UH System developing TB policy after two cases this academic year

The University of Houston System plans to develop preventive measures to protect its students from tuberculosis.

Dr. Vanessa K. Tilney, executive director and chief physician of the UH Student Health Center, gave regents on Thursday details of two unrelated cases of the disease that occurred on campus this academic year — one in October and another announced in April.

Both individuals who contracted the disease were international students, but from different countries, she said.

Tilney said the university has been working with the Houston Health Department to analyze the current guidelines and to implement “risk-based” screening. A policy being considered would require UH to test all international students and others who have lived in or traveled to or from high-risk countries. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists several countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia as high risk.

In 2018, Houston had 167 TB cases, but “while tuberculosis is a contagious disease, we don’t foresee a high number people

becoming infected or an outbreak to occur,” Porfirio Villarreal, spokeswoman for the Houston Health Department, said in a written statement shortly after the April case was announced.

According to the CDC, TB is considered one of the world’s deadliest diseases because it is spread by an infected person coughing, speaking or even singing.

In addition, the UH System board announced amendments to its “campus-carry” policy: No person other than law enforcement is allowed to openly carry a weapon on campus. The policy also establishes “temporary exclusion zones” for those carrying licensed and concealed weapons. Those temporary zones will help provide flexibility in special security cases on campus, said Dona Cornell, vice president for legal affairs and general counsel.

UH officials also announced findings from an

investigation into its admissions, which was done in response to Gov. Greg. Abbott’s call in March for all state universities to examine their processes following the national college admissions scandal. Parents across the country, including high-profile actresses, were charged with offering bribes to get their children into prestigious colleges, some under the guise of a sports scholarship or athleticism.

Both Cornell and J. Richard Walker, vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment services, said the university was satisfied with its admission policies and saw no vulnerabilities.

Walker said all four of the UH System institutions’ policies seemed secure and they are now being formatted similarly so that all admissions policies are cohesive. Officials are still gathering admissions for the graduate level, but have no reason to think there is reason for concern, he said.

Cornell said she and her team reviewed the policies and admission process for athletics. They also looked back five years at students who had been admitted to athletic teams but left or withdrew from teams soon after.

The pattern could have indicated an admissions scheme similar to the one that involved University of Texas at Austin’s former tennis coach Michael Center, who, authorities said in court documents, accepted bribes to offer a student a tennis scholarship. The student later withdrew from the tennis team at the beginning of his first academic year, but continued to attend UT.

Cornell said they determined each UH athlete’s reason for leaving was legitimate, and the examination of past processes showed a clear separation of athletic coaches and admission officials.

“I don’t think it’s happened in the system ever,” Walker said. “I think it was a very valuable exercise for us.”