Greenville Coaches Rise to COVID Challenge
Coaches love a challenge. The start of the 2020-21 academic year brought many challenges on the campus of Greenville University, specifically how to ensure that the campus was able to provide safe in-person instruction and on-campus residential opportunities for students coming from various locations in the United States and around the world. After Acting President Suzanne Davis secured a research partnership with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for on-campus COVID-19 saliva testing, the Greenville University campus embarked on a program whereby students and employees would be subject to testing two times per week to ensure that they were not carriers of the COVID-19 virus.
The challenge then became identifying where to locate the testing center, get supplies, and staff the center. That's when the athletic department staff of Greenville University stepped up. Working alongside the Bond County Health Department, members of the coaching staff rose to the challenge of doing their part to keep the campus safe.
After identifying that the testing center would be located in a partitioned section of the dining room at the Armington Center on campus, meetings were conducted to introduce Greenville University staff to the process and needs that would arise through this new initiative. People were needed to organize the process of collecting forms, ensure compliance with the completion
of forms, staff several roles in the testing center, and drive tests to the laboratory at the University of Illinois. Organization of the role for the athletic department staff was assigned to Athletic Director Tom Ackerman who asked B.J. Schneck, director of athletic event management and sports information, to oversee a variety of these needs.
"B.J. has been absolutely instrumental in the success of our testing center, and he has become a master of the protocols and procedures necessary to manage the testing center. Additionally,
he has led our team with an impressive amount of humility, hope, and resilience. He has completed every task that exists surrounding the testing center with a gracious heart and we are so thankful for his work," says Athletic Director Tom Ackerman.
A number of Greenville University coaches also stepped up. When the Bond County Health Department needed assistance with staff, Greenville University coaches were those who were asked to fill those roles. The primary help came from graduate assistant coaches in soccer, basketball, volleyball, softball, baseball, and football with additional support from full-time assistant coaches in basketball, cross country, and track and field. These coaches helped collect forms, fill in-take roles, collect samples, drive tests to Champaign, and help ensure the smooth operation of the testing center.
The early days in August and September required coaches to be flexible with their schedules so that they could serve without much notice. Often, they would receive texts and emails with less than 24 hours notice to inform them that they were needed. Some coaches worked nearly every day in the testing center in addition to their coaching and administrative responsibilities, and they consistently filled every role that was needed.
As the semester advanced, the Bond County Health Department's personnel were able to take over nearly 100 percent of the required staffing, but it was the help of the coaching staff in those early days that helped give the program a good start. With less than a 0.2% positivity rate in over 10,000 tests, Greenville University appreciates how all have come together to provide the institution with a start to the year that exceeded even their highest dreams.
STORY COURTESY OF GREENVILLE UNIVERSITY
