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SGA Highlights. Written by: Jenny Fang.

Updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) from Lynn Schoenberg, Dean of Students, and Lua Hancock, Vice President for Campus Life and Student Success

• Click here for a link to where all Stetson communications and FAQs. 
• The university has placed significant prevention measures and enacted procedures in our infectious disease protocol.
• Facilities have been warned and trained to increase cleaning protocols within common areas, like the Carlton Union Building (CUB) and Hollis Center. 
• There will be an increase in information being passed around on campus. 
• The campus is most likely staying open as of now. Different parts of campus may be closed, but they will not close an entire building or the entirety of campus. 
• Classes are cancelled on Monday March 16 and Tuesday March 17 for professors to prepare for online classes. Stetson is officially starting online classes on Wednesday, March 18 until the end of the semester. 

Update: In Effect Immediately Until the Rest of the Semester 

• Campus will remain open until further notice, and we will be in touch with more details about campus operations in the coming days.
  • Staff and faculty will continue to meet their administrative and educational responsibilities moving forward and will continue to report to work as normal until further notice. 
  • Staff and Faculty has been urged to consult the HR guidelines published earlier this week. Vice presidents will be in touch with staff in their areas to clarify obligations and plans.
• On-campus housing remains open to students currently living in the residence halls. 
  • Students will have the option of continuing to stay, and the university will continue to assess any health risks to the community in line with the current coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak. 
  • Students will need to decide by Friday, March 20, whether they will remain in the residence halls throughout the remainder of the term and should indicate their plans on the housing form.
  • Students who decide to leave should vacate their residence hall by Monday, March 23.
  • Students remaining on campus may be moved to single or suite-style rooms and will be offered some assistance with moving. 
  • Additionally, the library will remain open and services such as dining, counseling, health services, and tutoring on campus will continue.
    • However, the hours those services operate may become more limited depending on the volume of students who choose to stay. 
    • The Office of Residential Living and Learning will be in touch with students with more information about these changes.
• Stetson is postponing, rescheduling and canceling events that are planned to be hosted that are primarily attended by external visitors, including conferences, advisory board meetings, and open houses. This is effective through March 31. Event organizers may choose to adjust the audience to be primarily internal to the university, move it online or postpone the event to a later date. 
•  All non-essential Stetson-sponsored domestic and international travel are canceled through the end of the spring semester. The university cabinet, which includes vice presidents, the athletics director, deans, and the president are responsible for defining essential and non-essential travel for their areas and questions should be directed to them.
•  The university is requiring all visitors to postpone their planned campus visit if they were in any of the international areas impacted by COVID-19 in the past 14 days, in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 14 days, and or are exhibiting flu- or cold-like symptoms.
• Screening documents must be completed prior to arrival by prospective students planning shadow visits or overnight visits and invited guests and speakers planning on being in the classroom or at an event. External faculty or staff candidates selected for on-campus interviews will also be asked to fill out screening forms. If visitors are found to be at high-risk, they will not be allowed on our campuses. 
• Invited guests, speakers, and performers prohibited from coming to campus may be able to present their content in a streaming, video conference or online format. 
• Stetson Athletics announced today the ASUN conference is suspending athletics competition indefinitely and will make a decision regarding any further competition this semester on Friday, March 13.
• The university has not made a final decision on the handling of commencement and will continue to review and assess the situation, but will strive to provide a decision and announcement by March 31.

Student Health

• Student health is the most important priority 
• Stetson Health Services is in direct contact with the Florida Department of Health. 
  • If you have been exposed to someone they think has been exposed, are experiencing symptoms such as chest pain, severe coughing, a temperature of 101.3 or above, health services is the safest department to get in contact with. 
• The Florida Department of Health has criteria for detecting individuals with COVID-19 might be getting these individuals self-quarantined for 14 days and tested. 
  • If someone gets self-quarantined, it doesn’t mean they are sick 
• Biased Form (report possible exposure)
• If you hear of a student with concerns about their immune system, please contact Stetson Health Services 
  • For these scenarios, individualized needs and health concerns needs would be looked at by Stetson Health services and Florida Department of Health. Different students have different cases.
• If you are currently a student without a meal plan and getting groceries is not efficient, a meal plan may be added if necessary . 
• In extenuating circumstances, students may choose to go on medical withdrawal 
• Contact information for report health issues and concerns: 
  • Florida Department of Health at 1-866-779-6121 
  • Stetson Health Service at 386-822-8150.

Sessions 

Both virtual and in-person sessions will be held tomorrow, Friday, March 13, and will be two hours. 

• Virtual sessions will be offered: 
  • To register for a session, please complete the information at the link below corresponding with the time you wish to attend
    • 7 a.m.
    • 11 a.m.
    • 5 p.m.
  • *Please note: Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are the only web browsers able to access our webinar from a desktop or laptop computer.

In-person session will be held at 12 p.m. in the Stetson Room

Campus Climate Survey 

Stetson is partnering with Pryor Education Insights to conduct a Campus Climate Survey. This survey has been extended until tomorrow, Friday, March 13. This survey seeks to ask students, faculty, and staff about becoming a more diverse, equitable and inclusive community. Every Stetson undergraduate has received an email regarding this survey from Vice President for Campus Life and Student Success Lua Hancock. The link embedded within that email is an original link used specifically for you. There is a goal of obtaining survey results from 30 percent of the undergraduates. 

Here is an article containing information about this survey from Stetson Today. 

Traffic Court

SGA holds Traffic Court so that students may appeal their tickets. Traffic Court is tentatively scheduled to be held on Friday, March 13 from 10 a.m until 1 p.m.. To appeal your ticket, attend traffic court. It will be held on Friday and Saturday because that is a time that many students are free to come to dispute their tickets. 

Effective Access to Student Education (EASE)

A few Stetson students in SGA traveled to Tallahassee on Wednesday, Feb. 26 to join students from other ICUF universities with urging state legislators to oppose further cuts to the EASE Grant and express the importance of EASE, so that Stetson students can continue to have more affordable access to private education. These members of SGA also thanked the Florida Legislature for preserving the EASE Program. The EASE grant funds for approximately $2,800 a year for state residents to attend Florida private universities. As a result, the current funding for EASE remains. 

New Senator Appointment 

Lana Kolchinsky (‘22) was appointed and sworn in as a senator for the College of Arts and Sciences. 

S.Res.5: A Resolution to Encourage Stetson University to Remain Open 

Jacob Johnson (‘22), a Senator at Large, proposed the following resolution was proposed to encourage Stetson University to remain open during the spreading of the coronavirus: 

“WHEREAS Stetson University is the primary residence for many students on campus;

WHEREAS These students rely on Stetson University’s housing to have a place to live;

WHEREAS If this University were to shut down completely these students would not have a place to stay while they wait for the University to re-open;

WHEREAS If this University were to shut down students would not have access to their meal plan;

WHEREAS If students could not access their meal plan, food insecurity among our students would increase;

WHEREAS Students rely on work-study programs to maintain an income;

WHEREAS If the University were to shut down students would lose access to their income and that will lead to negative consequences for those students;

WHEREAS The University shutting down would causes classes to move to an online format;

WHEREAS Moving to an online format would cause it to be harder for students with accommodations to access those accommodations;

WHEREAS Moving to an online format would create an additional barrier for all students to maintain the highest access to education,

THEREFORE, That the Student Government Association, encourages 

1. Stetson University does not shut down operations unless absolutely necessary to guarantee the safety of all members of our community 
2. If the university does shut down at a minimum the following measures are taken to ensure the wellbeing of all members in our community: 

• Create a process to allow students to stay on campus, free of charge, while the campus is closed. 
• Create a process for students that need to remain on campus to have regular access to food, free of charge. 
• Ensure that all student employees are paid while they are away from campus; and a fund is set up to assist students on a need basis with hardships due to closure.”

The following amendments were voted on and passed:

•  Remove section 1
  • “Stetson University does not shut down operations unless absolutely necessary to guarantee the safety of all members of our community “
• Remove third bullet point to section 2 
  • “Ensure that all student employees are paid while they are away from campus; and a fund is set up to assist students on a need base with hardships due to closure.”

The resolution was not passed. 

Follow SGA for updates.