Last week, Chancellor Rebecca Blank addressed the severity of the coronavirus-induced financial crisis UW-Madison is undergoing.
“We’re facing some very serious issues and we’re working them out day-to-day,” Blank explained in a Rotary Club of Madison virtual presentation.
Blank expressed the effects of the crisis cannot be fully determined at this time. Variable elements — such as the number of students who will remain enrolled and the extent of Wisconsin’s budget cuts — will be better assessed in the coming weeks.
Even with a complete student population, Blank estimates a loss of approximately $150 million for the university — namely due to reduced dining and residence hall usage and the cancellation of the Big Ten fall sports season. Decreased budget amounts and employees furloughs will continue to culminate from monetary losses.
However, these losses do not faze institutional efforts to make campus safety as effective as possible.
Gov. Tony Evers has distributed $32 million from the CARES Act across the UW System to motivate a detailed COVID-19 testing program.
Six million dollars have been allocated toward safety gear for testing, $18 million is being utilized for COVID-19 tests across 12 of the 13 UW branches and the remaining $8 million will aid the purchase of 134,000 tests for the UW-Madison campus.
At those 12 universities — consisting of 25 campuses — funding will accommodate bi-weekly COVID-19 tests for students living on campus and tests for symptomatic students. These funds will also be used to pay staffers and purchase flu tests.
UW-Madison has independently formulated a Smart Restart plan complete with COVID-19 resources and protocols.
Smart Restart includes a three-part testing plan that consists of on-campus testing centers, surveillance testing and target testing.
The on-campus testing centers provide free, unlimited COVID-19 testing to all Badgers on campus — inclusive of faculty, staff and students. The testing center at Henry Mall opened on Aug. 6. and all other testing centers dispersed across campus aim to open before the start of the academic semester.
The highly anticipated return to campus is just around the corner. For some, the transition to campus life has already begun. Navigating the preceding resources will require guidance, but it will also call for personal accountability.
Marah Williams — a UW-Madison junior who has worked with UW Housing since the second semester of her freshman year — is currently preparing to welcome incoming first-year students as a Witte Residence Hall House Fellow.
Williams was recently given the opportunity to administer her own nasal swab test at the Henry Mall testing facility.
Williams noted the UHS staff recognized COVID testing was a new experience for many people visiting the site, and gave detailed information when instructing how to administer the test.
About 24 hours later, Williams received her test results.
“It could take up to 72 hours to receive test results; however, I got mine back a little after 24 hours,” she reflected. “I was the only person taking the COVID test [at that time].”
All students and employees in University Housing will need to receive the nasal swab test bi-weekly.
In the case that an individual tests positive for COVID-19, they are expected to self-isolate and encouraged to contact UHS. UW-Madison has established both isolation and quarantine housing accommodations for students living in residence halls.
Precautionary measures and safety protocols established by University Housing do not end with regularly scheduled testing — University Housing has been finding ways to promote physical distancing and symptom monitoring as well.
Williams has taken a different course of action in decorating her hall for residents this year — she is hanging posters on a “COVID-19 Expectations” bulletin board. In her words, House Fellows are “informing students that this is a serious thing — it’s not a joke, it’s not an option.”
Residents are advised to track their own symptoms, wear masks, wash their hands and wipe down high-touch surfaces. “Residents will be reminded that they need to follow the mask policy and further action could be taken if they don’t follow,” Williams stated.
University Housing still aims to host virtual house meetings and programs in an effort to introduce students to one another.
“Make the most of it. Stay positive. There is a new normal,” Williams advised.
The “new normal” is what the UW-Madison community must adapt to. The reopening of campus is an opportunity to acclimate, explore and understand how to utilize resources provided by the university.
