1 20 68 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Hyperlink A link, or reference, to another resource on the Internet. URL <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7i8Z3xBwihE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SRU Communication Faculty Members Share Messages for Students Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hannah Shumsky (The Rocket) Description An account of the resource This video is a compilation of SRU communication faculty members sharing messages for students. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hannah Shumsky (The Rocket) Relation A related resource SRU Student Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-24 SRU Faculty SRU Student The Rocket Video YouTube Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Hyperlink A link, or reference, to another resource on the Internet. URL <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/68mBQwipizI" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Episode 1: ROCK TALK, AN SRU MEDIA PODCAST Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource WSRU-TV and The Rocket Description An account of the resource Join Samantha Amato and Joshua Peters of WSRU-TV News as they discuss small business, international student living and athletic eligibility during the Coronavirus pandemic in this first episode of Rock Talk, a collaboration between The Rocket and WSRU-TV members. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource WSRU-TV and The Rocket Relation A related resource SRU Student Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-03-27 Audio Podcast SRU Student The Rocket WSRU-TV YouTube Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Hyperlink A link, or reference, to another resource on the Internet. URL <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zBZq19TqeHY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Episode 2: ROCK TALK, AN SRU MEDIA PODCAST Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource WSRU-TV and The Rocket Description An account of the resource Join Samantha Amato and Joshua Peters of WSRU-TV News as they discuss financial aid, climate change, and how senior athletes are dealing with ending their Rock careers during the Coronavirus pandemic in this second episode of Rock Talk, a collaboration between the Rocket and WSRU-TV members. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource WSRU-TV and The Rocket Relation A related resource SRU Student Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-03 Audio Podcast SRU Student The Rocket WSRU-TV YouTube Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Hyperlink A link, or reference, to another resource on the Internet. URL <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z9N3457rAS8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Episode 3: ROCK TALK, AN SRU MEDIA PODCAST Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource WSRU-TV and The Rocket Description An account of the resource Join Samantha Amato and Joshua Peters of WSRU-TV News as they discuss student teachers adjusting to online teaching, the halt of the US economy, and the appearance of bears all around the world in this third episode of Rock Talk, a collaboration between the Rocket and WSRU-TV members. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource WSRU-TV and The Rocket Relation A related resource SRU Student Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-10 Audio Podcast SRU Student The Rocket WSRU-TV YouTube Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Hyperlink A link, or reference, to another resource on the Internet. URL <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NxfsAPiF5Fw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Episode 4: ROCK TALK, AN SRU MEDIA PODCAST Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource WSRU-TV and The Rocket Description An account of the resource Join Samantha Amato and Joshua Peters of WSRU-TV News as they discuss students challenges with paying their rent in full, a victory for Coach Papa, and the many Zoom meetings being held through Slippery Rock in this fourth episode of Rock Talk, a collaboration between the Rocket and WSRU-TV members. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource WSRU-TV and The Rocket Relation A related resource SRU Student Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-17 Audio Podcast SRU Student The Rocket WSRU-TV YouTube Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Hyperlink A link, or reference, to another resource on the Internet. URL <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/79veVDwGx5k" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Episode 5: ROCK TALK, AN SRU MEDIA PODCAST Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource WSRU-TV and The Rocket Description An account of the resource Join Samantha Amato and Joshua Peters of WSRU-TV News as they discuss how you can be a part of history, Student Government elections, and availability for new President's Commission members in this fifth episode of Rock Talk, a collaboration between the Rocket and WSRU-TV members. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-24 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource WSRU-TV and The Rocket Relation A related resource SRU Student Audio Podcast SRU Student The Rocket WSRU-TV YouTube Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Hyperlink A link, or reference, to another resource on the Internet. URL <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/swr8RCDBeW4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Episode 6: ROCK TALK, AN SRU MEDIA PODCAST Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource WSRU-TV and The Rocket Description An account of the resource Join Samantha Amato and Joshua Peters of WSRU-TV News as they discuss the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, virtual orientations, and SRU Giving day in the sixth episode of Rock Talk, a collaboration between the Rocket and WSRU-TV members. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-05-01 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource WSRU-TV and The Rocket Relation A related resource SRU Student Audio Podcast SRU Student The Rocket WSRU-TV YouTube Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Hyperlink A link, or reference, to another resource on the Internet. URL <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hVZ8VGmxAbg" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SRSGA Town Hall: Meet the E-Board Candidates Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource WSRU-TV and The Rocket Description An account of the resource WSRU-TV, The Rocket and SGA worked together to ask the executive board candidates questions about their goals, plans and thoughts on local issues. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-18 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource WSRU-TV and The Rocket Relation A related resource SRU Student Audio Podcast SGA SRU Student The Rocket WSRU-TV YouTube https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/9c80ab8ac303889a5911ddb7f0f686b8.pdf 79b6d4061268926d44a154d708b06f3f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document This is a breaking news story and will be updated with more information as it becomes available. UPDATE MARCH 16 12:50 P.M. Just 10 days after SRU students left for spring break, SRU President William Behre announced Monday afternoon in an email to university stakeholders that face-to-face classes will be delivered through distance education models beginning March 30. Previously, Behre announced that spring break will be extended until March 29. All classes originally taught online will begin today as originally scheduled. “I know this is not what many of you had hoped for, nor is it what you had planned on when you came to SRU,” Behre said. “But rest assured that your professors are diligently working to bring your content online before virtual classes resume March 30.” Behre said that staff from the Office of Residence Life will schedule a move-out procedure for students to move out of their dorms. The university asks that no students come to campus without an appointment to avoid large groups coming together. “If you are one of the handful of students who must currently continue to reside on campus and have registered with the Office of Residence Life, you are welcome to continue to stay,” Behre said. “Staff will be in touch with any logistical issues that may arise.” Behre added in his email that university staff is working on information regarding room and board fee refunds. He added that information concerning refunds will be coming soon. All on-campus events, including athletic contests and recognition ceremonies, will be canceled for the rest of the semester. There is no information concerning the status of the spring commencement ceremonies at this time. Originally published March 11 at 5:24 p.m. In an email sent to university stakeholders on Wednesday, SRU President William Behre announced that SRU will extend spring break by two weeks in response to the coronavirus outbreak and move instruction online starting March 30. During the two-week extension, faculty will prepare to potentially teach their courses online. Classes originally taught online will resume as normal on March 16. Under a revised FAQ document attached to the email sent at 1:12 p.m., on-campus classes will “probably not” resume at the end of spring break. “The University will be monitoring the public health situation,” the FAQ document states. “At this point, we expect that all classes will resume through distance modalities on March 30. During the extended break period for on-campus students, faculty and staff will be preparing for the contingency that all classes will be online only beginning March 30 and until further notice. This means that there will likely be NO face-to-face instruction via lectures, seminars or any other similar classroom setting until further notice. The University will make a final decision before March 25.” In his email, Behre added, “If the semester should need to be completed fully through distance learning, additional instruction to students on the particulars of this change will be communicated by March 25.” The semester schedule will not be extended. Final exam week is still scheduled for May 5-9. Campus offices will remain open during this extended break, but auxiliary offices (such as Bailey Library and the Aebersold Recreation Center) will be closed. Students with internships or student teaching assignments should refer to their placement sites. The announcement comes after the Pennsylvania Department of Health 15 presumptive cases of coronavirus in Pennsylvania. So far, all presumptive positive cases have been contained to the eastern side of the state in Montgomery, Delaware, Monroe, Wayne, Bucks and Philadelphia Counties. “The hard part is that you don’t want to contribute to public hysteria, but at the same time, if you don’t plan now you can find yourself in a situation where you have hundreds of people exposed,” Behre added via a phone call interview on Tuesday. On-campus residents should not return to campus unless they must collect textbooks, prescription medications and other essential items. The Office of Housing Residence Life will follow up with more information. Information about prorated university room and board charges will announced at a later date. According to Behre, there will be a small amount of students permitted on campus. The majority of these students are international students and/or would be homeless without on-campus living. Scaled-down food operations will be available to the students permitted to stay on campus. “Some on-campus residents, such as international students, have a continued need to live on-campus as it is their permanent place of residence during the academic year,” according to the updated FAQ page. “Students who must live on-campus will be given the opportunity to apply for on-campus housing during this two-week period. Dining services will be offered to these students who must live on-campus. Further communication to on-campus residents about these options will be sent out by the Office of Housing and Residence Life by March 13.” All events on campus during the two-week extension have been cancelled. The status of events for the rest of the semester will be decided closer to March 30. Only student workers who work in essential services related to health and safety will continue to work. All other student employment is temporarily suspended. “When students return to campus, they will resume their student work responsibilities,” the FAQ page reads. As of Wednesday afternoon, athletics events haven’t been cancelled. There will be no spectators permitted at athletic events. According to Behre, the lost two weeks will not be added to the end of the semester since the university’s accrediting body allows for missed time due to weather or other emergencies. University police will remain open during the two-week extension of spring break, and health center and counseling center services will be available, according to Behre. The health center is also available via phone call. UPDATE (March 11, 2:15 p.m.) SRU’s chapter of the Association of Pennsylvania State College & University Faculties (APSCUF) shared an email received by Ben Shaevitz and Jason Hilton, SRU’s president and vice president of APSCUF, in a Facebook post. “Though we have dealt with disruptions to classes before, both in cases of severe weather and during our successful job action in 2016, the proposed duration of this disruption and the comprehensive push toward online pedagogies is unprecedented,” the email reads. “Know that local APSCUF leadership has been involved in the planning process for this action and that both Ben Shaevitz and Jason Hilton are members of an emergency planning taskforce that will be meeting regularly throughout this disruption.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource BREAKING: SRU classes to move online starting March 30 Description An account of the resource This story was published on The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hannah Shumsky Relation A related resource SRU Student Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-03-11 Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/5efb87bf3dcc49bb0e325dfc1677d0ee.pdf 2336415c941de7de2a77770fcfa374f1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document This story is no longer being updated as of March 12 at 4 p.m. For the most up-to-date information, please read our coverage on SRU’s spring break extension and the status of 14 schools in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. UPDATE (MARCH 12, 12:04 p.m.) – Mansfield suspends face-to-face instruction one week, will transition to online classes Mansfield University has become the final university in the PASSHE to alter its educational instruction due to COVID-19. In an online statement from Mansfield President Charles E. Patterson Thursday, the university announced it was suspending face-to-face instruction for one week to prepare for a transition to online instruction. All courses, except for online which will continue as scheduled, will resume on Monday, March 23 in an online format. The statement said the university was not closing but using the week of March 16 to prepare for the shift to online learning. Mansfield students will have the choice to either stay in their residence halls or move out and return to their homes. The opportunity of a choice comes from Mansfield realizing that no two students have the same situation. However, students who stay on campus will likely be consolidated to one or two dorms, using appropriate social spacing measures. Campus resources for students choosing to remain on campus will remain available. On-campus events that are attended by, or coordinated with, external visitors will he evaluated at a case-by-case basis, and PSAC Athletic events will continue with enhanced precaution. Internships, clinicals, field experiences and student teaching assignments will continue as expected, barring a suspension of the host organization. UPDATE (MARCH 12, 11:32 p.m.) – Indiana (Pa.) suspends face-to-face instruction until March 23 Indiana University (Pa.) announced Thursday through an email from IUP President Michael A. Driscoll to students that all face-to-face instruction has been suspended until March 23. The statement stressed that IUP’s campus is not closing as faculty and staff will report to campus to continue efforts to restructure classes and events to fit recommended health guidelines. The decision comes in order to allow time for faculty to alter courses to minimize the risk of disease transmission while still meeting educational objectives. All on-campus through April 19 that are expected to draw more 75 people will be canceled, restructured or postponed. IUP asked students to not return to campus or the residence halls until March 21 or 22. IUP will continue to monitor the situation. UPDATE (MARCH 12, 11:25 p.m.) – Clarion suspends face-to-face instruction indefinitely Clarion University announced Thursday morning that face-to-face instruction has been suspended until further notice, according to an online statement from Clarion President Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson. The statement said that classes will continue online or in an alternative setting, based on what each individual faculty or staff member decides. Students have been given the choice to either stay on campus or return to their homes to complete coursework, and the university urges students to make the best decision for their individual situations. All campus offices and services will remain open, which includes student housing, library services and other student services. While all university events have been cancelled, a statement in regard to athletics will be released later. UPDATE (MARCH 11, 8:05 p.m.) – Cheyney extends spring break by one week, California modifies schedule Cheyney University administration extended its spring break by one week. The university anticipates that on-campus classes will resume as normal on March 23. Students should report back by March 23 unless notified otherwise. “Next week, we will determine whether courses will be conducted in-person or remotely for the rest of the semester,” Cheyney’s online statement reads. “Should circumstances warrant that courses be taught remotely, we will notify the Cheyney community. Until that point, we are operating under the assumption that classes will be taught in-person. All current online courses will continue as normal and will resume on March 23.” Cheyney faculty and staff are to report on March 16. California University has extended its spring break for on-campus students until March 27. Online classes will continue as scheduled on March 16 and beginning March 30, and all on-campus classes will resume through online and distance learning. The current anticipated return to on-campus classes in April 13. UPDATE (MARCH 11, 7:00 p.m.) – Mansfield decides to proceed as normal Mansfield University has decided to proceed with business as usual, citing an early spring break and a rural campus, in regard to the threat of COVID-19, the university announced Wednesday in an online statement. Mansfield is preparing for the possibility of moving classes online and has begun planning for such a change with its Academic Affairs leadership and faculty union. All university-sponsored travel for faculty, staff and students, excluding athletics, has been cancelled. The university is encouraging faculty, staff and students to stay in the community on weekends. Mansfield will assess all on-campus events internal to the campus population to ensure the health and well-being of all on campus. These events include student-run clubs, organizations, intramural sports and non-credit experiences. Dining hall access has been restricted to just faculty, staff and students. UPDATE (MARCH 11, 6:15 p.m.) – Lock Haven suspends classes following spring break Lock Haven University became the ninth university in the PASSHE to alter its instruction plans over the rest of the semester when the university put out a formal statement Wednesday evening. Face-to-face instruction will be suspended following LHU’s spring break, and the week of March 16 will be used for faculty and staff to prepare for classes to resume online on March 23. The online instruction will continue until April 3, with face-to-face courses resuming on April 6 — which is subject to change. “This is a pre-emptive action aimed at preventing the potential spread of what the World Health Organization has designated a global pandemic and federal officials warn will worsen across the country,” LHU President Robert Pignatello said in the statement. “So, early interventions like this, which are consistent with many campuses here in PA and elsewhere, matter.” Students will be expected to live off-campus temporarily with the residence halls expected to house only a select number of students. Students needing to live on campus between March 16 and April 4 must provide a justified reason for staying. All university-sponsored events, athletics excluded, will be cancelled until April 3 and visitors to the university will be limited. All university offices will remain open but hours may be limited. UPDATE (March 11, 3:00 p.m.) – Clarion monitors outbreak Clarion University announced Wednesday afternoon that they are closely monitoring the coronavirus outbreak while students are on spring break. Clarion students returned from spring break on Monday, March 9. The university is operating on a normal schedule as of March 10. “While most of the PASSHE universities are on spring break this week, ours was last week, making our situation different. The location and size, as well as current conditions in the areas near campuses, dictate how each campus makes those decisions. At this point in time, conditions do not indicate a benefit to suspending our face-to-face instruction,” Clarion President Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson said in an email. Pehrsson said the university will monitor Gov. Wolf’s coronavirus update with legislative leaders and Secretary of Health Rachel Levine and adjust plans if necessary. UPDATE (March 11, 1:40 p.m.) – Slippery Rock extends spring break for two weeks SRU is the eighth PASSHE school to modify its instruction. Spring break is extended for two weeks until March 30. During the next two weeks, faculty will receive training on how to move their courses online. According to a document of frequently-asked questions attached to President William Behre’s email, on-campus classes will “probably not” resume after spring break. For more information, see our breaking news post: “SRU extends spring break by two weeks, instruction to most likely move online.” UPDATE (March 11, 12:45 p.m.) – Kutztown extends spring break Kutztown University President Kenneth Hawkinson announced via a campus alert that classes will be suspended until March 23. “Faculty should be available for student inquiries, and use the extra time to prepare to deliver courses online, should it be necessary to take further action beyond March 21,” Hawkinson said in an online statement. Residence halls are closed until March 22 at 1 p.m. but will be available for students who need housing for internships for credit, clinicals and student teaching assignments. Administrative offices will operate under their regular operating schedules. Athletic events will continue as scheduled, and all campus events for next week will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. All university-sponsored travel is also cancelled until further notice. UPDATE (March 11, 11:45 a.m.) – East Stroudsburg extends spring break In an email sent to students at 11:19 a.m. Wednesday morning, East Stroudsburg University administration announced that spring break will be extended by one week. “It is important to know that our campus is not closed,” ESU President Marcia Walsh said in an email to students. “Our plan to delay the return of students to campus through March 22 is intended to keep our students safe at home while giving our faculty time to convert face-to-face courses to distance education in the event that remote delivery of classes will be required in the week/weeks to follow.” Residence halls will remain open to house a limited number of students, including student athletes, international students and those currently student teaching. Events through March 22 are canceled. Future events will be evaluated as necessary. The extension will allow for the launch of alternative teaching methods if necessary. UPDATE (March 11, 11:00 a.m.) – Shippensburg extends spring break Shippensburg University is the fifth to modify its operating schedule, extending its spring break by one week through March 23. During this extension, faculty members will receive training for online course delivery. Students who need to access to campus are required to complete a form and will have access to the library, the recreation center and certain dining services. Students who can also request housing during this time through the form. Athletic events will continue as scheduled, and officials will review events on a case-by-case basis as needed. Non-essential, university-sponsored travel is cancelled until further notice. UPDATE (March 11, 10:25 a.m.) – Edinboro and Millersville modify schedules Edinboro University is the third PASSHE school to announce a change in its operating schedule. Its spring break has been extended through the week of March 16 and classes will be online March 23-April 5, according to Edinboro President Guiyou Huang. Face-to-face instruction is anticipated to resume on April 6. Online courses will resume as normal on March 16. Students who need to stay on campus are required to complete a form and will have access to the library, dining hall, student center and health center. Students are also able to retrieve their belongings in their residence halls during select hours. There will also be refunds for housing and dining plans on a prorated basis. These details will be shared at a later date. All events through April 5 have been cancelled. As of this time, there are no changes in operations for staff, according to the notice. Millersville University administration also announced Wednesday morning that face-to-face instruction will be suspended after its spring break ends. Spring break will take place from March 14-20 and there will be no face-to-face classes from March 21-27, according to the announcement from Millersville University President Daniel Wubah. “The University will reassess these interim measures on a weekly basis,” Wubah said in the online statement. “We are focused on ensuring our students finish the semester successfully with as little interruption as possible while safeguarding everyone’s health, safety and welfare.” On March 30, instruction will resume via remote instruction. Students are not to report to campus during this time. University staff are to report as usual, and office hours will be held via technology. Day-to-day administrative operations will continue. Faculty will be prepared for remote advising for scheduling summer and fall classes. Online courses will resume as normal after spring break and are not affected by the schedule changes. UPDATE (March 10, 5:40 p.m.) – Bloomsburg extends spring break Bloomsburg University announced Tuesday evening that spring break has been extended by one week. Classes are anticipated to resume March 23. “Out of an abundance of concern for all members of the BU family, we are extending the spring break for our students by one week, with classes anticipated to resume on Monday, March 23,” the message stated. “During this extension, faculty will be provided training, both locally and remotely, specific to online course delivery methods. This will enable continuity of instruction if further delays of our students’ return to campus become warranted.” UPDATE (March 10, 4:20 p.m.) – Kutztown monitors outbreak Kutztown University announced Tuesday afternoon that they are closely monitoring the coronavirus outbreak while students are on spring break. “The KU Emergency Management Team continues to closely monitor the new coronavirus in our region and beyond. The university is currently on spring break, and there are no reported cases of the new coronavirus on campus. There are no changes to the university operating schedule at this time,” the message stated. Below is the message sent to West Chester University stakeholders, courtesy of a staff member of The Quad, WCU’s student news service. “Please take notice of how students who rely on the university for housing aren’t being addressed in this email, such a[s] students who might experience homelessness or students who are studying internationally. Reimbursement for students who live on campus is not addressed either,” Kirsten Magas, a student at WCU, said in a Twitter message. ORIGINAL POST (March 10, 4 p.m.) As of Tuesday afternoon, West Chester University was the first school in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) to modify its academic schedule due to the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. All classes at West Chester University will be held remotely for the rest of the semester. Two universities in Ohio—The Ohio State University and Kent State University—have also announced plans to hold classes online via remote instruction as the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the U.S. The announcements come shortly after Ohio Governor Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency after three Ohio residents tested positive for COVID-19. As of Tuesday, Slippery Rock University administration hasn’t made any decisions regarding the status of on-campus classes after students return from spring break. “The University administration is having on-going discussions relative to that topic,” Robb King, SRU deputy chief communication and public affairs officer, said in an emailed statement. When a definitive answer is available, it will be circulated to all students, faculty and staff as well as media outlets, SRU social media accounts and the University website.” David Wilmes, SRU chief student affairs officer, said university administration is correctly reviewing its contingency plans and will announce if any decisions are made. “The University has multiple contingency plans in place to deal with a wide variety of emergency situations,” Wilmes said in an emailed statement. “We have been reviewing these plans closely while also communicating with the PA State System of Higher Education, the PA Health Department and others. At this time, we are having ongoing dialogues at the highest level on what our decisions will be. Further communication will come from the University if any decisions are made.” Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced another presumptive positive case of COVID-19 in a Montgomery County resident, bringing the statewide total to 12. These cases are contained to the eastern side of the state with eight cases in Montgomery County and one each case in Delaware, Monroe, Wayne and Philadelphia Counties. If SRU doesn’t modify its schedule, classes will resume Monday, March 16. Residence halls for students will open Sunday, March 15 at 10 a.m. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SRU, neighboring universities modify instruction due to coronavirus Description An account of the resource This story was updated in real-time by Rocket staff members as we learned more on how local universities responded to COVID-19. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource The Rocket Staff Relation A related resource SRU Student Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-03-10 Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/c990cd2ef7a4fd1b31e6f2a1580ab3b9.pdf f0064c7e8d3ae6a7d0b603732db9b39d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document This is a comprehensive list of all universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and their plans in response to the coronavirus outbreak. This story will be updated with more information as more schools announce contingency plans. Two PASSHE schools (Shippensburg and West Chester) have reported confirmed cases (four) of COVID-19 as of March 26. As of March 18, all PASSHE schools have transitioned to online learning for the rest of the spring semester. PASSHE System-Wide Updates – UPDATED MARCH 16, 4:00 p.m. PASSHE Chancellor Daniel Greenstein announced to the State System Family on March 13 that, in wake of PA Governor Tom Wolf closing all K-12 schools for two weeks, he was directing all PASSHE institutes to abandon in-person instruction during the same period. From March 16-29, all 14 state system schools will instruct classes in either an online or alternative method or suspend classes altogether. Greenstein said he made the decision in the interest of the health and safety of all Pennsylvanians. Kutztown University and Indiana University (Pa.) suspended face-to-face instruction within roughly an hour of the direction of Greenstein’s statement. On Monday, March 16, PASSHE announced that undergraduate and graduate students in experiential learning sites, such as professional placements, practica, internships and clinical rotations, should not report to on-site placements “until face-to-face classes resume.” The restriction on these learning sites will last until April 6 at the earliest. However, it’s not yet clear at this time how universities that have already switched to distance education for the remainder of the semester will approach the continuation of experiential learning. Dave Pidgeon, PASSHE director of public relations, said that this issue will be looked at closely and that communication with each university president is key in these decisions going forward. The Office of the Chancellor is now working using remote methods and the Board of Governors meeting scheduled originally for April 1-2 has been postponed. Bloomsburg University (Columbia County) – UPDATED MARCH 16, 5:15 p.m. Bloomsburg University announced Monday, through an online statement from BU President Bashar W. Hanna, that all classes will be delivered through an online medium through the end of the semester, starting March 23. Bloomsburg students will be allowed to retrieve belongings from residence halls and academic buildings the week of March 16-21, but students will have the opportunity to move out at a later date if needed. Bloomsburg strongly discourages BU students from remaining in off-campus housing citing a need to take the situation around COVID-19 seriously and listen to public health officials. Questions regarding refunds and financial matters will be addressed as soon as university officials come to a decision, and the university assured students that leadership is working on a solution. In accordance with PASSHE directives, all BU experiential learning sites, including internships, have been cancelled. All university-sponsored travel is cancelled for faculty, staff and students related to professional development and non-essential business. All events through the end of April have been cancelled. Per PA Governor Tom Wolf’s directive, all non-essential BU employees need not report to work Tuesday, March 17, until further notice. California University (Washington County) – UPDATE MARCH 18, 12 p.m. California University has extended its spring break for on-campus students until March 27. California University President Geraldine Jones announced that remote operations will begin Wednesday, March 18. Online classes continued as scheduled on March 16 and beginning March 30, all on-campus classes will resume through online and distance learning. Students who live in residence halls are asked to check out by March 22 at noon. Student workers and graduate assistants will be paid but are not to report to work. Cheyney University (Delaware Valley) – UPDATE MARCH 18, 12 p.m. Cheyney University announced its spring break will be extended an extra week and classes are expected to resume March 23. On Tuesday, March 17, students were notified that classes will continue online. Clarion University (Somerset County) – UPDATE MARCH 16, 2:15 p.m. As of Monday, all face-to-face instruction at Clarion University is suspended for the rest of the spring semester. All instruction beginning March 23 will be via remote methods. All Clarion students are asked to move out of their residence hall by Sunday, March 22 at 5 p.m.. This includes apartments at Clarion’s Venango Campus. More information will be updated on the university’s FAQ page. Clarion University was the 12th PASSHE school to make changes to their schedule. Moving forward Clarion has suspended all face-to-face instruction effective Monday, March 16. Classes will continue online, as any face-to-face instruction is prohibited. East Stroudsburg University (Monroe County) – UPDATE MARCH 18, 12 p.m. East Stroudsburg University announced through an official email to its students Wednesday that its spring break would be extended from the week of March 15 until March 23 as a “precautionary measure in the light of the ever-changing updates regarding COVID-19.” On March 16, the university announced that all undergraduate, graduate and doctorate instruction will be online for the remainder of the semester. East Stroudsburg’s campus will not be closed during the extended week of spring break. ESU will provide training to allow faculty to convert face-to-face courses to remote courses. In a message sent to the ESU campus community Wednesday morning, ESU President Marcia Welsh said that she instructed her leadership team to inform their staffs to prepare to work remotely. “Yesterday, I instructed my leadership team to work with their staff to prepare as many personnel as possible to work remotely from home, in the best interest of our Warrior family and their families,” Welsh said. “Today, few staff and faculty are in their offices on the physical ESU campus. But the greater number of faculty and staff are connecting electronically to make sure that all operations at ESU are running smoothly and functioning to the best of our ability given the circumstances.” Students living in the residence halls are asked to move out by April 6 unless they are an international student or have another reason to stay. They are to contact Gene Kelly, dean of students. All study abroad trips, spring break trips and other travel for university business and conferences have been suspended effective March 6. Edinboro University (Erie County) – UPDATE MARCH 16, 2:25 p.m. Edinboro University administration announced Monday morning that face-to-face instruction will be suspended for the rest of the spring semester. Edinboro University’s spring break has been extended through the week of March 16 and classes will be online starting March 23, according to Edinboro President Guiyou Huang. Face-to-face instruction was previously anticipated to resume on April 6. Edinboro University was the third PASSHE school to announce a change in its operating schedule. Edinboro University had already cancelled all university-affiliated travel in response to the outbreak. Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Indiana County) UPDATE MARCH 16, 9:30 a.m. Indiana University (Pa.) announced that all face-to-face courses for the rest of the spring semester will be suspended in a statement released Monday morning. According to IUP President Michael A. Driscoll, faculty will use the week of March 16 to prepare their courses for online delivery. Classes originally taught in a classroom will resume online on March 23. Classes that were originally taught online will begin today, March 16, as scheduled. Driscoll also said that faculty will be working to transition off-campus study to alternative learning experiences. “Students in clock-hour programs (Culinary, Police Academy, EMT and Paramedic training) will receive specific instructions from their program directors,” Driscoll said. “At this time, we are not considering extending the semester. Faculty and academic leadership will receive additional information from Provost Moerland later today.” IUP residential students are asked to remove their belongings and move out of their dorms by Saturday, March 21. Tom Segar, IUP vice president for student affairs, will send more information about the move-out process later today. “Dr. Segar also will provide information about options for students who need to remain in university housing due to emergency situations and the support systems we will continue to offer to students,” Driscoll said. Kutztown University (Berks County) – UPDATE MARCH 16, 4:45 p.m. Kutztown University President Kenneth Hawkinson announced Monday, March 16 that the university will move to online classes for the rest of the semester. Classes will resume online on March 23. Residential students will be contacted by Housing and Dining Services concerning moving out of the residence halls. Information about refunds will be shared later this week. “We will be asking all students living in residence halls to remove their belongings and check out of the residence halls,” Hawkinson said. “Options will be available for students who need to remain in university housing due to emergency situations.” All non-essential employees are to work remotely starting Tuesday, March 17. At this time, administrative offices will remain open via phone and email. All on-campus events are canceled for the rest of the semester. Hawkinson said that information about spring commencement “will be forthcoming, but probably not for a few weeks.” Lock Haven University (Centre County) – UPDATE MARCH 18, 12 p.m. Lock Haven University has suspended all face-to-face instruction following its spring break, according to a statement put out by the university. On Tuesday, March 17, Lock Haven University administration announced that remote learning will extend to the end of the semester. Courses will resume remotely on Monday, March 23. The week of March 16 will be used to prepare faculty and staff for the usage of remote and online modes of instruction. The original hope for Lock Haven University was to resume face-to-face classes on April 6. All online courses, undergraduate and graduate, resume das planned on Monday, March 16. Lock Haven University officials recommend that any experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 after spring break should not return to campus and any exposed to COVID-19 should self-quarantine for 14 days. Lock Haven has already cancelled university-sponsored travel to Jamaica, Italy, China, Iran, South Korea and Japan. Mansfield University (Tioga County) – UPDATE MARCH 12, 2:17 p.m. Mansfield University was the last PASSHE school to announce a modification to its schedule due to the coronavirus. Mansfield has suspended face-to-face classes beginning Monday, March 16 and will return with remote instruction starting on Monday, March 23. Mansfield classes will remain online for the rest of the semester. Residence halls will remain open to students, but consolidation may take place to not isolate any students but still follow the Centers for Disease Control guidelines for social distancing. “No matter which option is chosen, all students will be completing their coursework online,” Dusty Zeyn, Mansfield University dean of students, said in an online update message on Tuesday. “We are giving students these options because each student’s situation is different, and some students (including international students and those who do not have reliable internet connectivity at home) may need to stay on campus and/or access campus resources.” Millersville University (Lancaster County) UPDATE MARCH 16, 5:50 p.m. Millersville University announced Monday that all face-to-face instruction will transition online for the remainder of the semester in an online statement from MU President Daniel Wubah. Face-to-face classes will be suspended from March 21-27 and will resume via remote instruction on March 30. Classes originally delivered through online platforms will not be affected and will resume as normal on March 21. In the wake of PA Governor Tom Wolf’s Monday announcement, all non-essential employees will not need to report to campus, starting Tuesday, March 17. Essential employees whose duties require a physical presence at the university will report to work until further notice, and all essential and non-essential employees who have been identified as being able to work from home will do so from March 17-27. Shippensburg University (Cumberland County) UPDATE MARCH 19, 7:35 p.m. Shippensburg University announced Monday that all face-to-face instruction has been cancelled for the remainder of the semester in an online statement from SU President Laurie A. Carter. Previously, Shippensburg had suspended all face-to-face classes and events through April 11 after originally extending its spring break for one week, the university announced Friday through an online statement. During the originally scheduled extension of its spring break, faculty and staff will work toward the continuous delivery of courses and academic offerings through a virtual setting. Faculty and academic leadership will receive additional information Monday from BU Provost Tom Ormond. All courses will be delivered online from March 23 through the end of the semester. SU asked students to fully move out of residence halls by Saturday, March 21 at 5:00 p.m. More information will be delivered to students by Dr. Donna Truss, the VP for student enrollment management, student success and student affairs on Monday. Truss will also provide students who need to continue to utilize on-campus housing with more information. Shippensburg University’s FAQ page addresses residence life, graduate student and employee concerns. Non-essential, university-sponsored travel is cancelled until further notice. The university asked for patience as it works out dining and housing refunds and asked those with questions to check out a regularly updated FAQ’s page. Two Shippensburg University students tested positive for COVID-19 upon returning to the United States from Europe, SU President Laurie A. Carter announced Thursday in an online statement. Shippensburg confirmed that both students had travelled to Europe over spring break and tested positive after being stopped at the airport once back in the US. Both students are currently hospitalized, but Carter said the pair were in good spirits. Since the Shippensburg students are being held in quarantine at a hospital out of state, the SU community was not put at risk. Carter asked those who are aware of the identity of the students to protect their anonymity to allow them to focus on returning to full health. Future cases of COVID-19 at Shippensburg will be reported on the university’s COVID-19 website. Slippery Rock University (Butler County) – UPDATE MARCH 16, 1:00 p.m. Slippery Rock University has announced that all face-to-face classes for the remainder of the semester will be delivered online, effective March 30, through an email from SRU President William Behre. Previously, Slippery Rock University announced Wednesday that its spring break will be extended from the week of March 8-15 until March 29, according to an email from the Office of the President to SRU stakeholders. Through instruction from PASSHE chancellor Daniel Greenstein, all state system students engaged in clinicals, practicums, internships and student teaching should not report to on-site placements until face-to-face classes resume. More information for individual students should be released to those students. Certain on-campus students, including international students, who have already chosen to stay and have registered with the Office of Residental Life, are allowed to stay. Priority will be given to students without a permanent residence within reasonable distance to the university. Dining services will be available to those students. Residental students should receive an email from the Office of Residental Life soon to schedule an orderly clean out personal belongings. The extension of spring break will not be added onto the end of the semester as the semester will be condensed with 12-week courses ending on April 20 and 16-week courses ending on May 4. Final exam week will remain May 5-9. Off-campus students should use their best judgment in returning to campus as ancillary facilities such as the Aebersold Recreation Center and Bailey Library will be closed. All on-campus events are cancelled through the end of the semester. All university-related travel is suspended. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference has suspended all athletic competition, and SRU subsequently cancelled all athletics through the end of the semester. SRU will release more information on pro rata room and board fees soon. Information regarding commencement will be released in a few weeks. West Chester University (Delaware Valley) – UPDATE MARCH 26, 7:10 p.m. West Chester University was the first PASSHE school to announce a change to its operating schedule. WCU President Christopher Fiorentino announced that face-to-face instruction will resume by alternate means on March 30. In the next two weeks, faculty will prepare their courses for remote delivery. All online courses will continue as scheduled, and internships for credit, clinicals and student teaching assignments will continue as long as the host institution remains open. The residence halls and South Campus apartments will not be open, and the Office of Residence Life will contact students for scheduled times to return to campus for their belongings. All large events and public gatherings have been cancelled. Florentino also announced two confirmed cases in which a student and faculty member tested positive for coronavirus. An off-campus student tested positive after traveling outside the United States and is currently self isolating at home. They did not come back to campus as of the initial report on March 23. A WCU faculty member tested positive and didn’t report any recent travel outside the country or region, Florentino said in a statement on March 25. They most recently visited Schmucker Science Center South on March 11 and came in contact with two individuals. The faculty member is currently isolating at home, and the two individuals were notified of the potential exposure to coronavirus. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource BREAKING: PASSHE schools respond to coronavirus outbreak Description An account of the resource This story was updated in real-time by Rocket staff members as more information on COVID-19 became available. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource The Rocket Staff Relation A related resource SRU Student Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-03-10 Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/d5b03e551dab83a5feeca1fa6dada437.pdf f91e21a71d973df2656da9daf1836661 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document This is a breaking news story and will be updated with more information as it becomes available. UPDATE (MARCH 28, 1:00 p.m.) – All countable related athletic activities (CARA) have been cancelled for the remainder of the semester The PSAC announced Friday that all countable related athletic activities have been suspended for the remainder of the academic year, after originally setting March 30 as a date for a potential reevaluation. For the remainder of the semester, all sports will be allowed to participate in eight hours of virtual CARA. There will be no mandatory physical activities, and only athletic-related meetings may occur, with no more than two hours of film review. Voluntary physical activities are permitted, and student-athletes are not required to report back to their coaches on such activities. UPDATE (MARCH 13, 6:50 p.m.) – NCAA announces an additional season of eligibility to Division II spring sport student athletes The NCAA approved actions in recruiting, reinstatement, legislation/interpretation, progress-toward-degree, playing and practice season and membership issues during its Friday, March 12 NCAA Division II Administrative Committee teleconference. In the wake of the rapid spread of COVID-19, the NCAA was forced to hold a teleconference related to the regulations and policies impacted by the coronavirus. Notably, the NCAA approved an extension request that will allow institutions to self-apply extension of eligibility and season of competition waivers for student-athletes whose 2019-20 spring seasons were cancelled, if the following criteria are met: The student-athlete used a season of competition in a spring sport during the 2019-20 academic year. The student-athlete was eligible for competition when he or she competed during the 2019-20 academic year. The student-athlete’s season was ultimately cancelled for reasons related to the COVID-19 outbreak. So, if a student-athlete competed during the spring semester, was eligible to compete while competing and had their season cancelled by COVID-19, they will be eligible to compete next season. The logistics behind the situation will become clearer as time unfolds. As of now, the process sounds simple but working unexpectedly returning scholarships into incoming rosters with new scholarships could raise additional questions. Murray, in a post on his Twitter account, also raised the issue of the financial ability of student-athletes being able to return for another season. The NCAA also approved a financial aid equivalency limit which will issue a blanket waiver to allow student-athletes who qualify for a self-applied season of competition waiver and/or extension of eligibility waiver to receive athletic aid for the 2020-21 academic year without counting toward the team’s equivalency limits. A full-time enrollment action was approved, which will issue a blanket waiver for the spring 2020 term to permit student-athletes to participate in countable athletically related activities while enrolled less than full-time, provided the student-athletes were enrolled full-time in the for the spring 2020 term. With financial and requirement actions approved by the NCAA, it paved the way for student-athletes to return for an extra season of eligibility, provided it makes sense for the individual athlete. The NCAA also approved a recruiting dead period affecting all sports until April 15. Institutional staff members will be permitted to write or telephone a prospective student-athlete but cannot engage in in-person recruiting on- or off-campus. The NCAA approved actions related to the reimbursement of costs associated with previously planned official and unofficial visits, extra benefits (i.e. meals, lodging and travel), progress toward degree requirements (e.g. term-by-term, academic year and annual academic credit hour requirements and GPA requirements), CARA restrictions for student-athletes who remain on campus, sports sponsorship, three-season requirements and items related to the NCAA Division II membership process. UPDATED (MARCH 13, 10:15 a.m.) – PSAC announces athletic competition suspended through spring semester The PSAC announced Friday morning that all athletic competition for the remainder of the spring semester has been suspended, effective immediately. Murray tweeted Thursday night that the PSAC Board of Directors would be meeting via a conference call to discuss the future of athletic competition moving forward. The decision to suspend comes “in light of the latest news regarding COVID-19.” Any non-conference competition in which travel has already taken place is left to institutional discretion through March 15, at which time all athletic competition must stop. All countable related athletic activities are suspended until March 30 at which time the Board of Directors will review a proposal from Athletic Administrators to permit or suspend CARA for the remainder of the semester. The decision to suspend all athletic events comes in the wake of athletic competition across the United States shutting down in the past couple of days. UPDATED (MARCH 12, 2:35 p.m.) – THE NCAA has cancelled all winter and spring championships NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors have canceled the Division I men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring championships. While the cancelation of March Madness will draw headlines, the Division II men’s and women’s basketball championships and all other Division II championships, including track & field and swimming, have also been cancelled, effective Thursday afternoon. In the released statement, the NCAA cited the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, the ability to ensure events do not contribute to the spread of the pandemic and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions made by other entities in making the decision. — In the wake of all 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education institutions altering instructional plans for the remainder of the 2020 spring semester, all 18 member schools of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference have elected to continue competing, according to PSAC commissioner Steve Murray. Murray said that during a conference call with each school’s athletic director and vice president Wednesday morning, every PSAC school confirmed the desire to continue with planned athletic competition—but that is subject to change with the release of more information. During the conference call, Murray said he asked each school four questions in regard to the continuation of athletic competition: one about continuing to play, one about allowing athletes to compete in NCAA competition, one about fan attendance policies and one about whether non-championship teams were practicing. Ultimately, Murray said the decision to continue competing falls to each individual school in the PSAC. If a school chooses to no longer compete in athletics, it has the ability to choose to withdraw from all athletic competition. However, the decision to withdraw from competition would have to come directly from either the president of the university or its athletic director, according to Murray. But as of 12 p.m. Wednesday, Murray said every school planned to continue competing in athletic competition. With most members of the PSAC currently on spring break, Murray said teams would have through the weekend to gather more information as it becomes available. Murray said that while the PSAC could realistically lose a week of competition and still catch up; anything beyond that would be tough to recover from. In the case of individual athletes wishing to step away from the team, Murray said all 18 schools unanimously agreed to respect individual players’ wishes. Each school agreed to honor all scholarships and eligibility in the event a player would step away from the team, Murray said. While the NCAA isn’t regulating much in regard to Division II athletics so far, it is limiting the attendance of Division II national tournaments. Murray said the NCAA announced Wednesday at 4 p.m. that all Division II national tournament events would be run with very low spectator attendance, similar to the regulations set by the NCAA for the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. Notably, in Division II men’s and women’s basketball, teams will be limited to a travel party of 20 people. Each of those 20 people will be allowed six passes to offer to friends and family for a grand total of 120 total people. This, when compiled between both teams for a total of 240 people, still sits below the Center for Disease Control’s magic number of 250 people. With both the men’s and women’s Division II basketball tournaments slated to begin Thursday afternoon, the men’s side will feature Indiana University (Pa.), Shippensburg University and Mercyhurst University while the women’s side will feature Indiana, Gannon University and California University (Pa.). Like in major college and professional sports around the world, the issue of the attendance of fans at athletic events has arisen in the PSAC—a trend which had been continued by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA before the league was suspended in a groundbreaking decision following Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert testing positive for COVID-19 Wednesday night. Murray said the decision to limit spectator attendance does not fall on either the NCAA or the PSAC—that decision falls to the individual schools in the PSAC. “Every PSAC school will have the choice of whether to limit fan attendance,” Murray said. While the threat of banning fans lingers around almost all athletic events, not just PSAC sports, Murray said the CDC has established a magic number of 250 people. Murray acknowledged that is hard to even get 250 people to PSAC athletic event as it is. Of course, based on new government and NCAA rules and regulations in the days and weeks to come, fan attendance policies are subject to change. In the case of Slippery Rock, SRU Director of Athletics Paul Lueken made it clear that the policy would be enacted in full. ”Spring sport athletic contests played at SRU will be played without spectators, fans or parents, until future notice,” Lueken said. Slippery Rock athletic teams will continue to practice and compete as scheduled on the Rock Athletics website, Lueken said. Non-PSAC games will be played if the opposing university is allowed to travel to the Slippery Rock campus, or if said university is able to host SRU. Non-conference games, however, are subject to change if further travel bans are enacted by Pennsylvania or neighboring states, Lueken said. Non-championship season SRU athletic teams, which are out of season sports like football and men’s and women’s basketball, are not allowed to practice or compete during the extended spring break period since students will not be allowed back into the dorms until March 29. Any changes regarding those regulations will be determined closer to March 29. Rock Athletics, the Slippery Rock Athletic Communication website, said that coverage of baseball and lacrosse events may be changed due to the lack of undergraduate students required to run live streams. Murray said that handshakes, fist bumps and physical displays of sportsmanship will be suspended, and an announcement will be made to the PSAC athletes about maintaining general hygiene. With those in Division II athletics in constant communication, Murray said that such contact will continue. He said as of Wednesday night, all Division II schools expected to continue as planned. But he acknowledged the uniqueness and uncertainty of the situation. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource PSAC sports suspended, effective immediately Description An account of the resource This story was published in the sports section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Karl Ludwig Relation A related resource SRU Student Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-03-11 Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/6d7d2dd62a4c2c9e6048d48a1d1ee969.pdf 79153443a1fd82235aef4e484d7f80fd Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document UPDATE (MARCH 20, 11:50 a.m.) The Student Counseling Center will no longer be operating out of the office, according to clinical director Dr. Kenneth Messina. “We are working on making sure we are providing support and access to students in a variety of ways while most of our students are away from campus,” Messina said. He added that he is unsure of specifics because the center is still in the process of finalizing plans to be able to meet students’ needs in the best way possible, but that students who are currently utilizing the counseling center’s services will be contacted as soon as plans are finalized. “Our counselors are working hard to make sure we have a plan that ensures the best access for students and remains consistent with the best practices of our profession,” Messina said. He said students can email the Student Counseling Center at scc@sru.edu or call the office at (724) 738-2034 with questions as he and counselors are checking the voicemail remotely. Karla Fonner, director of Student Support, said the office will be making minimal changes in order to continue to connect students to resources that best fit their needs at this time. “Our Student Support office helps students find ways to navigate stressful life events making it difficult for them to complete coursework,” Fonner said via email. She added that though the Boost peer team will not report to campus, and all Boost events have been canceled, they will provide helpful resources and wellness reminders through their Twitter account. Fonner said the best way to reach Student Support is to send an email to her, or to enter the information into the Care network. The Care network, she said, will continue to be monitored regularly, and all students referred will still receive outreach. Dr. John Rindy, director of the Office for Career Education and Development, provided further details about how appointments with career coaches will be conducted. He said they cannot answer their phones due to the physical office being closed, so all appointments should be scheduled online through Handshake’s Career Center tab. Once a student schedules an appointment, he continued, they will receive an email either directly from the Handshake system or from their career coach with the Zoom video URL they can use at the time of their meeting. He added that if students don’t have a laptop or computer with video and audio capabilites at home, they can use their smartphones for their appointments by downloading the Zoom app. He added that students should reach out directly to their career coach, who can arrange a phone appointment. “Students can opt out of using video during their appointments unless the appointment is for a mock interview or for interview advice, since those appointment types require that the career coach can view the student and make observations and provide advice on things like nonverbal communication,” Rindy said. He also said juniors and seniors looking for internships should utilize Handshake as there are hundreds of jobs and internships posted. “Companies who post on Handshake have specifically chosen to send their jobs to SRU, so it is a search tool that is far superior to Indeed or Simply Hired because 100% of the employers in our system deliberately chose to seek SRU graduates or interns,” Rindy said. He added that the Uncommon Hour programs will continue virtually, and several other topics have been added to the series. Students will be able to register for any of these on Handshake’s Events tab. Upcoming events include: March 24: Designing Your Life (Life Design Workshop) March 26: Developing Strong Professional Writing Samples for Applications March 30: Increasing Your Chances for Grad School Acceptance April 6: Developing Cover Letters — When? Why? How? April 7: Careers in Commercial Real Estate April 16: Managing Money and Debt Uncommon Hour programs to be added include topics such as LinkedIn; education, business, science and technology resumes; and searching for jobs and interviews. ORIGINAL POST (MARCH 13) In response to the coronavirus outbreak, SRU President William Behre announced Wednesday, March 11 in an email sent to university stakeholders that SRU will extend its spring break by two weeks; he announced Monday in another email that instruction will resume through distance learning modalities starting March 30. A revised FAQ document attached to the March 11 email stated that campus is open only for basic business operations and that ancillary facilities — Aebersold Recreation Center, Bailey Library, the Macoskey Center and Storm Harbor Equestrian Center — will all be closed. Though auxiliary facilities will be closed, campus offices such as Student Health Services will remain open to students. Dr. Natalie Burick, director of the Office of Disability Services (ODS), said she and the rest of the office staff will be working remotely. “We have been working diligently to ensure our services are streamlined for an online process,” Dr. Natalie Burick, director of the Office of Disability Services (ODS), said. “We can Zoom, Skype, or call students from our cell phones using Google Voice.” One particular service the ODS provides is note-taking. Burick said note-takers have already been directed to continue taking notes for their classes as per usual and have been given instructions for submitting notes electronically. “If the class format changes and notes aren’t needed, note-takers should contact us immediately so we can communicate with students,” she said. “We also reached out to students who receive notes and told them to communicate with us if there are issues regarding notes.” She added that communications have already been sent to students informing them about what they should do if they need certain accommodations; students should check their email and respond if they have questions. Director of Student Health Services Kristina Benkeser said the health center will maintain its 24/7 hours, but she encourages all students to call the health center before visiting. “If we can handle it over the phone, we will,” she said. “A nurse will be available at all times to answer students’ calls and help them. We want to limit exposure as much as possible at this time.” Benkeser said nurses at the Student Health Center can schedule appointments, help students with transferring their prescriptions and talk with students about any health concerns or problems they may be experiencing over the phone. She added that, during this time, it’s absolutely important to practice social distancing, to wash your hands and to be prepared for anything. “This situation is constantly evolving and changing,” she said. “Every day is a new adventure.” Dr. Kenneth Messina, clinical director of the Student Counseling Center, said the center will remain open during the extended break and will continue to reassess based on student need. He added that all in-office services will still be available to students, but all planned outreach events on campus have been canceled. “We still have groups and individual sessions,” Messina said. “Our walk-in services are still available as well. We are encouraging students to try to call and schedule appointments as we want to reduce the number of people in our waiting area, but still want students to utilize walk-in time if they need those services.” He said counselors are also prepared to assist students in finding services in their home areas. Students who need assistance finding a mental health provider in their area can call the counseling center’s front desk to schedule a phone call with one of the counselors to begin the referral process. Messina encouraged students to watch for updates in emails, on SRU’s website and on the counseling center’s Twitter page. Student Support will also remain open and active, according to director Karla Fonner, but there will be no face-to-face meetings. All meetings will be conducted via the Internet or phone call. She added that the best way to contact Student Support is to email her (karla.fonner@sru.edu) or to submit a Care Report. “All students referred will still receive outreach from our office or the necessary campus partner,” Fonner said. In addition to in-person meetings being suspended, Boost student staff will not report to campus, and all Boost events have been canceled. Dr. Lyosha Gorshkov, assistant director of the Women’s and Pride Centers, said the Women’s and Pride Centers will not be operating as they normally would, but he encourages students, staff and faculty to reach out with any questions or concerns they may have via email. “We are hoping that after March 30, we will be able to get back to our regular schedule,” Gorshkov said. “We have to wait until the president and his cabinet make the announcement regarding campus operations.” All dining services will remain closed through the extended break until March 30, according to Christopher Cole, director of Auxiliary Operations and Student Services. Cole said students who are registered to stay in the residence during the extended break will have access to boxed meals from Boozel Express beginning with dinner on Sunday, March 15. Breakfast will be available from 7-9 a.m., lunch will be available from noon to 1 p.m. and dinner will be available from 5-6 p.m. The Office for Career Education and Development, according to director Dr. John Rindy, will be open and keeping all previously scheduled appointments, but they won’t be face-to-face. “Anyone who has already scheduled will receive an email from their career coach that will include a Zoom URL to click on at their appointment time,” Rindy said. “Zoom works from PCs, Macs and newer iPhones. I recommend being at a laptop or desktop, especially if you are having a document reviewed. That can get pretty tiny on a smartphone.” Students who need to complete a career assignment can still do that by scheduling on Handshake — on the Handshake app, choose “School” to find the appointment function. All appointments that can be done face-to-face can also be done via Zoom, Rindy said. He added that his staff may be reduced dramatically, depending on whether his contingency plan for the office is approved by university administration. “Many coaches on our team are graduated assistants and undergrad peer educators — that’s 3/4 of my staff,” Rindy said. “As long as administration approves my grad assistants and students having appointments from their laptops at home, we should be good. If we have to default to my full-time staff, then we will only be able to accommodate a fraction of the hundreds of appointments that would still have sought services from our office. For now, though, we hope to be full steam ahead!” He said all Uncommon Hour programs will also be hosted virtually. Everyone who registered will receive a URL for viewing the programs live, and the office will tweet the links to the virtual Uncommon Hour programs for other students who want to attend. Lisa Ringer, director of the SGA preschool and childcare center, said the center closed Monday at 6 p.m., but they plan to reopen Monday, March 30. For more SRU-related COVID-19 information, visit www.sru.edu/covid19. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 doesn’t stop faculty from supporting students Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the news section on The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-03-13 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Allison Downs Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/88c8dbddea47805deec0966d7926ba21.pdf 256d96bc027280005614eb9be710f8a6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document For a moment there, it appeared that sports would weather the storm. With everything else being suspended or shut down, sports appeared to serve as the lone pillar of normalcy. Wednesday rolled around and Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference commissioner Steve Murray offered up encouraging news: all 18 PSAC schools planned to continue with athletics, the caveat being a reduced number of fans. And then Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. Which might just have saved the United States. The NBA suspended its season as Jazz teammate Donovan Mitchell subsequently tested positive for COVID-19. The NHL followed suit, suspending its season, and the flood gates were opened. The ATP Tour, the English Premier League and the MLS suspended its seasons, the PGA Tour cancelled a few of its tournaments and suspended the Masters and the XFL cancelled its season all together. The NCAA cancelled all remaining winter and spring championships, effectively ending March Madness and all spring sports across all levels of NCAA competition. March Sadness officially sets in at Slippery Rock. For good measure, the PSAC, after a conference call with the Board of Governors Friday, March 13, decided to suspend all athletic activity indefinitely. Thusly, many PSAC schools followed with announcements of the cancellation of athletic events for the remainder of the semester. Slippery Rock included. “We support the PSAC Board of Directors’ decision as we understand it was made to protect the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and campus communities,” SRU Director of Athletics Paul Lueken said to Rock Athletics. “We are heartbroken for our spring student-athletes, especially the seniors, that saw their seasons and, in some cases, careers end very abruptly and completely out of their control. We will do everything we can to provide support for our student-athletes during this difficult time.” Life must go on, but sports, in this case, do not. Tennis The Slippery Rock tennis team was finishing its spring break trip in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, but SRU tennis coach Matt Meredith knew something was wrong. “I knew the writing on the wall with the NCAA cancelling spring championships,” Meredith said. So, with what would be the final contest of the season, Meredith decided to turn a contest against Salem University into Senior Day for seniors Lacey Cohen and Viola Lugmayr. “It was definitely unconventional, but it was still really nice to get flowers and balloons,” Cohen said. “It was amazing getting all the support from all the teammates and coaches.” Lugmayr, with partner Lois Page, picked up a win in the first flight doubles match against Salem, and Cohen, with partner Olivia Warner, picked a win in the second flight. While both Cohen and Lugmayr dropped their singles matches, it doesn’t diminish their impressive individual careers. Cohen, working from the vaunted first flight of singles action, went 13-7 over her shortened senior season and 9-7 in singles competition. Lugmayr, playing from the second flight, went 10-8 and 19-6, in addition to winning the doubles title at the PSAC championship with freshman Lois Page. However, with the NCAA Administrative Committee approving actions to allow spring sport seniors an extra year of eligibility, Meredith was hopeful in Cohen and Lugmayr returning for a fifth season of eligibility. “The seniors will have the opportunity to continue, and we will find out soon,” Meredith said. “Lacey is starting occupational therapy school, so she’ll be here. She was planning to help with the team anyway, so she gets another year. There’s a chance to see Lacey back on the court. It might be different with Viola. She has some options. She will go to Arizona to work with Adapted PE to work with wheelchair tennis. If she’s able to come back and wants to, we’ll have her back.” As Cohen will return to Slippery Rock for graduate school, with the plan to return as an assistant under Meredith, she has a strong chance to return to the team in some capacity — whether it’s as an athlete or a coach. Lugmayr is another story. With a less guaranteed path back to Slippery Rock, however, Lugmayr, who is already planning on going out to Arizona to continue her educational opportunities, would be welcomed back with open arms should she choose to return. Regardless of whether Cohen and Lugmayr choose to exercise the NCAA’s new policy, Meredith felt this season’s cancellation particularly hard. “This is a year that I felt I had one of the best teams I’ve ever had, but I say that every year, of course,” Meredith laughed. “But this is the team that I’ve built the last couple of years and had them come together and what an amazing team they are.” Along with Cohen and Lugmayr, a couple of newcomers were creating waves in the PSAC. Page was 13-7 while working out of the third seed for Slippery Rock and, teamed with Lugmayr mainly, had gone 18-6 in doubles play. Freshman Pia Bruckmayer, someone who Meredith was particularly excited to watch blossom in conference play, jumped out to an 18-3 record in singles play from the fourth seed. She was 7-2 in doubles play, one of the best overall freshman performances in Slippery Rock history. Despite the loss of such a promising season, 6-4 through the early spring portion of the season, Meredith understood the precaution. “It’s heartbreaking, but under the circumstances, I understand the caution to ensure safety,” Meredith said. “It’s just heartbreaking for the seniors.” With a large portion of the roster calling areas outside of the United States home, Meredith said most of them were in the process of returning home. “Viola traveled home [Tuesday],” Meredith said. “Pia goes home Wednesday, flight at 2 p.m. Lois is staying for now. The rest are going home to be safe and healthy, a good stance that way.” Meredith continued a trend of heartbreak and shock, pointing out that, like many young Americans, the feeling of invulnerability can sometimes mask the need for the greater good. “It’s kind of an overwhelming shock,” Meredith said. “It’s hard for myself, but with the athletes, you think you’re invulnerable. This is a way to be safe. Definitely in shock, but this is the right decision in the long run.” Softball For Slippery Rock softball coach Stacey Rice, it’s the lack of closure that upsets her the most. “We got off the plane on Saturday from Florida, and everyone left campus on Sunday,” Rice said. “There were no goodbyes or closure.” When the NCAA shut down spring sports, Rock softball was in Winter Haven, Florida, finishing the back-end of their The Spring Games series. An 8-1 loss to Bridgeport College in the final game of the tournament ended up being the last game of the season for Slippery Rock — and possibly the final game ever for lone senior Alexa Guglielmino. “I’m very impressed with how they all handled the situation: maturely and with grace,” Rice said. “They’ve all been granted another year of eligibility, so we are looking at how to make that happen for everyone, including Alexa.” In the case of Guglielmino, who has been seen on Late Night with Scott Van Pelt on ESPN, Rice said she’s hopeful that Guglielmino will be able to come back for a fifth season, but it ultimately falls to Guglielmino and her family to make that decision. Aside from missing games, Rice said not being able to honor Guglielmino’s impact on the team, who played in 135 games over the past four seasons, was one of the saddest ramifications from the cancelled season. While Guglielmino loses her senior, the rest of Rock softball is in the same boat albeit to a lesser magnitude. “It’s disappointing,” Rice said. “The girls put a lot of hard work in the off-season, and it’s unfortunate that they didn’t get to see that play out on the field.” However, Rice knows the impact of the spread of COVID-19 is bigger than sports. “I understand the decision, the safety of others is way more important than any softball season,” Rice said. In the wake of Slippery Rock moving classes online, Rice said each member of the team has been able to safely make it back to their homes, and Slippery Rock athletics has really banded together in the face of unprecedented adversity. “The Athletics department has been very supportive during the difficult time, not just with softball, but with all sports teams,” Rice said. Lacrosse Unlike a majority of the spring sports at Slippery Rock, the women’s lacrosse team did not travel over spring break. Technically, the team traveled to New York for a game the Saturday after break began, but it wasn’t a “spring break” trip. So, Rock lacrosse was back in Pennsylvania and competing in the PSAC during the week of spring break. News from the NCAA and PSAC broke signaling the end of the season, and unlike their peers, they didn’t have a few out of state games to finish their season. It was just over. Well, not quite over. Slippery Rock lacrosse coach Kelsey Van Alstyne said her players couldn’t just go out without saying goodbye. “I am very proud of how my team handled the news,” Van Alstyne said. “They chose to go outside and have one more fun practice together as a group. My underclassman then asked to give our seniors the Senior Day they would have gotten for our last home game. It was a short but great event honoring the girls, and being together one last time this semester.” However, an improvised Senior Day, no matter how well done and impactful, does not give the seniors a chance to finish their last go-round in college athletics. For someone like senior Olivia Beach, who walked on and battled through injuries to finally start as a senior, her career is over. “I know the part that everyone felt the worst about was the ending of our seniors’ careers,” Van Alstyne said. “They were such a big part of our program both on and off the field, and the work they had put in over the last four years has made a tremendous impact on our program.” The trio of ShyAnne Toomer, Sami Gentzler and Tori Penders combined for 43% of all goals, 56% of all assists and 46% of all points this season while Beach started every game on defense. “I cannot express my gratitude enough towards this group of seniors; their work ethic, commitment, leadership and passion for the game and our program has left a legacy within this program,” Van Alstyne said. “I am incredibly proud of the growth they have shown as young women and look forward to seeing what the future holds for all of them.” While the NCAA Division II Administrative Committee approved an extension to the eligibility of spring sport seniors, Van Alstyne said she doesn’t expect any of them back as they all have made plans for life after graduating from Slippery Rock. Van Alstyne had originally hoped for a postponement with an eventual re-evaluation, but she acknowledged the decision was made to keep all involved in Division II athletics safe. Hoping to grow in the face of adversity, Van Alstyne hopes the nearly season-long absence will work as a motivator for all the returning players and coaches. “My hope is that for all of us, coaches included, that it helps us appreciate every single game, practice, lifting session, film session, etc. so much more because we now know what it feels like to have it suddenly taken away,” Van Alstyne said. As the spread of COVID-19 progresses, Van Alstyne said rolling with the situation and making the best of it will be a key to progressing. Already, she feels as though Slippery Rock athletics is doing a good job of moving forward. “The athletic department has been in constant contact, and we have made goals and a plan for how we will accomplish things this semester with these changes,” Van Alstyne said. “I feel like everyone is handling it the best they possibly can.” Track & Field As the Coastal Carolina Invite rolled around for the Slippery Rock men’s and women’s outdoor track teams, SRU track & field coach John Papa said he didn’t even see some of his athletes before embarking on the spring break trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. With the cancellation of the outdoor season, it’s possible he won’t see some of them ever again. “When we went on spring break, all [the student-athletes] didn’t come, so I didn’t see a lot of kids,” Papa said. “We told them ‘if your day is over, it’s over. Hopefully, you took advantage of the time you did have, put it to good use. The lessons learned as an athlete: leadership, teamwork and commitment will follow you.'” The decision to cancel all athletic activity is something that is completely foreign to Papa in his 35 years of coaching. “It’s unprecedented,” Papa said. “I’ve never had anything close to this before. Luckily, we had an indoor track season. A very high percentage of athletes had the chance to compete.” While the men’s and women’s indoor seasons went off without a hitch, with the women’s team clinching the PSAC title, some track & field athletes only compete once the season moves outdoors. “Javelin doesn’t do indoor track though, so some worked out all year and didn’t get a chance to compete,” Papa said. To a multitude of seniors on the men’s and women’s side, the season comes to an unceremonious halt — despite successful finishes during the indoor season. The responses, according to Papa, have been mixed so far. “Some kids took it hard and others are putting it behind them,” Papa said. In regard to seniors exercising the right to return for another season, Papa said it’s still too early to tell. “Some seniors are doing grad work, here and in other places, so it might be a bit too early to tell [whether they’ll return],” Papa said. “I hope some will, regardless of whether it’s here or there.” For those returning to the team, be it underclassmen or seniors for one last go-round, Papa said he hopes the experience can be one to learn from. “We’re gonna get through it,” Papa said. “Hopefully those returning will come back with a renewed commitment level to what they’re doing. I hope they take advantage of extra time to get their bodies ready, improved levels of competition.” While sports like men’s basketball and tennis have student-athletes traveling across the world to return home, Papa said the track & field student-athletes have no such issues. “No one is in a tough position [having to travel],” Papa said. “Everyone who wants to be home is home. Some are hanging around in apartments at SRU still.” Life goes on, and Papa said it’s no different for his team. “I’ve been talking to athletes and talking to recruits,” Papa said. “Some kids are just moving on. A lot of kids are working. Everybody is getting ready. I talked to one of our athletes a week ago, who was in tears, now she’s at home, working and she’s done and going to grad school. She turned the page.” Regardless of whether the total cancellation of the season is an overreaction or underreaction, Papa agreed that it was the correct call in the long run. “I think so,” Papa said. “Maybe nothing would have happened, but had we had a widespread of the virus, we all would have had ourselves to blame. It’s what we’ve got to do.” Football Sitting back in the conference room of the Slippery Rock football offices, SRU head coach Shawn Lutz, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Chris Conrad and linebackers/special teams coach Marc Hull are surrounded with a maze of papers and laptops. Fresh off a trip to the NCAA Division II semifinals, the recruiting season peaked in the middle of February. However, with a roster to fill out by spring workouts — which are officially out the window — the recruiting trail is still fresh. Rather, was still fresh. While coaches can still interact with recruits virtually, any face-to-face interaction has been suspended until at least April 15. All spring workouts and team activity have been cancelled, and in an off-season in which Rock football expected to take another step toward the national championship, everything has been thrown off course. While caught in a tough spot, Lutz acknowledged that the decision comes to protect everyone involved in Rock athletics. “I don’t have much more to add than what athletics already put out,” SRU football coach Shawn Lutz said.” We understand the situation and that this is necessary to ensure the safety of our players, staff and everyone’s families, so we support the decision.” With the spring game, scheduled for April 24, cancelled, Rock football will not have its annual game to gauge returning and incoming players for the season ahead. “Hopefully things change and there may be a chance for us to at least get some practices in before the end of the spring period, but we will just wait and see how this all plays out,” Lutz said. “Our main focus is the safety of everyone involved.” Fresh off a season of almost unparalleled success, Rock football will have to weather an off-season of unprecedented adversity. However, like Lutz says: relentless or forgotten. Men’s Basketball When schools like Indiana University (Pa.), Gannon University, Mercyhurst University and California University (Pa.) were planning for the NCAA Division II national basketball tournament, Slippery Rock was focused on the recruiting and off-season preparation to get back to that level. Now, they’re all in the same boat. The season is over for everyone, and the off-season is heavily restricted. “It’s been a big impact on recruiting and the general off-season,” SRU basketball coach Ian Grady said. “Normally, we’re gearing up for team workouts and stuff for returning players right now. Which we won’t be able to do. We don’t have any instruction [with players] right now, and recruiting is also a big challenge. In addition to the crisis, The NCAA banned on and off-campus recruiting to April 15, and this is the prime recruiting season in basketball.” While the NCAA garnered attention for the cancellations of all remaining winter and spring sport championships, a dead period was instituted for all sports, which has leveled travel and interaction drawbacks like never seen before. “No face-to-face interaction [with recruits],” Grady said. “We’ve been using technology with virtual campus tours and stuff like that rather than in-person [visits with recruits].” Even though Slippery Rock was eliminated before the national tournament this season, bowing out during the PSAC tournament, Grady felt for the individual student-athletes who had their seasons ended prior to the tournament and the work they put in over the course of the year. “I feel for the student-athletes,” Grady said. “Basketball is such a long season starting when the young kids get to school in October through to March and into April. It’s a lot of work and time and commitment for [the tournaments] to not happen; I really feel for individual athletes. There’s no easy way to handle it.” However, despite the harshness of the reality for men’s and women’s seniors in Division II basketball, he acknowledged that their seasons — in a lot of cases — were concluded. “[Basketball student-athletes] played the whole season, so I don’t know if an additional season is right,” Grady said. “I was hoping for some type of resolution to play at a later date in the summer. Obviously, the element of the unknown, not knowing how bad it could get or when it’s done, they couldn’t come to an agreement.” Like most of the international student-athletes at Slippery Rock, Grady said that freshman Revelinio Tholel and Nik Cazacu both decided to head back to the Netherlands and Greece, respectively. “[Revelinio and Nik] have handled it very well with the uncertainty, taking it as more information came,” Grady said. “When they were notified about classes moving online, they both decided to go. They leave Tuesday, but with a lot of borders closing, we’re keeping our fingers crossed.” Grady said he’s been in contact with Revelinio and Nik, primarily due to helping facilitate the pair moving out of Slippery Rock, but he hasn’t had much interaction with the rest of the team. After the season ended, spring break quickly followed, so Grady said while he hasn’t been around the team, morale has remained high. That high morale has extended to the entire Slippery Rock athletic department, Grady said. “[We’re] disappointed in the circumstance, but I don’t believe morale is down,” Grady said. “Everyone knows it’s a difficult circumstance. We plan to rise to the challenge and find creative ways to handle it.” While the true scope of the situation, the severity and timeline of events, is not known — and likely will not truly be known — Grady said he expects the season to start on time in the fall. “As of now, I’m operating with going on as normal,” Grady said. “Working with recruiting and scheduling and camps. We’re going to operate as this thing will clear up and be ready for fall. If it gets worse, we’ll handle it as we get there.” Women’s soccer Rostering a team full of talented underclassmen, with freshmen and sophomores fueling a PSAC title run last season, the Slippery Rock women’s soccer team was excited to take another step toward national success this off-season. There’s going to be some big changes now, and no one knows how long it’ll last. “The biggest impact will be helping our growth and focus during this period, two qualities that we were hoping to make an impact on after our success last season,” SRU women’s soccer coach Jessica Griggs said. “We will certainly overcome this, but it will be done differently than expected.” Despite being a fall sport, with very, very little inter lapping among winter and spring sports, as the women’s season ended in November, the off-season is completely disjointed now. Griggs said interaction with her players — and likely recruits — will now be limited as student-athletes return to their homes for an extended period of time. “We have a great team culture and a family-oriented style, and we are adapting our interactions over the course of the next couple of months to try and keep that integrity from afar,” Griggs said. Despite the hardship her team faces and will continue to face for an unknown amount of time, Griggs cited the national and global impact the spread of COVID-19 has had in making a tough but correct decision. “I just hope that the SRU students, faculty and staff are making the correct decisions regarding the recovery of this pandemic,” Griggs said. “I know it can be difficult to lose focus or try to make the ‘popular’ decisions but I hope that our community showcases a leadership role to help our nation get back to normality quickly.” All training is off, gyms have been closed and the team bond which had been cultivated over a long, successful season has come to a halt. For Rock women’s soccer, it’s likely going to be a long time until they are back on the field. And it likely won’t just be women’s soccer that won’t see the field for a long time. Slippery Rock athletics will return, but it clearly won’t be any time soon. Sports might take a backseat for right now, but they’ll be back. And it will be a sight to see once the first Slippery Rock team takes the field, the court or whatever after this nightmare is over. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rock athletics: Gone but not forgotten Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the sports section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-03-13 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Karl Ludwig Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/0adbc8bcd164a418eaf2392ea61f6ea8.pdf 8f6f821b6fa2f7447ce853d4ff158195 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SRU community, Now 10 days ago, SRU students went from leaving our university for an anticipated week-long break to preparing for a two-week break extension that will be followed by online instruction. Today, 10 days after originally leaving for spring break, I’m now part of a student newspaper staff covering an unprecedented crisis that not just affects our university, but our entire globe. There are moments when this entire situation still doesn’t feel real, a feeling I’m sure many of you also feel as our everyday lives continue to be altered daily in response to the coronavirus. In response to SRU’s extended break and the move to online classes starting March 30, I wanted to take the time to let you all know that The Rocket will continue to operate as a digital-first organization. Throughout the past week, The Rocket staff has been working diligently throughout the sudden news that our production must switch to remote methods. Here are some of our major operating points for the remainder of this semester: We are digital first. The remaining three print editions for the rest of this semester originally scheduled for March 20, April 10, and May 1 are canceled. The Rocket has operated on a digital-first model for the past few years, and this will especially hold true in a time when our office is not accessible. Our staff of 14 (alongside volunteers from WSRU-TV) will continue to work remotely to report the news of SRU and PASSHE. For many of us (myself included), this will mean that our work will continue from our permanent address. However, our work as independent student journalists is extremely important, regardless of our location and especially in an unprecedented circumstance like the coronavirus. The best way to stay up to date with us is to follow our social media (@SRURocket on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram). Make sure to also check back to theonlinerocket.com regularly for updated content. While we will continue to cover news, sports, and campus life happenings, the coronavirus will be at the forefront of many of our upcoming articles. To date, we have covered the operating schedule changes for all PASSHE universities, state of athletics for the rest of the semester and roles of APSCUF and the Center for Teaching Learning in this process. There is much more coverage to come, so follow @SRURocket on social media for the latest information. We also have a page where we will post all content related to the coronavirus. To read the pieces we have published so far, click here. If you have a tip for us, the best way to notify The Rocket is to email me directly at hms1015@sru.edu. We will continue to be a forum for students, faculty, administration and community. We are and always will be a forum for the SRU student body, regardless if where we are located. This being said, our opinion section is open to all concerned SRU community members. Email hms1015@sru.edu for more information. We need to hear all possible perspectives more than ever, and reaching out to me directly is the best way to keep this conversation rolling. Stay safe, and stay tuned, Hannah Shumsky, editor-in-chief Twitter: @hshumsky_ed Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from the editor: The Rocket continues to operate as digital first Description An account of the resource This story was published as a "letter from the editor" in the opinion section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-03-14 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hannah Shumsky Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/49d0443db136448188d586c430b8af68.pdf b533790a2f1b4b8274be1ead7b7e3873 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The Slippery Rock Student Government Association (SGA) operations will transition to remote methods by using CORE to vote on motions, and formal meetings will be postponed until after the extended spring break. As of now, all meetings are canceled until March 30, and SGA is preparing to continue doing business virtually. The times and dates for formal meetings are yet to be determined. “Just as professors are preparing to continue online, the E-board will prepare over the extended break to change how committee business is done,” President Nicole Dunlop said. Committees will also be meeting virtually after the extended spring break is over. Dunlop said this extended break will give the chairs of the committee time to prepare to move online. Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Maggie Calvert said she does not have any concrete plans yet for her social justice committee. She said after the extended spring break, her committee will hold weekly meetings over Zoom and Google Docs. The social justice committee will continue to look at policies regarding discrimination. Calvert said they will focus mainly on retention of students of color, issues with the chosen name policy and banner regarding transgender and non-binary students. “Although the situation is unfortunate,” Calvert said, “I do think this will be a good opportunity for us to get some very important groundwork laid and work done on big issues that we haven’t always had the chance to focus on.” Calvert said she is aware of the concerns regarding coronavirus precautions. “The committee will work to address these concerns and ensure students have all of the resources they need to be successful throughout these difficult times,” Calvert said. Elections for SGA are also coming up. Dunlop said she is waiting to hear from the election commission with what they have decided to do. She said currently the executive board and the election commission are discussing several options and will have a decision made as soon as possible. The food pantry is closed, but SGA will continue to discuss how they can still provide these services for students. The town halls are canceled, but SGA will continue to discuss the possibility of having virtual town halls for students. As for the clubs and organizations on campus, Dunlop believes this transition will be a challenge for most. “I think this is a time for everyone to learn to be adaptable and to further their leadership in a way we normally wouldn’t be able to,” Dunlop said. Calvert said one of the things she will start to plan is the transition from her to the next vice president of diversity and inclusion. “I have loved being in this position, but there have been many challenges,” Calvert said. “Some to the point that I considered walking away.” Calvert said she wants to make sure the next person in her position feels empowered with as much information and advice that she and her committee can offer. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SGA transitions to online Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the news section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-03-17 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Nina Cipriani Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/915ed4514ab4046730e13fa350ac21b7.pdf 22a297a61e9f987adaca05180daf83c9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SRU’s annual Giving Day has been postponed out of precaution for SRU students and their safety. Giving Day, originally planned for March 26, has been postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 virus. In a tweet sent out by SRU Foundation Inc., those who wish to help SRU students can visit givingday.sru.edu which will stay active until Giving Day can be rescheduled. Marissa Cozza, senior coordinator of Annual Giving & Communications, said that although it was difficult to postpone the annual Giving Day, students remain SRU Foundation Inc.’s top priority. “Right now we need to be focusing on student safety and success,” Cozza said. “We want to make sure that students feel supported and this unfortunately isn’t the time to be actively marketing Giving Day. We hope that those who are able to support [the students] will.” Originally, the fundraising goal was $200,000, and $10,115 has been raised so far. Cozza said that SRU Foundation Inc. doesn’t know what to expect fundraising wise. People have reached out to offer assistance for students, and Cozza said that SRU Foundation Inc. is marketing two funds specifically: the Student Support Fund and the Continued Success Scholarship fund. Slippery Rock utilizes both these funds to help students experiencing health-related or financial hardships. “Those are the two areas that we are directing [those who want to help] to, so that they can help students directly, and it’s the students that need help more right now” Cozza said. “It’s a really uncertain time, and those that want to help can, we are keeping the site open.” Cozza said that the foundation still has a lot to work through, but Giving Day will look different without students, faculty and staff on campus. SRU Foundation Inc. hopes to reschedule Giving Day 2020 before the end of the fiscal school year, June 30. “Our top priority is continued student safety and student success,” Cozza said. “The date needs to reflect and has to be appropriate for everyone involved, and that’s really difficult to address right now.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SRU Giving Day 2020 postponed Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the campus life section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-03-18 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hope Hoehler Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/6064b5d64f40574cf2270a7175190676.pdf 2d4c3681f77552dab6b16825d4c708f0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The history department created a new course, “Spotlight on the Past: Pandemics,” for the new humanities inquiry block in rock studies. Professor Lia Paradis said she designed the course to cover three case studies: the Black Death of 1347-1350, where about 50-60% of the world population died; the Flu pandemic of 1918-1919, where 50-100 million people died worldwide; and the HIV/AIDS pandemic that has killed about 32 million people and infected 75 million people. “I created a course on pandemics because moments of real crisis, like a pandemic, are the moments when we can see human behavior very clearly,” Paradis said, “Humans ask the big questions during crises like ‘what do we owe each other?’ ‘What does community, family, faith and love mean?’ ‘What happens when we die?'” She said before spring break, the class was discussing the Flu pandemic, and when classes resume remotely, she will alter the course to incorporate aspects of the current pandemic for comparison and insight. She plans on creating non-mandatory Zoom sessions each week during what was the class time. She said this is an important component because one thing that a pandemic threatens is sense of community. “Our students are spread out across the state and even the country,” Paradis said. “They feel isolated and scared. Being able to come together once a week and actually discuss their experiences within the framework of a course about their experience will be helpful.” Paradis said there are many things students should take away from this course. One takeaway is that people hate to feel like they aren’t in control and will do almost anything to regain a sense of control. “Some [people] will engage in magical thinking like ‘it isn’t going to be bad,'” Paradis said, “And some will fixate on irrational things like ‘if I buy lots of toilet paper, I’m back in control again.'” Paradis said another thing students take away from the course is how people feel better if they can blame someone. Paradis also said it is always worthwhile to ask the big questions, so that one can be prepared to analyze their own behaviors in moments of stress. “Rational, reasonable responses guided by expertise and science will always produce better results than emotional, panicky responses,” Paradis said. “I’ve had students email me to say how glad they are that they took my course this semester because it’s given them some perspective,” Paradis said. Paradis said this circumstance is what makes humanities and history classes so important. “[Humanities classes] help us to see how universal and timeless so many of our experiences are,” Paradis said, “The past helps us to make sense of our present.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource History department introduces new pandemics course Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the news section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-03-19 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Nina Cipriani Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/a5d0af7c3b6d18a7311d8e9908f55bb9.pdf d26816f3c185eeafee9a5b587972014f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The grading system for the spring 2020 semester has been altered so that students have two options as to what grade they receive, according to an email sent to students by SRU President William Behre. Option 1 is graduate and undergraduate students will receive a grade of A, B, C or NC, according to an email sent to students by SRU President William Behre. A grade of NC provides no credit and will not impact students’ GPA. Students who are enrolled in courses with P/NC and P/F will continue to be graded accordingly. Basic Competency/The Rock courses will continue to be graded A, B, C or NC. Option 2 is undergraduate students will also have the option on a course by course basis to select a P/NC option. Behre said students should use the P/NC option sparingly and only in consultation with their advisers. Behre said choosing a P/NC could have an adverse effect on future plans. “For example, students applying to graduate school, seeking a professional credential, or hoping to maintain an external scholarship may need to have letter grades posted in order to achieve their goals,” Behre said. “There may be other instances not specifically listed [in the email] in which a letter grade is needed or desirable.” Behre said students will receive an e-communication two weeks before the course withdrawal deadline to select option 2. If the form is not returned, option 1 will be applied. Students will return the option 2 grade form through email to academic.records@sru.edu if they chose option 2. Students who receive a P will receive credit with no impact to their GPAs. Students who receive NC will receive no credit with no impact on their GPAs. The deadline to select P/NC is April 27. This choice is irrevocable after April 27. All courses that began the semester in a distance format keep their original withdrawal deadline. For all courses that began as face-to-face and were converted to distance modalities, the deadline for withdrawals is April 27. Behre said if a student becomes ill or is caring for someone who is ill, he encourages students to discuss with their professors the possibility of obtaining grades of incomplete this semester. He said the work can be made up once the student’s health or care giving concerns subside. Behre encourages students to reach out to their professors and advisers with the challenges they may face through the disruption that COVID-19 brings. “We are here to help,” Behre said, “Please take care of yourselves and continue to practice social distancing. Together we will get through this.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource BREAKING: Grading system changes for spring semester Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the news section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-03-20 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Nina Cipriani Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/add5ee41e931eec771cf21d3c33893f1.pdf 834994f1571a192c298c2943195a7a09 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document All on-campus events have been cancelled in response to SRU moving all classes to online instruction. In an email with a document of FAQ’s about Student Engagement and Leadership, campus events include but are not limited to on and off campus meetings, performances, carnivals, celebrations, rallies, demonstrations, lectures, social gatherings, speaker presentations and conferences. All student organizations must cancel their events. In the email addressed to Student Organization Presidents and Advisors, social distancing, as outlined by the CDC can be an effective way to control the spread of COVID-19. Student organizations that wish to move meeting related activities to online can do so, but there should be no face-to-face meetings or activities. Rock the Weekend Events, Relay for Life, Burlesque Bash, Esports Tournament, Travel Trip: Urban Air and the Community Cookout have all been cancelled. Lauren Moran, the director of Student Engagement and Leadership, said that she knew the office needed to do more communication with student organizations and found it important that Student Engagement and Leadership Office provided more specific details. “We wanted to make sure that people knew what was going on with events that we knew were going to be big,” Moran said. “Particularly with the Roddy Ricch concert, that was going to be a hot topic for students, and we wanted to get ahead of that as opposed to fielding questions as they come.” Moran said that students chose to come to Slippery Rock because they wanted that on campus experience, and not being around their peers is going to impact people in many ways. “Cancelling events and loosing that feel of community, being on campus is a big [impact],” Moran said. One of the major events cancelled was Relay for Life. Alexis Adams, a senior exercise science major, leadership minor and president of Colleges Against Cancer, said that although Slippery Rock cancelled all campus events, the American Cancer Society (ACS) cancelled all nation-wide events until March 31. Adams said that most of the fundraising is online, where those interested to donate as an individual or a team can put money into an account that goes towards the big donation. All money raised goes toward ACS. “Colleges Against Cancer means the world to me,” Adams said. “When I joined, I didn’t know anyone directly that had cancer, but my grandma died from stage 4 lung cancer and at that point it became personal.” Adams said she has grown a love for Relay for Life and what it does for people. Alongside the community aspect, Moran said that student organizations are also impacted financially, particularly those funded through SGA, which is funded by the student activity fee. “Any sort of financial loss is really a hit to the students because that’s a fee you all pay,” Moran said. Moran said that one of the reasons she is in her current job is to work with students and be around them. “For me personally, it’s going to impact me, because the students are where I get my energy to do the work I do,” Moran said. Moran said that the Student Engagement and Leadership Office is trying to find a way to rethink how they work with students and recently had a meeting to discuss ways to virtually engage students. “I think it’s going to impact the way that we work daily,” Moran said. “Not just online but the way we have to think about what student involvement means, what student engagement is; we have to rethink that.” Moran is the type of person who thrives on creativity and said that the new challenge will be exciting for the office to get out of the normal routine. Moran stressed the importance of student organizations to continue working with each other and trying to meet and engage virtually. “For so many students, their student organization or whatever they’re involved in on campus is really what connects them to the Slippery Rock community,” Moran said. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource All campus events cancelled following university guidelines Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the campus life section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-03-20 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hope Hoehler Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket