Our world is facing tough times, now and for the foreseeable future. The global coronavirus pandemic has turned our realities upside down, pushing us—at a moment’s notice—to adapt to new routines in our personal and professional lives. This is truly an unprecedented experience for all of us, and one that is challenging us to think and operate in creative, flexible, and unconventional ways.
As a leader in both the communications field and in higher education–I am president and General Manager of Univision Communications Miami and I chair the Board of Trustees of Florida International University—I’m focused on making and enabling decisions in this uncertain time. And believe me, this public health crisis has required us to be nimble and innovative to continue delivering on our mission and promise of value while protecting our staff.
At Univision, the leading media company serving Hispanic America, we’ve had to adapt to a new normal of employees working from home and anchors delivering news in nontraditional ways to ensure they are kept out of harm’s way. We’ve had to evolve and adapt to this new “normal” while still delivering high quality content that informs, empowers, and keeps our audiences safe.
It’s been quite the challenge—a daunting task at times—but we’re pushing through as everyone is during this time of turmoil. Thanks to the ingenuity and hard work of our teams, we have found solutions and new ways of getting things done that will serve us well after this crisis is over, which is a silver lining to these difficult times.
At FIU, it’s a similar story. We are one of the nation’s largest universities located in an international gateway, a top-tiered research institution currently serving 58,000 students from around the world and employing close to 10,000 faculty and staff. For that reason alone, I believe FIU’s proactive response during this trying time has set the tone for other academic and research enterprise institutions looking to create a new normal amid the chaos.
Our President Mark B. Rosenberg was very clear with his team from the onset regarding the top priorities: The safety of the university community, the preservation of the academic and research enterprise, and assistance to the local and global community.
Our first step at FIU was to create our FIU coronavirus website, with up-to-date information about coronavirus, university operations, frequently asked questions, tips on how to remain healthy, and more. Our team’s strategy has been simple: communicate, communicate, communicate.
As a university, academic continuity for our students is top of mind. In fact, we took the lead in transitioning more than 4,000 face-to-face courses to remote learning days before the state university system made it mandatory for all state institutions. News updates and consultation with our own public health experts motivated us to decide early on that a remote learning plan was necessary.
These changes to academic instruction meant that our faculty and students needed additional support, especially those individuals who haven’t dabbled much in remote learning. For them, we created the FIU COVID-19 Academic Continuity Planning website, with course conversion strategies, training, and remote proctoring tips for professors and video-conferencing and course access resources for students.
Just when we were getting the hang of remote learning, coronavirus threw us yet another curveball—taking our university operations to a remote environment. FIU is currently operational thanks to the tireless work of our employees, who are hunkered down at home utilizing video-conferencing and other online tools to keep things moving. It’s been challenging at times—especially for folks like me who thrive in face-to-face contact—but being nimble and flexible is the only way to get things done these days.
While technical and operational flexibility has kept FIU going, we’ve had to employ much creativity and ingenuity to ensure every member of our university family is happy, healthy, and productive during this pandemic, while taking care of their own families.
For our students, we’ve ensured they are equipped with the tools needed for a successful online academic journey. For example, for Fostering Panther Pride–our program for homeless or former foster care students–FIU purchased 200 laptops to ensure students in the program have a successful remote academic experience.
And for our overall university community, we’ve truly focused on mental and emotional wellbeing, given that working at home—often in isolation–can disrupt an individual’s mood and ability to perform.
Many of our colleges and units have taken their creativity and ingenuity to new levels, offering workouts online, mindfulness meditations, and even chats with local officials looking to engage their community in this time of social distancing. And with commencement season on the horizon, there’s a dedicated team committed to providing our students a memorable graduation experience, even when an in-person ceremony seems out of reach at the moment.
And just this weekend, FIU delivered to Baptist Health South Florida the first batch of 1,000 3-D printed reusable face shields–personal protective equipment so desperately needed by hospital workers caring for coronavirus patients. These masks were printed by FIU, using in-house 3-D printers.
I’ve never been prouder of my Panther family for stepping up to the challenges posed by the coronavirus. Together, we’ve managed to create a sense of normalcy when everything is far from normal.
We’ve learned that working together, we can face any challenge that comes our way, and that by remaining calm and intentional, we can make real strides in the midst of uncertainty. We’ve learned some valuable lessons through the last few weeks about our flexibility and our resilience, and I am confident these are lessons that will carry us not only through this crisis but through future challenges.
Claudia Puig is the chairwoman of the Florida International University Board of Trustees.
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