What Millikin’s Reopening Plan Tells Us

Much is still unknown about how the next few months will go, but Millikin packed a lot of information into the 10-page document they sent students on July 21. Here is what we do know about this semester:

1. Not everyone will need to have a COVID-19 test. Only the people who are flagged by a pre-screening test. This pre-screening test will likely flag people who come from Texas, Arizona, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina. It will also flag people who have been working in or visiting facilities that are high-risk like nursing homes, jails, homeless shelters, or others. If you are a worker at a restaurant or food processing facility linked to an outbreak of COVID-19. Students whose have been in contact with family members or any known person with COVID-19 will be tested. Of course, if you have symptoms, you will be tested, too.
2. You will need to receive a flu vaccine, this semester. They mention that students will need to receive a flu shot on the first page of the document.
3. You will need to buy a thermometer before returning to campus. Every morning before class, students will need to monitor their temperature to make sure they are below 100.4 degree F.
4. Students will need to wear face masks pretty much any time they are not in their bedroom, taking a shower, or eating. They will also need to make sure face masks cannot have offensive images, symbols, or words on them. If you forget or lose your mask, the UC info-desk or any office with an administrative assistant will have disposable ones available.
5. Foot-traffic will change. Entering buildings, walking down the hallway, waiting in line, and several other everyday activities will be dictated by floor markings and arrows. Students will also need to plan to take the stairs, as elevators will be nearly impossible to use.
6. Students Organizations will need to change their past schedules. Zoom meetings are still encouraged and mass gatherings will still be discouraged.
7. Students won’t be able to use water fountains normally. Water fountains could be hotspots for infection, so they will be taped-off. It will be important to bring a water bottle to campus.
8. There will be cleaning supplies everywhere. Each class, office, and public space will have cleaning supplies available so anyone can clean up after themselves.
9. Cleaning will be part of class time. All professors and students will be required to clean their desks after each in-person class
10. Students may need to quarantine in Walker Hall. Walker Hall will be a quarantine sight for COVID-19 students, students with flu-like symptoms, and people who have been contact-traced to an infected student.
11. The wifi will be stronger in the residence halls. The IT department is installing more wireless contact points in the residence halls to increase online capacity.
12. Individual and Group Counseling will still be available. People can still contact mental health services, but the plan is unclear whether sessions will be in-person or remote.
13. Millikin’s Move-In and Reopening policies comply with local, state, national, and international guidelines. Campus life followed guidelines from the American College Health Association, Association of College and University Housing Officers-International, the CDC, the Illinois Department of Public Health, and Macon County Health Department for Move-in procedures. The rest of the plan follows guidelines from the MCHD, IDPH, and the CDC.
14. The athletics schedule is still uncertain. The Athletics department is following guidelines from the CCIW and NCAA. They are awaiting more instruction for how to re-open.
15. Millikin has the right to enforce disciplinary action if you don’t follow the guidelines. Millikin has asked students to pledge that they will follow the guidelines. This pledge binds you to follow the instructions in the 10-page document.