August 17, 2020

Saluki students:

Welcome to the fall semester! Whether you are returning or joining us for the first time, we look forward to helping you succeed.

While this will be a fall semester unlike any other, our commitment to providing you a high-quality education in a safe environment remains our top priority.

You may be taking classes in multiple formats. About 41 percent of classes are currently offered online, 31 percent are face-to-face, and the balance are hybrid, or a combination of the two.

If you are taking all of your classes online from home, be sure to let your instructors know when you need assistance. Our support services, including academic advising, Morris Library, SalukiTech, Saluki Cares, tutoring and more are available to you.

For those of you living on campus and in the community, we want to provide a positive, engaging student life experience. At the same time, everything we do will be modified to ensure the health and safety of everyone in our community.

We’ve provided a lot of information to help get you started this semester and will continue to keep you informed. You can find all of our coronavirus-related information at SIU.edu/coronavirus, including our fall 2020 plan and where to pick up your masks. In fact, as I have been welcoming new students, I am very pleased to see everyone masking up.

Saluki Safety, which outlines our safety protocols, has a lot of helpful information about extra efforts to clean and sanitize facilities including Morris Library, the Student Recreation Center and the Student Center, and your own responsibilities for helping us maintain a safe community.

This is my first semester as your chancellor and like you, I am excited to get started. We know it will look a bit different from a traditional fall semester, but together, we will make it great.