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Crises offer many common lessons once they are over. That\\u2019s the case now as higher education faces the latest crises, the COVID19 pandemic. \\xa0

This\\xa0episode of\\xa0Changing Higher Ed\\xa0features Dr. Scott Cowen, the former president of Tulane University. Dr. Cowen, who is now a faculty member,\\xa0as\\xa0shares his insights of surviving a crisis, which in his case was Hurricane Katrina.\\xa0

He believes that out of every disaster, we have an obligation to make something better. He encourages institutions to chronicle what they are learning so it could help inform future crises.\\xa0

The Differences\\xa0and Similarities between Coronavirus and Katrina\\xa0

Whereas the coronavirus is affecting the US and the globe,\\xa0Hurricane Katrina affected a very specific region of the United States. About two weeks after the storm, Tulane leaders were able to determine the physical damage that was done to the institution and to New Orleans. Then plans were developed to remediate and renew the university as well as the city.\\xa0 That took many years to complete. In Tulane\\u2019s case, this recovery took seven years to get back to normal in terms of damage to both the physical\\xa0plant, enrollment\\xa0and the institutional reputation.\\xa0

In the case of the COVID19, the effect and the impact continue to unfold every day. No one knows the duration or how bad it\\u2019s going to be.\\xa0It\\xa0also is kicking off a meltdown in the stock market.\\xa0\\xa0

There are similarities between these two crises.\\xa0There is no playbook for what\\u2019s happening.\\xa0People are feeling very anxious and very scared.\\xa0They don\\u2019t know what the future holds. Now college campuses are closing and dispersing their faculty, staff and students.\\xa0\\xa0

Four Key Areas to Focus on\\xa0

Scenario Planning\\xa0

After Hurricane Katrina,\\xa0everybody went back to the risk enterprise programs to look at scenarios. They became more focused on developing scenarios that included weather-related issues or an active shooter. However, Dr. Cowen believes that most institutions did not project a scenario of a pandemic, even though a lot has been written over the past 15 years about this type of scenario, and in fact, many if not most do not do risk planning.\\xa0Now\\xa0that\\xa0it has happened,\\xa0institutions are having to lead on the fly.\\xa0

Student Recruitment Moving Forward\\xa0

Student recruitment also will be an area of concern. Many institutions are pushing back deadlines due to the pandemic. After Katrina, about 85 percent of Tulane\\u2019s undergraduate\\xa0and\\xa0graduate students returned to campus in January 2006. This was higher than institutional leaders had believed would happen.\\xa0\\xa0

However, Tulane did not anticipate what would happen the following\\xa0Fall. They normally had an entering class of 1,600, but instead, they had an entering class of 860.\\xa0It took the institution six years to rebuild that population, taking\\xa0a tremendous toll on Tulane\\u2019s budget and everything that the university did.\\xa0

Dr. Cowen does not believe this will be as severe an issue now, but it will be an issue. Some students may decide to attend an institution closer to their home instead of going away. Given the meltdown of the stock market, some may opt out of attending the expensive private\\xa0school, while others may opt to take\\xa0a gap year to make sure that the aftereffects of the COVID19 pandemic have\\xa0settled out.\\xa0Therefore, this may have an effect on yield rates going into the fall.\\xa0

Finances Issues Moving Forward\\xa0

Additionally, many colleges and universities were on the cusp financially\\xa0before COVID19 hit, and this situation could accelerate their demise. He encourages institutional leaders in these situations to do serious thinking about the future, including pursuing mergers or being acquired.\\xa0Additionally, these leaders need to reach out to other institutions about taking care of current students.\\xa0For example, Tulane restructured after Katrina and cut down\\xa0its\\xa0number of departments. Tulane leaders reached out to other institutions that had those departments and asked them to give consideration to Tulane students if they applied to the other institution. This proved to work out for the Tulane students who were\\xa0impacted.\\xa0

Finding Informal Advisors\\xa0

Dr. Cowen and his team also created an informal board and cabinet to get feedback\\xa0in fall 2005\\xa0once they realized the institution could not reopen as it had previously been.\\xa0The Tulane\\xa0formal\\xa0board was very helpful in doing scenario planning around issues.\\xa0\\xa0

He also asked five university presidents from across the nation to work with him in developing a renewal plan in fall 2005. This group helped him to\\xa0develop an objective\\xa0long-term picture and key issues\\xa0while\\xa0he was dealing with life-and-death situations, helping him\\xa0focus to develop\\xa0the\\xa0renewal plan. Additionally, the Higher Education Association of America was very helpful because they encouraged other universities to take Tulane\\u2019s students.\\xa0

Dr. Cowen encouraged institutional leaders to embrace \\u201cplagiarism,\\u201d\\xa0i.e., borrow from what other institutions are doing and saying,\\xa0to get through this situation and to identify solutions that are working. Then these solutions can be implemented across the nation.\\xa0

Moving to Online Education\\xa0

One positive impact of the current situation is the need to move to online education. Everybody needs to learn how to do online courses. This could lead to additional opportunities to expand reach, lower the cost of education and appeal to additional populations.\\xa0This\\xa0also\\xa0will get faculty more experienced in online and open up new opportunities.\\xa0

Faculty also can use technology to meet with students online. Dr. Cowen\\xa0meets\\xa0with\\xa0his\\xa0students via Zoom without any agenda to keep students connected with Tulane. Having faculty do this\\xa0beyond the scope of the course and during the closure\\xa0will help with student retention as well as the institutional reputation.\\xa0That relationship is critical right now.\\xa0