U of I to expand to in-person learning next fall, majority of classes return to classroom
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WLS) -- The University of Illinois System plans to expand in-person learning next fall.
The plan would restore in-person instruction for a majority of classes and labs in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield, according to a University of Illinois System press release.
Special hybrid and online provisions will be made for large lecture-style courses, based on public health guidance, the release said.
"Barring a marked change in the pandemic's current trajectory, we intend to welcome students back to a more traditional, more personal campus experience next fall," President Tim Killeen said. "I am proud that the U of I community played a key role in making it happen - from our brilliant researchers in Urbana-Champaign who created covidSHIELD to our dedicated healthcare team in Chicago that hosted trials for vaccines to Springfield faculty who shared their leading-edge expertise in hybrid learning."
The University of Illinois has received FDA emergency use authorization for its saliva-based COVID-19 test.
University of Illinois saliva-based COVID 19 test gets FDA authorization
It's been shared with more than 40 universities, schools, businesses and units of government, according to the release.
The covidSHIELD test only requires saliva and does not need a nasal swab. Results can come back within 24 hours of a sample reaching a covidSHIELD lab.
The university says the test is a fraction of the cost of many widely available tests and it was shown to be highly accurate in a clinical study.
Widespread testing with rapid results held campus positivity rates low with no major outbreaks, even as state and national rates rose into double digits at the height of the pandemic, according to the University.
