Community

Turning the page

University life stabilizes after prolonged pandemic disruption

As the world plans for COVID to become an endemic infection, the University has eased distancing and mask protocols, dropped testing requirements, adjusted the use of our clinical testing laboratory, and distributed government relief funds to students.

The University is still maintaining its vaccination requirement. And while still vigilant, campus health leaders are optimistic the number of cases and severity of infection will continue to moderate.

During the critical part of the pandemic, BU’s Clinical Testing Laboratory performed more than a million tests to help keep campus safe, thanks to a team of specialized robots, and was able to return results the next day. The University is now integrating that lab into our research infrastructure. The administration is retaining a number of key health personnel to respond to residual COVID issues and other infectious diseases that may impact our campus.

The University also distributed almost $21 million in federal aid to students financially hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022. The money comes from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, included in the American Rescue Plan enacted by Congress and President Joe Biden in March 2021. BU received $42 million, with the law allowing half for students and half for institutional costs. Since 2020, the University distributed two other rounds of emergency federal coronavirus aid to students.

The University has included funding for pandemic preparedness in the FY2023 budget.

“We are building on what we have learned during the past two years to ensure that we can meet the next broad-based health challenge,” President Robert A. Brown wrote in a letter to the community in spring 2022.