St. Ambrose University and Eastern Iowa Community Colleges shared actions they are taking to prepare for the 2020-2021 academic year during a QC COVID-19 Coalition meeting on Tuesday.
During the meeting, St. Ambrose University Director of Communications Craig DeVrieze announced the college would welcome students back for both in person and online learning on August 17. This is a week earlier than originally scheduled to try and get ahead of the flu season.
DeVrieze said the university has hired an architect and furniture vendor to make sure students on campus are socially distanced.
One of the university’s new safety measures will include a requirement that students and staff wear a mask when they’re in a group setting. “If someone were to refuse to wear a mask, first offense would probably be a warning but beyond that continued refusal we would remove them from campus,” DeVrieze said. “And for employees it could be a loss of employment. We’re taking this all very seriously.”
Dr. Donald Doucette, Chancellor of Eastern Iowa Community Colleges, also spoke during the QC COVID-19 Coalition meeting. Doucette said Clinton Community College, Muscatine Community College and Scott Community College gradually reopened for in-person learning to students during the Summer 2020 term.
According to Doucette, faculty and staff reported feeling safe on campus after health and safety measures were implemented. The colleges say they will apply what they learned during the summer to the fall term, which begins August 24.