Message from WIU President Guiyou Huang: Fall 2021 Update

University News

Message from WIU President Guiyou Huang: Fall 2021 Update

July 13, 2021

Dear University Community,

As we prepare to resume the traditional in-person experience this fall at Western Illinois University, to further safeguard the members of our WIU family (and beyond), we expect members of our University community to get their COVID-19 vaccine prior to the start of the semester, which begins August 23.

Getting vaccinated will help our communities mitigate the risks of Coronavirus and its variants. You can find vaccination clinics near you by visiting bit.ly/FindVaxClinic. Please visit wiu.edu/coronavirus for the latest information.

Beginning this fall semester, all faculty, staff, and students will be required to participate in the University's COVID-19 testing program. Individuals may opt out of testing if proof of vaccination is provided. Testing will be required each week for those individuals who do not want to receive the vaccination. A copy of your vaccine card may be submitted to our internal secure site at wiu.edu/vaccinationportal/ (select "student" or "employee" category). If you do not wish to upload your information, you can physically show your card to University staff at the following locations: WIU-Macomb students: Beu Health Center; WIU-Macomb Employees: Sherman Hall 321 (Vice President for Student Success Office); WIU-Quad Cities Students & Employees: Riverfront Hall.

While we are operating under the honor system, individuals who do not or cannot get vaccinated are expected to follow all University pandemic-related protocols, including wearing face coverings indoors on our campuses, social distancing, and taking part in the required COVID test clinics. I do want to stress that the use of face coverings should not be interpreted as vaccinated versus non-vaccinated individuals. Students, faculty, and staff who will not be on campus during the 2021-2022 academic year are exempt from these requirements.

A high vaccination rate for our campuses in Macomb and Moline will allow us to return to our normal operating conditions at a much faster pace. In order to resume our activities – in-person classes, athletic events, Homecoming, and more – we need your cooperation to get back to the full, traditional college experience we know and want. It was because of your cooperation during the height of the pandemic during the 2020-2021 academic year that we were able to keep our number of positive cases relatively low so that we could maintain in-person classes and more. For those who have already been vaccinated, or plan to do so in the near future, thank you for taking the steps to protect yourself and others.

It hasn't been an easy 18+ months. We appreciate everything each of you has done to ensure the safety and well-being of our University community. You remained flexible, you adapted, and you succeeded. For that, I thank you.

We will continue to monitor WIU's pandemic-related protocols and procedures, and will make changes and decisions as necessary, based on guidance from state and federal public health authorities.

Again, thank you for your cooperation and your support.

Take care,

Guiyou Huang, Ph.D.
President
Western Illinois University