North Park University Announces Campus to Fully Open Fall 2021

CHICAGO, April 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- After operating in a hybrid model since Fall 2020, North Park University (North Park) is pleased to reopen its vibrant Chicago campus starting Fall 2021, with in-person classes and services, residential living, and a comprehensive range of intercollegiate athletics and student activities.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, North Park's Pandemic Response Team has been using a tiered approach to guide decisions on tightening or loosening risk mitigation measures to protect the health and safety on campus. From the start, strict COVID-19 measures were in place to support a safe learning environment, enabling a combination of in-person, online, and hybrid learning. And in January 2021, North Park partnered with SHIELD Illinois to implement a robust COVID-19 surveillance program to test approximately 10-20% of faculty, staff, and students including higher risk groups such as athletics, music, art, and theatre. 

While continuing to observe current wellness protocols alongside positive trends such as the increasingly available three effective vaccines, North Park's Pandemic Response Team will remain alert to changing circumstances, apply any needed modifications to campus life, and observe guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and the Illinois and Chicago Departments of Public Health.

"We have learned and lived through so much during this pandemic year. We have seen the assurance of God's promises, we can have faith in His provision, and we have the evidence of His protection as a consistent part of our story throughout this unprecedented year," said North Park President Mary K. Surridge.

North Park is especially pleased with how students, faculty, mentors, and staff have persisted through a challenging, historic time. By May 2021, North Park will have conferred more than 1,100 undergraduate and graduate degrees to students who will step into the world prepared to serve in a wide variety of significant professions.

"We have learned in community that we can persevere through adversity and succeed in our vital work – our Christian calling – to educate the next generation of students, prepared for lives of significance and service," added Surridge.

In addition to its upcoming campus full reopening, North Park's innovative online teaching and learning approaches developed and improved over the past year, will continue.

ABOUT NORTH PARK UNIVERSITY 
North Park University is city-centered, intercultural, and emerging as the model for Christian higher education in 21^st Century America.

SOURCE North Park University

Related Links

www.northpark.edu