President David Van Zandt and Provost Tim Marshall addressed the demand for tuition refunds from students, funding for the student emergency fund, registration holds during a Zoom town hall meeting on Thursday, April 2.
Members of the University Student Senate, Anna Paniscotti, Claire Stevens, and Weiouqing Chen, joined the meeting to share some of the frequently asked questions among students, along with moderator Xarissa Holdaway.
Van Zandt and Marshall announced that the Making Center, music spaces, etc. will be available for graduating students as soon as possible, and there will be no holds on student’s accounts while registering for Fall 2020.
When asked what steps are being taken to ensure that course objectives are being met through online learning, Marshall said, “We are putting effort into making sure it’s the highest possible standard that we can deliver.”
During the town hall meeting, Marshall mentioned that student evaluation forms will be shifting this semester, to evaluate the educational experiences students had rather than evaluating faculty and staff.
Van Zandt stated that the Student Emergency Assistance Program has received around 240 student applicants since February 1 and processed around 100. “We’ve granted or worked with students on every request since the virus crisis came into place,” he said, stating that “there is no rubric or bright-line rule” in terms of who can apply. “We’re going to grant money to those who are most on the edge.”
The President and Provost also mentioned the university would be receiving money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, passed by Congress on March 27. The CARES act was put in place to allocate funds to individuals and businesses affected by COVID-19. According to Van Zandt, “more than half” of the money the university receives will go to the student emergency fund.
One of the main discussion points was tuition and refunds.
When speaking about the price of tuition, one student said “I want to know how the bloated administration can justify taking in millions of dollars as salary and townhouses. I want to know why there isn’t enough transparency over these kinds of funding in a time of crisis.”
Van Zandt responded by saying, “I would point you to the financial slides we put out,” and “we don’t run profits here.”
When asked about taking a pay cut by a student, Van Zandt said “that is certainly one of the options on the table here. Options [are] ranging from pay cuts for the top people to furloughing to closing buildings. A variety of things to keep us going.”
One student brought up the expenses the university spends on Van Zandt’s salary and housing. The student asked, “do you think that having the university pay you over 1 million dollars a year and take care of your housing, which is valued at [over] $15 million is fundamentally unfair? Because I think that’s fundamentally unfair,” adding in, “I think at the end of the day, it’s coming down to your optics and not the livelihood of students”
Van Zandt replied, “thank you for your contribution.” The student replied back “I’m waiting for yours” before the moderator moved on to the following question.