The Campus and Community Advisory Committee is shifting its focus to continue assisting the UNC community in its COVID-19 response for the coming months.
The committee was developed in the fall to prepare campus for reopening in the spring semester, as well as reflect on decisions of the fall. The committee — made up of a mix of faculty, students and community members — met weekly in the fall and provided recommendations to the University on the spring schedule, mandatory testing and more.
Now, with the spring semester in full swing, the committee will continue to meet, providing recommendations to fine-tune the University's COVID-19 response plan.
The committee met last week to receive status updates for COVID-19 testing and vaccine distribution, and they advised on improving the testing protocol in place.
Committee member and sophomore Ethan Phillips said the committee will not meet as regularly as last semester, but will still advise on smoothing out plans in the spring semester.
“I think the challenge is that the policies and the sort of decisions we make are sometimes muddled by implementation,” Phillips said. “Translating some of the large scale decisions into the actual practices of what the students experience is not always perfect.”
While the committee does not have a frequent meeting schedule set forth for the spring, committee members like Richard Watkins are on board to assist this semester when necessary.
“I am here to serve in whatever way I can,” Watkins said. “This situation is very serious as it develops, and if campus administration sees it fit to reconvene, then I'm here to support them in any way that I can.”
The committee has seen success from their work last semester and has worked hard to implement a robust testing program, Kira Griffith, president of the Residence Hall Association, said.