To President Martha Pollock, Vice President and General Counsel Donica Varner, Chief of Staff and Special Counsel to the President Kelly Cuningham, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Joanne DeStafano, Vice President for Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi, Leadership of the Board of Trustees, and Members of the Finance Board and Student Life Board,

We would like to address the situation regarding the timeliness of financial aid packages being delivered to students. As it stands right now, many of us students are without financial aid packages. This is not the first time this has occurred. Most notably, our previous academic year saw us face similar circumstances. While it is understandable that the COVID-19 crisis had made a large impact on the timeliness of financial aid packages in 2020, it is hard to understand why this is happening again a year later.

So far, students have encountered long wait times trying to get in contact with financial aid officers, constantly shifting deadlines, and inconsistent information from the Financial Aid department. Without the knowledge of what aid will look like this coming academic year, many of the students who greatly rely on financial aid are having to deal with stress and uncertainty into how much they need to cover their expenses. Families that are trying to organize around their student’s expenses are having to wait months to finalize their plans. Income from financial aid that is used for off-campus housing and food will not be distributed on-time. These impacts also disproportionately affect students with lower income backgrounds.

To address the Financial Aid issue, we have generated a list of actions that we would like the University administration to execute:

1. Issue a formal address to the student body regarding the issue with Financial Aid
2. Take immediate measures to expedite the delivery of financial aid packages
3. Establish an inquiry into the issues that are facing the Financial Aid department with a completion date of the end of the calendar year
4. Release the inquiry report to the general Cornell population upon completion

We are hoping that we can resolve this situation now and prevent it from happening again. We would like to cooperate on this issue with the administration and move forward with a pleasant academic year highlighted by the return of in-person instruction to all classes.

Sincerely,

Students of Cornell University and Other Supporters