GREENVILLE – East Carolina University faculty, students and staff are stepping forward to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic in a wide variety of ways, from telehealth to remote work, from finding jobs to dealing with stress and learning online.

Matt Smith, Communications Specialist at the Division of Research, Economic Development and Engagement for East Carolina University, compiled a list of stories that help share the message of the ECU community’s efforts to lead and help in traumatic times.

Stories relating to ECU and COVID-19 can be found online via this site.

The list:

  • Expanding Virtual Visits: ECU Physicians Offers Virtual Visits to Community in Response to COVID-19

In times of crisis, the East Carolina University community does not simply wait for the storm to subside. It pools its collective talents and resources before charging into the storm to serve those in need. Despite the significant operational challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, ECU Physicians – the medical practice of ECU’s Brody School of Medicine – is taking steps to increase access to health care for community members, including those who are not ECU Physicians patients and those who do not have health insurance. Beginning April 8, ECU Physicians will provide opportunities for anyone with COVID-19-related symptoms to see and speak to a physician via virtual visits.

  • Coping With Quarantine: ECU Psychologist Offers Tips for Coping with COVID-19 Stress

Along with the fears and uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and changes to daily life that have come with it, stress and anxiety can emerge and impact the way people cope and function. Dr. Marissa Carraway, director of behavioral medicine at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine offers tips for individuals and families feeling the pressure from COVID-19.

  • Commitment to Community: ECU Grad, Entrepreneur Shifts Focus to Help Local Community

A recent East Carolina University graduate and small business owner has started making face shields to help the local medical community during the COVID-19 crisis. Taylor Walden owns Simple and Sentimental, a Greenville-based online and storefront operation that creates unique, personalized gifts. Before the pandemic, its operation was running smoothly. Now three employees are working from home under Greenville’s Stop the Spread order, while Walden and her husband, Nick, are running the company’s daily operations.

  • Sourcing Sanitizer: Collaborators Get to Work on Meeting Community Need

As the residents of eastern North Carolina adapted to working from home and homeschooling, community members began to look for ways to help. Facing a potential shortage of hand sanitizer, and ECU professor and the director of pharmacy at ECU Physicians, had already begun compounding sanitizer with ingredients he had on hand and what he could source from the labs of other faculty members. Together, they’re pooling their resources together to make hand sanitizer for eastern NC.

  • Here to Help: ECU Career Services Available Online to Help Students Land Jobs, Internships

Despite the pandemic, ECU’s Career Services is still helping students find work. The office is still accepting appointments to help students with interviewing virtually, creating resumes and cover letters, and strategizing for their job search.

  • Leaning In: Pirate Nation Adapts to Changes in Teaching, Learning, Operations During Pandemic

ECU students, faculty and staff switched from in-person to distance learning and working during the pandemic. This story highlights how they’ve been affected by that change, from instructors moving to online learning and research staff and faculty continuing operations and projects despite not being on campus.

  • Sound Instruction: Trumpet Professor Reaches Students Across North Carolina

An ECU School of Music instructor is using the social media app TikTok to reach students across the state, and theoretically, the world. Some of his videos have reached tens of thousands of views, including one that hit 181K.

  • Safety Skills: Brody Trainings Give Medical Works Refresher on Safety Gear

ECU’s Brody School of Medicine faculty and Vidant Medical Center residents and fellows are refreshing their skills on how to wear PPF. Brody’s Interprofessional Clinical Simulation Program and ECU emergency medicine provides simulation based training for COVID-19 practice.

  • A Familiar Face: Principal Builds Community Virtually with Elementary School Students

With schools closed across the state, children and parents are trying to navigate a new world of online learning amid the coronavirus pandemic. Pirate alumnus and current principal Donald Wyatt has tackled this problem head-on, reaching out to his students online.

  • Printing Protection: ECU Team Works to Make Safety Equipment for Medical Professionals

A group of East Carolina University students has teamed up with faculty and administrators from various departments in hopes of providing needed safety equipment to medical personnel. With concerns over possible shortages of masks and face shields to protect against COVID-19, the team is working to develop such equipment through the use of three-dimensional printers in ECU’s Innovation Design Lab (IDL).

  • Student Emergency Funds: ECU Raises Nearly 50K to Help Students Affected by Coronavirus

As students are asked to stay at home due to shelter in place orders, many are facing financial hardship due to loss of on-campus jobs and housing. ECU donors have raised nearly 50K to help those affected by COVID-19.