Southern Illinois University is the cultural and creative hub of southern Illinois, providing wide-ranging educational, entertainment and cultural opportunities for its students, faculty, staff and the public. SIU is located in Carbondale, the unofficial capital of southern Illinois. Carbondale possesses all the best of big city amenities, but maintains its small-town charm. Situated between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, the southern Illinois region is colloquially known as Little Egypt. The area provides a myriad of outdoor recreational activities and is known for its scenic beauty. The Shawnee National Forest encompasses over ¼ million acres covering a large portion of southern Illinois. Other popular sites include the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, Giant City State Park, Little Grand Canyon and several lakes.

During the COVID-19 global pandemic, SIU Carbondale is committed to offering programming options and hybrid event spaces during this trying time. We have the following amenties available to customers who are in need of resources:

• Meeting rooms preset with chairs 6' apart and videoconferencing abilities ready to use for Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype and other videoconferencing software. Please see our Scheduling and Events Plan for more information. While external group reservations are limited to the Fall 2020 semester, we are booking space and events beyond this.
• A large variety of continuing education online courses available. Please visit continuinged.siu.edu for more information. 
• Ability to provide hybrid events with onsite services/space and virtual conferencing options.
• SIU Carbondale will be offering virtual youth programming. For more information, please visit our youth programming website.

Please visit our campus COVID-19 webpage for more information about SIU Carbondale's response to the pandemic and the steps our camps community is taking to continue to offer a safe and engaging environment for students, staff and visitors: shc.siu.edu/coronavirus/.