Dear President Steinmayer, Provost Everett, Vice President Pistorino and Interim Director Kirby, 
 
We hope that this correspondence finds you well in this tumultuous time. Consistent with other universities nationwide, Lesley administration understandably decided to move classes online for on-campus Expressive Therapies students and suspend internships for both on-campus and low-residency programs. We’d like to report to you some ways in which our needs could be addressed at this time and suggest alternatives to the solutions Lesley has offered to date.

Because members of our community have suffered unnecessarily without their timely delivery and implementation, we continue to  urgently request these challenging financial, structural, and temporal solutions as soon as possible. Lesley has the opportunity to respond now; you can still reduce harm by acting now.

We implore you to use your influence to positively alter the lives of our students, faculty, and staff, as you have for our community during simpler times. At this moment, while our most vulnerable community members continue to need assistance and consideration, please help us to come together by instituting policies and structures which will enable the community to thrive and continue to drive social change.

We ask for consideration and implementation of the following:

Financial Support and Scaffolding for Students, Staff, and Faculty

Class Cost Parity: On-campus students ought to be reimbursed at low-residency Mental Health Counseling (MHC) rates. Currently, on-campus pay $1,190 (2020) per credit while low-residency students pay $650. This usually balances out cumulatively, but on-campus students are paying an extra fee that they could be using to survive. We would like to request a partial refund ($960), as well as tuition reduction for all terms in which distance learning continues ($1,620 per course or $540 per credit).
 
Harm Reduction with Future Clients: Group Work is taught on campus even for the low-residency program. When the seriousness of the Covid-19 pandemic became clear, it would have been more appropriate to give students and professors the option to suspend the semester for some classes and to reschedule this course for a future time. While instructor efforts to adjust the coursework have been impressive, the cost of the course should be discounted for students while increasing instructor compensation.
 
Reimbursement for Reduced Access to Field Experience, Services, and Materials: Students should be reimbursed 1/2 of their Field Experience Fees at $545 a semester ($272.50). The yearly student materials fee of $350 for expressive therapies students could be returned pro-rata ($87.50) to on-campus students. Low-res students are also charged for this fee, and payment should be delayed.
 
Fair Labor and Compensation for Faculty: Simply making our professors to make up the slack without paying bonuses or overtime for this additional work is not consistent with Lesley values. We request that our professors, many of whom have lost a large portion of their clinical practices and access to clients, be compensated for their efforts to bridge the disparity between in-person and digital educational experiences.
 
Living Wages for currently “non-essential” Staff: Continuing to pay employees their salaries who cannot work from home, who keep our buildings clean and safe, drive our shuttles, and keep us safe and healthy by feeding us, is the only option consistent with Lesley values. These positions and the people who fill them are the heart of Lesley. See: https://bit.ly/2x1P1kg
 
Continuation of Wages for Student Workers: We ask that Lesley continue paying students who were previously employed by the University regardless of their ability to work remotely. When students matriculated, they did so with a particular budget in mind, and the pandemic does not suddenly alter the basic nature of finance.

Structural Supports for people who need it most:

1. International Student Jobs: Create jobs for students who did not need work and continue paying previously employed students regardless of ability to work.
2. Domestic Student jobs: Continue to pay student jobs regardless of ability to work.
3. Continue funding the food pantry and retool it so that it distributes shelf stable non-perishable goods, while still returning the Student Activities Fee.
4. Provide unlimited telehealth through the Counseling Center.
5. Provide low-cost housing to students who may be displaced.
6. Emergency Funding for students should be provided in a transparent fashion: application data, demographics, and award eligibility rubrics must be clear.
7. Emergency Economic Clemency: In addition to providing refunds and continued pay, waive all late fees and stop putting students on academic hold.
8. Universal “A” Policy: Intitute a Universal “A” policy to ensure that students who showed the dedication to continue their studies in the midst of crisis are properly recognized for their efforts.
9. Revised Drop Policy: Allow students with extenuating circumstances to drop classes retroactively and retake classes next year at no cost.

At this time, people need emergency help, and timing is critical. As an institution, Lesley is expected to bear this responsibility because of its claimed mission social justice and change. Lesley has the power to minimize the negative consequences of the pandemic and maximize community recovery and resilience through strategic choices.

We are committed to partnering with Lesley to see our community work in concordance with its values. We appreciate your time, consideration, and hope you make the right decisions in light of this information.

For anyone curious of skeptical about how Lesley could pay for or approve of all of these requests, please read this petition by Lesley employees: https://bit.ly/2x1P1kg

Lesley has received Federal Aid and must use that aid to serve its community first. Please amend your responses to match the stated mission of Lesley University: “to shape a more just, humane, and sustainable world.”

President Steinmayer, please respond to these requests by or before April 30 to the entire Lesley Community. The community has never been in greater need for compassionate leadership than it does today. Please act now.

Respectfully Yours,
 
Concerned Members of the Lesley Community