Eastern administrators held a Q&A via Facebook Thursday night to explain what the next academic year will look like.

Provost Jay Gatrell, Vice President for Student Affairs Anne Flaherty, Executive Director of the Office of Inclusion and Academic Engagement Mona Davenport, and Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management Josh Norman took part in the livestream to answer questions for both incoming and current students.

The four administrators began with answering frequently asked questions and then took questions from viewers.

The administrators answered one question from the chat before signing off of the livestream 

Housing and Dining

Students will have the option of having a roommate in the residence halls in the Fall 2021 semester but they will also have the ability to have a single room through grants.

There is not currently an active form on the Eastern website to apply for the grant, however, Norman said he excepts the form to go live within the next week.

Doubles rooms have been standard for students at Eastern for several years but over the last academic year roommates became less common due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“While we think double room occupancy is a really great choice for our incoming students because it brings an opportunity to have a built-in roommate and friend, we know that some students may be interested in having a single option and because of the availability of our high education emergency relief funds, students who would feel more comfortable having a single room can apply for a grant for a single, but again, we are preparing for the semester with all options,” Flaherty said. 

Flaherty expressed that dining options will be open for students as well.

Classes

Students are expected to be able to know for certain what mode their courses will be offered in by the time they register. 

Gatrell emphasized that the university cannot be sure that delivery modes will stay the same as the pandemic continues due to the uncertainty of it.

More face-to-face courses are expected to be available as restrictions are lifted.

“We are committed to having a face-to-face experience with 70 to 80 percent of our courses having a face-to-face element or component, traditional face-to-face lectures, laboratories, studios; they really are what we’re looking forward to in Fall 2021,” Gatrell said. “Fall 2021 is going to look a lot different than the current academic year and I think that’s a positive, but we are going to make sure we follow all of the guidelines.”

Extracurricular activities

Davenport and Flaherty shared opportunities available to students beyond the classroom including tutoring and student organizations and encouraged students to get involved.

They shared the benefits of the new program, Freshman Connection, that connects freshmen with upperclassmen for mentoring.

According to the Freshman Connection website, students “receive valuable support from other students that span all aspects of life on campus. They’ll get first-hand knowledge about how to manage classes and studying, making friends and joining groups, and managing finances while in college.”

A video of the Q&A session will be available on Eastern’s Facebook page.

Other Q&As are planned for the future, Norman said University President David Glassman.

Corryn Brock can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].