According to Winthrop University’s COVID-19 Dashboard displayed at Winthrop.edu, as of Nov. 8, there have been zero positive cases amongst both students and employees since Oct. 26 and there have been 40 positive cumulative cases since March 16.
With low temperature months fast approaching, COVID-19 cases across the nation are expected to rise and universities, such as Winthrop, are taking extra precautions to help ensure the safety of their students, faculty and staff during the spring
2021 semester despite having a tight budget.
“When we started working with DHEC, they offered a few different services one of which we use which is to have them come look at our campus and make recommendations on how we had set up our campus classrooms and other spaces to make sure we were doing things in a COVID-friendly way. They also offered testing, but it was like 180,000 dollars and we did not necessarily think we could afford it going into the new year,” said Justin Oates, Vice President for Finance and Business Affairs at Winthrop.
“We constantly monitor the budget and we are weighing options on what the spring semester would look like in terms of potential testing… this conversation is something we have been having since the beginning,” said Oates.
After constant monitoring of Winthrop’s budget and due to the desire to mitigate the spread of the virus, Winthrop officials have decided to require testing for a select group of students at the start of the spring 2021 semester.
“Trustees were briefed today on Student Affairs’ and senior leadership’s recommendation for pre-entry COVID-19 testing for students who are taking in-person classes and/or living in the residence halls. Students will be required to present a negative test result for a test taken 72 hours in advance of their return date/first in-person class. (Online-only students will not be required to submit test results.) Students will need to quarantine two days prior to their test and continue to quarantine until their scheduled return to campus date,” said President George Hynd in an email to the student body on Nov. 6.
In an email sent on Oct. 22, Hynd had disclosed that he had no plans to enforce COVID-19 testing for students, faculty or staff due to a lack of sufficient funds and manpower, but with the anticipation for an increase in virus transmission during the coming months leading up to the spring 2021 semester, the university has decided to require testing for on-campus residents.
Some students believe this decision will have a negative impact on the student body and Winthrop’s enrollment numbers in the coming semesters.
“I think it would negatively affect enrollment on campus as people would feel it a bit unnecessary. Maybe every semester, but not constantly. It should be left up to the individual—self-determination. Plus, I think people who take it seriously follow COVID-19 safety guides strictly,” said Jaquarius Norman, a freshman middle level education major.
Some students question why only on-campus residents will be required to get tested. Both the University of South Carolina and Clemson University require testing for everyone on campus, regardless of whether they are residents, faculty or staff, whereas College of Charleston is requiring testing only for on-campus residents and Winthrop has decided to follow suit in that decision.
“Why only students and not also faculty/staff? Arguably, faculty/staff, depending on the position, would spend more time on campus than some students,” said Jake Stiling, a graduate student in the Department of English. “If it is for the purpose of preventing and/or slowing the spread of COVID, then how is one test at the beginning of semester supposed to do this?”
Winthrop officials are consistently monitoring COVID-19 cases in surrounding areas as well as their budget to assess whether it is necessary or possible for the university to enact extra precautions in addition to those already in practice.
Photo by Olivia Esselman
