CHAPEL HILL – At the beginning of the 2019-20 academic year on University of North Carolina campuses, few would have predicted the year would end in a global pandemic.

Yet here we are.

“We’re in the midst of a very serious health crisis,” Interim UNC System President Bill Roper told the UNC Board of Governors last week. 

But, he added, “The UNC System, I believe, is rising to this challenge.” 

It certainly helps that this isn’t the first rodeo for Roper, a former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The UNC System has indeed responded to the coronavirus threat in multiple ways:

• Officials extended spring break, sent most students home and moved classes online.¹ 

Roper reported to the Board that 95% of classes across the UNC System were ready to be delivered online starting Monday.

“We’ve done this over the past two weeks, which is just amazing,” he said.

The NC Community College System took similar steps at its 58 colleges.

Officials at the UNC System office developed a guide for faculty who weren’t accustomed to teaching class online.

It includes useful (and sometimes amusing) tips, such as: “Elevate webcam to eye level or higher, so that students are not looking up your nose the entire time.”

It also suggests that professors ask “check-in” questions to make sure students are engaged: “Give me a thumbs-up if you’re with me.”

University officials have attempted to reassure students, as UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz does here:

“This is not what we wanted for our spring semester,” Guskiewicz tweeted, “but we are rising to the challenge. Thank you, Tar Heels.”

NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson offered encouragement to the NC State community as well:

UNC-Chapel Hill and East Carolina University also gave students a pass/fail option, rather than letter grades, for spring semester classes.

• Graduation ceremonies – but not the awarding of degrees – were postponed. 

Each of the 17 campuses will decide how to recognize their 2020 graduates.

“I know and understand that this will disappoint our students and their families, who have worked toward this goal for so many years,” Roper said. “But the health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff must be our top priority. Rest assured, your institution will celebrate your academic achievement in due course.”

Guskiewicz said he will survey UNC-Chapel Hill students about alternative dates.

Appalachian State and East Carolina said they will have virtual commencements.

UNC Greensboro said it will recognize May graduates at its December commencement exercises. UNCG Chancellor Frank Gilliam also sought to reassure students – especially graduates – in this video:

• Facing a nationwide shortage of coronavirus tests, the UNC School of Medicine developed its own. 

“This new test will be used at UNC Health hospitals and select clinics across our state, allowing for more testing capacity at the state health department and LabCorp in North Carolina,” Roper announced in a video.

“This effort exemplifies how the UNC System’s work isn’t just good for our students,” he said. “It benefits all North Carolinians.”

• A drug under development for six years at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health is viewed as the leading potential treatment for COVID-19.

The World Health Organization, Bloomberg and publications around the world have recognized Dr. Ralph Baric’s work at Gillings to develop remdesivir in conjunction with Gilead Sciences Inc.

The WHO calls remdesivir the most promising agent identified to date against the virus. The drug is in trials in China and soon at Duke University Hospital.

• Schools unleashed their creativity.

NC State’s Cooperative Extension Service issued guidelines on the safety of takeout food.

And UNC Asheville created a post with instructions on proper hand-washing – not to the tune of “Happy Birthday,” but to UNCA’s alma mater…

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¹https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article241089681.html.