Colleges and universities were some of the first to close because of the coronavirus pandemic. To comply with social distancing guidelines, campuses moved online for the rest of the spring semester. Many students headed for spring break and never came back — except to move out. With the initial shock of the pandemic waning, students and administrators are now focused on how to move forward.
Instead of packed parking lots and teams of RAs loading moving bins, students moving out at SUNY Oneonta saw quiet halls and empty streets. The public college in Oneonta essentially shuttered its doors during an extended Spring Break on March 17. Since then, its more than 6,000 students have been returning in shifts to clear out their dorms. Music Industry and Mass Communications senior Natalie Costanza:
“It was kind of...very lonely, to be completely honest," says Costanza. "You actually had to text a number to say that you were coming in, and then you had to sign up for a move-out time. My roommates all had moved out earlier than I did, so I was completely alone. It was like ‘Wow, this is how things are shaking up. After all this amazing time, this is how things have to end.’”
"I'm glad that I didn't wait to do anything in college. I got involved very early on...I feel like I was able to do a majority of [the] things that I wanted to do."
College spokesperson Kim MacLeod says about 80 students remain on campus. Costanza didn’t qualify to stay, but rather than go home to Rochester, she’s moving into a spare room at a friend’s apartment in town.
As of Monday, three SUNY Oneonta employees have tested positive for COVID-19, one of whom was quarantined on campus prior to testing. MacLeod says the school is disinfecting doorknobs, desks, and other high-touch areas throughout its buildings, and helping the Otsego County Department of Health with contact tracing. She notes students who have left will be refunded or credited their remaining room and board for the semester.
“This is for the housing fees and meal plans based on the time when they left campus ‘til the end of the spring term. So it will depend on when they’ve left. We also offer an emergency fund that’s designed to help students pay for urgent expenses," MacLeod explains. "You know, we’re trying to help them in every way possible to make sure that they will just focus on their studies and not worry about some of these other things.”
MacLeod maintains the college has enough reserve funds to weather the reimbursements and the shutdown — but that certainly isn’t the case everywhere. Earlier this month, Amherst College in Massachusetts estimated the pandemic could cost the school more than $10 million. Albany’s College of Saint Rose, already facing a financial shortfall, recently furloughed 61 employees and reduced salaries for non-unionized staff to bring a $15.8 million deficit down to $13.5 million. In light of an up to $10 million deficit, the Vermont State Colleges Board of Trustees is considering consolidating and closing some its campuses.
Across the street from SUNY Oneonta, Hartwick College demonstrates how colleges are projecting optimism. It recently held its annual spring Open House and Accepted Students’ Day online, with roughly 270 prospective students and parents tuning in for virtual tours and Q&As with teachers, coaches, and financial advisors on Zoom. Such events are usually the last chance for colleges to make their pitch to accepted students before decision day on May 1. Karen McGrath, vice president for enrollment management and student experience, says Hartwick’s Admissions Office started filming tours and promos early on in the outbreak.
“It’s going to help us continue to build our electronic content so we can leverage it over the rest of the recruiting cycle and into next year. So some of the content that we’ve been able to create we’ll be able to send to students who live 3,000 miles away," says McGrath. "So there are going to be some real positives that come out of this that are going just to become other pieces of our recruiting strategy moving forward.”
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"What’s going on Oneonta, you’re listening to Red Dragon Radio, you’re listening to ‘Alec Feldherr Radio' — for the last time!" WONY DJ Alec Feldherr gasps into the microphone. "Today’s the last ever episode of ‘Houses In Motion.' I know, I’m sad too....I’d rather be home, because if I’m gonna be quarantined I might as well be quarantined with my dog.”
SUNY Oneonta’s campus radio station, WONY, is the main reason Natalie Costanza stayed behind. The studio is still open to a few off-campus seniors who want to go on-air, and other DJs have been hosting shifts from home. As General Manager, Costanza wants to make sure everything runs smoothly and stays clean.
She says online classes have been going well, although most of her production classes have been completely re-worked to adjust for the lack of studios and other facilities. Even with nowhere to go and not much to do, Costanza says the biggest obstacle remains focusing.
“You have due dates, but you do everything on your own time," she notes. "My first choice [of where] to do my work would be to go to a library or to a coffee shop, because I’ve never been somebody who can study in my room, I've always had to go to a [different] space.”
To lighten the load, MacLeod says SUNY Oneonta students have been given the choice to have their classes graded on a pass/fail basis, which won’t impact their overall GPA.
SUNY Oneonta’s spring commencement has been moved to the end of August, and Costanza says she’s on a committee that hopes to reschedule remaining senior events as well. Like most seniors (even under normal circumstances), she’s a little bittersweet about graduating. She’s going to miss her last couple weeks with friends, and her senior recital with the campus dance company — but otherwise, she has no regrets.
“I’m glad that I didn’t wait to do anything in college. I got involved very early on," Costanza says. "I feel like I was able to do a majority of [the] things that I wanted to do.”
