CARBONDALE (WSIL) -- Universities have had their share of adjustments due to COVID-19. But how much did it cost SIU?
As the spring 2021 semester nears, SIU has spent the last 10 months, learning how to balance student expectations and COVID-19 precautions.
"We've been very creative in trying to manage our costs. For example, we discovered we could actually make on campus those acrylic shields that divide people that you see in grocery stores for our reception areas. We made those in house to manage costs," said SIU's chief communications officer Rae Goldsmith.
Goldsmith says the university has spent $1 million on additional staff and supplies since March.
"Those supplies include 3 million wipes, 4,000 bottles of hand sanitizer, nearly 16,000 rolls of paper towels. So we purchased the supplies that we needed to keep the campus safe," she said.
Along with masks and upgraded filters, the university spent $180,000
for extra maintenance and custodial staff and used a $2.8 million dollar grant for testing and contact tracing.
One senior says despite the rocky fall semester, it won't stop him from returning next semester.
"I had a good time at SIU all seven semesters, even with covid and having classes scheduled online and all the complications of it and I just wanted to finish strong," said Danny Connolly.
Goldsmith says the University is proud of everyone who made adjustments to all of the safety protocols.
"Very, very pleased with the response of our students as well as our faculty and staff. They wore their masks they paid attention to the guidance we provided," she said.
Goldsmith didn't have an estimate for News 3 about next semester's costs, but she said there's plenty of supplies and PPE left.
