CU president proud of CU’s efforts to
help with hurricane relief
University of Colorado President Hank Brown recently reported that all of the CU campuses have been providing public service through varied efforts to help those affected by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Relief efforts and hurricane-related activities continue to emerge on CU's campuses daily. The University of Colorado and University of Colorado Hospital are demonstrating how complex institutions can provide help, hope, and health care services.
" I am proud of our campuses and our people, who have taken the initiative to do what they can to help those affected by the hurricane," said President Brown. "Parts of our country are in need and the university community has shown a great interest in helping."
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CU President Hank Brown. |
Efforts by CU’s
campuses include:
Student admissions: As of Sept. 7, CU campuses have admitted 160 students. CU-Boulder had admitted 143 new students from universities damaged by Hurricane Katrina. This number includes 136 undergraduates and seven Law School students. The campus expects more in the next few days, including graduate students. UCD’s Downtown Denver campus has admitted 12 undergraduate students. CU-Colorado Springs has admitted five.
Tuition payment postponement: CU-Boulder will postpone collection of tuition and fees to allow time for displaced students to determine the situation at their home institutions. Other campuses will work with students on a case-by-case basis to determine an appropriate time table. The Downtown Denver campus is waiving the application fee and required tuition deposit.
Financial aid: The campuses are doing what they can with available resources to find financial aid for eligible displaced students, under the same procedures used for existing students. Campuses will work with the Colorado Commission on Higher Education to determine which students need financial assistance and the reimbursement procedures for that assistance.
UCD hires
Cash Smith, his wife, two children, and niece made a harrowing escape from their apartment in New Orleans to the Superdome. Smith and his wife (who is three months pregnant) had to put the children in trash cans to float them to safety. They were evacuated from the Superdome to Colorado.
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Student support: CU campuses are concerned about providing support for existing students whose families in the Gulf Coast area are directly affected by the hurricane. Students should contact their campus financial aid office to help determine whether the disaster has changed their family income levels and eligibility for financial aid.
Health and human services assistance: Deans at UCD's Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry and Pharmacy are working with federal and state governments as well as other national organizations to provide assistance and expertise.
The School of Medicine is coordinating with the National Institutes of Health regarding physician volunteers.
The School of Nursing has organized primary care, chronic illness and public health response teams. The teams include faculty and students, and are on call for the Lowry site, as well as for CDPHE and the federal HHS public health response system.
The School of Dentistry is involved with providing a mobile dental clinic at Lowry. It is being run by Kids in Need of Dentistry and staffed in part by SOD hygiene students.
The University of Colorado Hospital has agreed to fund six nurses, two labs techs and two nurse practitioners to travel to the affected areas. The hospital has seen more than 40 patients from the affected areas in emergency department and clinics.
Helping other institutions and children: CU-Boulder has offered to provide support to its partner institution, New Orleans-based Dillard University. Support will include a fund-raising drive, information technology and Web site support, and correspondence course support, among other outreach initiatives. CU-Boulder School of Law faculty are preparing to donate large sets of legal volumes to academic and government offices that were damaged or destroyed as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
Children displaced by Hurricane Katrina soon will receive a shipment of children's books donated by Coloradans through a CU-Boulder book drive.
Raising funds for hurricane victims: The CU-Boulder Athletics Department conducted a relief drive on Sept. 3 at the CU-CSU game, raising more than $43,000 for the American Red Cross relief efforts. The CU-Boulder Student Union is leading "CU Hurricane Relief," a large collaboration of groups and individuals from CU-Boulder and the Boulder community.
The group aims to raise monetary donations on behalf of the American Red Cross, the United Way and the Salvation Army, as well as to raise awareness of the impending public health crisis in the Gulf Coast region. Members of the Chancellor’s Leadership Class at UCCS participated in a local radio station collection drive. On Sept. 13, 14, and 15, the UCCS faculty, staff and students collected items for donation to Care and Share, a Colorado Springs food bank, which will be responsible for delivery to the affected areas. UCCS faculty and staff are being encouraged to “Donate an Hour” of either time to assist in this effort or an hour of their payroll to the American Red Cross. The University of Colorado Hospital has donated $10,000 to the American Red Cross.
CU shares expert knowledge: As issues and events unfold in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the need for information on developing matters helps the public better understand what many are experiencing. CU faculty from all of the campuses have shared knowledge with the media and the public in areas related to Hurricane Katrina. A list of experts across the system is on the CU hurricane relief info page at http://www.cu.edu.
Real time research: Two “Quick Response” studies dealing with the impacts of Hurricane Katrina will be funded by the CU-Boulder Natural Hazards Center and more are expected in the coming days. The studies will examine emergency management coordination and the response to the disaster in the close-knit community of Grand Bayou, La.
