ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) Just one of the many things Winthrop has planned for students when they come back to campus in January. While they may have just started winter break you can bet those plans are already in place.
This spring, Winthrop leaders say they’re dedicated to keeping the campus safe. Students will be required to submit a negative test within five days of returning to campus.
Shelia Higgs-Burkhalter, Winthrop V.P. of Student Affairs, says, “Now as a part of the comprehensive processes that we have for college campuses to really combat COVID, and the spread of the virus — now they’re recommending that so we’ve adopted that protocol for the campus.”
Students will also have the option of participating in voluntary COVID testing throughout the semester to help leaders keep track of the health of the campus. A variety of courses will still be offered online, hybrid and in-person.
“The difference is the percentages. We’ve tried really hard to make sure that we have opportunities for students to be on campus in the spring,” says Higgs-Burkhalter.
One student from Venezuela says, being a college student during the pandemic has been difficult.
“Well I haven’t been home now in almost a year, and almost a year yea. And I mean you just have to deal with it, it’s tough not seeing the family especially Christmas break, that’s something that definitely hits you. But you get used to it, I’m graduating right now so you just gotta deal with it and then keep going.”
A senior on the Men’s soccer team, Andres Carvajal, says his teammates have become like family. He says he understands the changes made on campus and in some ways feels better prepared life after graduation.
“Now, because he didn’t have practice, you didn’t have games, you didn’t have a season he just had to focus on school so it definitely prepared me better for it and actually even made me look for jobs more efficiently and I had more time to do that. And to talk to people and create a network so it wasn’t bad in terms of helping me get a job and be prepared to work and have a job,” says Carvajal.
Leaders say this campus was built to connect and they’re finding new ways of doing just that.
“This campus was built to be a residential campus, it was built for the in person, in class experiences that you have and said we’d like to get back to that as soon as possible,” says Higgs-Burkhalter.
In the video above, CN2 is learning what next semester will look like and how hard this has all been, especially for international students.
