Covid-19, Forcing a Tough Decision for the Office of Decision Support at the University of South Florida

Abstract

Dr. Valeria Garcia, AVP for the Office of Decision Support (ODS), at the University of South Florida (USF), a member of the Academic Affairs leadership team and has been involved in academic and student success continuation planning. Dr. Garcia was on track with scheduled planning for the 2020-21 Academic Year as her team of analysts prepare analyses, dashboards, and other analytical materials for constituents across the university. Mid-March 2020, an unexpected turn of events occurred, the “Black Swan”, as the COVID-19 pandemic that first hit China in December 2019, affected America. Very quickly, government bodies reacted to the pandemic, implementing tactics to control the spread of the virus. With a shift to online classes for the remainder of the spring semester and transition to fully online for the summer semester, USF leadership was challenged with pivoting decision-making with the best interest of the community in mind.