The topic of how best to keep college campuses safe and healthy in the midst COVID-19 is one that’s ever changing. Even with regulations placed by government officials, many colleges and universities are expected to make their own specific procedures for the virus. Bluffton University has made specific procedures and precautions as have its sister schools Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, Hesston (Kansas) College and Goshen (Indiana) College. Officials from Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, did not immediately respond to requests for information from The Witmarsum.
TESTING
Jodi Beyeler is the vice president of communications and people strategy interviewed because of her role as a member of the pandemic task force at Goshen College.
Goshen College’s vice president of communications and people strategy, Jodi Beyeler, who is also a member of the pandemic task force at the college, has been able to oversee the pandemic procedures throughout this entire school year including the changes made from the fall to spring semesters. The biggest change that was made for the spring semester was the addition of mandatory weekly testing for all students and faculty. The tests provided each week are rapid tests, the same tests used when residents were leaving for Thanksgiving/Christmas break as well as those offered upon arrival at the beginning of spring semester.
Other sister schools require testing if students or employees have reported having symptoms.
VACCINATIONS
Currently at Hesston College, the only students able to get vaccinated are nursing majors, but many staff members have already been vaccinated. Bethel College has been working with the Harvey County Health Department to prioritize their employees in phase two.
“As most employees have just received the first vaccination, it is too early to tell what impact it has had on our numbers,” Tricia Clark, director of institutional communications and marketing at Bethel said. “However, we remain quite low in positive cases.”
Goshen College has had approximately 460 students and employees having at least one dose of the vaccine at this point. Students who were vaccinated were nursing majors and students who volunteered at COVID-19 test sites.
PROCEDURES
Each college has many procedures similar to one another in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but they each hold a component that varies slightly. Bethel has established a six-tiered system organized in colors to identify the current COVID-19 status on campus. It ranges from low risk to highest risk, the sequence of tiers is green, blue, yellow, orange, red, and grey. Hesston College has a similar system in place with only five tiers. Each tier stands for one letter in “CARES” to notify the campus COVID-19 status. “C” stands for “Cautious”, “A” for “Alert”, “R” for “Restricted”, “E” for “Elevated”, and “S” for “Severe”.
Hesston College has also been able to accommodate their COVID-19 rules on quarantining because of the new access to equipment.
“Since we were able to access both antigen and PCR testing equipment for second semester, this has offered us the option to shorten quarantine after seven days with a negative test,” said Deb Roth, vice president of Student Life at Hesston College.
Goshen College has encouraged students and faculty to follow a set of precautions they call “the big four.” This set of precautions include a daily self-screening checklist, hand hygiene, physical distancing and wearing a mask. Other changes were made on Goshen’s campus including the addition of tents for outdoor seating and the “green box.” The “green box” is a method of making dining options open to taking food to go.
ATHLETICS
Athletics at Goshen College stayed the same each semester with campus testing as well as normal sports seasons. The athletes at Goshen still have to undergo regular testing and have taken necessary precautions when traveling to away games. All athletes are given four passes to invite family members to games along with the games now being open to students and staff.
According to EMU’s COVID FAQ, “As of March 8, spectating at home outdoor competitions is open to parents with an EMU-issued pass, as well as students, faculty and staff with an EMU ID.” All the schools have regular surveillance testing for all athletes in season, as well as normal requirements established by the NCAA and NJCAA.
HOUSING
Both Hesston and Goshen College offered accommodations of housing for both semesters. Hesston gave all students the option to have single rooms to prevent the spread of the virus, and Goshen gave the option for students to have single rooms at no extra cost.
Composed of both semesters, the grand total of positive COVID-19 cases for each sister school has varied overall with Bethel College at 185 cases, Goshen College at 134 and Hesston College at 38. EMU’s COVID-19 dashboard indicates 118 confirmed cases since Aug. 1, 2020.
