CARBONDALE (WSIL) -- Over the last few days we've heard from SIU Athletic Director Liz Jarnigan.
She discusses the gates process of getting student athletes back on campus for voluntary workouts.
Jarnigan also discussed the future of football. All of which is available on WSIL TV dot com.
And now, Jarnigan discusses how SIU continues to follow NCAA guidelines, but also the challenge of having dorm rooms ready and how to accommodate international students.
"Competitive equity is out the window this year and while we have NCAA permission for something we can do with it, they're only able to do what they are able to with their institution guidelines and state guidelines so if it means we start a day earlier or a day later it's going to be difficult for us to take but we won't be the only ones to be impacted that way," Jarnigan said.
Due to social distancing guidelines, student athletes will be brought back in small groups. The order of which athletes return is a challenge.
"Honestly it is an approach that comes to us from the NCAA as well so we are working hard to follow those guidelines and we know a lof of the Power Five institutions aren't bringing all of their student athletes all in at once so while it is a challenge we are doing our best to get them back as quickly as possible for us, limiting it to returners first makes sense because our dorms are not open and available for newcomers and freshmen at this point and won't be for a while."
And how does SIU accommodate the return of international student athletes.
"We have not discussed a different type of quarantine procedure for internationals but of course they do, there is a unique situation and we need to make sure they can get out of their country and we get them back into ours and for quite a few of our internationals, some of them have stayed and still around and makes that question easier and we just need to be cautious and careful about how we get, process, and get them back. It's one of the questions I listed when we all went home for the stay at home order a couple of months ago and it remains a question that I brought up and I just brought up at a coaches meeting the other day and all the coaches assure me they feel as confident as they possibly can about getting kids back. The bigger challenge might be newcomer internationals."
