With the impacts of COVID-19 peppered throughout Thursday’s quarterly meeting of the University of Alabama System’s board of trustees meeting, Chancellor Finis St. John’s report praised the campuses' handling of the reopening process.
The meeting, held over video conference instead of in person, highlighted some of the challenges while noting successes in curbing the high numbers of COVID-19 positive tests in Tuscaloosa.
“A problem arrived on our doorsteps in March,” St. John said. “It was not expected. It was not our fault and it brought with it serious short- and long-term impacts on our country, our state and our system.”
The long-range financial impact is still to be determined but trustees revealed Thursday that tuition revenue is down $29 million on the Tuscaloosa campus mostly because fewer out-of-state students were enrolled this fall.
“The significant financial impact of this pandemic has been weathered," the chancellor said, "so far.”
St. John also spoke about recent testing numbers. UA is in its second week of sentinel testing -- taking a small sample of students/faculty/staff who not showing symptoms and testing for silent outbreaks.
The chancellor said of the 433 tests done in Tuscaloosa so far this week, three came back positive.
RELATED: Alabama trustees cite racist language while renaming Morgan Hall
The UA System will announce the next round of weekly testing numbers Friday after seeing a sharp decrease last week. Only 294 were positive on Sept. 11 after 846 were positive the week before that. Since classes opened Aug. 19, a total of 2,183 Alabama students or 6.9% of those enrolled on the Tuscaloosa campus have tested positive.
St. John said he was proud UA “trusted our plan and our people and had the courage to see it through.” He also noted the other colleges and universities who either bailed on in-person learning before the semester started or soon after returning.
“We also faced worrisome trends on our campuses,” St. John said, "but the difference is we were prepared. We had a plan. We addressed the issues as they arose and we held our nerve despite difficult publicity and calls for us to change course and give up, we trusted our plan and our people. Because we held firm, other college and universities who faced the same difficult trends that we did, did the same.
“So far, staying the course for the good of our students and our state has proven to be the right course.”
RELATED: Few Alabama students symptomatic, football game is next test
The encouraging numbers in the sentinel testing was further evidence, St. John said, of Alabama’s decision-making process.
“I hate to think where we would be today if we had closed our campuses or altered our course as many had suggested,” he said.
The response to campus outbreaks hasn’t been seamless. Students isolated or quarantined on the UA campus detailed substandard conditions in a Sept. 4 AL.com story. The university has since added resources to help students in those dorms who either tested positive or were exposed to someone with the virus.
Dr. Ricky Friend of the UA Health and Safety Task Force said Wednesday they have to be prepared for a second or third wave of positive tests but they feel they are positioned for that now.
“Now we’re looking at the first home game as the next event we need to be really cautious of,” Friend said Wednesday, referencing Alabama’s first home football game against Texas A&M on Oct. 3.
St. John on Thursday sounded optimistic for what’s to come at UA.
“Today our campuses are open and we are moving toward more and more normal operations,” he said. “Our students and faculty have risen to challenges, adapted to difficult changes and stuck with us and together we see better and better days ahead.”
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.