On supporting the needs of students in higher education during covid19 and safely returning to campus. Ranking member and i will each have an Opening Statement and then we will introduce todays witnesses. After the witnesses give their testimonies senators will have five minutes for a round of questions. While we remain unable to have the hearing fully open to the public, live video is available on our committee website. If you are in need of accommodations, including closed captioning, you can reach out to the committee or the office of accessibility services. This pandemic has affected education and so many ways. Colleges and universities have had to close campuses and services, rapidly transition to online advocate online education and implement public health measures all facing budget shortfalls. Spring enrollment fell to 16. 9 million from 17. 5 million, marking a Oneyear Decline of over 600,000 students. Meanwhile this pandemic has disrupted students classrooms and housing security, challenged their mental health, upended the economy, and created uncertainty for students already struggling to pay for tuition and other basic needs. The pandemic has also shown us how much college students are hanging on by a thread. Fact that students were housing insecure before the pandemic truly concerns me. Now these needs have only been. The pandemic has also shown us the power of supporting communities. As colleges look to reopen this fall there are many lessons we can draw on from institutions that are thoughtfully and safely reopening. The work to reopen must continue. Each college will need to take into account the needs of students, faculty, staff, and vulnerable populations as they bring back more people to campus. Colleges must continue to address students academic health, including mental health and basic needs. The federal Relief Funds provided to colleges was a powerful and important step forward. The university of washington in my Home State told my office the amount of Emergency Aid requests they are receiving is 20 times higher than what it was before the pandemic. A study from the university of North Carolina Chapel hill found firstyear students reported significantly higher levels of Depression And Anxiety in the wake of the pandemic. What is more, two in five students report experiencing Food Insecurity. Most have reported experiencing housing insecurity, and one in six report experiencing homelessness. No this pain has not been felt equally. It has been hardest on historically under resourced institutions like hbcus, other minority institutions, and Community Colleges. It has been hardest on students of color, families with no income, students with disabilities, veterans, and Firstgeneration College students. Students who have always experienced in equities. That is why it is so important congress take action, and while we have more work to do, have been able to make student loan forgiveness, taxfree, full stop. And provide more than 76 billion in Emergency Relief, including nearly 40 billion we passed as part of the american Rescue Plan. I have heard so many people in my state, with a lifeline those funds have been for schools and students. College have been able to support vaccination efforts, secure personal protective equipment, Purchase Cleaning supplies, Update Technology for remote learning, and cover lost revenue. Most importantly, they have been able to provide students sparelyneeded financial support as they grapple with the fallout of this pandemic. Because of the pandemic, a student at western washington is living in a tent with her children. Now she is receiving Emergency Aid. An international student cannot go home to to the pandemic, cannot pay for their winter food. Those funds are helping them make ends meet. A student at Edmonds College was considering skipping Spring Quarter so she could afford to cremate her father. Financial aid meant she could keep her classes. These are a few of the many stories of the impact this funding is having on students. Community college has provided emergency funds to nearly 1400 students. Clark college, 2500 students. Washington state university, late 10,000. University of washington has awarded aid to over 20,000 students. There are countless stories from heritage university, big bend college, and other schools, and those are just the ones in my state. And millions more from across the country about what this aid is meant for students. How to help them afford tuition and books and Housing And Child Care And Technology for remote learning. Whenever it was they needed to continue their education. I am pleased we have a student with us today. Anthony harris from ohio to share his own story. Anthony, thank you so much for being here. I hope we all take an important lesson from this about the difference it makes when someone gets a helping hand during tough times. Students like anthony and students like those whose stories i just shared are in many ways the future. The schools they attend are foundational to local economies nationwide. Their success is critical to the success of our country and communities. If we truly want to help students succeed we have to do more than return to normal. Even before this pandemic, Normals Price Tag was too expensive and out of reach. Normal left too many students hungry and hanging by a thread. It left them with historic amounts of Student Loan Debt and with empty promises from predatory, forprofit colleges. Normal was economic inequities in higher education and an epidemic of sexual Assault And Bullying on campus. If this pandemic has taught us anything it is that we have to do letter than normal. That is why i work with colleagues on both sides of the make sure legislation we passed last year restored Pell Eligibility for incarcerated individuals, students who have been defrauded, and students with drugrelated offenses. It is why we worked to restore relief for universities and to better support students, families, students who are paid no income, and students parents. I am working to reverse the trump administrations harmful title ix rule, which made it so much harder for a student to report an incident of sexual assault, and much easier for a school to sweep it under the rug. Yesterday i introduced legislation to increase the national the maximum amount for Pell Grants. I joined my democratic colleagues to introduce legislation to make tuition free. Back in my state the Seattle Promise Program is showing how supporting students with Community College can strengthen communities, is why the city is using Covid Relief funds to expand this Program And Help recover even more student needs, because they understand this is how we help seattle return from this pandemic stronger and fairer. Have a lot of work to do to make sure every single work every single student has the opportunity to achieve a higher education in the safe environment. As we continue that work i look forward to hearing from our Witnesses Today about what the pandemic can teach us about how we can get this done. And working with my colleagues then to make it happen. I will turn it over to ranking member per for his opening remarks. Sen. Burr thank you, madam chairwoman. Let me welcome our witnesses and i would like to highlight mr. Harris. Thank you for being here. We were the only one that is providing testimony today that at their testimony in the on time. So if your professors are listening, i hope you will get extra credit for the timeliness of your testimony. The full reopening of higher Education System this fall is important. But im very disappointed that we are not focusing on reopening k12 schools for every student first. During the pandemic many higher education institutions we open by fall 2020 or converted to online Education And Hybrid models with relative ease. We know the Distance Learning and higher education works better, because we have seen it around the country for years. Im not really sure that this is the right focus at this time. Congress gave 76 billion dollars directly to higher education through three laws passed during the pandemic. They have plenty of money. Yet as of the first week of june, 53 billion allocated to institutions remains unspent. That is 70 of the money still sitting, waiting to go out the door. This makes me question if such an institution is truly needed, all of this money . As former harvard president noted two decades ago, universities share one characteristic with compulsive gamblers and exiled royalty there is never enough money to satisfy their desires. With all of this free money im worried about the lack of accountability it brings to higher education. The fouryear Graduation Rate for a fouryear degree is just 52 percent according to the national center for education statistics. We kid ourselves and have decided to talk about the sixyear Graduation Rate instead. But that is just 62 completion rate. We lie to moms and dads and potential grads about our expectations for completion, and then we lower those expectations so that 62 is somehow comforting. Rhyme from 62 is a d. Yet tuitions keep rising, tuition fees jumped or the 4 over the past decade. 55 at fouryour public schools. Some Graduation Rates are terrible. Tuition is up and debt is soaring. Immigrants have refused to engage in a serious conversation about steps to change this. Instead they want to talk about how to throw more money at the same problem. As if new government programs will somehow solve the problems in the last 30 government programs created. Make college free, canceled that may be good talking points, but back home in North Carolina we have already made Community College very affordable. And in the West Virginia and arizona they have made Community College tuition less than the average Pell Grant. Im not sure these solutions make a lot of sense and i dont think we should reward states like california and massachusetts, with their skyhigh tuitions, and give them taxpayer money. On top of that, colleges and universities are themselves becoming more and more isolated from reality with regular assaults on free speech and returning to segregated programming, such as racespecific graduation ceremonies and woke counseling sessions. Institutions are harming society with Nearcommuniststyle Indoctrination that any idea offered that offends you must be banned from the classrooms. Or at least any idea that offends if you are a liberal, i should say. Then there is the threat from china. Too many institutions rely on students from china painful tuition to pad their books. Then the same institutions do not understand the concerns about efforts by Chinas Government to steal our intellectual property and subvert our research base. That Business Model needs to change and universities need to take the threat from china much more seriously. Some are still toying with Student Debt Forgiveness schemes that is breathtaking in its embrace of reckless financial responsibility and has zero regard for the deep moral hazard we are creating for institutions and taxpayers. The biden administration still has not released any plan for returning to loan repayments this october, despite the fact that each year of the pause costs taxpayers more than the annual budget of Pell Grants. All the adults have had the chance to get vaccinated and get back to work. There is no reason to extend the nonpayment at this point. I agree there should be a discussion about helping people who dont earn enough to make full payment. There is a bipartisan solution i have worked with called the repay act. We are ready to get to work, if only someone from the white house would pick up the phone and call. You should have my number, but if you dont, burr. Senate. Gov. Back to the elephant in the room. Why are we having a discussion on k12 reopening . Are we concerned with the Teachers Union will say if we demand that schools fully reopen this fall . Last year republicans were blocked in our efforts to demand school reopening. Will we be blocked again when unions say they dont want to go back to school this fall . Science tells us children are much less likely than adults to experience severe illnesses as a result of covid19. Science tells us teachers can be safely vaccinated. Next to operation warp speed, we have safe and effective vaccines approved in record time. Every adult in this country, including every teacher, has had plenty of time to get vaccinated. Science tells us that children over 12 can be vaccinated, and hopefully this Fall And Winter vaccines will be approved for younger children as well. Until then, we know the steps to take to keep everyone safe for inperson learning. There is no excuse for schools not to fully the openness fall. Today we will hear about the very troubling mental health consequences of the pandemic on college students, who had more opportunity to get back to the classroom than americas schoolchildren. What do we know about younger students who saw massive surges in anxiety, depression because of unnecessary school closings . As of april less than half of all fourthgrade black, hispanic, asian, economicallydisadvantaged students were in fully inperson learning. As of april less than half of all eighth grade students nationwide were enrolled for fully inperson learning, and less than one third of all black , hispanic, and asian eighthgraders were in fully inperson learning. Emergency department visits for suspected suicide attempts were up in 2020. 30 9 in the winter of 2021. For childrens for children aged 12 to 17. Since signs show schools can open safely, it is on the adults , the unions, school boards, superintendents that make decisions to keep them closed. Most of our country private schools stayed open. They made plans, they follow the signs, serve their children far better than the object system. I would encourage every member of this committee to read a powerful oped by miss lilac about her experience teaching this last year in a Charter School in washington, d. C. She speaks powerfully about the school closures. She speaks about the power of education doing it is an eloquent essay, an elegant an essay as i have ever read, and i hope all of you will take the time to read it and reflect on it. Madame chairman, i yelled back. Sen. Murray thank you, senator. We agree, opening our k12 schools is in he is an incredibly important issue. It is the goal of everyone on my side and i intend to work with you to have a reopening on k12 schools as we get closer to the fall. I look forward to working with that. I know we are seeing a lot more students back in schools, including my granddaughters, which im delighted about. I know we all share that goal. With that, we will introduce todays witnesses. Yolanda copelandmorgan is the Vice Provost of Enrollment Management at the university of california los angeles. She oversees the universitys offices of undergraduate admissions, financial aid, and scholarships, partnerships, and community engagement, and the early academic outreach program. Welcome. Thank you for joining us today. Im going to turn it over to my colleague, senator cassidy, will introduce reynold verret. Sen. Cassidy it is my pleasure to introduce a man i consider my friend, the sixth president of louisianas xavier university, an historically black university in new orleans. Dr. Very has been a leader throughout the pandemic, pioneering the way to reopen schools and university safely, providing students the opportunities needed. Xavier continues to be a top Feeder School in the nation, producing africanamerican physicians. He has increased xaviers freshmen enrollment by 21 and improved retention by he is an accomplished immunologist, participated in Covid19 Vaccine trials, and has been an advocate for vaccination of all. Since the start of the Pandemic Dr. Reynold verret worked to host mobile testing centers and set up a fully operational Covid19 Testing Lab to serve local communities and serve xavier. Before joining xavier, dr. Verret provost at wilkes university, 18 at the university of sciences in philadelphia, and as an adjunct professor of immunology at Tulane And Morehouse schools of medicine. He has also conducted Cancer Research at m. I. T. After Barretts Leadership on reopening xavier has been impressive, and with his background, dr. Verret understands the science behind the virus and the pandemic, and because of this he made the decision to reopen xavier to allow students to be educated in person. He knows the benefits for students that outweigh the risk associated with reopening. By the way, he also, if i may, but about the social aspect. Restarting baseball at xavier which had not been there for 60 years. Xavier not only reopened and gave students a sense of normalcy, had a great season, made it to the black College World Series championship. But universities like xavier have shown us the path forward as to how to reopen colleges and universities safely while giving students the Education And Learning environment they deserve. With that, i yelled. Sen. Murray thank you. Next i will introduce anthony harris, who you already heard got his testimony in on time. He is the senior at baldwinwallace university. He is pursuing a Bachelors Degree in fine arts. As harrison is a resident assistant and a member of the black student alliance. Mr. Harris, again, thank you for joining us to share your personal experience and speak about some of the challenges students have been facing during this pandemic. We are glad to have you with us. Finally, Madeline Pumariega did i say correctly . Are you there . Is the first woman to become president of Miamidade College of physicians, which he has held since november 2020. Before that she was the executive Vice President of tallahassee Community College. Both of those positions she has played a key role in seeing these students through the pandemic. Were glad to have you with us. We look forward to your testimony. With that we will begin with Vice President copelandmorgan. You may begin your Opening Statement. Ms. Copelandmorgan thank you, chair, ranking member, and members of the committee. I appreciate the opportunity to provide testimony on the significant impact of the congressionallyapproved higher education Emergency Relief fund. The fund has enabled students to continue their education just when their dreams of a College Degree seemed shattered by covid19. Refunds also proved to be a powerful investment in Recovery And Growth of our economy. I testimony will address why the end of covid19 does not mean the need for increased federal financial aid will end. There will not be a return to normal for students in public universities and Community Colleges. The needs of students may change, they will not diminish. In fact, the opposite is true. To help meet these needs the university of California System has not increased tuition for the last eight years. Also, in 2019 state of california awarded 951 million in state grants, and the Uc System awarded 100 million in grants to undergraduate students, compared to the 400 million in federal Pell Grant. Spike these efforts, funding from the state and Uc System, along with generous philanthropy is not sufficient to meet students basic needs for food, housing, Health Care, affordable transportation, and other emergency needs. Federal financial aid will continue to be critical in providing a College Education to students where the Future Engine of the countrys economic growth. In the march 20 20, when covid19 cases began to rise dramatically in los angeles, ucla closed. Students from low income, rural, and underserved communities had difficulties studying moly without computers, Internet Service, or other basic technology. Students from low and middle income families try to find work to help their families pay the bills and keep food on the table. Anyone who watched Television And Song of and saw the long lines of people waiting to get boxes of food for their family knows how widespread Food Insecurity is. The federal government helped by allowing Universitys Flexibility in the federal work study program. We created new jobs students could do remotely. Gave students their workstudy payments in the form of grants if they were unable to find work. Thank you for this flexibility. At ucla from april 2020 to march 2021, they won grants of nearly 18 million were awarded to students to cover specific pandemicrelated expenses. They provided neatbased grants to all students with a particular focus on Pell Grants and middle income families. In the early june 21 Ucla Awarded Grants of 17. 3 million to over 13,000 students. An additional 600,000 will be awarded throughout the summer. The process of awarding the american Rescue Plan funds exceeding 46 million is already underway. Without funds, the postpandemic covid future would be extremely challenging for higher education institutions. Funds enabled students to continue their education, regulate on time, and work toward their dream of a College Degree. Funds have an even greater lasting impact. They are an investment in the countrys economic Recovery And Growth. Research shows as workers, educational attainment rises, unemployment rates decrease and earnings increase. And as earnings increase, tax revenues also increase. Importantly, college graduates provide governments with a disproportionate share of tax revenue. At ucla we are equally looking to the future. When ucla opens in september, two classes will arrive at the same time. The class of fault 2020 and the class of fall 2021. It will become a part of uclas Student Body. With your support, uclas Graduation Rate will continue to be higher than most colleges and universities across the nation. We are extremely proud of our recent undergraduates as they upheld our extraordinary record of achieving a fouryear Regulation Rate of 84. 2 sent. After this terrible year the future finally looks bright again for our nations students. They need and deserve our support. Thank you. Sen. Murray take you very much. Dr. Verret . Dr. Verret chairman, ranking member, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I am president of xavier university. Restitution is a historically black university. It is also a catholic institution. The purpose is to contribute to the promotion of a more just and humane society. By having its students assume roles of written roles of leadership in society. This includes researching community services. I was asked to testify today about how xavier has employed federal Relief Funds. I will speak for my institution, but you may infer from many of my comments that also applies to the 100 other hbcus in this country. I began discussing the Covid19 Virus with my Leadership Team in late january 2020. Soon after, my team again planning. On february 25, 2020, we had Mardi Gras in new orleans, one of our iconic celebrations. On april 2, there were seven hundred 45 cases of covid19 in orleans parish. I began to note what the data would prove to us, that the health this. These that had ravaged africanamerican communities throughout this country had been exacerbated and were being revealed to us. Workingclass africanamericans, especially these people in new orleans were being bearing the larger burden of disease. On campus i created a Task Force that gives the following options we had to consider for the spring 2020 semester. One option was to continue facetoface instruction, if we could. The other was remote instructions. Our administration decided to offer instruction remotely for the 2020 spring semester, continuing into the summer. In the Fall Semester we to mixed modalities on campus, special public health considerations. The majority of instruction took place in person, and we had instruction which allowed students in some choice as to their preferred mode of instructions. The university redoubled efforts at academic support, attending to students physical and emotional needs on campus, and also those who remained at home. All facilities became singleoccupancy. 40 of our students normally live on campus. Xavier is fortunate not to have had layoffs, nor did we however, we did maintain a Hiring Freeze which we just released recently. Xavier will fully repopulate the campus in the fall 2021. With students and staff resuming the instruction and interactions that were common to us before the pandemic. We will have modified public health policies and behavioral policies on campus. I would be remiss if i did not thank the congress, including members of this committee, for passing last years congressional hr 700 48, the coronavirus security act, and also hr 133, and also hr 1319. Because of the cares act, xavier has access to 37 million in allocations from sections of the bill. Noting that our students are enduring tough economic times, that present unique challenges, many have the economic activities many of the economic fates of our students have changed because of family situations. With that said, i would like to thank congress for providing additional allocations of 1. 04 5 billion dollars and 2. 98 billion is to minorityserving institutions. I would like to think the congress for targeted Debt Relief through the Hbcu Capital Finance program of 2020. Many hbcus benefited, but i would say along with nine other that xavier benefited in the a way because the funds, the relief was predicated on funding already obligated at the time of the signing of the bill. I am also grateful to our funding which benefits our Students Population directly. The majority of our students are black americans. Black americans are disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Lastly, i have three recommendations i would raise to the committee. Provide permanent relief for the Hbcu Capital Finance program for the remaining hbcus are not eligible for the december 2020 action. Two. Doubling pal is very important for those students struggling with the cost of their higher education. Thirdly, support plans and the President S budget, especially the 9 million line item. I want to thank you very much. Sen. Murray thank you. We will turn to mr. Harris. Mr. Harris good morning. Please bear with me. I love a stronglyworded anecdote. Good morning, chair murray, ranking member burke, and members of this committee. It is an honor. I am a senior and also a proud mentee of college now greater cleveland. To begin i would like to thank you all for the opportunity to speak on behalf of higher education students from all over the Country Benefit from federal funding and who have also been impacted in many ways this devastating pandemic. I would like to think i speak on behalf of students who could in effect from federal funding, but for whatever reason dont have access to the means. Like many students, i have had an unorthodox college experience. It began by being except in a Hightech Academy in ohio that offers high school students the opportunity to take collegelevel courses in order to get a head start in their collegiate endeavors. It was through Hightech Academy that i gained the imperative knowledge about higher education i would use for the rest of my college career. I was motivated appears and introduced to leadership programs like the roski foundation, key club, and circle k, that prepared them for college readiness. With that in mind, the harsh reality is that individuals can go to college if they cant afford it. That is where college now came into play for me. This organization provides students with scholarship opportunities and additional support services designed to aid students. Through college now i was offered assistance in filling out the free application for federal Student Aid. An Application Form i knew nothing about. After learning about this form and being given access to the support i needed i discovered i was eligible to receive Pell Grant funding that offered students just like me thousands of dollars toward their education. This federal funding was lifechanging. The aspirations of attending college became more attainable for students at a financial disadvantage. Its funding also made it available for me to transfer universities. In offered peace of mind to my family and myself, because we knew this federal funding would follow me to whatever university i went to. It was because of this funding i was able to transfer with such ease and financial comfort. These programs and fundings became even more imperative news of the Covid19 Pandemic became public spring break. Students who have left campus to go home were asked to stay, and the trajectory of our semester change. Professors were given one week to review design to redesign their syllabus. Where this change was hard for Faculty And Staff, it was also very difficult for students. I had no access to a personal computer. It was college now that pull together resources and provided students like you with the computers they needed to this new Distance Learning. I was tasked to keep in contact with all of my residence from home, and it was then i realized how this pandemic had affected all of them. I found many students struggled with a wide variety of problems. Some students did not have access to computers like myself. Others had no access to the internet. Some did not feel they had a safe place to study, get work done, or call home. I interacted with students who lived off campus and out of the country who were stuck on campus and could not make it home to see their families. Things seemed very bleak until students got word of the cares act funding they were being offered. This funding was wellreceived and used for a wide variety of things. I used the Funding Ticket books and for internet access. Other campuswide uses include transportation, food, tuition, and savings. Even as the next disbursement was released, students were finding ways to continue to her to continue attending school things were still not back to normal. Baldwin wallace had adopted a newer and more complex learning platform. Now students were being asked to attend classes both online and inperson based on classroom size. I applaud the way Baldwin Wallace handled this new way of education. All students were given covert tests before returning to campus, and masks for the entire semester. University conducted randomized testing and chose students at random to be tested for the coronavirus, and also offer vaccines. All of these measures turned out to work, because we were able to remain on campus for the entire academic year without a Surplus Number of positive cases on campus. The thing i find most important is the access to federal funding continued to go up, organizations like college now that are helping students, that have continued to go out to students and universities alike, i believe the world of higher education would benefit from a billing of the Pell Grant and the continuous support of covert Relief Funds. I think you for your time and attention, and also listening to my long story. It has been an absolute honor. Sen. Murray thank you very much. We appreciate your personal perspective. Thank you. President put maria president pumariega. Ms. Pumariega thank you for inviting me here today to testify regarding Cares Funding for Community Colleges. My name is madigan Madeline Pumariega. I must say that since the first day i arrived on Campus Highpriority has been to ensure not only the physical safety of our students, but also the physical safety of our organization. I must say that that on behalf of the over 1100 Community Colleges across america, i know that we service the economic and Workforce Engine for our community. I am a date college, known as democracys college, is the nations most diverse institution of higher education, with a Student Body representing 167 nations, and one of the largest Community College and universities across the country, serving 120,000 students. Very few institutions have had a greater impact on reasons they serve like we do here in ame date county. In Miamidade County. We probably touch every household in our community. Offering more than 300 distinct career pathways, Miamidade College is at the cuttingedge of technology and innovation, with hundreds of workforce partnerships, partnerships that include global companies, and right here, our local workforce. In Miamidade County 85 of our businesses employ less than 50 employees. We service that conduit for workforce training. Serve as that conduit for workforce training. The colleges aim has been to remain open. For 18 to be aweek period our Faculty And Staff went to work on redesigning courses we can put up. We did that and returned. We have remained open. We have provided support for our students, whether it is mental Health Counseling Inperson or virtually, academic Advisor Academic advising. By some or all of our courses were being taught in multiple platforms, not only in person, but also hybrid, telepresence, and this past january we launched nbc live, learning virtually in an a virtual environment so students can interact with each other and interact with faculty. The Coronavirus Aid and relief economic security was signed march 28, 20 20 and provided almost 14 billion that went directly to higher education institutions to support the cost of shipping, classes online, and emergency financial aid grants for food, housing, technology, and any other components related to the cost of attendance. And for Emergency Cost that arise due to the virus. With additional funding announced earlier this year, Miamidade College has received more than 50 million during the first round, which went to students. We provided aid to thousands of students, not only in scholarships, but also in the emergency grant funding, Housing And Security dollars, as well as opportunities for retraining. Nbc played a very important role in the Mama Area in terms of recovery from the pandemic. In the Miami Area and terms of recovery from the pandemic. Helping those who had been displaced get back into the workforce. But also serving as a federal vaccination side. To date we have administered over 350,000 vaccines. Leading the southeast United States. Miamidade college took a proactive approach to prepare and respond to the pandemic. In early january the college already had a robust Emergency Management Program that supported the continuity of operations. Quite frankly, today we have seen our Enrollment Bounce back. Aligning our admission to the workforce programs we know our community needs, and that our workforce partners need as well. Research showed many of our students are food insecure, housing and secure, and the dollars that help support our students, we have also lined the dollars to ensure that we have provided ppe, the right Security And Safety measures for all of our campuses, and have returned everyone back to Work And Offering on offering online and virtual courses. Thank you for allowing me to share the way that Miamidade College has supported our community, our students, way that our colleges are working together, so that we secure a promise toward the future that helps Students Path to prosperity through education and aligning our programs to those areas that our workforce partners need, and to support University Transfer pathways as well. Thank you. Sen. Murray thank you very much. Thank you to all of our Witnesses Today. We will begin a round of fiveminute questions. I ask our colleagues to keep track of the clock. We do have votes beginning at 11 30. Ms. Copelandmorgan, im going to begin with you. Students have faced unprecedented challenges over the past year and a half from the endemic and economic recession. A lot of our students experiencing significant financial harm, according to a hope center study, 60 of college students not have what is called a sick Need Security during the pandemic. That includes lack of access to nutrition and sufficient food, safe and secure housing, Health Care to promote mental and physical wellbeing, Technology And Transportation resources, childcare, and other related needs. That study showed these challenges are more severe for black students. The gap between black students and their peers in the basic Needs Security was 16 percentage points. Further confirming disparities we have longknown to be true. Additionally, a may 2020 one survey released by the national association of student financial aid initiators should students continue to make increased request for professional judgment. Judgment allows administrators to make change means to a Students Path during unusual circumstances. Ms. Copelandmorgan, can you share how ucla used its federal funding to make sure Students Student financial students financial needs were met . Thank you for the question. I should mention that as a public institution, our responsibility and our mission is to make sure we are serving all students across the state of california. That means we have a disproportionate number of students who are Firstgeneration College students who are graduating at rates that are not seen enough across our country. The first appeals we got was all about technology. We said students were safer at home and you can study from home but that was not true for so many of our students. We spent a lot of money paying for computers and Internet Service and other kinds of technologies, particularly for graduate students who are at the end of their graduate work, his whose studies require they be in laboratories and conduct complicated scientific research. So we reached out broadly across our graduates and undergraduate and professional students to ensure they had what they needed. Food insecurity is a huge problem in our nation and our cities and certainly in the city of los angeles. These students were struggling prior to covid19. And the funds that we received could not have been more timely across the university of California System. My colleagues who oversee financial aid all got together and got the funds out quickly. So that students would not drop out of college because that presents another problem, should they drop out and stay out. So again, i just want to emphasize how important these funds are. And if it might take a moment to share with you, in the 1970s, i was one of those Firstgeneration College students. I know the plight our students face and the investment in students now will believe the obligation of us investing in them in the future. Thank you very much. Mr. Harris, thank you again for your testimony. In addition to the financial challenges, i am concerned about the mental health challenges that students have faced throughout this pandemic. A recent study found first year students reported significantly higher levels of Depression And Anxiety in the wake of the pandemic and black students were more likely to report concerns related to isolation. You served as a resident assistant. A lot of time with first year students. Can you speak to us about the challenges you have seen Students Experience as they return now to campus . Yes, thank you for the question. Students found themselves at a disadvantage because they work is attached from the people they are typically able to interact with, like their fellow peers, and because we were not able to interact with one another, they could not speak to their advisors and teachers more actively in person. I think that affected them in a very negative way. As a resident assistant, i had to work with a lot of students over the past year who had suicidal ideation because they felt alone and felt is attached from the university and from their peers. So i think that we can benefit from more access to one another and the resources, students need more resources that are provided on campus so they can overcome these challenges. Thank you. Thank you for that response. I appreciate it. Senator burr. Thank you, madam chairman. Mr. Harris, when do you graduate . I should have graduated this past spring. Because of the disattachment i spoke about a moment ago i was postponed and now have to graduate this spring. What is your major . [inaudible] let me tell you youre going , to be successful at whatever you choose to do i can tell it, keep it up. Thank you. As i understand it, xavier will require students, faculty, and staff to be vaccinated before you return this fall. What led you to implement this requirement . Put on your mic, if you will. What we have learned, many things from the pandemic. We optimized what we were able to do remotely from when we had to be fully remote. We also learned students benefited from the faculty, the need to be in the laboratories and in person is very important , for students. We have an opportunity with the vaccines that we now know vaccines protect individuals who are vaccinated. If we vaccinate our campus, we can return to in person activity. Xavier has produced more students that go onto doctoral programs and physical sciences and has been doing that for decades. To do that have to be in laboratories, you have to practice with practices in the conservatory. So being in person is important for the success of our students. That will allow us to do that. Were asking all students be vaccinated and all employees be vaccinated. We are also led for the exception the law requires. I have to make sure whatever medical reasons by the vaccine for this small percentage of people who will not be immune. Protection means we do not expose them to others. Therefore, we have to have special conditions for those you cannot be vaccinated on campus. You have a unique background because you are an immunologist by practicing. By experience, training, and research, yes. You are also a university president. Tell us how you explain this policy to your faculty comments your students to the parents . We have had conversations. Many people have had questions and we have to respond to the questions. In the early days, when i and my colleague were both in one of the clinical trials. How could you give the example of encouraging people to be in clinical trials . We explained we had to have meetings and explained why it was important that some people have to be in the trial so other can benefit so others can benefit. So therefore old men like me have to roll their sleeves. We explained that. What advice would you give other colleges and universities as they plan for the fall and they are faced with the decisions that you have been faced with and you have made . But would be your advice to what would be your advice to them . Tell the Truth And Answer peoples questions. Let them know what we are facing. Washington state published the data for the death rates of vaccinated versus on vaccinated people. It allows you to make a simple calculation. It allows you to see that the risk of death for unvaccinated people is about 17 to 20 times higher than for vaccinated people. We will begin to see, especially with a new variant like the delta variant, much more transmissible, unvaccinated people will suffer a great toll. So we have to tell people the truth to explain that we are here to protect you. The other piece that we have, we were founded with a mission to serve not just the nation but each other. So the conversation is that we do not want to be a risk to each other. In other words, youre doing this to not endanger your neighbor. That mentality reverses a notion that is purely what is it for me. It has shocked me through this pandemic that higher education has gone through, but it seems the faculty remembers that fault prepandemic, online education as a new avenue, are the Ones Today that only want to teach online. What a transformation we have gone through. But i commend you and the other institutions that have looked at the challenge in front of us and designed a structure to go forward. And i think it truly is because you are focused on your customer which is the student out there. ,and the value of what they get from xavier or any other school. I think thank all of our witnesses. Thank you, madam chairman. Thank you. Thank you this is a very important hearing. You asked a question of our wonderful student about mental health. I want to direct it to the educators and administrators as well. The department of education and the updated guidance about the higher education Relief Fund they issued on may 11 clarified this funding can be as for additional mental Health Support systems for college students. I would like to hear how you are grappling with providing mental health services to deal with the isolation, financial pressures kids are facing, they are worried about their own health and the health of their parents and people they care about. If you would each address that, that would be great. Thank you for your question, senator. As you all know, mental health has been a growing concern in higher education for the last 20 years. We are seeing more and more of our students coming to us needing services. That said, with the pandemic, if we are honest, everyone has suffered during this pandemic. So our institution used a portion of the Cares Fund to put money into mental health services for our students. We encourage students to reach out, even in a normal year, when they are suffering Anxiety Or Feeling isolated because we know students cannot focus if theyre dealing with those issues. So these funds were critical and our ability to say to all students we have the resources , to serve you, call us, our mental health folks across the system made telephone appointments so students could have easy access to these services and not have to come on campus. We would not have been able to do that. Higher education has suffered immensely financially. So these funds are making a huge difference and the thing that i appreciate about students reaching out and getting these services is they become your advocates become peer advocates for others to do that. Because when one student steps out and says i am having difficulty managing Home And Work im having difficulty as a , parenting student, a former foster youth that make up a large portion of our students in the system they did not have , anyone to go to, to help them understand and navigate the challenges of covid19. So we used those funds not only for mental health services, but for other services for our returning vets, our parenting students, and those from rural communities who i think have from our experience the greatest impact on them because of the lack of technologies. Thank you. I have to agree with my colleague that mental health needs have increased in covid but before covid, we had already been dealing with the increasing need. We had established what i call student at risk committees to see that not only students would, where the need to arrive, but you have many eyes on campus to see when i need comes in, if a Students Performance in class is creating flags. The residential counselors can bring in to make sure that we are proactive and meeting that. In covid, that need has increased. We have increased our reliance on telehealth services. Contracting and expanding our capacity to have these outside providers available to students so we can provide services that are more diverse and much wider. Some of this, we will keep. There is also training not only in the student, but also giving the tools to faculty to be able to recognize and get information to the right people. Those resources are clearly needed. I think we also have issues with using academic support because many of the anxieties of the student may not be clinically considered, but also having the academic Support Staff to give students the wherewithal to understand that this can pass and here is the pathway to resolve. This academic need which was created a burden is important as well. My time has expired, but perhaps my colleague will ask a similar question we would give her a moment to respond. Thank you. Thank you, senator, thats a wonderful question. We augmented mental Health Counseling services by adding more mental health specialists on the ground to help the students, faculty, and staff. The second thing we did was partnered with our county so we could ensure that we had 24 7, and the third is we added telehealth services so that students could get to a counselor both virtually and in person. And then lastly, we added an early Alert System for faculty members who are the first to sometimes see the change in pattern of a student or a withdrawal, to be able to give our mental health counselors an early alert so we can provide those interventions. Thank you for the question and the opportunity to answer it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all. Again, mr. Harris, i echo what Senator Burr said, good job and what a great story. I just want to say that. I think that mr. Harris also said is that some of his peers, because of the pandemic, are faking mental health challenges. I would argue that one way to treat this is to recreate the community, which is not created over zoom, but is created by people sitting next to each other, going to baseball games, and otherwise participating in life. Zoom atomizes, schools bring people together. Now, doctor, are you all requiring immunization for your students and faculty as is ucla and the Gold Rush at xavier . No, sir. First, why not . And then i have a followup. So first, why not . So we want to make sure we provide access to vaccinations but that we do not put any barriers to individuals being able to come back to college, to retool and get the skills i have limited time, im sorry to interrupt. I gathered from a testimony that if you are vaccinated you have , greater freedom. If not, perhaps you are going to be required to wear a mask. It did not say that but imply that theres going to be something. Will your school, knowing people are coming back, reconnect community, improves educational experience, will those who are vaccinated have extra freedom as opposed to those who are not . Thats what weve implemented right now. If you are fully vaccinated, you do not have to wear a Face Covering. If you are not fully vaccinated , you continue to wear a Face Covering on campus today. Youve also been very successful 50,000 people , vaccinated through your programs. It appears you have a fair amount of those who would be thought of as vaccine skeptics, think anybody less than 25, particularly men, since they think of themselves as invulnerable. How were you so successful at implementing this Vaccine Program . I think with the support on the federal site that came out with the state emergency management. Because Miamidade College is so trusted in the community, i believe we have that type of success because of the trust we garnered we probably impacted , every household in Miamidade County. And we continued pop up vaccine sites on every campus as well. Im hearing something similar to what Doctor Barrette said. Which is is which is that you have trust, you build communication, but you also have a Track Record of being involved in the community. So the trust is already there. Mr. Harris, i am a doctor, im very sensitive to personal health information, you can plead the fifth if you want, what have you been vaccinated . I would like to tell you, i do not take offense to the invulnerability comments. But yes, i have been vaccinated. What about your peers . Are your peers opened open to immunization or not . Many of my peers are open let me stop you. Many as an elastic word. Would you say 10 or 90 . I would say 80 . Those below a certain age tend to be less concerned about getting things such as immunizations. Let me say, hearing from your peers and being almost pure pressure is one thing, so me being a mentor of their community, they want to get a vaccine because they say be they see me getting a vaccinia a vaccine. Two, people want to live their lives, believe it or not. What i think im hearing from you, that requirements such as Xavier Or Ucla actually is a positive it is not coercive, but it is a kind of signal that you can live life more freely if you are completely immunized echo it is an encouragement, it would encourage people to get vaccinated. Its one thing to speak about these small schools, but ucla is huge. I cannot imagine how many Students Ucla has. If you are putting in this mandatory vaccine policy, how is that being received by the tens of thousands of people who attend . I will say that it is being received well. There are a couple of things. One is we try to be honest, open , and transparent to all of our constituents. We have great partners in the community. The university of California System has the benefit of a World Class Health system. We have called upon those professionals in our Health Area to help us get the right messages out to our students. To communicate with parents, and i should say we have a history of requiring students to be immunized against certain that is an important point. You cannot enroll in higher education without being immunized against Hepatitis B and other things. It is a paradigm we have already adopted. Exactly. Our Student Body has endorsed this. Can i ask one more thing . Typically, Hepatitis B is included in what is called the vaccine immunization system. If someone is vaccinated at birth, they enroll in college and they can logon, you have been vaccinated, you dont need to be vaccinated. Are you putting in information regarding students images asian history into your system . We are indeed. We spent about three, four years educating students on this requirement, gave students an opportunity to self comply with those, then made it mandatory the year after that. And it is a culture. Students want to be safe, they want to hang out with their peers, they want the freedoms that come with that. And parents as well. We found that a very thoughtful Communication Plan across the university of California System that has over 200,000 students , that students asmus to harris said along with that campaign and their peers, students have been quite willing to get vaccinated. Of course, we do respect the rights of others who choose not to be vaccinated. The chair is about to shoot me for going so long over. Thank you, madam chair. Senator. Thank you, chair and ranking member, for holding this important hearing to discuss how covid has impacted higher education and students. And how the 40 billion provided in the american Rescue Plan a plan has helped colleges reopen safely. I want to thank each and every one of the witnesses for being here today. As the president of Miamidade College, you know the needs of your campuses, including those that are hispanic serving institutions. The three rounds of Emergency Relief funds have totaled 77 billion, much less than that 183 billion incurred by colleges during the pandemic. I understand your institution received 50 million during the first round which went almost entirely to Student Aid. Has the funding from the recovery packages covered all of the costs incurred by your hispanic serving institution campuses . What we have done is put to the aid out to students and help to come back, stay in college, finish their degree or earn that credential to go to work. The question i asked was did the Recovery Package Cover all the costs incurred from your hispanic serving institution campuses . He pointed to Student Aid. You pointed to Student Aid. I think there are three buckets of the federal aid dollars that come in. One, the Student Aid that goes directly to students, intended to help them with emergency funds, and the second aspect of it is the institutional aid in which Miamidade College, we used much of that institutional aid to help students, to support students with their educational costs, and the other aspect of it utilizing it for technology , infrastructure and utilizing it for ppe and the safety protocol. Did the costs exceed the money you received from the federal government . Right now, what we have done we would be operating at a deficit. The college, the position of our board is do not operate in a deficit. We not only had a freeze in positions at the college, but also taken many steps to reduce our budget and our cost to balance our budget. So you have had to make decisions to produce services because of the increased costs, that way you can meet your mandate of not operating in a deficit . Yes, sir. Would you agree that hispanic serving institutions need more funding to counter the effects of the pandemic and the years of chronic underfunding . Absolutely. When you think about Miamidade College, 74 of our students are hispanic. When you think about this in Miamidade County, the percentage of students that hold a postsecondary credential, which we know is a path to prosperity to compete for the lifesustaining job, we have seen whether it is a lag among our hispanic community, especially in areas in Miamidade County, maybe in the heart of urban downtown. There are currently 569 hispanic serving institutions nationwide. They continue to face natural burdens and these have been exacerbated by covid19. While theyre experiencing a decline in enrollment revenues, they are working hard to bring students back safely to the campus in the aftermath of the pandemic. For example, northern new Mexico College and hsi in my state had to transform its approach to Student Service Offering hygiene , Broadband Assistance over the past year. How can federal government and our support serve hispanic serving institutions to ensure that they are adequately and safely serving the 5. 4 million Undergraduate And Graduate students who are returning to their campuses . Senator, that is an excellent question. I think its a multipronged approach in terms of looking at financial support, expanding Pell Grant eligibility. I think looking at shortterm pell is also an important aspect. Some of our students want to come back and level off if you will or retool a Credential Or Staff set up against baby associates they may have. Strengthening seamless transfer pathways is another important access. 80 of latinos across the country enroll in open access institutions like our Community Colleges. Then required to transfer to a university to finish that baccalaureate degree. Anyway we can strengthen those transfer pathways is very important for us to accelerate Student Success outcomes among hispanic students across the country. Also looking at aligning pathways to work and making sure our promised programs also have an element of alighting our Degree Program to those workforce into the jobs that are there. This is just a couple of areas where policies would help enhance and accelerate student outcomes and success. Mr. Harris, i had a question for you. I apologize i could not get to , it. I will file it into the record. I want to thank you for lifting up your voice here. Thank you for being here today and with that, i yield back. Senator hickenlooper. Yes. Thank you, madam chair. Ranking member. I want to thank all of you for being here. I always find these panels so illuminating. We have seen, in this pandemic, a number of innovative breakthroughs in technology to try to track the covid19 outbreaks, the variants, the vaccination rates. In the western Slope Area of colorado, the university entered into a very successful partnership with the institute at Mit And Harvard to Development App called scout to track symptoms and possible outbreaks on campuses as they are happening in realtime. I thought i would ask you and maybe the president is this type , of partnership between a Research Institution and University System Something you guys have considered on your campuses . How are you going to go about monitoring any possible flareups when you reopen this fall . We have had a number of collaborations of Research Institutions in our center for health disparities in our city and region. What i would say is the key we have had on campus is to have Surveillance Testing routinely, monthly, anywhere from six, 10 of our Campus Population for Student Faculty members to see with the infection on campus was. Major collaboration was funded through initiatives. Funding from the gates foundation. Those machines that have several institutions in our region on a region as well several hundred one of the decision points we would have is if prevalence rose above a certain level, we would rip we would return to the boat instruction. One of the reasons we had students in single occupancy dormant Surveys Occupancy dormitories as we are not sending them home to infect their communities. We are tracking to make sure we are not becoming a danger not only to our community but to the larger community as well. Ongoing Surveillance Testing was important. Our data was being shared with the state and with other organizations as well. Ok, got it. President , similar . That is a great question. We can partnership with florida international university, many of our universities launched covid apps. I thought they were much better to leverage those partnerships. I do think one of the things we did was really add covid testing on our campuses. That really does help in terms of what the doctor just said, monitoring the Positivity Rate alongside with the county. So work closely with the county and with our sister institutions. Because our college is a commuter campus, average age is our students are working while 26. They study. Not living on campus. We have to really rely on the partnership with the county, Positivity Rate and work in , concert with them. I appreciate that. I dont think i have to ask his Copeland Morgan because you are already a major Research Institution. As i get all of you are in your own ways. I do think the Scout Application it does help follow who they , talk to and allows you in real time, if someone does come out with symptoms and turns out to be covid positive, you can track very quickly the impact. I think really tamp down a flareup. Real quickly, in terms of serving at risk students, another Thing Colorado University tried with some great success to keep students on campus, and this is a school with a majority of kids who are all low income and any missed Campus Experience will be an impediment. So again, dr. , resident, your institutions have so many of these students as well. How have you prioritized the Campus Experience while still making sure you ensure their safety . Certainly, its more the federal level we could be doing or what could we be doing to make sure we are not letting kids fall through the cracks . The Campus Experience is crucial is a great value to our students. It is important that we bring them back. Making sure everyone was a masking an important way of making sure transmission is not occurring for the benefit of working with each other and our faculty. Its important to do that. But keeping the campus safe so that it safer from where they came from is important. We want to make sure we were not creating the problem. Once we have compliance with masking and with vaccination , we are able to carry on campus. As i mentioned, the prevalence of the virus on my campus never exceeded 1. 6 . We kept by not transmitting the virus on campus. Yes, president . Thank you, senator. What we have done is followed the guidelines in terms of the physical distancing, the masks, and also have temperature checks and other preventative measures so that we can, maybe if someone is coming on and has a temperature, does not come into our Learning Support lab. What we did do once we , implemented those preventative measures, we have remained open all of our Learning Support, or student centers, we launched an early College Summer Program where our high school students just graduated this past week on monday, we will be offering where they can begin college early, on campus takes six credits for their associates of arts program. And so, again, alongside with the preventative measures, the cdc guidelines, the mask requirements, we have continued to bring our students on campus and provide those in Person Support services that we know are critical to the majority of our students at Miamidade College, which are first and their families to attend college. Thank you so much, i appreciate all of your work. Mr. Harris, good luck to you. I did not have a question for you. I will yield back. Your final comment . Thank you, mr. Chairman. Once again, i want to say thank you to all the witnesses have come before us today. Ill be remiss if i did not say i think as we plow through the summer every institution is , going to be faced with this decision of how do we go into the fall and what are going to be the requirements . Should we do what xavier has done, require vaccinations of students faculty, staff. , let me just note at this time , that all three buckets that we talk about, they are already vaccinated. If they entered an Education System in the United States in kindergarten, they were required to be vaccinated. The current vaccination requirements and l. A. County they cannot enter without , diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, meeks, mumps, rebello. For some reason, the older we get, we think that that is not important. And if we all had to go back to the beginning of covid in its first 90 days, if a vaccine had been available, we all would have taken it. As time goes on, our memories become elastic. We sort of forgot some of those things. I say this for the record. I have already set it to the folks i see it for the record because i want other President S and chancellors and faculty to realize we are not asking something that is unreasonable. We ask it in Education Right at the beginning of the process for things we have known for years , we dont want those things to come back or we dont want to to infect a population of students. It is not unreasonable for us to consider whether we require, in higher education, whether we find a modification from that, but dont look at this and say, this Isnt Something we shouldnt consider. Weve already done that as a nation and we do it today and the requirements are greater than what we are applying with the vaccination of covid. That will end our Hearing Today and i want to thank our colleagues and witnesses. It was a thoughtful discussion. I appreciate everybodys input. For senators who ask you wish to ask additional questions, questions will be available for five days. This committee will meet next Entered 22nd at 10 00 a. M. For hearing on how we can help people get the information they need to get vaccinated so we can end this pandemic. The committee stands adjourned. [captions copyright national Cable Satellite Corp. 2021] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its Caption Content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [inaudible conversations] President Biden speaks today about the Covid19 Response and vaccination efforts. He set a goal of 70 of adults in the country having at least one vaccination by july 4. The cdc reports we are at about 65 . Watch President Biden live at 2 15 eastern on cspan. I remain of the view that the worst arguments made for the lockdowns where the initial ones, they said we have to protect the hospitals from an overflow. Who would need to be forced to avoid the behavior that might result in hospitalization at a time when hospitals were least staffed to help you . Then there was the argument, the imperial college said 2. 3 million americans will die unless we take away freedom. What if they predicted 30 million . Ask yourself the question, what amount of force from government would have meant anything at that point . Sunday night, author John Tamny on his book, when politicians panic, what impact the Pandemic Lockdown had on the economy, Sunday Night at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. You can also listen to q a as a podcast. Find it wherever you got your podcasts. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government. We are funded by these companies and more, including charter communications. Broadband is a power. That is why charter has invested billions in building infrastructure, upgrading technology, empowering opportunity, in communities big and small. Charter is connecting us. Charter communications support cspan as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front Row Seat to democracy. Next, a member of the federal Reserve Board discusses cryptocurrency at a conference hosted by coindesk. This is just under half an hour. Yes, it is my great pleasure to introduce doctor lael brainard, really does not require much of an introduction. Doctor brainard is of course a member of the federal Reserves Board of governors and shes been in that role since 2014 and before that, she was another an undersecretary of u. S. Department of the treasury. She has had a host of experiences on the international and domestic stage and we are thrilled to have you join us, doctor brainard. Why dont i just hand over to you, really looking forward to what you have to say. Im delighted to be here