By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Missouri Western State University Interim President Elizabeth Kennedy says things seem to be going well on the St. Joseph campus, which began classes August 17th.
Kennedy credits the university’s COVID-19 response team, which has been working since March on the plan to return to campus during the pandemic.
“We have been monitoring and watching and doing corrective actions when we need to, which is to be expected when you’re bringing back students that we have and faculty to just to make sure that our protocols and practices are in play and underway,” Kennedy tells St. Joseph Post.
Kennedy says she has been keeping a close eye on happenings elsewhere in the country where coronavirus outbreaks have caused campuses to shut down in-class instruction and go solely to online offerings. The University of North Carolina and Michigan State have made the decision to switch to all online courses after coronavirus outbreaks on those campuses. Notre Dame plans to resume classes on the South Bend, Indiana campus this week after a COVID-19 outbreak forced students off the campus for two weeks.
Kennedy says Missouri Western has been working closely with Mosaic Life Care as well as health officials from Buchanan County and St. Joseph on how best to keep the campus community safe.
Kennedy says students seem to be adapting to all the changes made on the St. Joseph campus in an effort to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak.
“And I think, for the most part, our students on campus are learning how to do education, how to go to college in a COVID environment,” Kennedy says. “I think this is one of the great challenges of their lifetime probably thus far and who knows what the future will hold, but it will certainly define their young adulthood, particularly in terms of their collegiate experience.”
When asked whether there is a silver lining in all this, Kennedy sees some good emerging from a very difficult, stressful time.
“I think it’s given us maybe a chance to step back and appreciate what we find meaningful and important in our own lives, connecting with family, connecting with loved ones, staying close,” Kennedy says. “I think silver linings in that it shows us how to work together as a team and that sometimes sacrifice is necessary for the greater good.”