by ROBERT C. JONES JR.
IN WHAT HAD ALREADY BEEN A SPRING SEMESTER LIKE NO OTHER. WITH COVID-19 CASES SPIKING ACROSS MIAMI DADE COUNTY, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI STUDENTS WERE TOLD IN MARCH 2020 THAT CLASSES FOR THE REST OF THE ACADEMIC TERM WOULD BE MIGRATED ONLINE.
Then, as the start of the Fall 2020 semester grew closer, University offcials had a daunting decision to make: whether to follow the national trend of continuing to teach virtually or to offer students the choice of returning to campus for in-person instruction.
The University chose the latter, taking precautions that were so meticulous in their nature that no cases of in-classroom transmission of the virus were recorded throughout the full academic year.
That decision was just one of many actions, taken during the past two years, that have allowed the University to not only effectively deal with the pandemic but also demonstrate its longtime ability to endure and remain resilient in the face of adversity, President Julio Frenk said during his third State of the University Town Hall, held Sept. 28.
“The tradition of resilience that has been with us from our founding has been the cornerstone of our response to an unprecedented convergence of crises on the health, economic, and social fronts,” Frenk said. “We have not shied away from tough choices, and we have stepped boldly into our mission.”
The University’s president spoke to a live audience of about 125 people inside the Shalala Student Center Ballroom—attendance was limited because of adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols—and to thousands more watching virtually.
Frenk, the former minister of health of Mexico, recognized the “herculean efforts” of the University of Miami Health System during the pandemic, noting that once the government liffed restrictions on elective procedures, UHealth physicians resumed seeing non-COVID-19 patients—a decision, he said, that helped save lives. “The impact of COVID-19 on health outcomes is much broader than the offcial case and death counts,” Frenk pointed out.
He honored members of the University community who played pivotal roles in helping the institution navigate the COVID-19 crisis. Through video vignettes, town hall participants listened to workers on the front lines describe their experiences during the pandemic. One of them was Doreen Ashley, D.N.P. ’11, executive director of nursing at UHealth, who has been with the health system for more than 30 years. “We did a lot of planning prior to getting our ffrst patient,” Ashley said in her video. “Getting that ffrst patient then became real. Daily, literally, we were making changes. As we learned more, we did more. As the CDC guidelines changed, we changed.”
Frenk told the audience that while the world has changed, time has not stood still, and the University continues to move forward. As such, he revealed the ambitious plans the University has in the works.
At homecoming in early November, the University offcially unveiled its new fundraising effort. Ever Brighter: The Campaign for Our Next Century is chaired by longtime University benefactor and trustee Stuart Miller, J.D. ’82, former chair of the Board of Trustees and current chair of the UHealth Board of Directors, whose family in 2004 made a landmark $100 million naming giffto the medical school in memory of his late father, Leonard M. Miller.
Reaffrming the University’s commitment to racial diversity and inclusion, mentioning the 15-point action plan to advance racial justice he unveiled last summer, Frenk informed listeners that the University hired 14 new Black faculty members this academic year. The new Center for Global Black Studies has launched, and plans are underway to renovate nearly 13,000 square feet on the second ffoor of the Whitten University Center to meet the needs of several student groups.
RAMPING UP UHEALTH
Frenk described the University of Miami Health System as being on a “trajectory to preeminence,” even though it sits at the intersection of the two sectors most impacted by the pandemic: education and health care. He announced ambitious expansion plans that include a new research building for the National Cancer Institute-designated Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and new outpatient facilities in Palm Beach, Aventura, and Doral in the years to come.
The new Miller Center for Medical Education is scheduled for a spring 2024 completion, a project that “reffects whatwe know across the University—we cannot have 21st century learning in 19th century classrooms,” Frenk acknowledged.
On the residential housing front, Frenk announced the resumption of planning for Centennial Village, the second phase of a multiyear plan to modernize campus housing. Lakeside Village opened last fall.
He said that the new ’Cane Commitment approach of helping students to become critical thinkers, effective communicators, problem-solvers, and world citizens will be integrated into the ffrst-year experience starting next fall. And he revealed a new partnership with the educational technology company 2U for a new, fully online MBA that builds on successful platforms for remote learning.
Frenk also announced the creation of the New Century College, an initiative to experiment with and evaluate novel approaches to teaching and learning.
We have not shied away from tough choices, and we have stepped boldly into our mission.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS PRESIDENT FRENK UNVEILED AT THE TOWN HALL INCLUDED:
- An inaugural cohort of Academic Innovation Fellows convenes members of the faculty who are immersed in designing the delivery of content based on matching effective pedagogy to student learning needs.
- The new Climate Resilience Academy will deliver solutions to climate change impacts and related stressors in partnership with industry, government, universities, and other stakeholders.
- The University is continuing its partnership with the Knight Foundation and in the fall began hosting a series of conversations about Miami at the intersection of tech and democracy.
- Earlier this year, a $4.3 million grant from the Knight Foundation unlocked $6 million in matching funds from Phillip and Patricia Frost, whose $100 million giffin 2017 launched the University’s Frost Institutes for Science and Engineering. The giffis enabling the University to recruit six Knight endowed chairs at its new Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC), including Yelena Yesha, the first Knight Chair of IDSC, who participated in a panel that immediately followed the president’s remarks. It addressed strategies on how the University can make innovation a priority.
