Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Jason
Speaker 1: Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. We do want to bring in
Speaker 1: our next guest, who are delighted to have back with us,
Speaker 1: Barnard College President Sean bilic uh c On. Nice to
Speaker 1: have you here with us, and thanks very much for
Speaker 1: your patients. As we listened to Mayor do Blasio um
Speaker 1: your home city, you know, it's interesting we're listening to
Speaker 1: the mayor of New York and his tone and demeanor
Speaker 1: are really at odds with what we're hearing from the
Speaker 1: President and other officials who are beginning to talk about
Speaker 1: reopening up the US economy. How are you on a
Speaker 1: daily basis assessing the situation? How have you been assessing
Speaker 1: this situation? Well, there's a lot of information coming in
Speaker 1: and when we're really thinking specifically about New York City
Speaker 1: and New York City right now, and our goal has
Speaker 1: been to first and foremost to support the health and
Speaker 1: safety of our faculty, students, and staff. And we've transitioned
Speaker 1: to online learning for the remainder of the semester and
Speaker 1: really focusing on helping our student and continue during this
Speaker 1: really you know, unprecedented time and so what does that
Speaker 1: look like and what are you learning so far? President
Speaker 1: by like in terms of the mechanics and the logistics
Speaker 1: of you know, really keeping students engaged and helping faculty
Speaker 1: and staff, I would imagine sort of manage their home lives,
Speaker 1: and all that I think is we're all discovering in
Speaker 1: this remote, uh scenario. It's complicated. It is definitely complicated.
Speaker 1: And you know, I think the role of an institution
Speaker 1: here in a place like Barner that prides itself on
Speaker 1: a world class education, our faculty and our teachers they're
Speaker 1: also scholars, is helping support the faculty and the students
Speaker 1: so that they can all learn together. Um, whether that's
Speaker 1: giving faculty tutorials about using zoom and how to engage
Speaker 1: classes and also giving students the same sort of tutorials
Speaker 1: and helps and just tips for staying focused and engaged.
Speaker 1: Just like you would in a classroom, having your cell
Speaker 1: phone right next to you, it's not so great for
Speaker 1: focusing and being attentive. And that's certainly true online as well.
Speaker 1: We just want to mention a headline crossing the Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Facebook seeing um a weakening ad market. Let me just
Speaker 1: bring it up. I just lost it here. Facebook seeing
Speaker 1: weakening and ad business due to COVID nineteen. That's expected
Speaker 1: as we see a lot of businesses UM seeing a
Speaker 1: retrenchment in everything that's going on. President Pylock, I do
Speaker 1: wonder too about what kinds of things that you guys
Speaker 1: are implementing, whether it's online learning or virtual tours for
Speaker 1: folks who want to come see you know, the college
Speaker 1: um that you think might actually stick around longer term. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think there are really some opportunities here to make
Speaker 1: sure that we're able to engage students and parents, families,
Speaker 1: interested parties, alarms from across the globe. So some of
Speaker 1: the virtual tours we're doing UM check in with faculty,
Speaker 1: even for alms to learn about what's happening in the classroom.
Speaker 1: I've already heard that many parents are peeking over their
Speaker 1: students shoulders that they're taking part in classes. And I
Speaker 1: think there's there's an opportunity to get more folks engaged
Speaker 1: in education. And so President Biolack, and I'm saying this
Speaker 1: out of a place of self interest, and I'm guessing
Speaker 1: Carol is thinking the same thing, especially as an alum
Speaker 1: of your notable institution. We both have college juniors. You
Speaker 1: know whose s A T s were delayed. We've got
Speaker 1: the ap s being UM executed in a different way.
Speaker 1: High school students, especially high school students are in their
Speaker 1: junior year and a little younger and a little older
Speaker 1: are really going to be affected by this. How is
Speaker 1: your institution? How our institutions sort of thinking about that?
Speaker 1: And I've got to say, this was going to be
Speaker 1: a week where we were touring colleges. You weren't even
Speaker 1: supposed to be here today. I was not supposed to
Speaker 1: be here. Well, I hope you're visiting us online because
Speaker 1: we have a fantastic tour. She is the students and
Speaker 1: and you really get a flavor UM. And we're certainly
Speaker 1: thinking about students who are younger UM in high school,
Speaker 1: and we're going to make sure that no one is
Speaker 1: penalized for not being able to take a test or
Speaker 1: for disruptions. We know this is a time when things
Speaker 1: are going to change and that requires flexibility. And one
Speaker 1: of the fantastic things about a small institution like Barnard,
Speaker 1: even though it's situated within the larger Columbia University, We're
Speaker 1: able to give that one on one attention. So I
Speaker 1: I do want to ask you, um if we can
Speaker 1: about an area of expertise that you have. You gave
Speaker 1: an amazing ted talk the Carol sent around uh and
Speaker 1: two million people. I think plus have seen you understand
Speaker 1: you you were a psychologist, a cognitive scientist. I should say,
Speaker 1: by training, you understand stress and this is a stressful time.
Speaker 1: How do you what what's the lens that you're looking
Speaker 1: through to help us maybe cope with everything that's going
Speaker 1: on around us. Yeah, I think you know. I've I've
Speaker 1: spent my career setting anxiety in the brain and in
Speaker 1: a way that makes me well situated to think about
Speaker 1: these times and how we support our community. I think
Speaker 1: the for thing is to really understand that it's okay
Speaker 1: to feel anxious right now. We often feel anxious when
Speaker 1: we have a loss of control, when we don't know
Speaker 1: what's going to happen. In fact, in my research, when
Speaker 1: we actually peek inside the brain, when we use neuro
Speaker 1: science techniques to look inside the brain, we see the
Speaker 1: areas in the brain involved in fear, involved in negative
Speaker 1: emotions are most activated before something negative happens. It's kind
Speaker 1: of the what if you don't know what's going to happen.
Speaker 1: And so this is a time where we have a
Speaker 1: lot of these what ifs, and it's okay to be anxious.
Speaker 1: But in doing and knowing that, this is also a
Speaker 1: time to cut yourself from slack to have self compassion.
Speaker 1: We know that we often are harsher on ourselves than
Speaker 1: we are on everyone else around us. It's that little
Speaker 1: voice in your head, and it's time to be compassionate
Speaker 1: with ourselves to say it's okay to be stressed. We
Speaker 1: don't have to have everything planned out, and our goal
Speaker 1: is to focus on the little things that are taking
Speaker 1: us one day at a time. Well, especially in a
Speaker 1: situation where we have really no control over what's happening.
Speaker 1: I mean, our world has been turned completely upside down
Speaker 1: present by luck, and we've just got to kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, wait for the answers or wait for the
Speaker 1: situation to change. And I would say, now is it
Speaker 1: time to focus on what you can control. So for
Speaker 1: our students, we talk a lot about making schedules. So
Speaker 1: even though you're not maybe having all your normal routines,
Speaker 1: what schedules can you have? You have class? Can you
Speaker 1: also set as signs some time to study? Maybe you
Speaker 1: have a Zoom study group with friends, um are there
Speaker 1: are times when you can just get on Zoom socially
Speaker 1: to hang out, actually compartmentalizing that time. Having some control,
Speaker 1: of course, getting away from your device, looking out the window,
Speaker 1: going outside, even as your social distancing. Making that part
Speaker 1: of a schedule routine can give us a sense of
Speaker 1: control that can actually reduce some of the anxiety. That's
Speaker 1: a great piece of advice because I have found that
Speaker 1: since we've shifted, I'm just going on almost a week
Speaker 1: at home now, that it's very easy to not stop
Speaker 1: working and kind of keep going. No, please go ahead,
Speaker 1: It's very easy to do that. Um. And actually, one
Speaker 1: of my senior team said to me today her office
Speaker 1: is across the street from mine, and she said, I
Speaker 1: realized I missed running across the street to your office
Speaker 1: because it was a couple of minutes to just get
Speaker 1: outside and not have my phone. And so I'm creating
Speaker 1: the virtual running across the street. She said, yeah, no,
Speaker 1: it is interesting too, And and to that point, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think as much as we do virtually, and I
Speaker 1: see this in my kids, I see this in myself.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm looking at Carol sort of via video
Speaker 1: conference right now. But you know, we are usually about
Speaker 1: three feet from each other for many, many hours a day,
Speaker 1: our whole team is together, and I mean there is
Speaker 1: some I think anxiety and worry sort of embedded in
Speaker 1: that of not having that sort of physical connection, even
Speaker 1: if even just physical proximity, right, Yeah, And we know
Speaker 1: that loneliness can affect, helps confect how we feel, so
Speaker 1: I think it's important to try and get some of
Speaker 1: those connections where you can. Um. We are talking to
Speaker 1: our students about making sure, even in a larger lecture crash,
Speaker 1: that they turn on their video just to have that connection.
Speaker 1: We know that looking at people's face gives you a
Speaker 1: lot of information actually about how their thinking, thinking, how
Speaker 1: they're feeling, even their body postures. So be engaged in
Speaker 1: that way and then figure out what time you're going
Speaker 1: to turn your computer off. And if you have family
Speaker 1: or friends around in your apartment or in your home,
Speaker 1: you know, spend some time with them. Figure out what
Speaker 1: you can do that is um really meaningful. Present by
Speaker 1: like I've got to ask you just got about a
Speaker 1: minute left. I mean, this has been a tough year
Speaker 1: for barnard Um and anybody who follows the news knows
Speaker 1: that you guys lost a student earlier this year and
Speaker 1: it was in a really horrific way. I think your
Speaker 1: leadership has been pretty incredible, and I do think we're
Speaker 1: at a time where we are looking for leadership. Any
Speaker 1: any thoughts, UM, you know, justing on your experience this year, UH,
Speaker 1: to our listeners and to those folks who are running
Speaker 1: companies UH and just trying to figure out how to
Speaker 1: get through and they're and they're managing a personal life,
Speaker 1: a professional life, concerned about their family, concerned about their workers.
Speaker 1: And I do apologize just got about forty five seconds.
Speaker 1: I think really showing your company or the community that
Speaker 1: you know you you are in this with them, that
Speaker 1: this is anxiety provoking for you, but here are the
Speaker 1: steps you're going to take. Really being part of the
Speaker 1: situation can be really effective for people knowing that we're
Speaker 1: all on the same thing. Well, thank you so much,
Speaker 1: and UH, take care and be well. And I really
Speaker 1: appreciate getting some time with you, Bernard College President see
Speaker 1: on by like joining us on the phone here in
Speaker 1: New York City, and I think some really helpful advice.
Speaker 1: I think some of the leaders that we've been talking to, UM,
Speaker 1: what she had to say, um, and really, you know,
Speaker 1: remember to be kind of part of your community, taking
Speaker 1: some time out not being so hard on yourself. I
Speaker 1: think when we talked to Michael Ansley about meditation, like
Speaker 1: these are things that have really stuck with me, that
Speaker 1: we are all being turned upside down and you really
Speaker 1: have to think about these things and you have to
Speaker 1: sort of own it to the extent and really be
Speaker 1: honest with yourself about what's going on around you.