PITTSBURGH TECHNICAL COLLEGE PRESIDENT TO PRESENT ON THE FORBES FUNDS CALL FOR COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS
Dr. Alicia B. Harvey-Smith to Share Insight on Comprehensive Return-to-Campus Plan
August 27, 2020 – Pittsburgh Technical College (PTC) president Dr. Alicia B. Harvey-Smith will be a featured guest on The Forbes Funds Call for Community Solutions on Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. Dr. Harvey-Smith will discuss how PTC implemented a successful return-to-campus plan in July and how PTC’s plan can act as a model for institutions who need assistance and guidance on their reopening.
The weekly forum is designed to give community members and leaders an opportunity to spark collaboration, share ideas and ask questions in a supportive environment of practitioners. It is typically attended by approximately 100 nonprofits serving communities across the 10-county region of southwestern Pennsylvania.
“The Forbes Funds Call for Community Solutions is an outstanding resource for regional nonprofit organizations to come together and learn from one another as we continue to further our mission,” said Dr. Harvey-Smith. “I am honored to be able to share all of the hard work and planning that went into our current on-campus COVID-19 mitigation efforts to inspire potential ideas for others in our community.”
On July 23, PTC welcomed back nearly 400 students to campus whose field of study required in-person, competency-based laboratory or clinical instruction, while identifying fewer than half that number who would also require on-campus housing. Spearheaded by Terri Barbour, PTC’s COVID-19 Administrator and Dean of Nursing and Healthcare Professions, PTC’s COVID-19 Task Force developed a comprehensive return-to-campus plan rooted in evidence-based guidelines that covered all aspects and probable scenarios for a safe return to campus. The plan included four key components: repopulation, monitoring and surveillance, containment and shutdown contingency.
Preventative measures included the completion of two online educational modules before returning to campus, signing of a Personal Responsibility Statement, daily health screenings, extensive sanitization and social distancing measures, on-campus signage and much more. In addition to requiring masks in all campus buildings, PTC reduced the capacity of classrooms and added an abundance of signage to direct traffic flows in an effort to maintain social distancing in potentially congested areas. As of Aug. 27, PTC has reported one positive case of a student with on-campus exposure.
Dr. Harvey-Smith also shared her insights earlier this month at the 2020 RTM Higher Education CIO Congress’ annual convention, an invitation-only program for technology leaders from innovative institutions of higher education. In her discussion, Dr. Harvey-Smith presented on leading higher education’s emergence post-COVID-19 and examined how the pandemic has affected fundraising and endowment strategies, new student pipelines and enrollment, cost structures and more.
For more information on PTC and access to its comprehensive return-to-campus plan, visit publicsafety.ptcollege.edu and follow PTC on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.