Heroes Wear Many Faces: Colleges and Universities Retooling to Fight COVID-19 (A Running List – Week 4)

As of 05/08/2020, there are 450 amazing schools included on this list…and counting!

Colleges and universities across the country are closing their doors to their own students amidst the global coronavirus pandemic. As traditional classes are canceled and postsecondary instruction moves online to mitigate the spread of the virus, some of these same institutions are welcoming COVID-19 patients and healthcare workers to campus. This is all part of a nationwide effort to battle this unique public health crisis.

**Editor’s note** This article will be updated frequently as we learn about more schools that have joined the fight against COVID-19. If your school is involved, let us know by contacting us here!

We have broken up this article into weekly section updates. The links to the older lists are here:

Other schools are doing their part by serving as testing sites, donating personal protective equipment for doctors and nurses, and conducting important medical research that could help put an end to the pandemic. In this article, we’ll highlight the efforts of the colleges and universities who have taken extraordinary measures in the fight against the coronavirus.

Alpena Community College

Alpena, Michigan

Date Added: 04/26/2020

With students now living off campus due to physical school closures, Alpena Community College is putting the space to good use. The school’s Julie Riddle Apartments have been turned over to Mid-Michigan Medical Center-Alpena and the Alpena Fire Department for temporary use during the pandemic.

Blue Mountain Community College

Pendleton, Oregon

Date Added: 04/26/2020

To assist with the shortage of medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers amid the public health crisis, Blue Mountain Community College’s nursing program has donated gowns as well as IV pumps to nearby St. Anthony Hospital. Hospital beds from the college’s healthcare training programs have also been put on reserve should St. Anthony’s become overwhelmed by patients.

Clemson University

Clemson, South Carolina

Date Added: 04/26/2020

Clemson University

Clemson University researchers are working on an antibody test that could help get its state back to work while providing increased protection for healthcare workers. The serologic tests could help determine whether or not individuals have developed an immunity to COVID-19 and are therefore fit to return to work. The method promises to be an improvement over current methods of antibody testing.

College of Western Idaho

Nampa, Idaho

Date Added: 04/26/2020

Students from the College of Western Idaho are working to ensure that suicide prevention is emphasized during the pandemic. As social distancing measures are put in place and the economy begins to decline, the need for suicide awareness and prevention is more pertinent than ever. Led by a CWI marketing professor, the cross-curricular project will feature podcasts created by students.

Manchester University

North Manchester, Indiana

Date Added: 04/26/2020

Manchester University has made the decision to allow more than 60 of its pharmacy students to graduate early to join the front lines of the fight against the novel coronavirus. Thanks to an executive order signed by Indiana’s governor, these students will be able to apply for a temporary license and begin work immediately.

Norwalk Community College

Norwalk, Connecticut

Date Added: 04/26/2020

Norwalk Community College is helping to ensure the healthcare workers in its local area have the personal protective equipment (PPE) they need to care for patients on the front lines of the pandemic. Through the school’s Hospital Simulation Unit, NCC has made a generous donation of gloves, gowns, and masks to nearby medical facilities. Three ventilators from the college’s respiratory care program are also on loan to local hospitals. In addition, the school is producing face shields using equipment from its on-campus Makerspace.

Roseman University of Health Sciences

Henderson, Nevada

Date Added: 04/26/2020

Roseman University of Health Sciences is using information to help fight the novel coronavirus. The school plans to hold a virtual information session over Zoom to address the concerns of its community and answer any questions individuals may have about COVID-19. Topics addressed will include how the virus is spread, how to protect oneself against infection, and how antibody testing works, for instance.

Salve Regina University

Newport, Rhode Island

Date Added: 04/26/2020

The Office of Graduate Studies and Continuing Education at Salve Regina University will host a webinar for parents and caregivers of developmentally disabled children during the public health crisis. The webinar will feature experts from the university’s psychology and applied behavior analysis programs. There is no cost for attendance.

Wharton County Junior College

Wharton, Texas

Date Added: 04/26/2020

Wharton County Junior College’s EMS students are volunteering to screen patients for COVID-19. The work they are doing, which involves collecting test samples, counts toward the credits needed for their curriculum. Testing is being conducted at the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds.

Aims Community College

Greeley, Colorado

Date Added: 04/25/2020

Aims Community College is helping battle the coronavirus on the diagnostic front. The school is hosting a drive-thru testing site on its campus for nearby UCHealth. Participants must have a referral from a doctor in order for the test to be administered.

Clinton Community College

Plattsburgh, New York

Date Added: 04/25/2020

Clinton Community College is utilizing resources from its Institute for Advanced Manufacturing to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) for local healthcare workers. The Institute’s 3-D printers are being used to create components for face masks. The college has also made food donations to nearby senior facilities.

Eastern Washington University

Cheney, Washington

Date Added: 04/25/2020

To help with the shortage of hand sanitizer amid the coronavirus pandemic, Eastern Washington University is using its science labs to manufacture the critical substance. Approved by the FDA, the school’s formula has been dubbed “Eagle Sanitizer.” It will be distributed across the region to first-responders, nursing homes, and shelters.

Fairfield University

Fairfield, Connecticut

Date Added: 04/25/2020

With students away for the remainder of the year, Fairfield University’s dining services were left with a surplus of unused food. Instead of throwing it out or leaving it to expire, the school made a sizeable donation to local food banks. The contribution totaled approximately $60,000 in food items.

“The university said food insecurity has significantly escalated as the public health crisis hits Connecticut hard; food banks around the state are trying to keep up with an increase in demand from clients old and new. When Gornicki offered to donate the emergency supply, he was immediately directed to contact a volunteer coordinator at Columbus House in New Haven.”

Fairfield Citizen, April 24, 2020

Florida State University

Tallahassee, Florida

Date Added: 04/25/2020

Florida State University

Doing its part to help amid the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers on the front lines of the pandemic, Florida State University is manufacturing medical face shields. Using 3-D printers from its Innovation Hub, the school is mass-producing the protective equipment for nearby Southern Medical Group and Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare. FSU’s initial goal is to create two thousand of the shields for donation.

Kennesaw State University

Kennesaw, Georgia

Date Added: 04/25/2020

Kennesaw State University will serve as a drive-thru coronavirus testing center for residents of the area. The testing site will be managed by the Georgia National Guard, and Augusta University health professionals will be administering the tests. There will be no charge for the COVID-19 tests, and up to 240 of the tests will be processed daily.

Lake-Sumter State College

Leesburg, Florida

Date Added: 04/25/2020

Like many schools around the country, Lake-Sumter College is contributing the use of its campus facilities to serve as a testing site for the novel coronavirus. Local AdventHealth will administer the tests via a drive-thru service. Participants must have symptoms of Covid-19 or have been in contact with someone infected with the virus.

Molloy College

Rockville Centre, New York

Date Added: 04/25/2020

Molloy College is joining dozens of other institutes of higher learning across the nation in housing healthcare workers during the coronavirus pandemic. The school’s Maria Regina Hall will host up to 40 medical professionals from nearby Mercy Medical Center as they work on the front lines of the Covid-19 crisis.

The school’s Student Nursing Association is also doing what it can to help amid the public health crisis. So far, their efforts include meal deliveries to healthcare workers and letters to senior citizens battling loneliness during quarantine. For their next project, the students plan to make care packages for donation to a local homeless shelter.

“Molloy is proud to be able to help both Mercy Medical Center and the health care workers who are on the front lines in the fight against this deadly virus,” said Janine Biscari, Molloy’s vice president of student affairs. “As one of the leading providers of health care education in the country, we want to do whatever we can to help health care workers.”

LI Herald, April 24, 2020

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, Iowa

Date Added: 04/25/2020

The University of Northern Iowa’s Additive Manufacturing Center (AMC) has rallied together its resources to fulfill a critical need for local healthcare workers on the front lines of the pandemic. Using 3-D printers and some reverse engineering, team members were able to create hoses for powered air-purifying respirators needed to prevent exposure to the novel coronavirus. Thirty of these hoses were provided to MercyOne Northeast Iowa.

Washington State University

Pullman, Washington

Date Added: 04/25/2020

Washington State University

Hand sanitizer is among the items in the shortest supply amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Washington State University has decided to help fill the critical demand for this potentially life-saving solution by manufacturing its own sanitizer, which it’s aptly named Cougar Clean. The school has already produced 50 gallons of sanitizer, and production is ongoing.

Florida A&M University

Tallahassee, Florida

Date Added: 04/24/2020

Professors and graduate students from Florida A&M University are volunteering to assist the Florida Department of Health in the fight against COVID-19. From manning call centers to developing predictive models of the virus and its spread, team members are lending their expertise and their energies to the statewide relief effort.

The university is also offering up its campus to be used as a testing site amid the pandemic. Up to 200 COVID-19 tests will be processed daily from samples taken in the parking lot of FAMU’s Bragg Memorial Stadium.

Louisiana State University

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Date Added: 04/24/2020

Louisiana State University

A professor of sociology at Louisiana State University has received funds from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study the collective social response to the pandemic across the globe. Dr. Wesley M. Shrum will interview individuals from ten different countries spanning Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Results of the study will be used to inform future policies regarding public health crises.

Additional coronavirus research is ongoing through the university’s College of Engineering. A professor of civil and environmental engineering at LSU is studying how the pandemic has affected travel patterns. Among the major goals of the study is to determine whether restrictions on travel impacted infection and fatality rates.

Across campus at the university’s Manship School of Mass Communication, the Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs is also contributing to the public discussion of race and racism amid the pandemic. In collaboration with the Louisiana Budget Project, the center is holding a virtual series event to discuss topics like structural racism and how the African American community is disproportionately affected by Covid-19.

Middlesex County College

Edison, New Jersey

Date Added: 04/24/2020

Middlesex County College has loaned out five 3-D printers from its Visual, Performing, and Media Arts department to the county in order to help ease the shortage of critical personal protective equipment for local healthcare workers and first responders. Usually reserved for student projects, the printers are now producing face shields and surgical mask extenders. Over 200 items have already been produced, and more are slated to follow.

Savannah Technical College

Savannah, Georgia

Date Added: 04/24/2020

Acknowledging the economic impact of the pandemic, Savannah Technical College is providing displaced workers in its local area with career training opportunities. The school is waiving application fees and providing shorter, more flexible programs in order to give individuals the chance to reenter the workforce sooner. Certification options include those in customer service, small business marketing, manufacturing, and tax preparation, for example.

University of Alabama-Huntsville

Huntsville, Alabama

Date Added: 04/24/2020

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The University of Alabama-Huntsville has enlisted the help of colleges and departments campus-wide to help with the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for local healthcare workers. Coordinated through the College of Nursing, donations from the school have amounted to hundreds of gowns, surgical masks, shoe covers, and caps as well as hand sanitizer. The school has also been working to manufacture face shields and intubation boxes using 3-D printers on campus.

University of Michigan-Flint

Flint, Michigan

Date Added: 04/24/2020

The University of Michigan-Flint is working to help people in its community find the resources they need to weather the pandemic. The school’s Office of University Outreach has developed an interactive online map detailing available COVID-19 services to residents of Genesee County. These services include health services, food resources, small business assistance, and more.

University of Montana

Missoula, Montana

montana colleges

Date Added: 04/24/2020

The University of Montana has joined the global effort to find a viable COVID-19 vaccine. The university’s Center for Translational Medicine recently received a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to begin work on the vaccine. Animal trials have already begun.

University of North Carolina- Wilmington

Wilmington, North Carolina

Date Added: 04/24/2020

The University of North Carolina- Wilmington’s College of Health and Human Services will be studying the effects of social distancing on certain segments of the population, including educators, students, and healthcare workers, for example. Results of the study will help inform public policy as well as curricula in the future.

Alvin Community College

Alvin, Texas

Date Added: 04/22/2020

Inspired by other colleges and universities across the country, Alvin Community College has joined the effort to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers amid the public health crisis. Using 3-D printers, industrial design instructors at the college are manufacturing medical face shields. Each shield takes hours to make, and plans are in place to continuing making the equipment until supplies are depleted.

Central Connecticut State University

New Britain, Connecticut

Date Added: 04/22/2020

To help with the shortage of hospital beds in the midst of the pandemic, Central Connecticut State University is donating the use of its Kaiser Hall to serve as a field hospital. The facility will house up to 200 patients recovering from COVID-19 in the event that nearby hospitals become overwhelmed.

Chesapeake College

Wye Mills, Maryland

Date Added: 04/22/2020

Chesapeake College is doing its part to help fulfill the need for medical equipment amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the school has loaned out its three ventilators to the Maryland Department of Health to be dispersed as needed. These machines are normally used for student training and instruction in the college’s health professions programs.

College of the Ozarks

Point Lookout, Missouri

college-of-the-ozarks

Date Added: 04/22/2020

The College of the Ozarks has started sewing cloth face masks for its community’s first responders amid the pandemic. Roughly 100 of the masks have already been donated to nearby police and fire departments. The effort is being made in memory of a staff member of the college who recently passed away.

Colorado College

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Date Added: 04/22/2020

Colorado College students have coordinated efforts to begin producing cloth face masks for local healthcare providers. So far, the students have made nearly 100 of the masks and have plans to make more. The school is accepting donations of supplies so that production can continue.

New Mexico Highlands University

Las Vegas, New Mexico

Date Added: 04/22/2020

New Mexico Highlands University is using materials and expertise from its chemistry department to produce hand sanitizer for nearby first responders on the front lines of the public health crisis. The school is using its own supplies as well as an FDA-approved formula to produce the sanitizer, which is currently in short supply.

Ohio University- Chillicothe

Chillicothe, Ohio

Date Added: 04/22/2020

Nursing students from Ohio University- Chillicothe recently graduated early to join the front lines of the battle against COVID-19. With their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees, these students will now help alleviate the shortage of healthcare workers amid the pandemic. Most of these new graduates will remain in the state of Ohio as they begin their professional careers.

Pennsylvania College of Technology

Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Date Added: 04/22/2020

Known for its hands-on approach to learning, Pennsylvania College of Technology is switching gears in order to ensure healthcare workers in its local area have the equipment they need to stay safe while treating COVID-19 patients. Not only has the college made a generous donation of unused lab supplies from its School of Nursing and Health Sciences, but it has also started making face shields for nearby nursing home employees and other healthcare professionals. The school is also producing other types of pandemic supplies, including door hooks and keychain hand sanitizer bottles, for instance.

Rowan College at Burlington County

Mount Laurel, New Jersey

Date Added: 04/22/2020

Nursing students from Rowan College at Burlington County are lending a helping hand to their community by staffing call centers and drive-thru testing sites amid the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to student volunteers, the college is also providing its unused lab supplies to aid in the COVID-19 relief effort.

The career services department at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College has also pivoted amid the pandemic in order to provide community members with the resources they need to survive the coronavirus outbreak financially. The school’s career coaches have already provided job-related assistance to nearly 150 residents who have been laid off or had their hours cut due to Covid-19. Services are provided by telephone or online.

Southeastern Illinois College

Harrisburg, Illinois

Date Added: 04/22/2020

Responding to the need for personal protective equipment (PPE) during the public health crisis, Southeastern Illinois College has stepped up to fill the demand. Students and faculty are sewing cloth face masks to donate to local healthcare facilities. Over 200 of the masks have already been produced, and plans are in place for ongoing production.

University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Memphis, Tennessee

Date Added: 04/22/2020

Medical students at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center are helping to fight the coronavirus pandemic by way of information. Through the school’s Health Students Teach Memphis Youth initiative, students have created informational brochures for kids that explain what the coronavirus is and how social distancing measures are helping to contain it. The flyers have been distributed to children throughout the Memphis and Nashville areas.

Concordia University – Texas

Austin, Texas

Date Updated: 4/21/2020

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Concordia University-Texas is stepping up to provide much-needed housing for healthcare workers and first responders on the front lines of the fight against the novel coronavirus. The university is offering over 120 beds in two different student residence halls for front-line workers who can’t or won’t return home after their shifts for fear of exposing their families to COVID-19.

Davenport University

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Date Updated: 4/21/2020

Davenport University has contributed the use of its student housing to the COVID-19 relief effort. Specifically, healthcare workers from nearby hospitals have been invited to occupy the fully furnished Panther Ridge apartments during their time on the front lines of the pandemic.

“We are incredibly humbled by the support that we have received from our community during the COVID-19 crisis,” said Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young. “This collaboration with Davenport University, Metro Health, and Kent County Emergency Management is a clear example of leaders in our community working together to protect those we serve. We are sincerely grateful for their sacrifice and generosity.”

WZZM 13, 04/20/2020

The university is also helping ease the impact the pandemic has had on the job market. Davenport is offering a free class to community members who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19. The 7-week course is designed to help individuals sharpen their communication skills and increase their chances of gaining new employment.

East Tennessee State University

Johnson City, Tennessee

Date Updated: 4/21/2020

East Tennessee State University is partnering with local agencies to develop a preparedness plan to address a possible outbreak of the coronavirus in its region. The plan includes the use of campus facilities in the event that healthcare workers need temporary housing while working on the front lines of the pandemic.

ETSU’s Department of Engineering has also been hard at work producing medical face shields for healthcare professionals in the area. So far, the school has made more than two thousand shields for donation to nearby medical facilities.

East Texas Baptist University

Marshall, Texas

Date Updated: 4/21/2020

Joining the ranks of numerous other colleges and universities across the nation who are providing critical personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care providers, East Texas Baptist University has begun sewing masks for workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 battle. The school has named the effort Mask Ministry. So far, the school has made approximately 250 of the masks.

Rutgers University- Camden

Camden, New Jersey

Date Updated: 4/21/2020

Like several other universities in the U.S., Rutgers University-Camden has received funds from the National Science Foundation to study the novel coronavirus. Specifically, the school will investigate the biology of the novel coronavirus as well as how it infects and impacts human beings.

South Dakota State University

Brookings, South Dakota

Date Updated: 4/21/2020

A mechanical engineering professor at South Dakota State University has received federal funding to develop a new type of respirator mask that kills the coronavirus. The National Science Foundation has funded the research for the project through its Rapid Response Research program. The school is working with other institutions like Cornell and the University of Illinois- Urbana-Champaign in the design and testing of the respirator.

Thomas College

Waterville, Maine

Date Updated: 4/21/2020

Recognizing the need for educational services amid the pandemic, Thomas College is reaching out to K-12 students and teachers who are transitioning to distance learning to comply with social distancing guidelines. Students enrolled in the college’s Computers Across the Classroom course—who are studying to be teachers themselves—have developed programs using augmented reality and donated them to local teachers in an effort to make instruction more engaging and impactful during this challenging time in education.

University of Alaska-Fairbanks

Fairbanks, Alaska

Date Updated: 4/21/2020

The University of Alaska-Fairbanks is making a commitment to fight the battle against COVID-19 through innovation. The school’s Center for Innovation, Commercialization, and Entrepreneurship has funded four different projects through its newly formed Immediate Innovation for Coronavirus Project. The projects span various efforts to provide relief from the novel coronavirus, including 3-D printing respirator parts, sterilizing personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers, and identifying risk factors for infection.

UT-Austin is also taking hints from an unlikely source in its efforts to find viable treatments for Covid-19—llamas. Researchers at the university are investigating how these animals uses nanobodies to fight off infection. Most importantly, they’re looking into how to use these nanobodies to develop human treatments for the novel coronavirus.

University of Massachusetts-Lowell

Lowell, Massachusetts

Date Updated: 4/21/2020

The University of Massachusetts- Lowell has donated the use of its Recreation Center to serve as a temporary field hospital amid the pandemic. The facility can house roughly 100 hospital beds and is equipped to handle patients who are in stable condition but still require medical care. The surge site will be managed by Lowell General Hospital.

UML researchers have also received funding from the university’s Office of Research and Innovation. The seed money will fund numerous projects across various university departments. Some of these projects will address topics like Covid-19 drug therapies, health policies, pandemic communications, and more.

Wright State University

Dayton, Ohio

Date Updated: 4/21/2020

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Wright State University is reaching out to families in need during the pandemic. In partnership with the Foodbank, the university will be holding a drive-thru food donation event at its Nutter Center. The food distribution will follow a no-touch protocol, and precautions will be taken to keep everyone safe during food pickup.

Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green, Ohio

Date Added: 04/20/2020

Bowling Green State University-Main Campus

Bowling Green State University is allowing its nursing students to graduate early so that they can provide critical professional health services amid the pandemic. Eleven nurses from the school have been given the green light to apply for their licenses without first passing their licensing exam. This will allow them to join the front lines of the coronavirus battle in short order.

Brown University

Providence, Rhode Island

Date Added: 04/20/2020

brown-university

Brown University is doing its part to help with Rhode Island’s plan to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. A team of experts at the school is collaborating to build a predictive model of the virus as it moves through the state. The model includes predictions as to how numbers of infected individuals will grow with and without social distancing measures. Results could help public officials make informed decisions about mandates for residents and businesses.

“One of the things that the models are telling us is the social distancing is working because we’re seeing some flattening, and we’re seeing that some things are less bad than we would have expected in the absence of social distancing,” said [Brown University Professor of Economics Emily] Oster.

NBC News 10 WJAR, April 17, 2020

In collaboration with the State of Rhode Island, the university is also making its student dorms available to workers on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19. The school will be contributing up to 700 single-occupancy rooms from its Pembroke Campus for local healthcare workers and first responders in the area.

Butler Community College

El Dorado, Kansas

Date Added: 04/20/2020

Butler County Community College made a sizable donation of personal protective equipment to its nearby medical centers to help in the fight against COVID-19. The contribution of roughly $5,000 worth of gloves, masks, gowns, and other lab equipment was made to local Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital, the Kansas Medical Center in Andover, and Ascension in Wichita.

Cedar Crest College

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Date Added: 04/20/2020

Like many other colleges around the nation, Cedar Crest College is reopening its student dormitories to serve as temporary housing for local medical professionals. Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers from nearby hospitals and medical centers will be calling Cedar Crest home during the pandemic, as an effort to protect their own families from exposure to the novel coronavirus.

East Carolina University

Greenville, North Carolina

Date Added: 04/20/2020

ecu online classes in supply chain

East Carolina University has made a commitment to ongoing efforts in the battle against the novel coronavirus. Notably, the school is using the 3-D printers housed in its Innovation Design Lab (IDL) to make protective equipment for health care workers in the area. Additional efforts include making hand sanitizer, providing telehealth services, and offering educational resources and assistance.

In collaboration with Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill, East Carolina University has also launched a study into local patients with Covid-19 who show little or no symptoms of the virus. The survey will include participants from several counties throughout North Carolina in an attempt to get a better idea of the number of true coronavirus cases in the state.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Indiana, Pennsylvania

Date Added: 04/20/2020

Indiana University of Pennsylvania is teaming up with nearby Indiana Regional Medical Center to improve testing efficiency in the region. Thanks to the university’s contribution of lab equipment, the hospital will be able to process roughly 200 COVID-19  tests per day and provide results within just 24 hours.

Indiana University School of Medicine

Indianapolis, Indiana

Date Added: 04/20/2020

Nearly 150 medical students from Indiana University School of Medicine will be graduating early to join the front lines of the fight against COVID-19. Students would normally be completing a capstone course at this point in their academic careers, but instead chose to complete their program requirements early to fill the urgent need for healthcare professionals amid the pandemic.

Kansas State University

Manhattan, Kansas

Date Added: 04/20/2020

kansas-state-university

Like other universities across the United States, Kansas State University is donating life-saving medical equipment to the COVID-19 relief effort. The university’s School of Veterinary Medicine has loaned out its critical care ventilator to nearby respiratory care therapy center Ascension Via Christi.

Keystone College

La Plume, Pennsylvania

Date Added: 04/20/2020

Keystone College is emptying its student food pantry to help local families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The school’s total donation to the Northern Lackawanna Food Share Program amounted to approximately 400 nonperishable items.

The college announced Friday it donated about 400 nonperishable food items to the Northern Lackawanna County Food Share Program. The food — including soup, noodles, oatmeal, macaroni and cheese, and peanut butter — is bound for the Bedford Towers Senior Apartments in Clarks Summit, the college said.

Times Tribune, Scranton PA, April 18,2020 [stock image]

Montana State University

Bozeman, Montana

Date Added: 04/20/2020

Montana State University is retooling some of its lab equipment to help in the battle against Covid-19. Equipment from the school’s College of Agriculture and Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology is now being utilized to test samples for the novel coronavirus.

Researchers at MSU are also studying the origins of the novel coronavirus to better understand how the virus was transferred from bats to humans. They hope the results of their research will help prevent this virus “spillover” from animals to humans in the future.

Ohio Northern University

Ada, Ohio

Date Added: 04/20/2020

Among other initiatives, Ohio Northern University is helping in the COVID-19 diagnostic efforts. The school has donated critical testing equipment from its forensic biology department to nearby Lima Memorial Hospital to assist with testing for the novel coronavirus. The school has also made a sizeable donation of personal protective equipment (PPE) to OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Hospital.

Rider University

Lawrenceville, New Jersey

Date Added: 04/20/2020

Doing its part to help in the COVID-19 relief effort, Rider University is manufacturing hand sanitizer for its local hospitals. Through the school’s chemistry department, the university has already donated 10 liters of the potentially life-saving substance to nearby Capital Health Medical Center. Rider has plans to continue making the sanitizer until supplies run out.

Ripon College

Ripon, Wisconsin

Date Added: 04/20/2020

Stepping up to help its community fight COVID-19, Ripon College is donating supplies to nearby assisted living facilities. The school’s contribution comes in the form of gloves from its unused laboratories as well as face shields that Ripon is manufacturing using its supply of 3-D printers.

Southern State Community College

Hillsboro, Ohio

Date Added: 04/20/2020

Southern State Community College is stepping up to help ease the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for front-line healthcare workers on a large scale. The school has transformed its gymnasium into a manufacturing facility for medical face shields. Over 60 3-D printers have been employed in the effort, and SSCC expects to provide thousands of shields for local medical facilities.

University of California- Riverside

Riverside, California

Date Added: 04/20/2020

university-of-california-riverside

The University of California-Riverside has donated the use of its extension building to local healthcare workers who need a place to stay while working on the front lines of the public health crisis. Doctors and nurses are currently occupying the top floor of the building as a way of preventing their families from being exposed to the novel coronavirus.

University of California- Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California

Date Added: 04/20/2020

Researchers at the University of California- Santa Barbara are investigating whether UV light can be used to kill COVID-19. If successful, the study could inform future innovations in disinfecting surfaces and other materials such as personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers.

University of Massachusetts- Amherst

Amherst, Massachusetts

Date Added: 04/20/2020

university-of-massachusetts-amherst

The University of Massachusetts-Amherst has developed an intricate forecasting system to predict the spread of COVID-19 throughout the country. Through the school’s Influenza Forecasting Center of Excellence, UMass-Amherst is providing a wealth of information and resources about the novel coronavirus in the United States. The data will be used by government agencies to help make policy decisions about how to deal with the pandemic on the national level.

Scientists at the university have also been hard at work producing viral transport media (VTM) for health care facilities and laboratories throughout the state. This chemical solution is necessary to preserve Covid-19 testing samples as they make their way to the lab for processing.

University of Missouri

Columbia, Missouri

Date Added: 04/20/2020

The University of Missouri has developed a telehealth resource to assist rural healthcare providers as they grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. The program, called COVID-19 ECHO, provides resources for doctors and other healthcare providers who may not have any other access to critical information about the novel coronavirus.

The school’s Psychological Services Clinic is also offering counseling to local families via telehealth as they deal with stress and anxiety related to the novel coronavirus. The brief sessions will focus on coping mechanisms for isolation, positive thinking, and connection-building.

MU has also developed an online coronavirus testing dashboard through its Center for Applied Research and Engagement Systems (CARES). The dashboard provides a visual depiction of Covid-19 diagnostic efforts in each state in the U.S. The dashboard is updated daily.

University of Nevada-Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

Date Added: 04/20/2020

In addition to making valuable contributions of personal protective equipment to nearby hospitals and medical facilities, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas is also producing the solution necessary to preserve test samples during transport to the testing lab. The work is being performed in collaboration with the Southern Nevada Public Health Laboratory.

University of Texas at San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas

Date Added: 04/20/2020

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Providing assistance on the economic front of the COVID-19 battle, the University of Texas at San Antonio is offering resources to small businesses in its local area. The initiative, called The COVID-19 Business Recovery Accelerator, will connect business owners to the resources they need to survive the pandemic. Businesses can participate in the program for the next eighteen months.

West Virginia University

Morgantown, West Virginia

Date Added: 04/20/2020

In an innovative move, West Virginia University has developed smart rings that can detect COVID-19. The school is testing the devices among healthcare workers on the front lines of the pandemic but hopes to expand the initiative. WVU researchers say the rings could signal for an infection 24 hours before symptoms emerge.

The university is also working to develop a device that could prevent healthcare professionals from being exposed to the coronavirus while intubating patients. The cubes, which feature aerosol-blocking properties, were developed through the school’s Innovation hub.

The university will also be researching how Appalachian residents have responded to the Covid-19 outbreak, thanks to a recent grant from the National Science Foundation. The results of the study will provide information for public officials in order to improve public communication in the future.

Western Michigan University

Kalamazoo, Michigan

Date Added: 04/20/2020

Western Michigan University is working to help local businesses survive the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Students in the school’s Haworth College of Business are creating videos to promote small businesses in the area. Participants include approximately 100 business students enrolled in the university’s Leadership and Business Strategy program.

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