Pandemic response across Ohio's public universities: Novel approaches, emergent challenges and future opportunities.

We describe and analyze case investigation and contact tracing (CICT) efforts across Ohio's public universities in response to COVID-19 to distill challenges and lessons learned and suggest future opportunities for universities to mobilize in the face of emergent public health crises. Faculty, staff, and graduate students from Ohio's fourteen public universities. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from nine of the 14 universities; representatives from the remaining five universities completed a brief questionnaire. Interviews were transcribed in their entirety and thematically analyzed. Emergent themes include the significance of local relationships for implementing locally tailored solutions; the presence of discrete challenges in doing CICT work with university and local communities, and the importance of university students in pandemic response. There are unique challenges associated with disease control across university populations and surrounding communities, but students from diverse academic background are a potential source of assistance.