Illinois Wesleyan Overflow Students in Hotels and Enhance Cleaning

Photo courtesy to IWU

NORMAL, Ill.- As most universities in the U.S. have started their school year, the on campus life looks different across the country. A majority of classes are online, but facilities are still open. Cleaning to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is a high priority for Illinois Wesleyan University. 

As a smaller university, IWU operates at a different capacity than other schools, said IWU Dean of Students Karla Carney-Hall.

“We all have different resources and different strategies to try to be successful,” said Carney-Hall. “At the end of the day, it’s the vigilance with public health practices and then having a regular testing protocol that will help in the early identification and isolation of illness.” 

According to Carney-Hall, IWU is using stabilized aqueous ozone which has an efficacy rate of 99% for various kinds of pathogens including the coronavirus.  The IWU facilities staff also updated their equipment with an electrostatic sprayer. 

According to the Cleaning Maintenance Management, an electrostatic sprayers work by charging liquids as they pass through a sprayer nozzle. This generates charged droplets that repel one another and actively seek out environmental surfaces, which they stick to and even wrap around to coat all sides.

Aside from cleaning, the facilities staff has also improved building flow by removing furniture and labeling spaces, said Carney-Hall. 

Housing students on campus also looks very different this year. IWU allowed students to have single rooms if that was their preference. 

“That necessitated us doing some overflow into hotels, but we felt like students needed to have that personal choice if they wanted to not have a roommate,” said Carney-Hall. 

IWU is exceeding the requirements of the CDC. 

“We feel that we’ve made some steps to try to make sure our students are healthy and that we can have a successful fall semester,” said Carney-Hall.