Chancellor Dwight Watson opened this month’s Chancellor Chat Monday, Jan. 11 emphasizing the university’s mission to educate in light of the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol. He encouraged civil discourse and cooperation as the university solves problems on campus such as new recommendations regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“A university such as ours teaches and values the tenets of democracy. It is an important part of our mission to help educate and inform our citizenry. I know we take these responsibilities seriously at UW-Whitewater. The events of last week were difficult to witness for many of us and we understand the beauty of a democracy is the ability to host civil discourse. We may not always agree on every issue but even in our disagreements we respect each other and institutions that make our nation great,” said Watson. “I heard many leaders say over the past few days that we need to come together no matter what our political affiliations and serve the greater good of our nation. I think that is a sentiment we can all support. We know even in our own community that when we come together to solve problems we can have better results than when we face them alone.” 

Watson also emphasized the importance of “grace and compassion,” for ourselves and for others in this challenging time. After his statement, the chancellor turned his discussion over to Vice Chancellor Wesley, who went over the new testing plan for UW-W and all schools within the UW system.

“UW-System had announced new expectations for all UW institutions to follow for the spring semester,” said Wesley. 

According to the Vice Chancellor, the new guidelines for testing on campus will be to test every student living within the residence halls once a week. Students, faculty and staff who visit the campus at least once a week will be tested every other week.

Last semester, nasal swab antigen testing which the Vice Chancellor also referred to as “legacy testing” was conducted by University Health and Counseling Services (UHCS) at the Ambrose Center. For this spring semester, the university contracted an independent company called Webber Health Logistics to conduct testing in the Hamilton Room at the University Center. Students’ Hawk Cards will be scanned after testing as students leave the testing site.

UHCS officials will be keeping information for tracking and tracing. Lot 12 is designated by campus law enforcement and emergency response as parking for the convenience of the campus community to be tested. Testing started January 11 and will continue until April 16. The Rock County Campus will also follow these guidelines with final details soon to come of a testing site location. All required registration for testing can be found on the Warawks Return page at https://weberhealthlogisticsuwwhitewater.schedulista.com/.

To view the 1/11 Chancellor Chat visit https://streaming.uww.edu/#/videos/ab7f6e1e-a77b-4c72-a877-7499e39d19a4.