More than 120 Northern Arizona University academics living in on-campus apartments had less than two weeks to relocate, so the university can use its rooms to quarantine academics exposed to COVID-19.
After the notice, some academics said they were frustrated when they learned they had to move out a month after the semester began and felt that the university was not realizing it. well-being or he wasn’t making plans properly.
“Our well-being has not been put into attitude or heard. Now we are forced to leave our environments and paint homes. Our $300 cash refund and apologies with moving boxes and other people to move in,” an online petition was created in response.
UPDATE: Northern Arizona University reopened its in person
Students living in Campus Heights apartments gained an email from University Housing on the night of September 16 telling them they had to move from September 25-27 to the unit on campus for the rest of the educational year, according to an email shared with The Republic. Arizona through a student.
The email referred to the university’s comprehensive plan to mitigate the risks of fitness and protection, adding designated isolation and quarantine on campus.
“Hosting positive and exposed academics in transitional housing away from other citizens is helping our network curb the spread of COVID-19,” the email says.
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University spokeswoman Kimberly Ott said in an email to The Republic that Campus Heights would be used as a quarantine and that academics who won an email account for 2% of academics living on campus lately.
“We are making a limited number of changes in room allocation to allow Americans to quarantine only themselves, and for the separation of other residents,” Ott said.
The email to the scholars provided them with an apology and the main points regarding their new room assignment, an adjusted rent amount, a $ 300 refund for any inconvenience, and the variety of the first precedence room for the 2021 educational year- 2022. The university also presented the of pro movers at no cost.
“This resolution required careful attention and was taken after comparing every choice imaginable,” the email said. “Please perceive that we are acting taking into account your well-being and that of your fellow loggers.
Campus Heights is one of the few housing features on campus with a kitchen, a full-size stove and a giant refrigerator, according to the condo’s website.
The ad left some academics frustrated, adding Elisa Whitby and her roommate, Cayla Samson.
The couple created an online petition on September 17 asking others to express their considerations by calling Residence Life. The petition had nearly 900 signatures on Saturday.
According to Ott.
In the first email he received, Whitby stated that he would get $200 relief on the price of housing to relocate.
Last year, Whitby said she had to move 3 times due to a “bad roommate” situation, but she didn’t think she would have to move at the time of the school year.
Whitby and his two roommates, who lived in a two-bedroom unit in Campus Heights, were first reassigned to a one-bedroom option with a compact stove, which is “much smaller” than where they live lately, he said.
Samson, who is taking 17 hours of credit this semester, said he was frustrated to be informed that he would have to move.
In addition to traveling in the middle of class, Samson and Whitby said it would be difficult for all three of them to be in the same room as their other roommate works from the house and they examine in the house. Whitby stated that he called the property on September 17 and asked if any other option was available.
“The user I spoke to with Array . . . said, ‘Well, there’s nothing else, I’m sorry,’ and then he hung up, Whitby said. “It’s a little frustrating. I hope someone else talks, but at the same time I like it, you have to do anything about it, you have to say anything. “
After the call, Whitby and Samson created the petition, which led a university housing director to touch Whitby, who said he clarified and proposed solutions.
AUSSI: NAU systems for students with disabilities who suffer to be informed online
But Samson wondered if more could have been done before the start of the semester so that citizens would not feel ashamed.
“They chose Campus Heights because of their lower occupancy rate,” Samson said. “They were looking to locate as few scholars as to uproot, which shows me that they didn’t have a plan before everyone got home. “
Campus Heights, also known as “iHouse,” houses about 130 foreign academics, Ott said. But due to the pandemic and “strong” relief in foreign academics on campus, lately there are only 123 academics in total in Campus Heights, which% of the total capacity, according to Ott.
“As one of the least visited university residences, the resolution was made to move students,” Ott said. “This has created a new quarantine area in a centralized location, which will help us better manage the area for the fitness and protection of all campus residents.
Although disruptive, this “proactive measure” is necessary for Ott.
As of September 25, the NAU reported that it administered 226 instances of COVID-19 academics on and off campus, according to its coronavirus website.
Since September 2, more than 8,500 tests have been administered, according to the website. The NAU COVID-19 page does not reflect the total number of COVID-19 instances since the university began crawling instances.
From the first email, Whitby said he had won more hotels than he had been given. He decided not to get help from the carriers and moved out on Friday.
But before the email, Whitby said academics had been consulted on the university’s plans to relocate Campus Heights academics.
“We weren’t even informed when we moved in, like, ‘Hey, you might have to move if something happens,'” Whitby said. us before like, ‘Would it be okay if you were willing to move somewhere else?”
However, the university’s online page stated that several apartments and suites would be stopped for isolation or quarantine, adding that the university held and will maintain “a number of quarantine and isolation spaces if a campus resident temporarily changed an era of quarantine or isolation. “
Academics did not have the opportunity to provide feedback before sending the email, however, they gained features in the September 16 email to initiate a “dialogue” with the university’s housing staff for other opportunities if the first ones provided were not acceptable, Ott said.
“University Housing has made many changes based on student applications to assign them to their preferred options and will continue to do so before moving in,” said Ott, who added that some academics moved in on The Weekend of September.
Students who were told to move out also have the option to cancel their housing contract, but Ott said the university had been informed of the cancellation of any scholarship.
If the university had concerned academics in the resolution beforehand, Whitby said he thought the procedure would have been easier.
Contact the reporter at Audrey. Jensen@arizonarepublic. com or on Twitter – Audreyj101.
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