On Tuesday March 17, the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities made the decision to close all 17 institutions including Central Connecticut State University. This decision came four days after the previous decision to close the school until April 5TH. The CSCU has decided to hold classes for students online for the rest of the semester through a virtual video chat program called Webex. This program allows students to video call with their Professors and the rest of their class for their daily lecture.

The University's response was quick and well put together. They directly communicated with the students that lived on campus that their room and meal plan charges for the remainder of the semester would be reimbursed. 

What the school did not consider was the students that did not live on campus and were charged Laboratory fees, activity fees, and paid for the in-person services of the school that can no longer be offered.

The students of Central Connecticut State University that have paid any amount of tuition believe that we should be partially refunded in a way that would represent the change in our University life and resources due to the Coronavirus pandemic. By the CSCU not allowing students to return to school for the rest of the school year, students have now paid for something that they are no longer receiving.

What the students have paid for but are no longer receiving:

Office Hours: Students are no longer able to easily access in person office hours with their professors. Many students thrive off this and is very hard to mimic within an online only setting. This limits the student’s ability to reach their full learning potential.

Internet, Computers, and Printers: Some students at CCSU rely on the school internet to get their homework done, study for exams, and other miscellaneous activities because they may not have it at home. These students also paid to access the printers and scanners that many do not have at home. Most importantly, the computers. Students were able to use the computers in the computer labs that had programs needed for classes. These programs were paid for with our tuition money. Many students will now go without this computer and program access. When students paid tuition, they paid to use these necessities and now they have been stripped from us without reimbursement. 

Student Activity Fees: Students have now been stripped of the opportunity to plan, organize, and participate in events that our student activity fees have always paid for. We no longer have the opportunity to use the money that was taken from our tuition for these fees and it should be given back.

Laboratory Fees and Necessities: Students are no longer able to participate in laboratory and use the materials that they have paid for with their lab fees. Although the labs will continue online with the professor still preforming them, the students are no longer able to have the hands-on experience that required a fee.

Building Upkeep: The building upkeep at CCSU while no one is allowed on campus is going to be extremely minimal. There are no students there to create messes that need cleaning, lights will not be on, and computers and other electronics will not be using power. 

Peer to Peer Learning Environment: Students are no longer able to access the peer to peer learning environment that they have paid for and that many thrive with. If students wanted to take online classes, they would have gone to another university that did not offer this type of environment. An online university would have been a lot cheaper. 

Tutors, Math Center, Writing Center, Library, Health Services: Students are no longer able to access these campus necessities that are included within tuition. You cannot walk into the math center and have a tutor help you with your math homework, you cannot have an essay revised in the writing center, you cannot take books out from the library or use its resources, you cannot use the medical services offered by the school, and you can no longer use many other school services.

Quality of Education: The same quality of education cannot be delivered over a computer video chat. Students have paid for an in-class experience.

Central Connecticut State University is expected to give partial refunds to students for room and board. However, every student has paid for more than what they have received this semester. In our tuition we paid for everything we have listed above and more. We paid for the atmosphere of the school, the security of our campus, camaraderie among students, social gatherings, and many other aspects of campus life that are intangible. The students of Central Connecticut State University did not sign up for online classes, we signed up and paid for the hands-on experience and atmosphere that CCSU offered. We should not be responsible for paying the full price of tuition because CCSU can no longer provide.

Students are losing out on Centrals exceptional faculties that help aid our engagement. If students do truly come first, Central will do what is right for the students.

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