Colleges and universities around the world engaged diverse strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Baylor University, a community of ˜22,700 individuals, was one of the institutions which resumed and sustained operations. The key strategy was establishment of multidisciplinary teams to develop mitigation strategies and priority areas for action. This population-based team approach along with implementation of a “Swiss Cheese” risk mitigation model allowed small clusters to be rapidly addressed through testing, surveillance, tracing, isolation, and quarantine. These efforts were supported by health protocols including face coverings, social distancing, and compliance monitoring. As a result, activities were sustained from 1 August to 8 December 2020. There were 62,970 COVID-19 tests conducted with 1,435 people testing positive for a positivity rate of 2.28%. A total of 1,670 COVID-19 cases were identified with 235 self-reports. The mean number of tests per week was 3,500 with approximately 80 of these positive (11 per day). More than 60 student tracers were trained with over 120 personnel available to contact trace, at a ratio of one per 400 university members. The successes and lessons learned provide a framework and pathway for similar institutions to mitigate the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and sustain operations during a global pandemic.

Study Objective We investigated sleep disparities and academic achievement in college. Methods Participants were 6,002 first-year college students [62.0% female, 18.8% first-generation, 37.4% Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) students] attending a midsize private university in the southern United States. During the first 3-5 weeks of college, students reported their typical weekday sleep duration, which we classified as short sleep (<7 hours), normal sleep (7-9 hours), or long sleep (>9 hours). Results The odds for short sleep were significantly greater in BIPOC students (95% CI: 1.34-1.66) and female students (95% CI: 1.09-1.35), and the odds for long sleep were greater in BIPOC students (95% CI: 1.38-3.08) and first-generation students (95% CI: 1.04-2.53). In adjusted models, financial burden, employment, stress, STEM academic major, student athlete status, and younger age explained unique variance in sleep duration, fully mediating disparities for females and first-generation students (but only partially mediating disparities for BIPOC students). Short and long sleep predicted worse GPA across students’ first year in college, even after controlling for high school academic index, demographics, and psychosocial variables. Conclusions Higher education should address sleep health early in college to help remove barriers to success and reduce disparities.

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Introduction Short and poor quality sleep are particularly common in college students, likely impacting their ability to persist and succeed in difficult courses. In the current study, we investigated demographic-based sleep differences (sleep disparities) and demographic-based academic differences (achievement gaps) in first-semester college students, with the goal of informing whether sleep disparities contribute to achievement gaps. Methods From 2017 to 2018, first-semester undergraduate students at Baylor University completed the New2BU Survey [N=6,048, 61.9% female, 18.7% first-generation, 23.8% underrepresented racial/ethnic minority (URM)]. Data collection occurred within three to five weeks of classes beginning. The survey included self-reported weekday total sleep time (TST), which we classified as short sleep (≤6.9 hours), normal sleep (7-9 hours), or long sleep (>9 hours). Semester GPA data were obtained from university records for students’ first 4 semesters. Results There was evidence for both achievement gaps and sleep disparities. The risk for short sleep was increased in female students (p<.001; OR=1.20, 95%CI: 1.08-1.33), first-generation students (p=.02; OR=1.17, 95%CI: 1.03-1.33), and URM students (p<.001; OR=1.32, 95%CI: 1.16-1.50). The risk for long sleep increased substantially in first-generation students (p=.003, OR=1.92, 95%CI: 1.25-2.97) and URM students (p<.001; OR=2.41, 95%CI: 1.57-3.70), but not in female students (OR=0.88, 95%CI: 0.59-1.30). First-generation and URM students showed a 0.2-0.3 GPA reduction each semester relative to comparison groups (ps<.001), but short sleep and long sleep predicted GPA data up to four semesters later. Sleep-GPA correlations were modest in size (rs=.10-.14), but remained significant even after controlling for numerous demographic variables, high school GPA, and college entrance test scores. Conclusion Sleep disparities are noteworthy within the first month of college, and predictive of academic performance across four semesters. Addressing sleep health in all students—but particularly female, first-generation, and URM students—may increase academic success, bridge achievement gaps, and reduce health disparities. Support National Science Foundation (DRL 1920730)