The fall 2021 semester onIndiana UniversitySouth Bend’s campus will be in person and the university expects that the fall semester will see a return to mostly normal operations, as was announced for all IU campuses.
IU South Bend has implemented many health and safety policies throughout this academic year to provide the safest possible working and learning environments. As a result, positivity rates of employees and students have continued to drop and are now below 1 percent. Regular testing of students, faculty, and staff has played a major role in enabling the campus to manage COVID-19. Safety measures are still in place on campus and IUSB is strongly encouraging everyone to get vaccinated as soon as they’re eligible so we can continue to see these trends continue to improve.
“IU South Bend is fortunate to be able to rely upon the expertise of IU’s medical and public health experts, whose advice contributed to this decision,” said Chancellor Susan Elrod. “The IUSB community has done an outstanding job following the guidance of IU medical experts, which has been crucial in successfully battling the pandemic on campus. With the vaccine roll–out and falling COVID-19 positivity rates in our community, I am confident that we will be able to return to mostly normal university operations in the fall.”
While fall 2021 may not look exactly like pre-COVID semesters, it won’t be like the current academic year. Some health and safety precautions will likely remain in place this fall, but much will depend on the state of the pandemic and how many in the IU community get fully vaccinated.
“As long as the pandemic continues, we must be ready to adjust course quickly, and we will continuously review our plans, activities, and operations to keep safety as our top priority,” said Elrod.
