COVID-19 Information

September 25, 2020

Dear Campus Community,

It has been a challenging  week. I want to thank all of our faculty, staff, and students for your efforts and for being a part of quality educational moments in spite of our circumstances. You help make SIUE an exceptional institution.

Campus Updates:

• COVID Dashboard - This week, Health Services began performing COVID screening tests in remote locations. The Health Service staff performed 86 screening tests and had a positivity rate of 0% for the week. This week’s confirmed positive cases for those self-reporting or those identified through SIUE testing were 26 for students and 2 for faculty/staff. The number of current 14-day new positive tests stands at 39 students and 2 faculty/staff.  

It may appear somewhat confusing that while we are reporting an increase in positive cases, our positivity rate is 0.0%.  I want to clarify that the methodology of the positivity rate follows what IDPH utilizes for its county metrics.  At SIUE, we have adapted that to our campus Screening Test strategy.    

The percentage of positive tests results from all screening tests administered by SIUE and is based upon the date results are reported to SIUE.  It excludes testing data that are reported for tests conducted off-campus.   

Weekly test positivity = [SIUE Screening Test positive tests for 7 days] / [SIUE Screening total tests for same 7 days] x 100 

 For a more in-depth look at SIUE’s COVID numbers, please click here; screening appointments can be scheduled here. Health Service will visit Prairie Hall on Tuesday, September 29 and Bluff Hall on Wednesday, September 30 between 1:30-3 p.m. to conduct remote screening tests. 

• Fall Commencement - Due to public safety guidelines related to COVID-19 and the Restore Illinois plan, we will not be hosting an in-person commencement in December. However, we have been working to develop an alternative plan,  including on-ground, personal small group experiences, to ensure graduates are rightly honored for their incredible achievements, and to provide the opportunity to celebrate with friends and family. Virtual ceremonies will be posted on the commencement website on December 18. These ceremonies will include remarks from Chancellor Pembrook and Provost Cobb, acknowledge student speakers, confer degrees and welcome SIUE's newest graduates to the SIUE Alumni Association.
• Spring 2021 – The SIUE Student Government leadership has asked that we remind the campus community of changes to this year’s academic calendar (the calendar changes for students in the Schools of Pharmacy and Dental Medicine, will be communicated by program leadership and the Deans.) As a reminder, instruction will continue for the remainder of the Fall semester, although there is an important modification related to the Thanksgiving Break, which is scheduled for November 23 – 29.  After November 29, the vast majority of on-ground courses, with very few exceptions, will transition to remote instruction. 

Generally, final exams will be held online, either synchronously at the time posted on the final exam grid or asynchronously with details to be provided by the instructor. These rules apply to full-term courses.  For courses in shorter form (e.g. 8 weeks), final exams will be scheduled in the final meeting session.

Winter session begins on December 21 and ends January 10.  As always, it will be fully online.

Spring 2021 classes will begin January 19. Weekend classes begin January 23. There will be no Spring Break in 2021; the semester will run through final exams, which are scheduled for May 3-7, 2021.

A calendar is available at https://www.siue.edu/academics/undergraduate/policies/academic-calendar.shtml. 

And finally in this, Rich Walker’s last full week of employment at SIUE, let me offer my deepest gratitude for his contributions to SIUE. His influence has been significant and the campus has never looked more beautiful or been in better repair. Additionally, he has built on the planning efforts of past administrators and leaves us with a solid and exciting future physical footprint to pursue, as well as benchmarks for quality in many key organizational areas. Please join me in congratulating Rich on his retirement and thank him for his years of dedicated service to our community. 

Best wishes for the weekend,

Randy Pembrook, Chancellor