hazardous online classes/Pro-rated tuition fee payment refund

With recent COVID-19 drastic weekly changes, students are losing access to fundamental resources that would normally be provided on campus, like Health services and Medical Insurance. Students are being charged for health services that are already included in the students’ tuition yet not provided. We urge the University Senate committee to seriously consider this pressing concern. We are demanding a partial pro-rated refund for resources not being used.

We have learned that New York City Department of Education Chancellor Richard A. Carranza has recommended that NYC public schools should "cease using Zoom as soon as possible" due to privacy and security concerns, including the emerging threat of Zoombombing. Further, we note that there have been reports of individuals hijacking Zoom users’ webcams, as well as reports stating that Zoom’s iOS app has been sharing user data with third parties, including Facebook.

We as students who have had Zoom imposed on us are concerned that our personal information may be compromised as a consequence of using Zoom, and hold that the transition to online classes represents a noticeable reduction in educational quality not commensurate with costly tuition payments made in January of this year. We call upon the University to clarify what steps are being taken to ensure that student information is not being compromised at this time and to address our concerns regarding the reduction in educational quality and the loss of professional opportunities that the transition to online classes represents. We are demanding a partial indemnification for the spring semester.