NOTICE: Classes canceled today due to weather conditions. Check Blackboard for communication from your instructors.
Updated 3:40 p.m. Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Continue to check this page for the latest updates regarding COVID-19-related changes and operations plans. All information is subject to change based on health regulations and COVID-19 activity in each community where SBU operates a campus. These plans are developed in consultation with guidance from local health departments.
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Every Bearcat — whether living in a residence hall or off-campus — can help mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 within our community by utilizing these basic hygiene measures:
Face coverings are optional. Please continue to be respectful and refrain from passing judgment on others’ choices related to face coverings.
Being self-aware is a good practice related to health and wellness. Recording symptoms and temperatures when you do not feel well and when you have a known exposure to COVID-19 or any other illness is advised.
Many free mobile apps are available in the Apple and Google app stores for smartphones to assist with recording this information.
Each building will have contactless thermometer stations.
What to do if you think you are sick:
SBU’s facilities staff continue to clean and sanitize facilities on a regular basis. Hand sanitizer stations continue to be available across campus.
Faculty may request students to follow specific COVID-19 safety precautions.
SBU continues to work closely with the University’s food service provider, to implement protocols providing a safe dining environment. Tables in Mellers Dining Commons are arranged to facilitate physical distancing.
All athletic practices will operate in accordance with NCAA and GLVC rules and guidelines.
Anyone flying internationally must follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. SBU's policy is subject to change if the CDC issues new guidance.
Follow CDC guidelines regarding required COVID-19 testing prior to
boarding a flight to the United States.
As of January 4, 2022, we are following these protocols after a person arrives in the United States.
Individuals with underlying health conditions or who have other factors believed to make them at high-risk for COVID-19, may request accommodations according to existing procedures. Employees should contact the Office of Human Resources at (417) 328-1513. Students should contact the Office of the Provost at (417) 328-1598.
Any student on any campus who tests positive for COVID-19 should immediately notify the SBU Killian Health Center at (417) 328-1888.
We have developed these guidelines for when we have a positive COVID-19 test on any of our campuses. This plan is subject to change as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updates recommended protocols.
SBU's Killian Health Center will coordinate contact tracing with the appropriate local governmental health agency.
Anyone being tested for COVID-19 must quarantine until receiving a negative test result and being symptom-free. If the test is positive, the individual must follow self-isolation procedures.
Anyone testing positive will be required to self-isolate. Students living in residence halls are encouraged to leave campus, but a self-isolation facility is available for residential students without other options.
Quarantine protocols after a COVID-19 exposure are developed in consultation with guidance from the CDC and local health agencies. Staff in SBU’s Killian Health Center will provide guidance to individuals with a COVID-19 exposure.
Residents of Polk County, Missouri may use the Community Connections Resources Helpline by calling (417) 777-7411. This helpline is a resource for those needing help finding supplies or connections, or who have questions about living needs. It is not an information line for COVID-19.
Through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), Southwest Baptist University has received $1,150,794 in funding to provide emergency financial aid grants for students experiencing financial hardship as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Funds will be awarded to eligible students on all four campuses who have demonstrated the greatest need as determined by the FAFSA. In the initial round of distributions, Southwest Baptist University identified a pool of 1,537 eligible students who have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 related disruptions to normal campus operations.
Anyone who was a student during the Spring 2020 semester and meets the following guidelines is eligible to apply for an additional Emergency Financial Aid Grant award of up to $2,000.
Funds are limited for the second round and only those students with exceptional circumstances will be considered. You will have to provide a brief statement of your current financial need as it relates to disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus.
The application is available for download on the MySBU Portal. For more information, contact finaid@SBUniv.edu.