As students return, WIU has plans for safe second semester

MACOMB, Ill. (WGEM) -- Western Illinois Students returned to the class room January 19th for the Spring semester.

John Smith is the Interim VP Student Services/ Director of View Health Center at WIU.

Smith said they learned a lot from the fall semester so going into this semester things looked different for students returning to campus.

“This semester we had everything in place we had testing supplies on campus. We were ready for students to move in," he said.

"We sent them an email before they came back asking them to send a negative test result back with them. And if they didn't have a negative test result or couldn't get tested we provided testing for them.”

Smith said they took note of what worked and didn't work the first semester and have made adjustments to keep students, staff, and the community safe.

Western Illinois plans to begin surveillance testing at the university next week. Officials say the goal for the semester to continue to push mask wearing, social distancing, and avoiding large gatherings.