Mar 13, 2020, 3:20 PM
(From Inside Higher Education) For colleges that are already financially strapped, issuing room and board refunds over coronavirus concerns could have serious impact. Other potential financial impacts: canceled admitted student days and student tours, which could affect fall enrollment, and lower endowment payouts in a falling market. All this could impact a college's credit rating. Insurance is unlikely to cover refund-related revenue hits because colleges are sending students home as a preventative measure, not due to an event that triggers coverage under their property or business interruption policy.
More at Inside Higher Education
(From Accounting Today) This week the U.S. Secret Service issued guidance around novel coronavirus-related phishing scams, in which cybercriminals are using a wide distribution of mass emails posing as legitimate medical and or health organizations. The guidance notes that a rise in teleworking increases the risk of cyberattacks that prey on employee anxieties, oftentimes taking advantage of remote work by impersonating someone from HR. Experts recommend organizations use portals for secure document transfer, for instance, and VPN (virtual private network) services. These can be inexpensive, but allow staff to access firm software platforms securely.
(From LA Times) So far the spread of COVID-19 has largely spared the young, with few serious cases among children and teenagers, and no deaths among patients younger than 9. However, health officials are beginning to caution younger people with respiratory conditions like asthma as well as in those being treated for autoimmune disease or cancer, which often appear most aggressively in young adults. Hoarding of gloves, surgical masks, hand sanitizer and antiseptic wipes by healthier populations is putting chronically ill people reliant on these items at risk. Officials agree that washing and “social distancing” techniques are most effective in protecting students who are most vulnerable to COVID-19.
(More at EdSurge) The move to online learning may negatively impact vulnerable students the most, particularly students younger students and students with low prior GPA, argues Justin Reich, an assistant professor at MIT. Reich points to a growing body of research that suggests most students on average do worse in online courses compared to face-to-face ones, and that effect was most pronounced for the youngest students and students who need help the most. For schools considering moving curriculum online, Reich says the number one question is not: “What tech to use to teach online?” It should be: “How will you support your most struggling students?”
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