higher education professionals working remotely during covid-19 pandemic saves livesKeeling & Associates, like our clients and colleagues across higher education in the US and Canada, is adapting the way we do things—how we work, what we prioritize, how we engage and communicate—in response to COVID-19. Preventing or slowing the transmission of the new coronavirus is all of our responsibility; saving lives matters most.

Our consulting projects, executive searches, and interim placement processes are continuing. For us, as for you, students’ learning and well-being remain the top priorities. We are working with our clients and partners to determine how best to support their students—and each other—during these uncertain and challenging times. For the time being, we are not traveling; we continue to work remotely, using trustworthy technology to connect and engage.

This approach is not new to us. For a decade, everybody in K&A has worked from home offices. We have always traveled or used technology to provide our services. Over the years, we have put in place increasingly sophisticated and secure software tools to connect us with each other, manage documents and schedules, and work with students, faculty, and staff on campuses. We are now using those tools to maintain momentum and sustain progress on our projects while travel is inadvisable and the pressures of responding to COVID-19 mount. We are doing interviews, conducting meetings, and facilitating retreats online; we are accustomed to those methods, and we are confident that we, and our clients, can use them effectively in today’s environment.

COVID-19 has changed some of our methods, but it has not stopped our work.

We may learn that we can continue to use technology more broadly once—as we dare to hope—the world is freed of this coronavirus. Already we are learning that our credentials and experience in campus and public health are helpful in new ways. And we continue to discover that change for learning is what higher education is all about. Cultivating humanity matters more than ever before.

We extend our support to the friends and colleagues we know, and the ones we have not yet met. Together we are a resilient people.

Stay home; focus forward; be kind. K&A is here; we are working; we welcome your questions.

Richard P. Keeling, MD
Chairman, Keeling & Associates, LLC