To our students, faculty, and staff --
Since announcing our intent to have students return this fall, Eastern Illinois University has been working diligently to prepare for a responsible and safe transition into the 2020-21 academic year, with the health and well-being of our students, our employees, and our community remaining EIU’s ultimate priority. Over the past several weeks, teams, committees, and individuals from across the University have demonstrated exceptional collaboration in preparing EIU for the critical task of a safe return. An extraordinary university effort requires extraordinary people, and EIU is fortunate to have so many in its enterprise. I thank them all for their enduring commitment and dedication to safety and to student success.
Earlier, EIU announced the creation and development of a Campus Guidebook that would share additional details about our safe return to campus. I am pleased to say the Guidebook is now available and can be accessed at go.eiu.edu/panthersreturn. You will notice that the Guidebook is primarily directed towards our students, although we believe it will be of interest and informative to our entire EIU community. Faculty and staff will receive additional information and guidelines specific to their employment positions.
Within the Campus Guidebook, you’ll find a variety of useful information about what the University has done, is doing, and will continue to do to mitigate viral infections on campus by following the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), the State’s Restore Illinois Plan, and the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE). The Guidebook also outlines the health and safety measures that will be expected to be adhered to by the entire university community – its students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors.
The Guidebook serves as a broad overview of our efforts, expectations, and guiding principles for the new academic year. It likely will not answer every question our students, employees, or community members may have. Additional questions, comments, and concerns can be sent to covid19info@eiu.edu, where we’ll work to address them individually, or provide more details in future announcements or on our COVID-19 website.
As you are all aware, the fall and spring semesters at EIU will look quite different than what any of us are used to. However, a fervent commitment to the rules and strategies outlined in this Campus Guidebook is our best approach to having a successful, healthy, safe, and productive academic year. Let’s all do our part to protect the health and safety of our entire Panther community.
Sincerely,
David Glassman
President, on behalf of the University’s Administrative Team
Booth House
Eastern Illinois University
600 Lincoln Ave.
Charleston, IL 61920
217-581-7400
jdreinhart@eiu.edu