Central Methodist’s safety measures – including rapid antigen testing, temperature checks, and virus-killing ionization machines – are among the most comprehensive nationwide.
CENTRAL Going High-Tech to Safeguard Student Health
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s higher education stood at a crossroads this fall, Central Methodist University rose above its peers with safety measures among the most comprehensive nationwide. At the center of Central’s efforts was extensive cleaning. CMU added a third-shift cleaning crew and relied heavily on the use of a Protexus electrostatic spray gun for widespread sanitization. Cleaning, however, was just one part of a six-point plan that includes COVID-19 testing for all students and employees, a face covering policy, facial recognition temperature monitoring, virus-killing ionization machines in buildings, and distancing that includes additional class sections and classroom technology for remote learning. “We are doing everything we can for our students and our community,” said President Roger Drake, who praised the advice he received from his Board of Trustees’ Pandemic
6 The Talon | Fall 2020
Response Committee. Central purchased an antigen testing machine over the summer, and COVID-19 testing started in earnest this summer with staff and faculty. Multiple rounds of testing continued through the fall semester. Central was one of just a handful of schools nationwide with a universal testing program. Simultaneously, CMU implemented a face covering policy requiring students, employees, and guests to wear face coverings indoors. Students and employees were provided with masks from the university. The university installed multiple facial recognition stations to monitor temperature. The monitors also detect whether someone is wearing a face covering and reminds them of our policy if they’re not wearing one. Planning efforts to achieve better distancing began in the spring, Drake said, and changes were significant in student dining, where Central has added a second dining area on
the fourth floor of the Inman Center. In the classroom, Central added additional sections of courses to reduce class sizes and technology in each classroom to allow for in-seat and online learning simultaneously. A final and significant piece to Central’s safety efforts included the purchase of several ionization air cleaners for buildings. Drake said much discussion has occurred surrounding air recirculation in buildings, and Global Plasma Solutions’ ionization air purifiers achieve a 99.4 percent reduction of COVID-19 in just 30 minutes of use. “I can’t guarantee we’ll be COVID-free,” Drake said at the beginning of the semester. “But I can guarantee that our efforts to protect the health of our CMU community are absolutely the best we can produce. “I think that is what families expect of us, along with providing a top-notch educational experience that positions our students well for employment and for life.”
