Tag: University of Vermont

Dear UVM community members: As we face the local, national, and international challenges posed by the coronavirus outbreak (“COVID-19”), our primary focus remains on the well-being of our students, faculty and staff. In addition to monitoring the situation closely, we have continued to consult with health authorities in order to thoughtfully and appropriately refine our response plans.

Exercising an abundance of caution, the university will shift to remote methods of learning starting Wednesday, March 18, for regularly scheduled classes. In-person classes on Monday and Tuesday, March 16 and 17, will be canceled to provide additional opportunity for faculty and staff to complete preparations for moving to remote instruction.

This decisive action reflects our commitment to help slow the spread of the virus, while also promoting the academic progress of our students and protecting the health and safety of our community. Please note that this change does not apply to medical students in the Larner College of Medicine, which is developing a separate action plan centered on their unique needs.

Specific communications will soon be issued by Provost Patty Prelock to the faculty, Dean Cindy Forehand to graduate students and post-doctoral scholars, and Rafael Rodriguez, executive director of Residential Life, to our residential undergraduate students, whom we are encouraging to not return to the residence halls after Spring Break unless they need to live on campus. These messages will include links to more detailed information and resources.

Also, starting Wednesday, March 18, the university will begin implementing other measures to facilitate the social distancing recommended to slow the spread of COVID-19. The university will remain open, but events and gatherings will be limited to 25 attendees or fewer. Wherever possible, remote delivery will be implemented to support any larger meetings.

These measures will remain in effect until further notice. Given the evolving nature of the situation, and our continual reassessment, we are not in a position to address future events, such as Commencement, at this time.

In summary, I am announcing the following measures:

• In-person classes on Monday, March 16 and Tuesday, March 17 will be cancelled.
• Classes will resume on Wednesday, March 18, but will shift to remote methods of instruction.
• The university will remain open and employees will be expected to report to work.
• Graduate students and post-doctoral scholars will be expected to continue their work, as described in the communication they will receive from Dean Forehand.
• Social distancing measures, such as limiting indoor events to 25 attendees or fewer, will go into effect Wednesday, March 18.

While these changes are significant, I want to emphasize the importance of keeping our university open, and continuing our support of critically important services and activities, such as our student support, administrative functions, and research endeavors.

I recognize these measures are unprecedented and may be unsettling. With that in mind, we will continue to provide regular updates and information. The COVID-19 website (go.uvm.edu/covid19) is a resource for the latest policy decisions and other useful information and, starting today, questions may be sent to COVID19@uvm.edu or to our COVID-19 information helpline that will be staffed from 8:30-4:30 daily (and this weekend) until further notice. The helpline number is 802-656-HELP.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership. I am grateful for the dedication, teamwork, and care that defines our community.

Suresh V. Garimella
President

Source: UVM News

Dear UVM family,

I write with another update during this unprecedented time. The fast-changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to uncertainty and anxiety for all of us. As a coworker, community member, and parent, I know there are many aspects to this situation—practical and emotional—and few simple solutions.

While we make necessary, but difficult decisions, I promise to weigh carefully feedback from our community alongside the information we are receiving from government agencies, elected officials, and higher education colleagues.

I am also drawing on the expertise of our UVM researchers and faculty, who are national leaders in the areas of public health and infectious diseases. Dr. Jan Carney, Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Public Health and Health Policy at UVM’s Larner College of Medicine, offers important information about ways to keep ourselves and our communities safe in this brief video message (go.uvm.edu/covid19drcarney). And Dr. Lewis First, Professor and Chair of Larner’s Department of Pediatrics, and Chief of Pediatrics at UVM’s Children’s Hospital, has wonderful advice (go.uvm.edu/covid19drfirst) on how families can help children learn and thrive during this time. I am thankful for their informative and pragmatic approach, as well as their uniquely Vermont warmth and human touch.

With this in mind, I have the following updates:

1. Remote instruction will continue for the remainder of the Spring semester. We are closely monitoring the rollout of this approach, providing support for faculty and students, and making adjustments to ensure a meaningful learning experience for our students. I greatly appreciate the Herculean efforts of our faculty, information technology experts, and other staff in creating new opportunities for learning. And I applaud and thank our students for adapting so quickly and courageously.

2. Undergraduate students who currently reside on campus in the residence halls, as well as non-local students who live off-campus, should return to their homes. It has become clear that the responsible course of action in light of the global public health challenge confronting us is to have our students leave campus. I wish there were other options, but my first priority is student safety and the safety of our communities. We understand that some students may not have viable alternatives; we will work with those who have challenging circumstances to provide emergency options for housing. On-campus residents will receive additional information from the Office of Residential Life within 24 hours.

We also strongly encourage undergraduate students who live off campus to return home as soon as possible. Many of you share close spaces in a way that presents risks to you and to your roommates. What will you do if one of you becomes ill or needs to self-quarantine? Most of you will be better off back home with your family.

Please take a moment to watch this two-minute video (http://go.uvm.edu/covid19drlahey) featuring UVM faculty member Dr. Tim Lahey, who is an infectious disease expert at the UVM Medical Center, as he offers useful information about the critical importance of young adults staying home to help fight the spread of COVID-19.

3. The University will be issuing a credit related to meals and housing. Credit for meal plans will be based on the type of plan and usage to date. A housing credit of $1,000 will be issued to students who leave their residence halls by March 30, even if their belongings remain on campus. Financial aid awards will not be impacted as a result of this housing or meal plan credit. Residential Life will be in contact with further information.

After March 30, no students, other than those approved for emergency housing, will be able to access rooms, their possessions, and associated facilities until further notice. Residential Life will provide additional instructions for when, and how, you will be able to return to collect your belongings. Information also is available via the COVID-19 call center at 802-656-HELP.

Students approved to live in the emergency housing options, and who opt to do so after March 30, will not be eligible for the housing or meals credits outlined above.

4. Commencement is unlikely to proceed as planned. We will make a final decision by the end of March, but the social-distancing measures advised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are unlikely to change in the next few weeks. Unfortunately, many of the celebratory aspects associated with our Commencement do not align with social-distancing principles.

I feel your profound disappointment. I recognize in a personal way the importance of honoring your achievements and marking this pivotal moment in each of your lives—a moment you want to share with family and with the friends you made during your journey here. As we plan for the possibility that Commencement will not proceed in its usual way in May, we want to hear from you. Upcoming graduates should watch for a survey in the coming days that seeks your thoughts on how we might best celebrate your accomplishments and provide you with a chance to reconnect in a more personal way with your classmates and faculty.

5. Summer online courses are available! I also want to emphasize that we have a robust suite of summer online courses (uvm.edu/summer). We may all be finding our “new normal,” but we can’t imagine a normal that doesn’t include the academic and professional development of our students.

Finally, I want to reiterate the need for empathy and understanding. We have an amazing community that exemplifies the very things needed for us to overcome this challenge in a way that not only preserves our values, but also strengthens them.

Please continue to keep that in mind as we press on. These are strange and unsettling times but, together, I know we’ll emerge stronger and better than ever.

Sincerely,
Suresh V. Garimella, President
 

Source: UVM News

U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday announced that Vermont Law School will receive a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish the nation’s first National Center on Restorative Justice.  Leahy, the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has led a several-year effort to establish and fund the Center. Leahy also has been a leader on criminal justice reform as a leading member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Center, a collaboration with the University of Vermont, the University of San Diego, DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), and other partners, will focus on engaging criminal justice professionals, community members, educators, and social service providers with incarcerated individuals and broaden their understanding of the justice system and restorative justice. Through restorative justice practices, offenders are rehabilitated through reconciliation with victims, their communities and other means. The efforts are known to reduce recidivism, and help break the cycle of violence.

“To address the problem of mass incarceration of people in our country, we need to fundamentally rethink our approach to the justice system,” Leahy said. “By establishing a national center that will focus on engaging with the community, including our incarcerated population, we can begin to do just that.  Vermont is an incubator of sound ideas, and the approaches to restorative justice education and training at Vermont Law School and the University of Vermont make this a fitting collaboration to host this new, national center.  We want the new center to be a generator of workable solutions, and a catalyst for real change.

“The award of this grant recognizes the groundbreaking work being done at Vermont Law School – the only law school in the country that awards a master’s degree in restorative justice – and the opportunity to share this expertise nationally,” said Vermont Law School dean and president Thomas McHenry.

“As a Land-Grant university, for UVM this center aligns strongly with our commitment to our community, our state, and our nation,” said University of Vermont president Suresh Garimella. “Breaking the cycle of recidivism recognizes the potential for incarcerated individuals to turn their lives around and contribute to society in positive ways.  We’re proud that Senator Leahy, our researchers, and our colleagues at the Vermont Law School are leaders in this important effort.”

Leahy has led efforts in Congress to establish a National Center on Restorative Justice. As vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee he included funding in fiscal years 2019 and 2020 for the Department of Justice to establish the center. The new national center, based in South Royalton, will be a leading voice on educating, training, and engaging with the future leaders of the U.S. justice system.

“This grant demonstrates the commitment of the Department of Justice to research and support newly forming attitudes about punishment in the United States and the value of community-based resolutions to crime­,” said Robert Sand, founder of the Center for Justice Reform at Vermont Law School and former Windsor County prosecutor. “We look forward to working with our partner institutions and OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance to further the critical evolution of restorative justice efforts nationwide.”

Kathy Fox is associate dean of UVM’s College of Arts and Sciences, which will serve as the research hub for the new National Center. “Pairing the educational expertise of the Vermont Law School with the interdisciplinary research strengths of the University of Vermont’s Justice Research Initiative, we are well poised to generate data-driven change focused on restorative justice practices in the United States,” Fox said.

Source: UVM News

For teens interested in science — and parents and teachers seeking ways to enhance online instruction during the COVID-19 school closure — Virtual QuaranTeen Science Cafés, led by UVM Extension, are quickly proving to be a welcome resource.

This educational enrichment series is a free opportunity for teens to explore STEM topics with local scientists, engineers and technology experts from the University of Vermont and other institutions. Teens “meet a scientist,” learn about their work, and participate in informal discussions online.

UVM Extension teen and leadership specialist Lauren Traister has been offering an in-person, hands-on experience in recent years, and saw an opportunity to reach more youth when schools closed. “Switching to a virtual platform for the cafés allowed us to continue our programming and offer valuable enrichment opportunities for youth in Vermont and all across the country,” notes Traister.

The first 45-minute webinar featured Lake Champlain Sea Grant experts discussing “Benthic Basics”: stream management and biological indicators. The benthic layer is located at the bottom of a body of water. Sea Grant experts Ashley Eaton, Caroline Blake and Nick Trachte shared how to identify benthic organisms, and what they mean for water quality and stream health. More than 70 youth from Vermont and five other states, including California, connected and engaged with the experts through real-time polls and questions. 

This session was also a celebration of the United Nations World Water Day (March 22), an observance highlighting the global importance of fresh, clean water. This year’s theme was Water and Climate Change, a key component of the discussion of climate impacts on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in freshwater streams. 

More cafés are planned in April and May. Upcoming topics including small satellite propulsion systems, the science of maple sugaring, and human cell genetic editing. Program information, registration and session recordings are available at http://go.uvm.edu/4-hyouthopportunities.

4-H is developing additional no-cost programs for younger audiences, including distance learning socials for youth, age eight and older, to explore topics in science, healthy living and civic engagement.  

Source: UVM News

Two young UVM alumni are among business leaders pivoting their operations to address critical medical supply shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. Isaac Howe ’08 and Colin Jaskiewicz ’10, are co-founders of Orucase, a San Diego, California-based manufacturer of fabric cases for air transport of bicycles and other accessories. On March 22, Orucase announced beginning production on protective face masks to help bridge supply gaps. 

“With our vast experience in producing sewn products, we asked ourselves what we could do to help out in these trying times. We have teamed up with our production partner in Mexico and are completely retooling our lines to meet this need,” Howe said. “We are ready to roll out both consumer-focused face masks as well as medical-grade masks to help out front-line medical workers both in the USA and Mexico.” 

Orucase is prepared to ship the consumer masks immediately and in the last stages of procuring fabric for the medical masks, with the capacity of making up to 500,000 per week, Howe said. Proceeds from the sale of the consumer masks will be used to facilitate additional production of masks for medical workers and those employed in essential industries. Orucase will distribute masks consumer-direct via their website at orucase.com, as well as working directly with medical facilities and charities in the United States and Mexico. 

The business partnership between Howe, a biochemistry major, and Jaskiewicz, a mechanical engineering major, began with their friendship on UVM’s cycling team, where both were standout riders and club officers. (Jaskiewicz won the collegiate national championship in road cycling in 2009.) They founded Orucase in a garage on Burlington’s South Winooski Avenue in 2012 and have since grown the business steadily, earning honors such as “Gear of the Year” from Roadbike Review for their handlebar bag named after Vermont’s iconic Smuggler’s Notch.  

Source: UVM News

“I like to make beverage alcohol,” insists the co-owner and president of Smugglers’ Notch Distillery (SND) Jeremy Elliott ’00. But the urgency and pride with which he talks about the company’s abrupt and total pivot from spirits to ethanol-based hand sanitizer production makes it clear that, right now, he’s never loved his job or employees more.

Barely three or four weeks ago — “time’s flying so fast,” he says of the rapidly evolving novel coronavirus pandemic — Elliott and his team at SND were creating 190 proof grain alcohol and distilling it into award-winning spirits including vodkas, gins, whiskeys and bourbon. When images of bare shelves and stories of hand sanitizer shortages began circulating in anticipation of the coronavirus’s arrival in the U.S., he connected the dots between the surgical-grade alcohol that they have unique access to and their ability to mass produce it into an entirely different, desperately-needed product.

So far, SND has bottled and distributed 20,000 personal hand sanitizers — made from 160 proof alcohol, glycerol and hydrogen peroxide — to essential service workers and municipalities across Vermont. 

“When I talked to my employees and told them we were doing this, we decided to shut down everything to make this. We’re not doing any other bottling,” Elliott says. No gin, no whiskey, no other beverage alcohol. As the financial fallout of COVID-19 continues to hit the service and small business industries hard, their tough decision subsequently has been a saving grace that allows SND to keep the lights on and its employees employed.

They’ve been working around the clock since word got out about the non-profit effort and supplied bottles to fire stations, post offices, schools — including his alma mater, the University of Vermont — government offices, gas station operators, hospice centers, ambulance technicians and more. “You name it, the list just keeps going. It’s just crazy the number of folks that need it to stay safe out there, the amount of social responsibility for this is absolutely out of control,” he says.

“It’s just the right thing to do now, it’s a need that needs to get done. I’ve assembled the best team that I’ve ever had and they can see who we’re helping. I can’t explain it in words…we’re keeping the whole framework of Vermont moving at this moment. We’re keeping everybody going and there’s a sense of pride in that.”

Source: UVM News

Italy native David Tomasi is more than just concerned about his friends, family and community back home in South Tyrol right now. As a psychology lecturer at UVM and psychotherapist at UVM Medical Center, he’s taking action to mitigate the psychological trauma associated with the COVID-19 outbreak.

“Psychological support and psychotherapy are emergency medicine. If we don’t act now, we will have an infinite series of untreated trauma in the population, especially healthcare workers and their families,” he says. “The comorbidity associated with COVID-19 is something we have seldom seen before. Not only are people dying at an unprecedented rate, but healthcare workers are under constant stress and risk developing PTSD symptoms.” 

Three times each week, Tomasi opens Zoom meetings to Italians and others currently residing in Italy, the European epicenter of the outbreak, for free group psychotherapy sessions and individual sessions. Upwards of two dozen patients attend the live sessions in which he integrates basic behavioristic approaches to therapy with their cultural and situational needs. “Spiritual care — religion plays an important role in Italy — and mind-body techniques focused on emergency response, including centering techniques, grief and loss approaches, etcetera,” he explains. Most patients follow up for individual consultations. 

“Mine is really a small contribution, but people who lost their loved ones and have been diagnosed themselves, in most cases, are really appreciative of having the chance to talk regularly to a psychologist,” he says.

Though he has utilized telemedicine in treatments prior to COVID-19, “This epidemic truly changes everything, both in terms of workload and technical difficulties.” Tomasi dedicates Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays to his patients in Italy, and the rest of the week with students and patients in Vermont. On the days he’s unavailable, a colleague and psychotherapist in Italy speaks with patients online, free of charge. 

So far, treatments have been going well, he says. Tomasi also commends Italy’s healthcare system and says the country’s warm attitude “could be the best response, in terms of resiliency and recovery, from the traumatic experience.”

“The strength of Italy partially contributed to its weakness in the pandemic — most research indicates that on average, Italians are very close to one another, both in figurative terms and in physical terms, which contributes to the speed and spread of the pandemic,” he says. “The situation is terrible and people are extremely aware.”

Source: UVM News

As president and CEO of Delaware Health Sciences Alliance, an organization that includes the major health systems and research universities in the Delaware Valley, Dr. Omar Khan, MD ’03, is at the frontlines of the COVID-19 response. He’s been working with his team to ramp up testing and treatment, source personal protective equipment for healthcare workers, and keep the community informed, all while continuing to see patients himself as a family medicine physician. 

With the situation changing every day, sometimes minute-by-minute, he’s buoyed by the cooperation and sense of purpose he sees in the midst of an intense and unpredictable situation. 

“I feel fortunate to be able to serve communities in need,” he says. “I’m also grateful to work with exceptional people, many of whom work tirelessly behind the scenes and often don’t get the credit they deserve.” 

This isn’t the first time Khan has been in the thick of a battle against a global infectious disease. In 2006, he traveled through rural Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh as part of a World Health Organization polio eradication team. They traversed the countryside with one goal: vaccinate every child they could find. Equipped with maps down to the household level, they were hard at work when an 8.6 magnitude earthquake struck, devastating the region and forcing the team to adapt to new circumstances. It’s an experience that’s informed Khan’s work ever since, as a physician, a global health expert and healthcare leader.  

“You have to be willing to change the paradigm and adapt rapidly,” he says. 

Khan, who also holds a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, has co-authored several books on global health and infectious disease, including The End of Polio with Tim Brookes, a Vermont resident and frequent contributor to VPR and other national publications. Behind the Mask, also authored by Brookes, traces the SARS outbreak of the early 2000s, a disease caused by a virus closely related to the one fueling the current COVID-19 pandemic. Most recently, Khan served as principal editor of Control of Communicable Diseases: Clinical Practice, partnered with his longtime colleague Dr. David Heymann, who oversaw polio and SARS responses while at the WHO. Published this February by APHA Press, an imprint of the American Public Health Association, it’s a companion to the Control of Communicable Diseases Manual, a go-to resource for physicians that has been in print for over 100 years.  

After growing up in Delaware and completing medical school and family medicine residency in Vermont, Khan considers both states home. Now with COVID-19 bearing down on the world, he sees hope in a place like Vermont, where “folks coming together to solve a problem” is part of the fabric of life.

“A small state and tight-knit community have a lot to offer the rest of the world,” he says. “Global health is local health.”

 

Source: UVM News

The impact of the coronavirus on the healthcare system and on financial markets is all too clear. But what about the stress it’s putting on the food system and on those who are food insecure?

University of Vermont researchers fielded a survey this week, developed in collaboration with faculty at Johns Hopkins University, to determine those impacts in Vermont.

To take the survey, visit www.coronavirusfoodsurvey.com or see Front Porch Forum and Facebook. Participants must be over the age of 18. Questions about the survey can be directed to the principal investigator, Meredith Niles at mtniles@uvm.edu.

Researchers plan to collect and analyze the results quickly enough that they could inform policies during the ongoing pandemic. They also hope to use the results of the Vermont survey to inform a national survey.

“The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted a number of instabilities in the food system,” said Niles, an assistant professor in UVM’s Nutrition and Food Sciences Department.

“People are changing their purchasing habits and stockpiling food, which could reduce access for others. We also know that fundamental programs that alleviate food insecurity, from Meals on Wheels to free school meals to assistance programs like 3Squares VT, have new demands and have had to make changes because of the coronavirus. And new groups of people, either because they are ill or have lost their jobs, may be experiencing food insecurity.”

The survey asks respondents where they obtained food over the last year for themselves and their families and if availability from that source has changed since the coronavirus outbreak. It also asks how worried respondents are that the coronavirus will affect their access to healthy food and seeks to understand their perspectives overall on the outbreak.

“The goal is to understand how people are responding to the crisis, learn what the impacts are and identify steps we can take to address these problems,” said Farryl Bertmann, another faculty member in Nutrition and Food Sciences who is collaborating on the project. “It’s critical to obtain this information, both to blunt the effects of the current pandemic and to prepare for future disease outbreaks and other shocks to society and the food system,” she said.

The researchers hope for a high response rate to the survey.

“We need as many people as possible to take the survey, so we have detailed data that will help us create the most informed public policy recommendations,” said another member of the research team, Emily Morgan, also a faculty member in Nutrition and Food Sciences.

Food insecurity is defined as access by all household members, at all times, to enough food for an active, healthy life. According to Map the Meal Gap 2019, 11.9% of Vermont households are food insecure, 15.9% of Vermont children live in food-insecure households, and as of 2017, 5.4% of Vermont seniors experience food insecurity.   

Source: UVM News