CARBONDALE (WSIL)---When SIU students come back for the spring semester, any student who lives on campus will be required to get tested for COVID-19.
"So we're taking steps to do what is right for our region, for our university, for our community, and for the greater good in protecting everyone, both on campus and off campus," said SIU's Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Lori Stettler.
Resident Assistants will be tested when they come back to campus on January 15th, while the rest of the students who live on campus can get their tests when they come back on January 17th through the 20th.
"We really felt like with the long extended break and the holidays and the opportunity for everyone to either travel and be with family and friends and potentially large gatherings, that it was important that we did some testing before we started the semester," said Stettler.
The tests are free of charge to the students, but if they do not get tested, the administration may hold the students in violation of the student code of conduct.
"We encourage our students to take this very seriously, to continue to mask up, wash your hands, continue to social distance, do all the things that are important so that we can stop the spread of this virus," said Stettler.
Off campus students are not required to be tested, but it is encouraged.
"We are encouraging our off campus and our commuter students to get tested as well. And they can do so either through the SIH drive up clinics or through the sites that we will have available on campus when classes start," said Stettler.
SIU has COVID-19 testing available to students, faculty, and staff twice a week directly on campus, and testing will only be mandatory when they first come back to campus.
"It's probably a lot easier than some of the homework that students will be doing," said Stettler.
Other colleges in the area such as SEMO, UT Martin and Murray State University will not be requiring their students to be tested when the spring semester begins.
However, UT Martin will be starting the semester completely virtually, starting January 14th through January 21st to monitor a potential post-holiday COVID-19 surge.
SEMO has asked students to isolate for two weeks prior to returning to campus.
