THE LIMITED INFLUENCE OF HEALTH FACULTY EXPERTISE IN HIGHER EDUCATION'S RESPONSE TO COVID-19.

Higher education policies regarding COVID-19 had sweeping implications for campuses and their surrounding communities. This study explored the role of relevant health and health policy expertise in shaping campus responses to COVID-19 using data from 1,983 4-year colleges and universities in the United States. The primary outcomes of interest were the various COVID-19 policies that postsecondary institutions adopted during the 2020-2021 academic year, including instructional modality and testing and vaccine requirements. Overall, after controlling for state-level politics and other factors, the presence of faculty expertise in health administration, public health, or medicine had a statistically significant influence on the COVID policies adopted by colleges and universities. Public health faculty in conjunction with health administration faculty influenced changes in instruction modality between semesters. Public health faculty in conjunction with medical faculty influenced changes in testing policies between semesters. Going forward, health faculty should explore ways to collaborate across disciplines to better leverage their collective expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]