How SLU Responded
SLU鈥檚 first full semester in a COVID-19 world succeeded because of the people who made it happen. Here are seven of their stories.
When 麻豆传媒 began classes on campus nine days early on Aug. 17, nothing was certain.
Would students, faculty and essential staff stay safe and healthy? Could in-person classes and on-campus living persist throughout the semester? Would hybrid-style classes designed for students both in the classroom and online work?
By the time students left campus at Thanksgiving to take their final exams at home, the answers were clear: Yes, yes and yes.
Campus safeguards included a strict policy for face masks, requirements for social distancing and group gatherings, continued remote working for all non-essential employees, cancellation of all in-person campus events and limited visitor access to campus.
Allowing students and faculty to attend and teach classes in person, online or both also contributed to SLU鈥檚 safe semester. In addition, the University reduced campus housing density and set aside space for approximately 150 students to isolate or quarantine on campus.
Testing also was a key component in SLU鈥檚 pandemic response. In August, the University tested all 3,500 residential students for COVID-19 before they moved into campus housing. In September, SLU began weekly random testing of 10% of all residential students showing no signs of infection. Nursing students administered the tests for asymptomatic students. SLU also launched a rapid contact tracing program staffed by students pursuing master鈥檚 degrees in public health.
Despite a small uptick in positive cases around Halloween that were linked primarily to off-campus social activities, SLU鈥檚 overall positivity rate remained far lower than in the region or the state. There were no reported positive cases linked to classroom or lab exposure.
Here, meet seven of the people who played a part in SLU鈥檚 fall success story.
Jahmal Borden
First-Year Student
Freshman Jahmal Borden's first visit to campus was the day last August when he moved into Grand Hall. His initial view of his new home came as he crossed the Grand Boulevard bridge at the end of his eight-hour car trip from his hometown just outside of Atlanta.
鈥淚 was planning to come in March, and then COVID hit,鈥 Borden said. 鈥淪o I just took a walk out on faith. I thought, I鈥檓 going to try it. If it doesn鈥檛 work out, I know the way home. But if it works and it succeeds, even better, because I鈥檒l have no regrets. My parents wanted me to stay locally, but I was determined I was going somewhere different from the world I knew. Life is about adventure, and I鈥檓 strapped-in for this one.鈥
It was the start of a very COVID college experience. As soon as he arrived on campus, Borden met his roommate, and they went to take their mandatory COVID-19 tests together. Later in the semester, he was randomly selected for asymptomatic testing. He鈥檚 seen his floormate moved into quarantine due to close contact with a person who tested positive for the virus. And though most of his classes are in person, some were virtual.
He flourished in both settings. 鈥淢y Chinese class was totally online, and the instructor was really responsive to her email,鈥 Borden said. 鈥淚鈥檝e sent her an email at 2 a.m., and I got an email back almost instantaneously.鈥
Borden, who is majoring in international business and considering a second major in Chinese, has brought his adventurous spirit to meeting new people on campus, despite social distancing restrictions and some virtual learning. 鈥淚鈥檓 naturally a social butterfly,鈥 he said. 鈥淒uring the introduction for business students on Zoom, I saw a kid and thought, 鈥楧ang, he looks unnaturally just like me.鈥 So I messaged him in the chat and said, 鈥楬ey, you look scarily just like me. We need to meet for lunch.鈥 And he agreed to meet. We hit it off, and just about every weekend we get toget her a long with our roommates.鈥
Of course, whenever they gather, they are staying safe. Borden is committed to doing his part to keep himself and others healthy. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to wear masks all day and be socially distant,鈥 he said. 鈥淚f we all do our small part, it鈥檒l add up to something greater. Caring for our whole selves and for the betterment of each other helps achieve that goal for SLU. They say a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If we make sure our weakest links are protected, then that protects the whole chain.鈥
That philosophy is certainly reflected in Borden鈥檚 community service efforts during the fall semester. As part of his scholarship requirements 鈥 he received SLU鈥檚 Martin Luther King Jr. and Dean鈥檚 Scholarships, as well as two private scholarships 鈥 he began volunteering weekly in the St. Francis Xavier College Church rectory, assisting people who need to track down vital documentation, such as birth certificates. 鈥淧eople come in from all walks of life and most are just trying to get their lives back on track,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing who you meet and how a little piece of paper can make a big difference in their lives. It is rewarding every day I do it.鈥
Borden closed out his high school days like so many members of the class of 2020 鈥 with a drive-up diploma parade, a virtual ceremony and no prom. But he looks back on it with a wisdom that belies his age. 鈥淭he COVID-19 crisis is a defining moment not only for me but for my generation,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 say that because even though we鈥檙e going through this struggle, I think it鈥檚 going to strengthen us as we go forward. It鈥檚 turned the world upside down, and it forced us to look with a new perspective. The world literally changed before my eyes, and I never thought that could happen.鈥
He explained: 鈥淚 always thought I鈥檇 be living that corporate lifestyle 鈥 thousands of people working in a skyscraper in some big city. But now I know that type of work will exist more in a virtual format. So I had to restructure my life goals and plans.
鈥淏ut if something鈥檚 easy, you don鈥檛 get anything out of it. So in struggling to adapt my goals, I started learning more things, especially in my information technology management class. My professor recommended different skills to acquire if you plan to enter fields where computers will be your whole life. It gives you a little bit of comfort that though the world is changing, there are small things that you can do so you don鈥檛 get left behind.
鈥淭hat was the most rewarding part of it 鈥 when you get shot down in life, you open up new possibilities. I鈥檓 reevaluating my plans and the paths I want to take in this life. There鈥檚 a big world out there, and I鈥檓 learning more about the unforgettable impact that I can have on it every day!鈥
Kathleen Davis
Vice President, Enrollment Management
For decades, recruiting a student to 麻豆传媒 has relied on a personal touch 鈥 conversations at college fairs, on-campus tours, special events. When the world shut down in March, Kathleen Davis and her enrollment management team were already working to figure out college recruitment in a virtual world.
鈥淚 took a recruitment trip to India in mid-February,鈥 she said. 鈥淐oming back, we knew that something was askew. So, on March 16, when SLU sent people to work from home and students had been informed that classes would be virtual, my team had already pre-planned. We knew what we needed to do to get home offices set up, to have digital activities arranged so that we could be running on day one.鈥
Davis鈥 team includes not just admission counselors recruiting new students but also the staff in financial services, international student services and the registrar鈥檚 office, all of whom serve current students. 鈥淭he goal for all of us within the division was to focus on how do we best serve the students, both new and continuing,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e had to make very certain that what we were doing was done well initially and then build upon it.
鈥淲e had enrolled the University鈥檚 largest class in fall 2019,鈥 Davis said. 鈥淎nd we needed to keep motivated as a team, but also help students and their families make decisions when they were experiencing what they felt was a loss. So, our team really worked hard on how we enroll students and how we also retain the continuing students.鈥
One key group of continuing SLU students they had to consider were those studying abroad in the spring. 鈥淲e had students abroad whom we had to bring back because study abroad experiences closed,鈥 Davis said. 鈥淭here was a rush to get into the country. On top of it, the consulates shuttered, and so we couldn鈥檛 process visas through for fall the way that we would have historically.鈥
Other efforts to assist current Billikens included developing online outreach for financial aid, billing and registration. Davis鈥 team also handled spring housing refunds and processing special circumstance requests.
Likewise, communicating with prospective students and their families also pivoted quickly. 鈥淲e had to go from participating in larger college fairs in an in-person venue to doing college fairs in a digital environment,鈥 she said. 鈥淎ll of our on-campus tours went digital this summer. We鈥檙e now back to offering small family tours in person, but still, the bulk of our tours are done digitally, as are the information sessions. Our financial aid office, for their part, is holding high school financial aid information nights on YouTube.鈥
The first big test of the online approach to recruitment came early in the summer, when the new first-year undergraduates attended their orientation, known as SLU101, entirely virtually. Typically held on campus for two days, the SLU101 sessions aim to build spirit and connections among the new students.
We modified our style and approach to meet students and families where they are. And while we don鈥檛 prefer it to personal contact, we are having more interactions because we can be in multiple spots in a day.鈥
Davis
Despite the challenges, Davis and her team met their goals, enrolling a freshman class of more than 1,500 students this fall. Still, those students had a normal college-search experience until March 2020. 鈥淭he real COVID year is 2021,鈥 she said.
鈥淭he current high school seniors will have never, unless they were early starters, gone to a college fair or talked with a visiting college counselor at their high school,鈥 she continued. 鈥淥ur entire recruitment process will have taken place in a digital environment that began when these students were juniors in high school. Plus, some prospective students were delayed in launching their college search process because they and their high schools had to transition how they do it. What we are hearing from many is, 鈥榃e don鈥檛 like the unknowns. We鈥檙e going to take our time.鈥欌
As Davis and her team nimbly react to the evolving admission landscape, they know one thing for certain: The admission process likely will never go back to the way it was. 鈥淧eople have changed their expectations,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e modified our style and approach to meet students and families where they are. And while we don鈥檛 prefer it to personal contact, we are having more interactions because we can be in multiple spots in a day. For example, I think back to when I was a recruiter in New England. I covered five states, and you couldn鈥檛 do two visits in Connecticut the same night. Well, guess what? Now I can. So it expands your scheduling capability because you don鈥檛 have to account for travel time.鈥
As SLU adjusts to a new normal and revised ex pectations, Davis is committed to ensuring that she and her staff move forward with creativity in a collaborative environment. 鈥淲hat I鈥檝e come to realize is that the team is more important than ever,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd when I say team, I mean the entire institution as a team because we rely on the staff and faculty for all of the activities we do. At the end of the day, if we鈥檙e all working together, the successes are wins for everyone.鈥
Manisha Ford-Thomas
Director, Housing and Residence Life
When the University decided to finish the spring semester remotely in mid-March, Manisha Ford-Thomas and her housing and residence life team had to quickly figure out how to safely move students out of the residence halls nearly two months early.
Then, before they could catch their collective breath, they were already thinking about fall. 鈥淲e had to figure out what the proposal was going to look like for students living on campus in a COVID-19 situation,鈥 Ford-Thomas said.
Working closely with colleagues from all across SLU and using recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ford-Thomas and her team put together a plan that needed approval from Dr. Fredrick Echols, director of the City of St. Louis Department of Health. 鈥淗e was able to give strong guidance on what our occupancy needed to be for this year,鈥 Ford-Thomas said. And, surprisingly, the final plan was not as drastic as some originally expected. While some had anticipated having only one student per residence hall room, that was not required. Instead, all rooms would have a double occupancy, even those that typically housed three and four students.
鈥淥ne of the blessings for us was that Clemens Hall had just been renovated in 2020,鈥 Ford-Thomas said. 鈥淚t allowed us to offer spaces to about the same number of students as we typically do. We accommodated everyone who wanted to live on campus, and that filled about 90% of what we had available.鈥
Still, when classes started Aug. 17, there was no certainty how the semester would play out. 鈥淎t the start of this process, if you had told me that we would have ended the semester with the low positivity numbers that we have had, I would have been the biggest naysayer,鈥 Ford-Thomas said. 鈥淏ut truly listening to SLU鈥檚 resident epidemiologist Dr. Terri Rebmann (Grad VSN 鈥06), who was clear about what we鈥檙e going to be able to do and not do, was very helpful for how we proceeded.
鈥淎nd ultimately it鈥檚 about the students. The students have taken this situation seriously.鈥
That serious approach began day one when students were required to take a COVID-19 test during move-in. 鈥淲e made a decision, a little late in the typical process, to test all of the students as they were moving into their residence halls,鈥 Ford-Thomas said. 鈥淎nd it was an amazing opportunity because it wasn鈥檛 something that we had initially planned for as we were organizing the move-in schedule. So it had to be accommodated after the fact. But testing was definitely a key step because it meant that we did not have to guess whether or not students were asymptomatic, and thus it made a difference in having students live on campus for the whole semester.鈥
Of course, that success has come with its own challenges, especially with helping students socialize during these socially distanced times.
鈥淲hen we moved to this current model of on-campus living, we were so immersed in logistics, we didn鈥檛 spend as much time planning for community-building virtually or thinking about how our first-year students would meet new people,鈥 Ford-Thomas said. 鈥淚t was just hard. I especially think about our less-social students and how we help them to find their community.
鈥淏efore COVID, we can often see that. You see a student and they鈥檙e alone, and the housing and residence life staff figures out ways to help them. But no one is really interacting in the usual places, so it鈥檚 harder to identify those students who need help. Our staff is used to knocking on doors and calling people together and going to the movies or eating together. So many of the things that we normally do are not a part of our routine anymore.
鈥淣ow, the students are telling us what they want and what they need. So we鈥檙e trying to be intentional to continue to give them support. And our team had to learn that they can be creative. We鈥檙e pushing ourselves and learning along the way.鈥
She continued: 鈥淚鈥檓 grateful because I don鈥檛 know if we would have thought as intentionally about how we do so many of the things that we are doing virtually. And now we can improve from what we had to put together quickly.鈥
All this planning has prepared Ford-Thomas for what uncertainties the spring holds. 鈥淲e work in crisis management,鈥 Ford-Thomas said. 鈥淵ou never quite know what鈥檚 coming. Throughout the fall semester, our efforts continued to evolve, knowing that these students have done an amazing job keeping each other safe and accountable. We also know that going forward, we need to support families who are very engaged with life at SLU, even if they鈥檝e never set foot on campus.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really preparing for whatever comes next. After this semester, we鈥檙e going to be able to confront all that it means to live on campus and knowledgeably support those who need us.鈥
Dr. Joel Jennings
Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Director, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
During the 2019 Christmas break, Dr. Joel Jennings (Grad CSB '20) took a course designed to train faculty members to teach online. Little did he know then how quickly he鈥檇 put that training to use. 鈥淚t was an incredibly fortuitous opportunity,鈥 he said.
Like all SLU faculty, when the pandemic first hit in March and 麻豆传媒 transitioned to virtual learning, Jennings brought his spring semester classes online. And he taught his first fully online class over the summer. Jennings also used many of the techniques he learned when developing his hybrid classes this fall.
In the spring, Jennings served on a SLU COVID-19 planning committee, so he knew fairly early on how the fall would look: Most classes would be in person with the option for students to take their courses virtually. This hybrid model 鈥 with some students online and a larger number in the classroom 鈥 presented new challenges for Jennings and his faculty colleagues that they didn鈥檛 encounter in a purely virtual setting.
鈥淚 understood the necessity for us to be back in the classroom if that was physically possible,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd I would always prefer to be live in the classroom because it allows me to read the students at a much higher level. But I will admit to having some anxiety going into the semester.
鈥淭he biggest concern was making sure that everything was integrated seamlessly so that if we had students who needed to move from in-classroom instruction to online instruction for any reason, we鈥檙e able to accommodate them,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat meant over the summer spending a significant amount of time transforming classroom materials, examinations, quizzes and the teaching instruction into a format that can be offered just as effectively online as in person.
鈥淔or me, that meant reformatting my classes fairly significantly and moving a lot of my content completely online so that all students, even those in the classroom, would then be able to use it.鈥
Jennings, who taught four classes in the fall, had approximately 145 students and regularly saw 100 in the classroom. Though he felt prepared by his training, particularly thanks to assistance from 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning, he said there were still worries as fall approached. 鈥淎s faculty members going into the semester, we wondered whether we would be able to deliver the quality of education that we expected at the standards to which we hold ourselves,鈥 he said.
What Jennings learned is that rigorous education is possible online. 鈥淚鈥檝e actually been quite pleased with the outcomes this semester,鈥 he said. 鈥淚n some ways, the changes that I have made due to the COVID protocols have resulted in students performing better on some outcomes than they did previously. And as a result, I鈥檓 going to keep some of the quizzing formats that I have developed over the semester in place, even after protocols end.
鈥淭here are always challenges鈥 he continued. 鈥淏eing on Zoom a lot is a significant challenge. But I have been really proud of the students and the work that they have put in to deal with the extra challenge of taking courses on Zoom and being socially distanced. By and large, the discipline that they have shown and the commitment to their education has been really impressive.鈥
Also impressive to Jennings are his encounters with students. 鈥淚鈥檝e been really pleased with the interactions that I鈥檝e had, both online and in person, throughout the semester,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 have seen a high level of engagement from students across my classes. And that has been both comforting and affirming to see that students are connecting with the material.
鈥淚鈥檓 teaching in a classroom with a mask on while I鈥檓 also mediating an online experience, and the students are still engaging fully with the class. And a number of students have reached out after class for either assistance or for guidance about becoming a sociology major. Students really are fully encountering the courses. To me, that鈥檚 as much a measure of success as we could have hoped for.鈥
Though Jennings was regularly on campus in socially distant classrooms during the semester, the rest of his work has been strictly online. 鈥淎ll of our department meetings are virtual,鈥 he said. 鈥淎ll of our office hours are virtual. So I really don鈥檛 encounter my colleagues unless we happen to be passing at the beginning of a class.鈥
And, yet, Jennings and his faculty colleagues learned as much as their students during the pandemic. 鈥淎s a colleague of mine in the department says, 鈥楥haos can be revealing,鈥欌 he said. 鈥淎nd in this particular case, the challenges posed by COVID led to an opportunity to rethink assignments, to rethink the way that we deliver classes and in doing so, reinforce the things that were working. They also opened up some new opportunities for doing things differently that have led to some positive outcomes.鈥
Gabriela Keator
Senior Student, Campus Ministry Intern
Gabriela Keator's senior year is not how she imagined it. Keator, who is from western Massachusetts and is studying sociology with a concentration in immigration, had long looked forward to her stint as one of four undergraduate campus ministry student interns.
The coveted and active internships typically involve attending the Ignatian Family Teach for Justice in Washington, D.C., leading retreats and days of reflection, organizing residence hall Masses, and helping out with Sunday liturgies. The 鈥渕interns鈥 (as they refer to themselves) also normally spend time planning pop-in campus ministry events.
But not this year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 usually a lot of very human, face-to-face contact, and that鈥檚 just not possible right now,鈥 Keator said. So she got creative.
Keator, along with fellow senior minterns Brielle Heraty, Joe Laughlin and Will Sigmund, came up with a plan to provide care packages to SLU students who were isolating or quarantining due to COVID-19 positive diagnoses or exposure.
鈥淚 come from a background and style of ministry that is really focused on accompaniment,
making sure that people know that they are seen, known and loved, wherever they are
and whatever their circumstances,鈥 she said. 鈥淥ne of my go-to quotes is, 鈥榃here your
Creator calls you to be is where your greatest passion meets the
world鈥檚 greatest need.鈥 Care packages filled my passion for accompaniment with the
need for very direct care and outreach in a socially distant way to students who are
experiencing a period of quarantine and isolation. We believe that the narrative changes
when someone walks into a quarantine or isolation unit and sees something there for
them.
鈥淚t can change the narrative from 鈥業鈥檓 really scared and alone鈥 to 鈥業鈥檓 scared, and I鈥檓 alone, and people still know that I鈥檓 here and care about me.鈥 So the other minterns and I got together and wrote a proposal. With the help of Sue Chawszczewski (Grad Ed 鈥98), director of campus ministry, we were planning care package distribution one week later.鈥
The care packages come in a campus-ministry-branded tote bag and contain a water bottle, journal, pen, stress ball, travel-size toiletries and an assortment of snacks. They also include a handwritten note from a student, a list of resources and a letter from the vice president for student development. It took less than a week to raise $4,000 to fund the supplies, with donations coming mostly from the parents of current students.
The minterns, along with campus ministry student workers, do the prep work, collecting and packaging. SLU鈥檚 coordinator for quarantining students makes sure the care packages get delivered.
Keator鈥檚 care package idea came to her because she listened. 鈥淢y mom saw in SLU鈥檚
Parent and Family Facebook group that parents had been talking about how they could
support students in quarantine and isolation,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 also have friends who
are resident advisers who were talking about how their residents felt when they were
in quarantine and isolation and just how hard that is. There鈥檚 not a great way to
make it
easier. And I don鈥檛 think that a care package makes it exponentially easier. But it
does create a little bit more connection.鈥
Keator, who also works as a barista and still plans virtual Masses and online campus ministry events as part of her internship, juggles a lot with ease. But outreach via care packages presented its own internal obstacles for her. 鈥淚 have always seen accompaniment as a thing that is done in person,鈥 she said. 鈥淪o I鈥檝e had to shift my mindset to remember that just because I do not see the recipients of the care packages does not mean that this activity is any less good, important or holy. This is ministry; it鈥檚 just unconventional ministry.鈥
And for Keator, it鈥檚 just one part of redefining care during a pandemic. 鈥淚鈥檓 from the Northeast, and COVID-19 hit us hard,鈥 she said. 鈥淢y dad is immunosuppressed, so my family takes this very seriously. And I was really concerned about coming back to college in general, but my expectations have either been met or exceeded every day because SLU has made it easy to stay safe. You wear a mask, you don鈥檛 allow other people into your living space, and you do whatever you can do outside.
鈥淚 want to be able to leave my experience as a Billiken saying I did whatever I could do to keep myself and my community safe, and that doesn鈥檛 mean that we鈥檙e sacrificing all of the fun and the joy that comes with college. COVID is forcing us not only to be safe but to be really creative and intentional.鈥
The minterns鈥 efforts have been well received, generating notes and social media posts of thanks.
Keator said safeguards and care packages come back to one thing 鈥 love. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just people loving people,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 think we desperately need more of that. Being able to play a role in enhancing the clarity of what it looks like to love people right now is a feeling that鈥檚 going to stick with me for a while.鈥
Michael Lucido
Vice President, Facilities Services
Michael Lucido (A&S '98) doesn't teach but he worries about every classroom at Saint Louis University. As vice president for facilities services, Lucido also keeps watch over every office, light bulb, flower bed and air conditioner. It鈥檚 a big job any day. It鈥檚 a gargantuan job during a pandemic.
鈥淚n planning for fall in light of COVID-19, we looked at everything that we could put in place to make campus a safer environment,鈥 Lucido said. 鈥淎mong our top priorities was improving ventilation within our buildings, bringing in the most amount of outside air that our systems could handle and changing our filtration in our air handling systems to filter out more microorganisms from the air.鈥
Lucido and his colleagues didn鈥檛 stop with the air. They installed more than 900 hand sanitizers in all common spaces on campus. They worked with departments that offer face-to-face service to install Plexiglas barriers. They increased the frequency of their cleaning routines, ensuring that high-touch areas, such as doorknobs, were cleaned multiple times a day. They mounted signs about mask-wearing, social distancing and elevator use throughout campus. They even installed foot pulls on SLU restroom doors so users could enter touch-free.
But their biggest undertaking was adjusting SLU classrooms for social distancing and reconfiguring event spaces, such as the ballrooms in Busch Student Center, for use as classrooms. 鈥淥ur University architect had to lay out each space, and it wasn鈥檛 just the square footage calculation. It was physically calculating a three-foot radius, six-foot diameter around an individual to see how many individuals we could put in a space,鈥 Lucido said.
鈥淭hen we also had to account for the furniture that was in the space,鈥 he continued. 鈥淪ome furniture is fixed; some furniture is movable. We had some lecture halls that lost 70% capacity. They went from 300 to 46 people.鈥
To ensure distancing in rooms and lecture halls with fixed furniture, Lucido and his team put green and red stickers on seats to identify where students should and shouldn鈥檛 sit, marking more than 300 spaces on campus with roughly 14,000 stickers.
For the ballrooms, which lacked classroom-style desks, they had to order more than 600 new tablet armchairs and work with SLU鈥檚 Division of Information Technology Services to bring the event spaces up to classroom standards. 鈥淚t was very important to the University that we offer in-person, face-to-face instruction,鈥 Lucido said. 鈥淭o do that, we needed to find bigger spaces to accommodate some of those classes. The student center ballrooms and big meeting spaces in DuBourg Hall became easy, logical answers, especially because we knew we weren鈥檛 going to be hosting special events.
鈥淏ut furniture takes time to get 鈥 typically seven to eight weeks. We went to our CFO in May to order furniture because we anticipated the need, and that early planning allowed us to open in August with those classrooms in place.鈥
Another task that kept the facilities team busy this summer was moving existing furniture from classrooms that previously accommodated dozens of students to new classroom spaces that weren鈥檛 equipped with desks. 鈥淢oving furniture is not as high profile as some of the other projects we tackled this summer, but it was important and one of our bigger logistical challenges,鈥 Lucido said.
Lucido鈥檚 team was not daunted by the long list of tasks they tackled during the summer. 鈥淥ur facilities division 鈥 custodial, grounds, distribution, maintenance, parking, construction services 鈥 all of these areas played a role in helping us get to where we could maintain our students and faculty over the semester,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd we worked with partners across the University, from the housing and residence life staff to the registrar to the department chairs and deans 鈥 all of them helped us look at different spaces within their own buildings.
鈥淔or example, we identified and socially distanced over 450 spaces, and we gave all of that information to Jay Haugen (A&S 鈥98, Grad CSB 鈥08), the University registrar. Jay then looked at our options to see what was usable as classroom space given the diminished capacity. It got narrowed down to 250-280 functional spaces.鈥
Lucido continued: 鈥淚t was a very collaborative process to work together and figure out solutions for some problems that none of us knew for sure if we had the answer to.鈥
In the end, there was one answer Lucido knew from the start. 鈥淣ot that I had any doubts, but the way I watched my team members pull together in a unified manner really showed that we are a division of men and women dedicated to serving others,鈥 he said. 鈥淔rom the very beginning, our actions showed a selfless approach to help ensure the safety of our community, and I鈥檓 extremely proud of them for that.
鈥淚 would say 90% of my team was deemed emergency essential. And they came in, they stepped up, and they did not look at their job responsibilities nor their job titles. I had everyone from my assistant to project managers to architects to me out stickering classrooms. It didn鈥檛 matter what your title was, the job needed to get done. We jumped in together, and we did it.鈥
Katie Shields
Head Coach, Women's Soccer
Katie Shields spent the summer navigating uncharted waters. In July, when she normally plans her women鈥檚 soccer team鈥檚 traditional fall competitive season, she and her coaching staff had what she called a 鈥渂ig mindset shift.鈥
鈥淲e had to understand how we were going to not prepare for a fall season and instead prepare for a spring season,鈥 Shields said. 鈥淭he No. 1 priority has always been the health and safety of our women. So we had two goals this fall. First, that soccer was going to be the best part of their day. Second, we would physically prepare them to play after being away from the game in a structured setting for five months.鈥
That meant spending two weeks in a re-acclimatization process, including very small group training. It meant that the team does everything in masks. It meant no team meetings or video review sessions because the group is too large to gather. And it meant no activities indoors together other than sport performance training twice a week in small clusters.
鈥淲e also had to manage some expectations,鈥 Shields said. 鈥淲e have two seniors who were planning to graduate in December who extended their studies through the end of the spring semester. There are so many unintended effects and consequences 鈥 financial, emotional 鈥 that come with moving the season. We鈥檝e just tried to be very adaptable to the needs of our student-athletes.鈥
Managing expectations includes attempting to plan for the unknown. Although SLU鈥檚 conference, the Atlantic 10, moved the women鈥檚 soccer championship to spring, as of early winter, the spring schedule was not yet set. 鈥淲hen you don鈥檛 know who or when you鈥檙e playing, it is very hard to say to the team, 鈥極K, we鈥檙e working toward this,鈥欌 Shields said. 鈥淵ou like to have goals ahead of you.鈥
Add the overlay of a global pandemic, and there is a risk of further stress for student-athletes.
鈥淲e are in a competitive business,鈥 Shields said. 鈥淭here is a seriousness to it, a
drive to be the best and excel. But we really have to balance that. Within our program,
we鈥檝e dealt with some mental health challenges this fall. It鈥檚 challenging to strike
a balance between being a very competitive program that wants to succeed, and
caring for that whole person and managing her well-being.鈥
Adding to the pressure is the team鈥檚 record of success. Shields鈥 players are the backto-back A-10 champions and have lost only one home game during the past four years. 鈥淎ll those things are wonderful,鈥 Shields said. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 a level of disappointment that we didn鈥檛 win an NCAA Tournament game last season. So there鈥檚 an incredible amount of internal pressure and no space for it in the forefront right now. There are much more important things to focus on, both in the world and within our program.鈥
And, yet, there have been many positive outcomes of this atypical semester. Shields said the team鈥檚 eight freshmen have adapted well to college life. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e thriving in a pandemic,鈥 she said. 鈥淔reshmen usually come right into a competitive season, and it鈥檚 go, go, go. It鈥檚 easy for them to get lost in the shuffle. Now, they鈥檝e had time to establish themselves, and I think they鈥檒l have a more successful spring competitive season than they would have had in the fall.鈥
Without the usual wins and the losses to measure their success, Shields and her coaching staff are identifying other priorities. 鈥淭here鈥檚 the component of joy. Are they laughing? Are there smiles on a day-to-day basis?鈥
The team also posted their best set of midterm grades since Shields began her SLU coaching career nine years ago. And everyone has stayed healthy. 鈥淜eeping the group together and not having any major quarantine scenarios or contributing to any issues on campus are ways we know we鈥檙e achieving our goals.鈥
Another benefit has been the opportunity for Shields to spend more virtual time with her fellow SLU head coaches. 鈥淥f course, I haven鈥檛 seen any of these humans since March. But every Monday we have a head coaches meeting with the administration via Zoom. And it鈥檚 not necessarily Athletic Director Chris May speaking to us; it鈥檚 the coaches sharing how they鈥檙e navigating recruiting, player management and academic challenges. Usually, you鈥檙e so in your lane, your season and your sport that you don鈥檛 confer 鈥 and the fact that we do is a benefit.鈥
With a somewhat uncertain immediate season looming, Shields and her coaches must also look even further ahead to ensure the continued viability of SLU鈥檚 women鈥檚 soccer program. 鈥淎nother element of pressure that we feel right now is how to recruit and prepare for those future classes,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hat has become signif icantly more challenging during COVID.鈥
Still, Shields remains optimistic. 鈥淲e expect our players to be women for and with others,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he pause in competitiveness has given us a chance to return to our values, to focus on how we operate within a greater community. Maybe another positive unintended result of COVID is a centering that we鈥檝e all gone through both individually and programmatically.鈥
鈥 By Laura Geiser; photos by Stephen Dolan
Universitas, the award-winning alumni magazine of 麻豆传媒, is distributed to SLU alumni, parents and benefactors around the world. The magazine includes campus news, feature stories, alumni profiles and class notes, and has a circulation of 123,700.