In the age of COVID-19, Illinois’ universities are adapting to the new reality in many different ways while still offering classes for students. In “Illinois Colleges Cope With COVID,” we will take a look each week at one major Illinois school to see how it is doing and what is being done at that school to keep students safe. This week features Bradley University of Peoria, Ill.

What’s happening?

Bradley University, a private university with almost 6000 students enrolled, attracted national attention last week after enacting a two-week quarantine for all of its students. The quarantine means that students at all class levels, both on and off-campus, are only allowed to leave their residences for a few limited purposes (such as running essential errands). The university also moved all of its classes online for the duration of the quarantine.

            “Although it may seem extreme, this move to temporary remote learning and a two-week, all-student quarantine allows us to focus on the continuity of the educational experience for all of our students while giving us time to gather data on the full extent of the spread of the virus and assess the best way to proceed as a community,” Bradley University President Stephen Standifird said last week in a message to the campus community.

            At the time, the university had just under 50 known cases of COVID-19. By the end of last week, between on and off-campus testing, Bradley University had 142 positive tests for the coronavirus since the beginning of the school’s fall semester.

What are the school’s procedures for COVID-19?

Unlike UIS, where all students, faculty, and staff on campus are required to get tested once a week, anywhere between 250 and 300 individuals at Bradley are randomly selected to be tested for free each week. The school also offers ongoing testing for students who exhibit symptoms or have had close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

            Employees and students are also being asked, but not required, to fill out a Daily Symptom Tracker that monitors potential symptoms for COVID-19. Students and employees will only be asked to isolate and get a COVID-19 test if they report “major symptoms.”

            When classes are not online, those taking part in classes are required to social distance and wear masks. Students were allowed to ask to take the entire semester virtually, and faculty were given the option prior to the start of Bradley’s semester to move some or all of the classes that they teach to an online format.

What’s next?

The university’s message to the campus community regarding the quarantine said that a return to face-to-face classes would depend on the success of the quarantine.

            “[We’ve] continued to follow the science and put much thought into the well-being of our campus and our students’ education,” the message read. “If we do not see progress during these two weeks, it will impact the rest of the semester.”

            Bradley University’s quarantine continues through 7 a.m. on Sept. 23. The university is set to make a decision about whether or not to resume face-to-face classes by Sept. 21.