University of Illinois Moving Fall Classes Online After Nov. 20; Will This Affect Illini Athletics?
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The University of Illinois has announced it will be moving all fall semester classes after the Thanksgiving break to online virtual learning.
Illinois Chancellor Robert Jones announced in a mass university email that all classes and final exams after Friday, Nov. 20, “will utilize alternative delivery methods”. Jones said a university-created COVID-19 committee had recommended to school officials the move was needed in order to reduce travel to and from the Champaign-Urbana campus.
Fall semester classes are slated to begin at Illinois on Aug. 24.
The mass email also detailed new coronavirus protocols and requirements including “mandatory twice weekly testing” will be required for all faculty, staff or students who participate in any on-campus activities. It is assumed that athletic department personnel, coaches and athletes would certainly fall into this category of “on-campus activities”.
In an online 50-minute “public presentation” last month with Illinois Athletics Director Josh Whtiman, Jones said U of I would not hesitate to cancel fall sports, including football, if the health concerns created a situation where no other alternative was possible.
“There’s no doubt that the financial impact of COVID-19 is already being felt by our athletic programs,” Jones said in the July presentation. “And if there’s not going to be athletics in the fall, that financial impact will be even greater. But it is not the first time this university has had to manage a financial crisis so if that is the worst case scenario, I have absolute confidence in Josh Whitman, the coaches and the administrative staff that they will manage this situation to the best of their abilities.”
All U of I students will be required to provide their residential address for the Fall 2020 semester and the mass e-mail details the purpose of this protocol is “to ensure that all individuals on or near campus are included in the mandatory COVID-19 testing program.”
University officials continue to promote safety protocols including requiring social distancing on campus whenever possible and “to wear face coverings in university facilities unless they are alone in a private space.” According to the Monday morning mass email, face coverings are also required for outside campus spaces where sufficient social distancing is not possible.
Multiple reports have confirmed that Big Ten Conference fall sports schedules, including the conference only football slate, and coronavirus pandemic protocols are expected to be released this week.
In the 2019-20 Illinois athletics schedule, Illini football played two regular season games (loss at Iowa, home loss to Northwestern) and the Redbox Bowl. Illinois men’s basketball, which is slated to have preseason practice to start in October, had five regular games, including three at State Farm Center, before this Nov. 20 date.