By Heart of Illinois ABC
NORMAL – Now a couple of weeks into the spring semester for college students, and local university leaders say they’ve had a smooth return to campus, keeping COVID-19 numbers low.
Not only have Illinois State and Wesleyan kept numbers low, they’ve also started working with local health departments to vaccinate faculty and staff.
“Our folks are ready. Our entire community is ready to return to normal as much as we possibly can and the vaccine is a critical component of that,” Wesleyan VP of students, Karla Carney-Hall said.
Carney-hall says Wesleyan is working closely with the McLean County health department to get all eligible employees vaccinated.
“We have about a little over 50 employees who are over 65 or doing student teaching, those types of things,” Carney-Hall said.
And just down the road, Illinois State is doing the same.
Director of media relations, Eric Jome says, as of last Friday, the university distributed 900 vaccinations.
“We are in constant contact with McLean County Health Department, and that’s where we’re getting our vaccine allotments,” Jome said.
ISU has set up clinic sites on campus to vaccinate those who qualify as quickly as possible. Both universities say with case numbers going down and the vaccine rolling out, they’re optimistic for the fall.
“We would anticipate that more of our classes will be in person. As more people are vaccinated that confidence continues to grow,” Carney-Hall
“Our plan for fall is to offer as many in person classes as possible. We are trying to plan for a more traditional university setting,” Jome said.
Carney-Hall and Jome say they were prepared for spring semester, but they’re also relying on students to make good choices.
“We have made it clear to students as part of our titan pledge that we will seek consequences for folks that are disregarding public health,” Carney-Hall said.
As for the remainder of the semester, both ISU and Wesleyan will stick with the plans they have in place, with some classes on campus and most online.
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