The spring semester at Ashland University has brought a new face to the campus community. Sheila Pryor, a retired member of the military, is the new COVID-19 response coordinator and was hired as successor to Elise Riggle.
Pryor, who worked for the Ashland County Health Department when COVID-19 was first introduced, says that she learned a lot of valuable skills in the military and from her previous job that have helped her prepare as response coordinator.
“I took on the responsibility of an emergency management type of position, which is something in the military that I have always done,” Pryor said. “I planned family events and family support mechanisms for when deployments hit.”
These past experiences made the transition for Pryor more comfortable as she is experienced in the area of family and community support in Ashland.
“I got to the campus and I wanted to be here,” Pryor said. “It was energizing, everybody here is dedicated to the students, and it is just a positive, uplifting, Christian environment that really made me feel great.”
Pryor heard about the position opening after calling Elise Riggle and learning that she was leaving for a job in the E-Learning department at Ashland.
“My position here is full time and I am able to support the Student Health Center,” Pryor said. “Hopefully I can take some burden off of them and help with the contact tracing.”
In addition, Pryor is also working toward putting COVID-19 test kits in every quarantine room as well as starting a campaign where staff members will receive a test kit for their families provided by the state of Ohio.
“The plan in the immediate future is also to have those test kits available throughout different areas of campus for students,” Pryor said. “Ashland University is by far completely dedicated to getting the students out of the mask, getting them safe, while protecting their families and each other.”
Coming into this position, Pryor has a positive mindset on her goals and the future of our Ashland community as a whole.
“I think that if you look around the campus, this is a campus of families even though we come from all over the place,” Pryor said. “It is just amazing the way that people look out for one another and do the right thing and I am really proud to be a part of that.”