Welcome Back Bradley Students
Welcome Back Bradley Students,
Once again, it’s time for all of us in the Bradley family to unite as we start this new semester. By doing your part, on and off campus, you can help minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19.
For students who’ve chosen to be in person learners and for those who may be remote learners but live on or near campus this spring, the semester will start out differently. We announced on a Jan. 12 email (sent to parents, students and employees) we’ll begin the semester with a modified all-campus quarantine. Classes will meet face-to-face during this time, but there’ll be student restrictions in place for other activities. Because students are returning from numerous locations worldwide, we believe this will be one of the best ways to minimize the virus’s spread and help ensure everyone’s health and wellbeing.
If, by the week of Feb. 8, the campus and community wide virus numbers are supportive, we WILL loosen these restrictions.
Be sure to review the full list of the guidelines for these first two weeks. Students who are in-person learners and those who live on or near campus should return to campus. DON’T do the two-week quarantine at your permanent residence. If you try to avoid the quarantine by not returning to campus during this time, you’re putting the entire campus community at further risk.
Class Attendance
Students are expected to follow the attendance expectations as described in their course syllabi. If you’re an in-person learner, you’re expected to attend each course in person. If your course is hybrid style (meets in person on certain days and remotely on others) you’ll be required to attend as outlined by your instructor.
The deadline for declaring remote status has passed and we don’t plan to accept mid-semester changes unless there is a specific and serious issue warranting the change. In the fall, some students began to drift in and out of remote learning without officially declaring it, which caused issues with instructions, team projects, etc. That will not be allowed this spring.
If you are required to isolate or quarantine, your instructors will be notified of your status.
COVID-19 Testing
The university’s COVID-19 testing strategy was announced last week. The process will remain similar to the one used during the fall semester. We’ll administer surveillance testing for students, faculty and staff who’ll physically be on or near campus during the semester. Symptomatic students will be able to schedule appointments for testing through Bradley Health Services by calling 309-677-2700. Employees who are symptomatic or who wish to be tested should consult their primary care physician or visit one of the Peoria area testing sites.
Anyone who receives a positive COVID-19 test from an off-campus testing site must report those results. Employees are asked to fill out the new self-report form, and students must report their results to Health Services by calling 309-677-2700. If you’ll be under quarantine or isolation at the start of the semester, contact bradleyhealthservices@fsmail.bradley.edu so appropriate notifications can be made to your instructors.
You can read more about our testing process here.
Symptom Tracking
Beginning Wednesday, each morning students and employees will receive a symptom tracker email reminding them to track their symptoms; the email will contain a link to a survey to record those symptoms. While the symptom tracking survey is optional, it’s highly suggested everyone participate. If you won’t be physically engaging with campus for the semester, you’ll be able to opt out.
Local Address
To help assist with contact tracing, it’s very important you let us know where you are living this spring. Please go to Webster and update your local address in the personal info tab, if necessary. If you live in the residence halls, SAC or St. James, you don’t need to make this change (our systems will denote it for you).
Website Overhaul
Over the winter break we revised our COVID-19 website. We listened to your input and have taken your feedback to create something that should fit the many unique needs of our audiences. You'll find this website to be more visually appealing, condensed into more tangible bits and organized in a way that will help you find information more efficiently. You can click on the audience type (students or faculty/staff) or review the categories along the top menu bar.
Please familiarize yourself with the site, as it will serve as the central clearinghouse for all things COVID-19 related. Keep in mind, we are in the modified all-campus quarantine for the first two weeks of the semester, so the quarantine information found here supersedes all other details.
Most COVID-19 messaging will come from univcommunications@fsmail.bradley.edu this semester, so be sure to keep an eye out for messages from this address.
This spring semester will undoubtedly have its challenges, yet through our collective perseverance, resilience and patience we will be successful. It is up to each of us to do our part. Let’s do what’s right. Bradley Unite!