19 Committees for COVID-19

By Amanda K. Fronk (BA ’10, MA ’14) in the Fall 2020 Issue

Two BYU students wearing mask walking outside. — Photo by Jaren Wilkey

Thirty minutes made all the difference, says Brandon L. Smith (BS ’04, MS ’07), senior director of AV Services for BYU’s Office of Information Technology. When COVID-19 struck, there wasn’t just a run on toilet paper—universities across the world were all after the same cameras and microphones to outfit their crisis-created online classrooms. The demand required lightning-speed decision-making for approvals that would normally take 12 to 18 months. “We got our order in just before a couple of other universities placed their orders,” says Smith. “If we had gotten our order in a half hour later, we may not have had supplies to pull [the fall 2020 semester] off. The amount of coordination has just been tremendous.”

An outline drawing of a woman wearing a mask.

Across campus, that coordination involved 19 committees tasked with answering a flood of questions: How would classes be administered—in person? online? in a hybrid fashion? Would BYU hold sporting events, performances, and conferences? What about the packed tables at the Cougareat? Just how many rolls of paper towels and bottles of disinfectant would be needed?

Speaking to faculty, administration, and staff at August’s University Conference, President Kevin J Worthen (BA ’79, JD ’82) called these efforts “an ongoing miracle that continues to this day as so many have worked so hard and so diligently to prepare for the return of our students to what is still a unique and precarious environment.”

Here’s a breakdown of some of the adjustments BYU made: