Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson co-wrote an opinion piece with University of Michigan President Mark S. Schlissel and Michigan State University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. The article highlights the three research universities’ efforts to fight COVID-19. “Michigan needs its great public research universities more now than ever. And we are bringing all of our resources to this fight. Our medical and nursing schools, our engineers and economists, our public health and environment researchers, our psychologists and social workers — we are in this together. It is imperative that the three major state universities that make up Michigan's University Research Corridor — Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University — are at the front lines and in the laboratories battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s only spring, but the presidents of Michigan’s three largest universities are already planning for how their campuses may look in fall 2020, once the coronavirus pandemic has slowed down. For Michigan State University and Wayne State University, that likely means online classes, their presidents said Thursday, April 23 during a tele-town hall meeting. But University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel remains hopeful of having in-person classes, while taking advice from public health officials. At Wayne State University, President M. Roy Wilson said online classes are being developed now assuming it won’t be possible to conduct face-to-face teaching. “(We) would love it if we could open our campus up and have in-person classes. The reality is that that’s unlikely,” Wilson said. “We’re going to plan for having to do it online, and if for some reason something happens and we’re really surprised and we can do it in person, we’ll pivot.” It takes a lot of preparation to put together a strong online course, Wilson said, adding that what was done in the second half of this past semester was not online classes but “remote teaching.” Compared to MSU and UM, Wilson believes WSU will do a little bit better in terms of its risk exposure because it doesn’t have a large hospital like UM or large Division I athletic programs, both of which are major economic sources for UM and MSU. However, that doesn’t mean Wayne State won’t be affected. “There’s no university in this country that is not going to be affected, and many affected severely by the pandemic,” Wilson said.

Wayne State Associate Professor of Psychiatry Arash Javanbakht and University of Michigan Doctoral Candidate Cristian Capotescu co-wrote a piece regarding the response to COVID-19. “More U.S. citizens have confirmed COVID-19 infections than the next five most affected countries combined. Yet as recently as mid-March, President Trump downplayed the gravity of the crisis by falsely claiming the coronavirus was nothing more than seasonal flu, or a Chinese hoax, or a deep state plot designed to damage his reelection bid. The current U.S. administration’s mishandling of the coronavirus threat is part of a larger problem in pandemic management. Many government officials, medical experts, scholars and journalists continued to underestimate the dangers of COVID-19, even as the disease upended life in China as early as mid-January. The results of this collective inertia are catastrophic indeed. The U.S., along with Italy, Spain, Iran and the French Alsace, is now the site of humanitarian tragedies, the kind we see erupting in the aftermath of natural disasters or military conflicts.

Wayne State University leaders will take pay cuts and put them into a student emergency fund to help enrolled students in need of assistance during COVID-19. President M. Roy Wilson made the announcement this week in a letter to the campus, saying that he would take a 10 percent pay cut immediately through the end of the year. Executives, along with the deans of the 13 colleges, would voluntarily reduce their pay 5 percent. The pay cuts will go into Wayne State's Student Emergency Fund, which current students may access to cover emergencies such as transportation, food, utilities, medications or personal tragedy. All students are eligible, Wilson said, but focus will be on providing assistance to students who can't tap into federal CARES funds, awarded earlier this month to colleges and universities amid the coronavirus outbreak to help students with cash grants. Wayne State University was awarded $9.6 million for student aid. "The program ensures that temporary hardships do not prevent students from continuing forward and achieving their dreams of a college degree," Wilson wrote Thursday. "All of our current students are considered part of the Warrior family, and we want to make sure all of our students are eligible for this support."

Wayne State University is "unlikely" to have in-person classes in fall, Michigan State University is planning online classes, but University of Michigan is hoping to bring students back on campus with measures that will lower students' risk with COVID-19. The fall semester projections for Michigan's three largest public universities came Thursday during a Detroit Regional Chamber tele-town hall with WSU President M. Roy Wilson, MSU President Samuel Stanley and UM President Mark Schlissel. Wayne State is looking at opening laboratories for research soon, Wilson said, but having in-person classes is looking doubtful. "All of us, and I am pretty sure I speak for the three of us, would love it if we could open our campus up and have in-person classes," Wilson said. "The reality is that that is unlikely ... so we are going to plan for having to do it online."

Three Michigan universities are coming together to fight COVID-19 together. The presidents from Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University came together Thursday afternoon for a town hall meeting online. These institutions make up Michigan’s University Research Corridor which is working to find a coronavirus vaccine, treatment, and recommendations to flatten the curve. Wayne State President M. Roy Wilson said he’s proud of setting up mobile COVID-19 testing sites in Detroit. “Where we have a number of cars that are equipped to be able to go to hot spots sites around the city and actually test in those areas,” Wilson said. All presidents are also now looking at what the fall semester will look like for students. there is a possibility of having only online classes.

Erin Baker, Ph.D. candidate in Sociology, wrote a piece for The Conversation offering six tips for parents who home-school. “With most U.S. schools closed for the rest of the school year due to the COVID-19 outbreak – and uncertainty surrounding the decision to reopen them in the fall – parents may be tempted to try out home-schooling. As a sociologist who has interviewed dozens of home-schooling parents to learn which practices work best, I know that first-timers can quickly find themselves feeling unprepared and overwhelmed.”

Annmarie Caño, professor of psychology and associate provost for faculty development and faculty success, wrote an article for The Conversation addressing the strain of social distancing. COVID-19 has revealed a great many things about our world, including the vulnerabilities inherent in our economic, health care and educational institutions. The pandemic and the resulting orders to shelter in place have also uncovered vulnerabilities in our relationships with others. Many of us are not just dealing with our own feelings of anxiety, anger and sadness; we are dealing with the anxiety, anger and sadness expressed by the people with whom we live and other loved ones with whom we’ve maintained virtual connections. How do we respond with empathy when we are feeling a host of emotions ourselves? Is it even possible?

Wayne State President M. Roy Wilson talked about racial health disparities, the university’s budget status and prospects for person-to-person instruction in the fall. Wilson says underlying health disparities have been going on in this country for a long time, well before the current crisis. Social determinants are a major factor in these lopsided health outcomes says Wilson. In the current COVID-19 health crisis Wilson says implicit bias has played a role in the health disparities we are seeing. “There is some evidence that African Americans with symptoms have not been tested as frequently, I think that there is some implicit bias,” says Wilson. Financially, Wilson says the institution is considering various measures to shore up the school’s budget. Wilson says he stopped short of announcing layoffs because the university doesn’t yet know the full financial cost imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. Enrollment, says Wilson, will be a major determinant in Wayne State’s financial decision making. The school is also preparing for the possibility of remote learning continuing into the fall. “We’re going to prepare as if we’re not going to be able to meet person-to-person [in the fall]. If we are able to, that would certainly be our preference,” says Wilson. 

Arash Javanbakht, director of the Stress, Trauma, and Anxiety Research Clinic and a professor of psychiatry at Wayne State University, talked about the venting and complaining while quarantined at home during the coronavirus epidemic.

The Wayne State University Board of Governors has approved a proposal to temporarily suspend the standardized test score requirement for new fall 2020 freshmen applicants. The temporary suspension would be for students who are unable to take their SAT or ACT due to COVID-19. “We understand what a challenging time this is for high school seniors,” says Ericka M. Jackson, senior director of undergraduate admissions at WSU. “We want to provide a path to Wayne State for those students who have not yet taken the SAT or ACT. Now is the time to be helpful, supportive, and allow latitude for students to apply without submitting a test score.”

Wayne State University Law School has jumped 17 spots in U.S. News & World Report's Best Law School rankings over the last three years - to No. 83 in the country, a historic best this year, and the second-highest ranked law school in Michigan. Wayne Law also ranks highly in several specific categories, including No. 23 in the category of part-time law programs, the best in the state. Wayne Law is Detroit's only public law school. It ranks No. 22 nationally for law schools with the lowest debt-to-starting-income ratio according to Spivey Consulting's analysis of data compiled by Law School Transparency. The National Jurist and preLaw magazines ranked Wayne Law a Best Value Law School for the last six years.

The governor signed an executive order Monday creating a task force to address and respond to the stark racial disparities present in the COVID-19 pandemic. "Rather than just studying the problem and making a report later, we're assembling a team of experts that can take action in real time," said Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, who is heading up the task force. According to state leaders, African Americans represent 13.6% of Michigan’s population, yet they represent 40% of the state's COVID-19 deaths. In addition to Gilchrist, the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities will include Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon and Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh S. Khaldun, along with 24 other members appointed by the governor. Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson is included among the members of the task force.

As key decisions are being made about business operations in preparation for any effects of the COVID-19, it’s important to hear from state leaders at the front lines and subject matter experts who can help navigate the risks. The Chamber will be hosting a COVID-19 Tele-Town Hall Series, with regular guest speakers, to help businesses prepare for the impact of the virus. On Thursday, April 23, at 2:15 p.m., Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson will join University of Michigan President Mark S. Schlissel and Michigan State University President Samuel L. Stanley, Jr., for a discussion. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the three universities that comprise Michigan’s University Research Corridor (URC) have launched themselves into finding a vaccine, a treatment for the virus, and recommendations for “flattening the curve.” They’re also moving new health care professionals into the field, setting up hotlines to help health care workers, perfecting a process to sanitize used masks, and providing advice for managing mental health, food safety and the economy. Sandy K. Baruah, president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber, will moderate the conversation with the three university leaders.

Erica Bocknek, associate professor of educational psychology, wrote a piece for The Conversation offering four good practices for families caring for quarantined children. About 55 million U.S. schoolchildren attend schools that have been closed or are being directly affected by the new coronavirus social distancing rules. Bocknek, a family therapist who studies early childhood development, parenting and family resilience, encourages parents and others raising kids to focus on the 4 R’s: routines, rules, relationships and rituals.

Wayne State University leaders announced Monday that they approved a proposal to temporarily suspend the standardized test score requirement for new fall 2020 freshmen applicants. That means no ACT or SAT scores will be required upon applying to the school. This is for students who will not be able to take the test(s) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We understand what a challenging time this is for high school seniors,” said Ericka M. Jackson, senior director of undergraduate admissions. “We want to provide a path to Wayne State for those students who have not yet taken the SAT or ACT. Now is the time to be helpful, supportive and allow latitude for students to apply without submitting a test score.” The university Board of Governors approved the temporary suspension this week.

With government officials debating how and when to reopen the economy, a fundamental question about the coronavirus pandemic remains unanswered: Just how deadly is this disease? The “case fatality rate” of covid-19 varies wildly from country to country and even within nations from week to week. Without widespread testing to find out how many people have been infected, it remains impossible to determine precisely the lethality of the virus in any given community or demographic group. Researchers know that many infections result in no symptoms. “You need to do more testing,” said Teena Chopra, professor of medicine at Wayne State University’s division of infectious diseases. Without testing, she said, public health experts are forced “to live in an unknown world, and an unknown environment.”

Teena Chopra, a professor of infectious diseases at Wayne State University who leads infection control for the Detroit Medical Center’s eight hospitals, tied many of its COVID-19 deaths to a high rate of elderly patients sickened at area nursing homes. DMC does not publicly report the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. "We are seeing a lot of nursing home populations brought to us very sick, and coming to us with severe illness," she said. Underlying health issues may make the symptoms of COVID-19 more difficult to detect in nursing home populations, she said, because "their biological age is different from their physical age." "They have very subtle symptoms, because their immunity is lower and they may not mount a fever like others can," she said. It may be several days before caregivers suspect a COVID-19 infection "and by then it's too late.” Although the city of Detroit has begun a project to test nursing home staff and residents, Chopra expressed frustration that it hadn't happened sooner and also said it shouldn't be limited to Detroit. "We need to test everybody in a nursing home and separate the positive cases from the ones who are negative," she said.

Experts acknowledge there are still enough unknowns about the virus and its impact on pregnancy to keep expectant mothers – and their doctors – up at night. Many U.S. hospitals now require that all incoming patients have their temperatures taken and symptoms screened at the door. As tests for the virus become more available and in more common use at metropolitan hospitals, some doctors urge they should be standard practice everywhere. “This is a hot topic among hospitals now,” said Char-Dong Hsu, chair of the Wayne State University Obstetrics and Gynecology Department. Similarly to the population at large, as many as eight out of ten pregnant women who have covid-19 may be asymptomatic yet contagious, he noted, meaning they could pose an extra danger to other women and providers if they aren’t identified.

Wayne State President M. Roy Wilson wrote an op-ed about race disparities amid infectious diseases and the need to take action. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published data on hospitalizations for COVID-19 across 14 states from March 1-30 in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. It documented that African Americans accounted for 33% of the hospitalizations but only 18% of the total population in the 14 states. Many states have reported an even starker reality. African-Americans accounted for 40% of COVID-19 deaths in Michigan and 43% in Illinois despite making up only 14% of the population in both states. Such disparities in disease outcome by race are unacceptable, but not surprising. Health disparities by race/ethnicity have existed for a long time in our country.” Wilson continued: “I urge that we focus now on what can be done to narrow this racial disparity in outcomes for COVID-19, starting with a more effective communication effort targeted toward African-American communities.”