Coronavirus Impact
Inside Higher Ed reports that Pomona College students who have been denied emergency housing during the coronavirus outbreak are asking administrators to expand criteria for who gets to stay. Pomona students said less than half of those who asked to remain on campus have been approved. Vulnerable students, including students who are homeless, or who come from violent households, have turned to virtual “Zoom-based protest action” to organize, write demands, fundraise and express discontent to administrators, demanding an increase in emergency housing during the coronavirus pandemic. Occupy Pomona is a coalition of students petitioning to remain on campus. Marie Tano, a junior from Atlanta, who was denied emergency housing, said that Pomona prides itself on being a diverse institution with support for first-generation and low-income students, but those same students don’t feel “welcomed or wanted” anymore.
According to the Wall Street Journal, as colleges and universities nationwide shut down dorms and dining halls, cancel athletic events and commencements and shift to remote instruction families, are asking whether they will get a refund for the semester. The Journal reports that the answer depends on the school. Stanford University will eliminate housing and dining charges for the spring quarter, which starts March 30, for students who have left campus. Harvard University, Ohio State University and the University of California, San Diego, have said that students will get back some portion of room and board fees for the weeks not spent on campus.
A student-lead petition that calls for the University of Vermont to partially reimburse them for tuition and housing fees for this semester has over 6,000 signatures.
The Hechinger Report highlights the ways that some schools and organizations are helping students during the crisis. Liz Wellen, the Hechinger Report’s Editor in Chief, writes, “In recent weeks, I’ve seen aid come in the form of deferrals of student loan payments, laptop loans, free storage or help shipping items home, grocery deliveries, pass-fail grading, help finding temporary housing and paycheck continuation for work-study students. Meanwhile, cultural institutions are relaxing rules and paywalls to offer much-needed diversion, like free streaming of Broadway musicals and plays, operas, online art programs and free downloads of books from public libraries.”
As lawmakers struck a $2 trillion stimulus deal early Wednesday, some Senate Democrats had proposed canceling federal student loan payments as the coronavirus pandemic causes the country’s economy to grind to a halt. The plan was backed by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). According to Inside Higher Ed, the $10,000 debt cancellation Democrats in the House and Senate wanted is not a viable option. A Democratic aide said, “Republicans balked at the large-scale cancellation of student loans. We pushed until the end, but it’s not happening.”
The American Council on Education, which represents college presidents, sent lawmakers a memorandum last week asking for billions of dollars in direct funding for students and schools that have taken the step to shut down campuses this month. Under the proposal, students would be eligible for reimbursement of emergency expenses of up to $1,500 each, and institutions would be able to recover some of their immediate costs.
Inside Higher Ed is providing continuous updates on COVID-19 here, including information about schools providing emergency funds for students. The Northern Virginia Community College Educational Foundation launched a new emergency aid fund for students affected by the pandemic with a $250,000 contribution from the NOVA Foundation. Temple University in Philadelphia also is offering emergency aid funds for students who apply, as well as partnering with community groups to offer services like food pantries.
The Daily Tarheel Editorial Board weighed in on the University of North Carolina’s response to the coronavirus epidemic. The Board commends the university for switching to an emergency grading option, in which students can declare spring 2020 courses as pass/fail until Aug. 7. Students had petitioned for that change. The Board also praised the university’s accommodations for work-study students. UNC work study students will be allowed to continue their work-study remotely if possible and arrangements will be made for alternative funding for those that cannot. Additionally, the Board noted, Campus Health, as well as Counseling and Psychological Services, will remain open. However, the article criticized the lack of communication from the university, especially pertaining to potential refunds on housing or dining, and the decision to lay off resident advisors.
Harvard University students have formed a group called Students vs. Pandemics aimed at centralizing advocacy and resources in response to the coronavirus. Gwendolyn Lee – a student at the Harvard Kennedy School and one of the group’s co-founders – said Students vs. Pandemics and its COVID-19 Task Force has three primary goals: to improve transparency and communication, to build community, and to identify problems across the University caused by the global disease outbreak. Much of the group’s work is centralized on a Google Sheet, with sections of information to help students “stay healthy,” “find resources,” “have fun,” and “support community.”
In an op-ed in Inside Higher Ed, Ruby Cheng, the international enrollment director for the Asian Pacific region at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, argues that institutions have not focused enough attention on the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the international students on their campuses. Cheng writes, “As we develop policies to react to the fast-changing situation, we cannot afford to neglect them. For example, when colleges and universities decide to evacuate their campuses, we should offer special support for international students, especially those who are unable to find a place to live. If students are unable to live on campus, institutions should consider making a collaborative effort to reach out to the international community or provide coordination for alternative housing.”
Allison Stanger, a visiting professor of government at Harvard University and a professor of international politics and economics at Middlebury College, writes in the Chronicle of Higher Education that colleges should make all courses mandatory pass/fail to address the extraordinary challenges being faced by their students and faculty. According to Stanger, changing all courses to pass/fail and adding an asterisk to everyone’s transcript would eliminate any problems with fairness while allowing students and faculty to focus on creating a meaningful learning experience in anxious times.
In an Emory Wheel op-ed, Emory University students Shreya Pabbaraju and Meredith McKelvey urge the university to adopt a universal pass system which would make it mandatory for all students to set their grading requirements to pass or fail. The universal pass system, they argue, removes the competition for high grades and promotes academic equity.
The Chronicle reports that Tufts University, Middlebury College, and New York University are considering how to donate their dorms and other buildings to local hospitals in case of a surge in patients. If the spread of the coronavirus isn’t controlled, the number of COVID-19 patients needing hospital care is expected to far outstrip the number of available beds. College residence halls are largely empty, as many have sent students home. “It became clear that, if we organized ourselves correctly, we would be able to assist our hospitals,” said Anthony P. Monaco, president of Tufts University. The university has offered residential units on campus to Tufts Medical Center patients who need rehab services, such as post-surgery physical therapy, so that the center’s hospital beds will be freed for COVID-19 patients.
Education Dive highlights three ways that community colleges can help their students during the pandemic: Connect students to resources, such as help applying for federal housing or food assistance; Keep food banks running; and be flexible with online education, including assignments and deadlines (as students likely won’t have equitable access to the internet).
The Daily Tarheel reports on the effects of social distancing on mental health. Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, chairperson of the Department of Psychiatry in the UNC School of Medicine, told the newspaper that abrupt social isolation may negatively impact some people’s mental health. “It is completely normal for people to feel distressed and for people to feel a real sense of loss and frustration being yanked away from, if you will, their lives,” Meltzer-Brody said. “For college students, your life is being at school and for that to change on a dime and without notice is going to be distressing.” Meltzer stressed the need for people to practice self-care and ways of managing their anxiety. Counseling and Psychological Services Director Dr. Allen O’Barr said that there are still staff members available in the office to conduct in-person meetings or medication management and students have access to CAPS therapists through a 24/7 hotline. He said CAPS clinical employees are equipped with HIPAA-compliant Zoom sessions in anticipation of having to conduct teletherapy on a broader scale.
The Daily Press reports that the wellness departments at the College of William & Mary have gone virtual – adding online articles, videos and even live classes to reach as many students and staff as possible. Kelly Crace, associate vice president for health and wellness, said that William & Mary plans to build holistic content that covers eight dimensions of wellness: emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, occupational, physical, social and spiritual. The goal is to help students develop confidence and resilience during uncertain times. “This is a huge adjustment that involves both worry and loss,” Crace notes. “We want to make sure they feel connected to our community, and we want to be an active partner in helping them cope and continue their preferred wellness practices.”
In 2019, more than 50 institutions, the most in a single year, declared they would no longer require, or in some cases even review, applicants’ SAT and ACT scores. Education Dive reports that as groups that run the SAT and ACT canceled testing dates scheduled for this month through May due to the coronavirus, at least half a dozen colleges have announced that they would either waive or alter their requirements that applicants take the tests. Education Dive reports that whether colleges will continue with test-optional policies after the crisis subsides is unclear.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has temporarily suspended medical and student debt referred to her office amid the coronavirus crisis. The collection of medical and student debt referred to the attorney general’s office will be halted for at least a 30-day period, through April 15, according to a statement released by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and James.