Planning and executing reopening of colleges and universities

Considerations for higher education leaders planning and executing their reopening strategy

Determining if, when, and how to reopen colleges and universities requires balancing competing priorities and risks associated with curricular needs, personal health and safety concerns, economic realities, institutional mission, and community “town-and-gown” relations.

“Planning and executing your reopening: Considerations for higher education leaders” is not intended to be entirely prescriptive. Rather, it represents our best thinking regarding the myriad considerations that institutional leaders and stakeholders should take into account when developing a playbook for bringing students, faculty, and administrators back to campus, as well as strategies to consider should closing down again become necessary. Colleges and universities are not unlike large cities, and the complexities involved in continuing academic operations during a pandemic are no less formidable.