 a.m. - noon EST. Register here.
Resources From Other Regional Higher Education Compacts
New England Board of Higher Education
Midwestern Higher Education Compact
Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
Resources from State Agencies
COVID-19 Effects on the Teacher Workforce
In April, my mom called me with the news that my high school chemistry teacher, Mr. Metcalfe, who was rounding out his 42nd year of teaching, had died from COVID-19. I knew him from class, of course, but I also went to school with his son for 13 years and his family attended my grandparent’s church.
He was respected, loved and honored for his excellent teaching. His funeral was an all-day parade of cars through the high school parking lot, where community members waved and shouted condolences to his family. My mom said the cars stretched down the street for miles.
One In Five:
The Student Parent Experience and its Impact on College Success
View the Recording
One in five college students today is a parent, and yet they remain a largely invisible population. The vast majority of institutions do not track parenting status and therefore do not know how many student parents they have at any given time. Postsecondary success for these students is critical and far-reaching: when a student parent earns their degree, it has ripple effects that span two generations, impacting the parent’s employment opportunities and lifetime earnings potential, along with their child’s chances for achieving academic and career success.
Maintaining Student Connections and Reducing Anxiety During COVID-19
A Professional Development Workshop
With up to a third of children struggling with anxiety in this country, overwhelmed adults need a new approach and practical, easy-to-implement strategies to help children cope with their anxiety. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when everyday life is so heavily impacted, levels of anxiety in children and teens are likely even higher and the risk for trauma greater.
Supporting Class of 2020’s Transition to Postsecondary
The New National College Attainment Network Resource Guide for K-12
View the recording
Alarming drops in Free Application
for Federal Student Aid form completion and surveys showing
students are highly uncertain about their college plans have
catapulted the education sector into responding in innovative and
urgent ways. The National College Attainment Network remains
committed to helping districts and schools take five actions,
right now, to help students stay on a path for success after high
school graduation.
Higher Education Recovery Task Force Launches
A new Higher Education Recovery Task Force will convene higher education leaders from the 16 Southern Regional Education Board states to address the challenges facing colleges, universities and students during the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery.
The New SwiftStudent Tool
Help for Guiding Students Through Financial Aid Appeals
View webinar recording
The sudden onset and rapid spread of the coronavirus has caused many sudden changes to student and family finances. At the same time, students may not have the same level access to counselors and advisers that they did prior to social distancing. Yet research shows that students and their families know very little about their right to appeal financial aid awards as well as the process for doing so.
The Students Are Not All Right
Using the Science of Social Listening to Understand and Meet Students' Needs
View the webinar recording
The global COVID-19 pandemic hit
campuses across the country in the blink of an eye. In rapid
succession, campuses closed, courses moved online, and our
lives—personally and professionally—were permanently altered.
Belonging From a Distance
Protecting the mental health of America’s “loneliest generation”
Things are tough for college
students right now. The COVID-19 crisis, which has disrupted life
everywhere, is “quite possibly the single most disruptive event
in American higher education in at least a half century,”
according to
the Atlantic, one that has “left students scrambling
to wrangle flights home and pack up their dorm room.”
Keep Next Year’s Teachers on Track
Immediate and longer-term policy actions for student-teachers
With colleges and schools closed for COVID-19, state leaders will need to act quickly to keep 60,000 teacher-candidates on track to graduate and enter the workforce in Southern states next year. SREB convened college of education and K-12 leaders from five states to discuss barriers and share ideas, and a new brief recommends short-term policy changes.