I
t’s 11 p.m., well past the traditional working hours of a university employee, and Director of Student Health Chrissi Kirkendoll, ‘09, and Dean of Students, Brad Dixon, ‘07, are deep in the weeds of health guidelines and testing schedules. Since March, this has been the routine for the team of employees leading the Central Methodist University oncampus response to COVID-19. In between the late-night emails and early-morning consults, Kirkendoll, a CMU nursing alumna, spearheads the bi-weekly, campus-wide COVID-19 testing program. Each morning, from 8:30 a.m. to as late as 3 p.m., Kirkendoll conducts COVID-19 antigen testing for the students of Central. She dons her personal protective equipment (PPE) and spends hours each day talking through the testing, quarantine, isolation, and recovery process with students, faculty, and staff. She helps students discern between symptoms that are “just allergies” and symptoms that are something more concerning, all because keeping the campus community healthy is
4 The Talon | Fall 2020
at the heart of all she does. nurse practitioner when the position was “It has been an adventure since day vacated in early 2020. one,” Kirkendoll said, “I feel like I am able But she was no stranger to public and to make a difference on campus and work community health. In 2017, she obtained to make it possible for everyone to stay on her Master of Science in Nursing in campus for as long as possible, despite the the Family Nurse Practitioner program circumstances. It from Maryville is really a team University. For effort, and our the better part of “IT IS REALLY A TEAM the last decade, success wouldn’t EFFORT AND OUR Kirkendoll assisted be possible without the SUCCESS WOULDN’T health efforts in efforts of every care BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT long-term ro c k s t a r — f ro m facilities, labor THE EFFORTS OF EVERY and delivery and those in the Office of Student postpartum units, ROCKSTAR.” Development to and public health – Chrissi Kirkendoll ‘09 those running and primary care contact tracing settings. Her and all the others who devote their time position at Central has served not only as to make the process run as smooth as an opportunity to return to her alma mater possible.” to teach and lead, but also an opportunity Kirkendoll didn’t anticipate becoming to—quite literally—meet everyone on Director of Student Health in the middle campus. of a global pandemic. She began her “The most surprising thing about this role at Central with a request from Dean work has been the level of detail and time Dixon to simply fill in as a temporary required for the testing, contact tracing,
