POSTED BY MARTIN KICH

Lane College president Logan Hampton spoke on June 4, 2020 to the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. This is a transcript of the prepared remarks: 

Chairman Lamar Alexander, Ranking Member Patty Murray, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today.

My name is Dr. Logan Hampton, and I serve as the 10th President of Lane College. Lane College is a strong historically black college and university (HBCU) founded in 1882 by a former slave, Bishop Isaac Lane of the Colored Methodist Church. Lane is an HBCU that seeks to enroll and educate those who may not otherwise have an opportunity to receive a higher education, and we consist of 36 buildings across 55 acres creating a truly exceptional academic and living environment. On our campus, we offer award-winning and accredited academic programs in dozens of majors and minors to include business, entrepreneurship, criminal justice, social work, health care, and more. We pride ourselves on being an institution that views our students as life- long learners and future leaders while viewing our faculty as facilitators who utilize technology as an integral part of the teaching and learning process.

Under my leadership, we have been able to establish a more conventional student residential community with a robust first-year experience program and improve our arts, recreation, and athletic facilities.

HBCU History and Statistics

Before I share how Lane College is preparing to reopen in the Fall semester and the unique challenges caused by the virus named “SARS-CoV-2” causing a disease named “coronavirus disease 2019” (COVID-19), [1] I think that it is imperative that we all understand the history of HBCUs to better understand how COVID-19 impacts these institutions exponentially.

HBCUs were created as early as 1837 to provide African Americans access to higher education. Noted for their contributions in educating black, low-income, and educationally disadvantaged Americans, the 101 accredited HBCUs today constitute the class of institutions that satisfy the statutory definition of the term “HBCU” as defined in the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). [2]

HBCUs disproportionately enroll low-income, first-generation, and academically underprepared college students—precisely the students that the country most needs to obtain college degrees. In 2018:

–Nearly 300,000 students attended HBCUs [3];

–More than 75 percent of HBCU students were African Americans; and

–Over 60 percent of undergraduate students at HBCUs received federal Pell Grants, and over 60 percent of these students received federal loans. [4]

HBCUs comprise 3 percent of all two- and four-year non-profit colleges and universities, yet they:

–Enroll 10 percent of African American undergraduates;

–Produce 17 percent of all African American college graduates with bachelor’s degrees; and

–Graduate 24 percent of African Americans with bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields. [5]

A 2015 Gallup survey confirms that HBCUs are providing African American students with a better college experience than African American students at other colleges and universities.

–55 percent of African American HBCU graduates say their college prepared them well for post-college life versus 29 percent of African American graduates at other institutions. [6]

HBCUs attained these results at an affordable price for students—that is, the cost of attendance at HBCUs is about 30 percent lower, on average, than other colleges— despite limited operating budgets and endowments that are roughly half the typical size of other four-year public and private non-profit colleges and universities.

Since our founding, HBCUs have been, and continue to be, under-resourced institutions. An issue brief produced by ACE (American Council on Education) and UNCF (United Negro College Fund, Inc.) revealed the following:

–Public HBCUs rely more heavily on federal, state, and local funding in comparison with their non-HBCU counterparts (54 percent of overall revenue vs 38 percent);

–Private HBCUs depend a little bit more on tuition dollars than their non- HBCUs counterparts (45 percent compared with 37 percent);

–Private gifts, grants, and contracts constitute a smaller portion of overall revenue at private HBCUs compared to their non-HBCU counterparts (17 percent vs 25 percent);

–Public and Private HBCUs experienced the largest declines in federal funding per full-time equivalent student between 2003-2015; and

–In both the public and private sectors, HBCU endowments lag behind those of non-HBCUs by at least 70 percent. [7]

Despite being under-resourced institutions, HBCUs have a large economic impact that often goes unnoticed by most. In 2017, UNCF released a report detailing the economic impact of HBCUs. The report revealed that in 2014, the impact of HBCUs on their regional economies included:

–$10.3 billion in initial spending, which includes spending by the institution for personnel services, spending by the institution for operating expenses, and spending by students;

–An employment impact of 134,090 jobs, which approximately 43 percent were on-campus jobs and 57 percent were off-campus jobs;

–$10.1 billion in terms of gross regional product, which is a measure of the value of production of all industries;

–A work-life earnings of $130 billion for the Class of 2014, which is 56 percent more than they could expect to earn without their 2014 certificates or degrees; and

–A total economic impact of $14.8 billion. [8]

In regard to Lane College specifically, my institution had the following economic impact on its regional economy according to the UNCF report:

–$29,925,452 in total initial spending;

–$36,428,355 in output impact;

–$23,997,933 in value-added impact;

–$17,827,714 in labor income impact; and

–475 jobs created in employment impact. [9]

In addition to the positive impact HBCUs make on the overall economy, HBCUs also have a strong impact academically when observed at the state and local level. An upcoming report to be released by UNCF shows that:

–HBCUs comprised 8.5 percent of the four-year institutions across the 21 states and territories in the analysis;

–Across the 21 states and territories in the analysis, HBCUs enrolled, on average, 24 percent of all black undergraduates pursuing a bachelor’s degree in a college or university in 2016;

–Across the 21 states and territories in the analysis, on average, 26 percent of all black bachelor’s degree recipients graduated from an HBCU in 2016; and

–In Tennessee, HBCUs are 10 percent of the four-year institutions, but enroll 24 percent of all black undergraduates and award 20 percent of all black bachelor’s degrees in the state. [10]

Lane College’s Response to COVID-19

On the morning of Saturday, March 7, 2020, when I returned to Lane College from a UNCF meeting, I was reminded that the Lane College Concert Choir would depart campus on that upcoming Wednesday, March 11, to begin their Spring Resurrection Tour of the western United States. Having observed the spread of COVID-19 and the cancellation of a few events across the nation, I began to reconsider the choir tour. By midday, I had enough information to determine that it would not be in our students, faculty, and staff’s best interest to travel on a bus for parts of two weeks, perform for several churches, and visit historic sites all along the way. So, out of an abundance of caution and in consultation with Daryll Coleman, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Alexis Rainbow, Choral Director, I cancelled the choir tour. Thus, Lane College began its moment-to-moment response to COVID-19 that would be declared a pandemic the very week the choir was set to depart campus. Since that fateful Saturday, not a day has passed when my colleagues and I have not discussed by phone, exchanged text messages, shared information, participated in a webinar, attended a Zoom meeting, or made some type of decision regarding COVID-19.

Facing the COVID-19 Storm: Initial Responses

 Initially, I created and met with a joint leadership team, consisting of 21 members of my direct reports, the academic cabinet, and the marketing team to consider the following three options for the remainder of the semester:

1. Vigilant – Continue face-to-face instruction and residential students while observing local, state, and federal orders and practicing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Tennessee Department of Health, and Madison County (TN) Health Department’s recommendations;

2. Remote – Move all instruction online and direct non-essential employees to work remotely; or

3. Nuclear – End the semester on Friday, March 13, 2020.

The Lane College Joint Leadership team decided to move to remote instruction and service delivery. We sent emails and hosted the final mass meeting of 100-plus students, faculty, staff, and administrators to discuss remote instruction on March 13, 2020. The institution requested, and was granted, approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to move to remote instruction and proceeded to go on spring break.

Over spring break, the joint leadership team continued to meet and decided to extend spring break for an additional week to give faculty additional time to convert courses from face-to-face to online. The joint leadership team further decided to deep clean and fog all facilities with an antimicrobial agent. Finally, while Lane College never closed, the institution did meet and exceed all federal, state, and local orders by closing the campus and allowing only essential employees and residential students to visit. Initially, approximately 200 students remained on campus during their spring break. As the second week of spring break expired, in response to the extension of  the federal social distancing guideline through April 30th, Lane College decided to close residence halls on Friday, April 3rd, and required all students to vacate the premises, except for forty-two 12-month contract students, international students, and severely food and housing insecure students. Each of the 819 residential students’ accounts was credited $713.44 for a total of $584,305.31, which is slightly less than 10 percent of the institution’s budget. Seventy-six (76) percent of the student body (1,072 total Spring 2020 enrollment) resided on campus. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, Lane College laid off 21 employees and continued its previously imposed spending freeze. Nevertheless, Lane College students will not experience an increase in tuition, fees, or room and board for the upcoming academic year.

Facing the Storm: Strength in the Storm

I am pleased to report that while facing this health crisis, Lane College found it instructive to observe the eagle and lean on the sacred texts. It has been said that the eagle faces storm winds, waits for the precise moment for strong winds to blow, and then spreads its wings with the wind to fly above the storm. The text informs us, “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles…” (Isaiah 40:31). In these perilous times, we have learned anew to wait on the Lord and learned from the eagle to face the storm.

COVID-19 has disrupted learning and life at Lane College, but it has not, and will not, defeat us. Like the eagle, Lane College faced the storm winds and soared above COVID-19 to complete the Spring 2020 semester remotely with faculty and students teaching and learning, respectively, from their homes. We learned that, yes, we can deliver distance education, and, yes, to my staff’s great delight, I can even complete a full Zoom meeting in 30 minutes. This storm has given us a new perspective and language for our employees and while there was never any doubt, we affirm anew that the faculty of our institution are essential. In addition, the residential staff, security officers, chefs, cooks, servers, the Team Clean custodial workers, and the controller’s staff are essential as well.

Today, I celebrate Lane College faculty for their flexibility; the essential staff who braved the virus to come to campus daily; those who worked remotely and learned how to conduct Zoom classes and meetings; our precious students; and everyone who faced the storm and soared above with vigilance, patience, and prayer. The entire Lane College family responded well to the challenge to recruit, retain, and remove barriers for students.

Lane College’s administrative staff, directors, chaplains, and faculty all joined together to email, text, and communicate with new or prospective students. The Lane College Academic Division Chairs and Lane Institute employees led a renewed movement to retain and re-recruit students by reaching out to current and returning students, and the staff are re-recruiting any student who attended Lane College between 2010 – 2019 but did not earn a degree. Faculty and staff have committed to removing the barriers to graduation and registration, and COVID-19 has taught us that some of the things we thought were important and necessary are neither important, necessary, or really needed.

Facing the Storm: Soaring Strategies and Tactics

Situated in the City of Jackson in Madison County, Lane College pays close attention to the current developments in the city, county, and State of Tennessee. As of May 26, 2020, Jackson-Madison County declared a state of emergency; ordered bars to close and restaurants to limit capacity; ordered grocery stores and pharmacies to reserve the first hour of each day for seniors; and canceled events for the next 30 days. In

Jackson-Madison County with a population of 97,984 [11], the number of COVID-19 cases equal 177; negative tests equal 4,736; 152 people have recovered; and 2 people have died. [12]

With this being said, Lane College is challenged to soar. To assist with strategy formation, scenario planning, and tactical deployment, the institution was most fortunate to have UNCF and its partners to join us and provide their perspective informed by the 37 UNCF-member institutions and high-level strategic and tactical consultation and insights. Of special note, UNCF facilitated our partnership with sophisticated online partners who have provided training for Lane College faculty who are new to online instruction and courses to fill the gap for our students at no additional cost to students.

My institution continues to rely heavily on the following sources to develop our overall strategy, tactics, policies, and practices:

–CDC;

–UNCF;

–American College Health Association Considerations for Reopening Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) in the COVID-19 Era;

–National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities;

–National Collegiate Athletics Association Core Principles of Resocialization of Collegiate Sport;

–Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference;

–Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association;

–Tennessee Higher Education Commission;

–Tennessee Department of Health;

–Tennessee Economic Recovery Group;

–Madison County Health Department; and

–The city, county, state, and federal guidance and orders.

As a result of consultation given by UNCF, Lane College was able to quickly establish a Crisis Management Center with a strategy team to lead it. The Lane College strategy team is made up of four (4) members: (1) Dr. Sandra Ramawy (Liberal Studies and Education, Academic Division Chair), response lead; (2) Ms. Tangela Poole (Lane College Controller), financial lead; (3) Mr. Terry Blackmon (Lane College Registrar), academic/institutional research lead; and (4) myself. This team is charged with offering overall leadership of the Crisis Management Center and coordinating the weekly Lane College C-19 Team Meeting that is comprised of the Fast Start team, members of the Lane College Joint Leadership team, and the Pandemic Proof team. My role is to keep the entire team focused on the institution’s mission to “develop the whole student with academic excellence as its highest priority;” maintain rapid pace; ensure vertical and horizontal communications; and affirm that data drive our decisions. The strategy team is set to implement the timeline below.

Fall Decision Timeline

–Thursday, June 11, 2020: Board of Trustees COVID-19 Update Meeting

–Monday, June 22, 2020: Dragon Academy Summer Bridge (online)

–Wednesday, July 1, 2020: Open campus to remote staff with COVID-19 restrictions in place

–Thursday, July 2, 2020: Board of Trustees COVID-19 Update Meeting

–Friday, July 3, 2020: Fall 2020 Announcements

–Saturday, July 18, 2020: Spring Commencement, Lane Field, 6 p.m. (or J.F Lane at 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m.)

–Saturday, July 25, 2020: Student Leaders to return to campus

–Saturday, August 1, 2020: Freshman move-in to residence halls

–Monday, August 3, 2020: First day of freshman class

–Friday, November 20, 2020: Fall 2020 Semester ends

Due to the fluid developments of COVID-19, the strategy team has led Lane College to prepare for three scenarios: Lane College FastStart (face-to-face instruction in Fall 2020), Lane College VR (all online courses in Fall 2020), and Lane College SOAR (a hybrid of both online courses and face-to-face instruction in Fall 2020).

Lane College FastStart

Should Lane College students return to campus for face-to-face instruction and subsequently experience a more aggressive COVID-19 season in late Fall 2020, the institution’s response will mirror the response of the Spring 2020 semester and consist of the following:

–Protocols established across the campus, particularly the academic and student affairs COVID-19 protections, to keep students safe and healthy on campus prior to their departure;

–Faculty prior experience in delivering and moving instruction from face-to-face to online;

–The practice of COVID-19 safety protocols for students, faculty, staff, and visitors to include washing their hands, wearing their masks, social distancing, and self-checking for COVID-19 symptoms;

–COVID-19 restrictions and recommendations by local, state, and federal entities;

–Frequent and routine virtual recruiting, admissions, financial, orientation, and athletic presentations;

–The re-recruitment of majors by departmental leaders; and

–Preparations to see a decrease in overall enrollment and revenue.

Lane College VR

While small and independent, Lane College is primed to deliver responsive and creative programmatic and curricular solutions. The institution has sourced digital devices, platforms, texts, course material, and office applications to support Lane College VR. We will need to pilot micro-credentials and new course offerings to ensure successful implementation, but we are cognizant that student success, including retention and graduation, may be negatively impacted. We are also cognizant that enrollment may decrease resulting in a 27 percent to 43 percent decrease in revenue.

Although Lane College has a plan in place to implement Lane College VR, eliminating face-to-face instruction and moving all classes to a remote format poses the following unique set of challenges for Lane College:

–The quality of instruction may suffer greatly because neither the institution nor the faculty have the resources, human or technical, to fully manage this change;

–Nearly 90 percent of Lane College students receive Pell grants. Thus, the typical student does not have the funds, equipment, or Internet access to receive instruction remotely;

–Many students arrive on campus having endured food and housing insecurities at home. For some, the Lane College is the most safe and secure place; and

–We do not have online resources to support secure virtual testing administration or the delivery of science lab instruction.

Lane College SOAR

Lane College SOAR, the hybrid scenario, offers the greatest opportunity and challenge for Lane College. Appropriately executed, this strategy could lift Lane College to heights unimagined previously. This approach would incorporate aspects of both Lane College FastStart and Lane College VR. To implement this successfully, the technology will need to be greatly increased including the IT backbone, help desk, and on- campus WIFI. A recovering local, state, and national economy may cause us to see an increase in enrollment, but we have to also prepare for the likelihood of a decrease in enrollment.

Prior to the UNCF consultation that led to the development of our Crisis Management Center, Lane College also established three organizational teams to address the future. The first, preceding the pandemic, was the Lane College FastStart team, which is made up of 17 faculty and staff members. This team is charged with assisting new students from the point of admission through the first 6 weeks of the Fall semester. The team meets twice a week to report on recruiting, new student orientation, the Dragon Academy (a summer bridge program), housing, Discovery Week, the first week of freshman class, etc….

As mentioned earlier, in direct response to the pandemic, the Lane College Joint Leadership team was formed. The members of the joint leadership team continue to meet twice per week to submit, receive, and review the most up-to-date information available, make immediate decisions regarding the operation of the institution and propose protocols, policies, and responses as needed.

Lastly, Lane College established the Pandemic Proof team consisting of 27 members. This team is charged with developing tactical solutions to prepare for the three aforementioned potential future scenarios of campus operations in response to COVID-19 (Lane College FastStart, Lane College VR, and Lane College SOAR). The Pandemic Proof team is developing tactical solutions for each area of the institution’s operation.13

Facing the Storm: Requests for Consideration

I would be remiss if I did not thank Congress, and those of this committee, for passing H.R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Your time, energy, and effort does not go unnoticed, and I also want to thank the President for signing this bill into law. Because of the CARES Act, Lane College has access to a total of $5,278,608 in direct allocations from Section 18004(a)(1) and 18004(a)(2) of the bill. Of this total, we have received the allocation for the emergency grant aid for students and the allocation for the institutions in Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act equaling $2,430,978. My institution will be using the institutional funds to reimburse ourselves for COVID-19 related expenses and have already began to disseminate the emergency grant aid to students. To disseminate the emergency grant aid, Lane College established two dispersal tactics:

–Lane CARES Fund–$592 was distributed to each Spring 2020 enrolled student to support their needs caused by the disruption due to COVID-19 to include food, housing, and transportation. To establish this amount, Lane College surveyed students and found that 78 percent of the students asked for funds to support food and 73 percent asked for housing support. [13] The survey instrument was sent to each students’ Lane College email address on April 16, 2020, which was approximately 5 weeks after most students had been away from campus. CARES funds to support student’s food, housing, and transportation were distributed to each student (except the international students) on April 30, 2020; and

–The Lane Direct Support Fund – These funds are awarded on a case-by case- bases. A student may request these funds to support allowable educational expenses.

As of May 28, 2020, a total of $659,396.56 has been distributed from Lane CARES Fund and Lane Direct Support Fund combined.

Thanks to you, Lane College, with her 244 full-time equivalent employees, applied for, and received, a Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program loan to help the institution pay salaries for the current eight weeks, a period of needed financial support. We received a total of $2,059,856. We are also currently participating in the HBCU Capital Financing program deferment of principal and interest payments during this emergency. We received an HBCU Capital Financing loan in March 2010 of $29,000,000 with 20-year fixed rate and variable rate financing and have been making annual payments of around $2,200,000 of principal, interest, and fees. This deferment allows us to direct these payments towards sustaining the needed and necessary operations of our campus.

Please know, Lane College reflects the diversity of private, nonprofit higher education in the United States. With over 5 million students attending 1,700 independent colleges and universities [14], and more than 1 million employees, the private sector of American higher education has a dramatic impact on our nation’s larger public interests. On behalf of UNCF-member institutions, HBCUs, and small nonprofit colleges, I ask that you do the following:

Invest an additional $1 billion in emergency funding for HBCUs, Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). The CARES Act provided a total of $1.046 billion dollars for HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs in Section 18004(a)(2). I believe that I can confidently say on the behalf of my peers and myself that we were ecstatic to receive the additional support of funding due to the nature of our institutions and that the amounts received by each institution will be helpful in allowing us to financially navigate these present times. However, due to the ongoing uncertainty around the duration of COVID-19, I believe that it is imperative for Congress to invest an additional $1 billion in our institutions.

These additional funds will allow us to access the resources necessary to continue to provide quality academic instruction and learning experiences to our students and these funds will help us remain afloat given the loss in revenue that we are braced to receive. More specifically, my institution could use additional funds to increase the technology infrastructure on campus; pay for students to acquire personal technology; pay for WIFI or provide WIFI at no expense; use funds to hire staff to train faculty and students to deliver and receive online instruction; provide funds to enhance the Internet backbone and infrastructure on campus; and provide funding to lessen the threat of food insecurity for students who depart my campus. I am thankful for the passage of H.R. 6800, the Health and Economic Recovery Onmibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, led by Chairwoman Nita Lowey as this bill provided an additional $1.71 billion for HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs. It is my request that the Senate include this level funding for our institutions in the next stimulus package.

Increase grant aid for students by doubling the maximum Pell Grant award. Not only am I here to advocate for the needs of my institution, but I am also here to advocate for the needs of my students. As I mentioned earlier in my testimony, 78 percent of the students at my institution asked for funds to support their ability to eat food and 73 percent asked for funding for housing support. Because these were the top two needs of my students, this information further affirmed what we already knew about students who attend HBCUs being, largely, from low-income families. Not only did my institutional student survey affirm this narrative, but the recent information released by the CDC has exacerbated it by sharing that black Americans are being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. [15] Because the majority of my students on my campus are black, my institution, as a whole, is disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 as well. This means that my students are experiencing households where their parents, or caretakers, are either not able to go to work or have been laid off like so many other Americans. The unemployment rate increased by 10.3 percentage points to 14.7 percent in the month of April and Black Americans hold the second highest unemployment rate out of all races at 16.7 percent. [16] In fact, all Americans of color hold higher unemployment rates than White Americans, and this new reality means decreased revenue in households of color, which equals a decrease in the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) formula used to calculated the amount of student financial aid. If more students would be experiencing a decreased EFC, then more students would need to access the Pell Grant at greater amounts and greater rates.

Provide funding for the safety of our students, faculty, and staff. The safety and well-being of our students, faculty, and staff cannot be compromised and must be addressed prior to re-opening the campus. Testing, tracing, and treatment are essential tools to re-open. As effective COVID-19 testing becomes available, institutions should be given the testing resources necessary to safely reopen in a manner that will protect students, faculty, and staff. This will require federal funding to help institutions adequately prepare and effectively execute the return of students to the classroom as we protect our campuses and larger communities. Our students need to heal in a safe and secure living and learning environment. We also need assistance to help fund the enormous costs associated with protecting our new online systems from cybersecurity attacks.

Provide liability protection. The guidance for federal, state, and local agencies on COVID-19 is evolving, ever changing, and sometimes conflicting. Lane College and its sister IHEs want to provide a safe and healthy environment for students, faculty, and staff based on the guidance offered. When that guidance is inconsistent, it is difficult for the institutions and constituents. I ask that you make it clear what IHEs should be doing to respond effectively to COVID-19 to allow us to confidently provide a safe and healthy environment, which will also aid us in combating any and all lawsuits that may arise due to the precautionary measures that institutions are planning to take when reopening in the fall.

Remove the $62,000,000 cap for the HBCU Capital Financing loan program. In light of the nearly certain attrition of student and subsequent decreases in computer (46%).” [17] It is imperative that HBCUs and our students have the ability to access broadband to allow the students to continue their academic program and complete their education.

Remove the 500-employee limitation for all IHEs. The CARES Act allows for IHEs with no more than 500 employees to apply for a loan in the Paycheck Protection Program or apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). One of the primary benefits to smaller IHEs is that they will be able to receive additional assistance if needed and even have the opportunity to receive an advance of up to $10,000 in the EIDL program that they would then be able to utilize as a grant. These additional opportunities are great options for our smaller institutions, and I firmly believe that all IHEs should be able to apply for these programs. While I am thankful for the interim final rule issued by the SBA outlining that students participating in the Federal Work Study (FWS) program will not be counted as student workers, institutions still have student workers outside of the FWS program that would still be counted as employees under the current law. I am thankful that the HEROES Act included this change, and I ask the Senate to include this modification in any future stimulus package.

Allow all IHEs to be eligible to receive loans in the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP). Colleges and universities are braced to experience declining enrollments for the Fall semester that will lead to a loss in revenue. As I have mentioned previously in my testimony, Lane College is no stranger to the loss in revenue projected across the higher education industry, and I strongly believe that my institution should be able to apply for any and all funding available to help us weather this storm. The HEROES Act would require the Federal Reserve to expand MSLP to nonprofits, including nonprofit private and public IHEs, and I strongly urge the Senate to include this in any future stimulus package.

Conclusion

 In conclusion, Lane College is an institution that not only has a history of contributing to society, but is an institution that also provides an invaluable experience for our students, especially our students who are low-income and first generation. It is my hope that my recommendations for a future stimulus package be incorporated and that HBCUs remain a priority not only for the Senate but also for the House of Representatives and the federal government as a whole.

It is an honor to be asked to present this testimony, and I commend you for your service and for addressing these important issues.

Thank you.

 

Endnotes:

[1] U.S. Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID 19). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html. The definition of an HBCU can be found in Section 322(2) of the HEA.

[2] U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2020). Digest of education statistics 2019 [Table 313.20]. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_313.20.asp

[3] UNCF Public Policy and Government Affairs calculations using 2018 data from the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. Data shows that out of 257,451 total undergraduate students at HBCUs, 159,101 students were receiving Pell Grants and 162,179 students were receiving federal loans.

[4] UNCF Patterson calculations using U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.

[5] Gallup, Inc. (2015). Gallup-USA funds minority college graduates report. Retrieved from UNCF Website: https://www.uncf.org/wp-content/uploads/PDFs/USA_Funds_Minority_Report_GALLUP-2.pdf

[6] Williams, K.L. & Davis, B.L. (2019). Public and private investments and divestments in historically black colleges and universities. Retrieved from American Council on Education Website: https://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/Public-and- Private-Investments-and-Divestments-in-HBCUs.aspx

[7] Humphreys, J.M. (2017). HBCUs make America strong: The positive economic impact of historically black colleges and universities. Retrieved from UNCF Website: https://www.uncf.org/programs/hbcu-impact

(1) Total initial spending accruing to the institution’s regional economy is the combination of three types of spending: spending by the institution for personnel services (wages, salaries, and benefits), spending by the institution for operating expenses, and spending by that institution’s students. (2) The output impact was calculated for each category of initial spending, based on the impacts of the first round of spending and the re-spending of these amounts—the multiplier effect. (3) Value-added (gross regional product) impacts exclude expenditures related to foreign and domestic trade, thus providing a much more accurate measure of the actual economic benefits flowing to businesses and households in a region than the more inclusive output impacts. (4) The labor income received by residents of the cities that host HBCUs represents 72 percent of the value- added impact. (5) For the employment impact, on average, for each job created on campus there were 1.3 off-campus jobs that existed because of spending related to the HBCU. For all HBCUs combined, 13 jobs were generated for each million dollars of initial spending in 2014.

[8] Saunders, K. & Nagle, B.T. (2018). HBCUs punching above their weight: A state-level analysis of historically black college and university enrollment and graduation. Washington, DC: UNCF Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute.

[9] U.S. Census Bureau (2020). Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/popest/2010s-counties-total.html

[10] Tedford, K.L. (2020). Health department confirms 177 cases of COVID-19 in madison county. Retrieved from https://www.madisoncountytn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/9315/COVID-19-Demographic-Information-PDF

[11] For an example of protocols being considered by the Pandemic Proof team, please see attachment #1.

[12] See attachment #2

[13] National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. (2019). About the college private sector. Retrieved from http://www.naicu.edu/research-resources/private-college-factfile-2019/about-private-colleges

[14] The CDC released a report on April 17, 2020 that shared race and ethnicity data from 580 patients hospitalized with lab-confirmed COVID-19. This report found that 45% of individuals for whom race or ethnicity data was available were white, compared to 59% of individuals in the surrounding community. However, the report also indicated that 33% of hospitalized patients were black compared to 18% in the community. Information regarding this study can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6915e3.htm?s_cid=mm6915e3_w.

[15] U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2020). Employment situation summary. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm.

[16] U.S. Department of Education. (2020). Historically Black College and University Capital Financing Program. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/programs/hbcucapfinance/awards.html.

[17] Anderson, M., & Kumar, M. (2019, May 7). Digital divide persists even as lower-income Americans make gains in tech adoption. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/05/07/digital-divide-persists- even-as-lower-income-americans-make-gains-in-tech-adoption/

 

Attachment #1

 Pandemic Proof Campus

Implement the Evaluate, Respond, Intervene, and Communicate (ERIC) protocols

–Evaluate (what happened, who was involved, where, when and how)

–Respond (assess resources and seek help)

–Intervene (initiate direct action to address the situation)

–Communicate (who else needs to know, when do they need to know)

–Restrict, Remove, and Remote

–Restrict access to campus

–Remote instruction

–Operational Response

–Establish Command Center

–Communication Protocols

–Remote and online opportunities

–Remote courses

–Remote services

–Remote programs

–Financial budget adjustments and projections

–Restart and Return to New Normal

–COVID-19 protocols

–COVID-19 restrictions

–Office protocols

–Residence hall protocols

 

Attachment #2