Dear Colleague,
I have much to share with the Eastern campus community in today’s update. Let me start by expressing my continued gratitude for the goodwill, collaboration and “can do” spirit evidenced by everyone at Eastern who is teaching, studying, and working at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the faculty and our students — who are finding opportunities for growth and expanded knowledge in the new virtual world in which they find themselves — I want to thank all individuals and groups who are collaborating to effectively conduct Eastern business away from campus.
You may have read the news story about how several dozen Eastern volunteers have made more than 100 masks for local senior centers and other facilities. In addition, our Office of Environmental Health and Safety donated 1,200 surgical masks to the Windham Emergency Management Office. We are also readying more than 1,500 residential beds for possible emergency use by the state during COVID-19, as well as preparing other campus spaces should the State of Connecticut need to use our facilities for healthcare and other relief efforts. I am pleased that Eastern can serve our state even as we focus on serving our students and their families.
This past week, through the strong leadership of Professor Andrew Utterback, the University Senate met remotely and expedited passage of a one-semester change in our “Credit/No-Credit” policy. The Senate also approved our new Liberal Arts Core Learning Outcomes and the related assessment rubrics. This reduced the liberal arts set of skills expected of our students from a large number of over 100 learning outcomes down to a manageable group of five core skills we expect all students to have upon graduation.
The Committee on the Future of Eastern (COFE III) and the Employability Council are also wrapping up their work before we complete the academic year, a major accomplishment considering our circumstances. In addition, the Ad Hoc Budget Committee continues its important work to share budget information with the campus committee as we continue to promote fiscal responsibility and transparency. An email from Vice President Howarth will go out shortly.
The most recent guidance from President Mark Ojakian of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities is that we will continue to work from home at least through the balance of the semester. Even so, University offices and departments — from our Campus Police, who are on rotation 24/7 despite the campus being empty, to Fiscal Affairs, Student Affairs and other organizational units — are diligently moving ahead to maintain campus operations remotely. During their daily tasks from home, members of our Eastern community are showing kindness, discovering new ways of doing things, lifting each other up, and demonstrating personal courage in a time that is unprecedented in human history. I could not be prouder of our staff and faculty!
We are beginning week four of our virtual semester, and I continue to hear of examples of faculty and student innovation and collaboration taking place in this new teaching and learning environment. I want to commend the faculty and our students for their hard work and ingenuity during these unprecedented times. I am gratified by the patience and thoughtfulness shown by the vast majority of our students while studying at home. They have truly been part of the solution as we have implemented extraordinary changes this semester. To give students some flexibility, we are providing students with the option of taking any class “credit or no-credit” for the spring 2020 semester only. Details are found at https://www.easternct.edu/coronavirus/academics.html
We also are moving ahead for the fall.Advising and registration for the fall semester started on April 6. Details can be found at https://www.easternct.edu/coronavirus/academics.html In addition, with the distinct possibility that we will not be on campus in time for our regular SOAR (Summer Orientation, Advising and Registration) sessions, we are working with an online platform to deliver a robust virtual orientation experience this July. We will have more information available to admitted students and their families shortly.
Since early March, when COVID-19 began to disruptnormal life on Eastern campus, we have been committed to holding students harmless as we navigate this unprecedented global health crisis. An important component of our COVID-19 response has been the consideration of student finances. I am pleased to report than more than 1,700 students and their families have now been credited with unused room and board for the balance of the semester. Most students used the e-Refund option to receive direct deposit refunds. Paper checks to students not using e-Refund were mailed on April 3. As previously noted, students on payment plans with unpaid balances should continue making payments. If they need to work out adjustments to their payment plan, they should contact the Bursar’s Office at bursar@easternct.edu
The University is assisting in helping our students manage their finances during these difficult times with a reduced credit card payment administration fee. for credit card payments has been reduced to .01 percent, with a minimum charge of $.01, down from 2.85% and a minimum of $3.00, through June 30, 2020; debit card/ACH bank transfer payment services are being offered at no charge.
Eastern has also changed some of our normal financial practices to ease the burden on students. Student account holds have been removed for all returning students who have balances of $2,500 or less, allowing them to register for fall classes and participate in the housing selection process. Housing deposits also have been waived for returning students. As noted previously, all student workers are being paid for the balance of the spring semester.
With a large residential community — more than 50 percent of all students live on campus — another disruption to Eastern’s daily routine has been the need for all residential students to vacate campus and take their belongings home. As of April 5, 2020, almost all students had removed their belongings from the residence halls. For those students who were unable to retrieve their belongings, the University is packing and temporarily storing those belongings. Those students will be notified when they can retrieve their belongings at a later date.
I want to thank our Housing staff, the Facilities and Grounds team, our students, and their parents for the hard work and patience shown during the move-out process. Our goals were to vacate the campus in anticipation of possible use by the State of Connecticut during the pandemic; allow students to retrieve their belongings; and do it as safely as possible. From what I am told, we accomplished those goals. Thank you to all! A note from one thankful parent: “To Eastern staff: Thank you so much to all of you who made this an awesome experience for this mom. You guys are like family with supportive advice and recommendations. I cannot thank you enough.”
We recognize the strain and stress that COVID-19 is placing on our employees. In addition to the guidance and advise on telecommuting provided in the Human Resources section of our COVID-19 website, keep in mind that EAP is also available. Please also visit the human resources section of Eastern’s COVID-19 website to learn about expansion of the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
As federal and state authorities continue to stress, the best thing each of us can do now is stay home and maintain social distancing. The good news is that Eastern is doing so while providing our students with an outstanding liberal arts education, one that leads to rewarding professional careers. We will get through COVID-19 period as a stronger and more unified community.
Thank you.
Elsa M. Núñez
President
