COVID-19: Resources for Students (Updates to come)

On Wednesday afternoon, the University sent out an all-campus email declaring that students would be required to leave campus by March 23rd, and that all classes would be shifted to a remote learning model. This decision was made with little student and faculty input despite a strong student response that simply asked the Administration to be more cognizant of the needs of its most vulnerable populations before making such a life-changing decision for so many. As expected, the decision induced great panic and uncertainty amongst the student population.

While the immediate aftermath of the University’s decision was just sheer panic, students have done an incredible job of advocating for each other. The WSA went off and has been negotiating with the University on everything from our room and board refunds to storage space to the mandate that students come back to campus. Their hard work is seeing immediate returns, and many of the things they’ve accomplished are having an immediate impact on students’ lives.

This post is just to somewhat consolidate updates from the WSA about what resources are available to students and any other updates on the current situation.

All-Campus Email with Revised Information about Moving Out of Residences

Dear Students,

I’m writing to provide some revised information related to students moving out of their residences.  Given the news of the last 24 hours and after conferring with additional medical experts, we are adjusting our previous directions as follows:

Students living within driving distance to Wesleyan and who are able to go home should move out of their residences as soon as possible and no later than March 23.  If possible, we encourage travel by car rather than public transportation.  We discourage students from staying overnight unless necessary and please limit contact with others while on campus.  Please drop off your keys at the key box located between North College and South College.  Students who leave campus will be eligible for a prorated refund of their spring semester RCF fees, regardless of whether the student is on financial aid.

Students living beyond driving distance to Wesleyan and who are able to go home (or who are already at home) should leave campus as soon as possible and no later than March 23 or remain at home.  These students will have an extended window to move out of their residences and should plan to retrieve their personal belongings at any point prior to April 30.  We discourage students from staying overnight unless necessary and to limit contact with others while on campus.  Please submit this petition to let us know that you will move your belongings after March 23.  Options for packing/shipping/storage of your items so that you do not need to return to campus, are available here.  As above, students who leave campus will be eligible for a prorated refund of their spring semester RCF fees, regardless of whether the student is on financial aid.

Students requesting to remain on campus should submit this petition if they haven’t already done so.  Petitions should be submitted immediately, but no later than March 18th.  A Student Affairs committee including class deans and others will review petitions daily.  Decisions will be communicated on a rolling basis as requests are received, but no later than 5:00pm on March 20.  The focus of the committee’s assessment will be on students with housing insecurity or who cannot return home, those from countries with travel restrictions, and those with other extenuating circumstances.  Note that students approved to remain on campus may be relocated by Res Life so that they are not staying in a large residence alone.

Please be in touch if you have questions.  Wesleyan’s COVID-19 FAQs are being updated daily.

All best,
Dean Mike Whaley

 

WSA Thread

This thread by the WSA is updated regularly as they know more.

Some key moments:

The WSA is liquidating the over $200,000 left in the SBC budget for this year for emergency aid for students. It can be accessed by emailing your class dean.


Everyone will be refunded 25% of their spring semester Room and Board fees, regardless of financial aid. This means. This means that juniors and seniors will get $4,468.50 and freshmen and sophomores will get $3,931. This is regardless of whether or not you are on financial aid. You will also still be refunded even if you choose to leave your stop on campus until the end of April.


Mutual Aid Spreadsheet

Yesterday, in the unfortunate aftermath of the Democratic Primaries on Tuesday, Wesleyan for Bernie made an incredible move by focusing their efforts on maintaining this mutual aid spreadsheet. If you can offer anything including temporary housing, storage space, food, psychological services, health services, transportation etc, this is a centralized place to put it.

JCCP

Financial Aid and Work-Study


Storage

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