NEWS
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THE REFLECTOR
FEBRUARY 10, 2021
COVID-19 policies updated Testing, new quarantine guidelines among new updates By Nathan Herbst OPINION EDITOR
As the University of Indianapolis continues to deal with the evolving situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the protocols and guidelines put in place to protect the public’s health may require updating. Most of the rules have stayed the same, but some have recently changed, Vice President for Student and Campus Affairs and Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli said. However, all students are still required to practice social distancing and wear masks on campus, unless they are outdoors and able to maintain adequate spacing, according to UIndy’s Road to Reengagement plan. The first major change residential students may have noticed was the mandatory testing requirement before arriving on campus this semester. All students living in residence halls or campus apartments were required to test negative for COVID-19 prior to moving back into their living spaces, according to an email sent out on Jan. 8 by Vitangeli. Only specific student groups, such as student-athletes, were required to test at the start of last semester, according to Vitangeli. "When we looked at the numbers, it really made sense just to be safe and test everybody because we were already going to be testing such a huge percentage [of students]," Vitangeli said. Random surveillance testing will also continue this semester and will take place in the Health & Wellness Center in the Health Pavilion, according to Vitangeli. The first few rounds will focus on testing
Gallery from page 1 that in a wide range of clothing that it doesn’t matter the gender of the clothing, the size, the shape, the style, it does not matter,” Schuch said. “The unfortunate, really impactful piece is that it’s so rampant. Another piece that we will try to highlight with this program is removing the shame for survivors when it comes to their clothing.” Tables of information and statistics
SCHUCH about sexual assault will be present at the event, according to Schuch. Guest speaker Brittany Piper from Campus Speak, a program that works with colleges to inspire and inform higher education students, will also be at the event to share her story, Lipperd said. Schuch hopes that the event will give strength to survivors and let them know that they are supported at UIndy. Lipperd said he hopes the event will educated students that it does not matter what the victim was wearing when they experienced sexual assault. He wants the campus to start talking about sexual assault more and knowing that there are resources on campus for survivors. Sexual assault on college campuses
LIPPERD is an issue not specific to UIndy, but the university can set a precedent against that behavior, Schuch said. She wants the campus and the surrounding community to understand that UIndy takes sexual violence very seriously. “It’s not a fun topic.It is uncomfortable,” Schuch said. “However, we have to embrace and challenge the preconceived notions on a topic such as this. The very direct way to do that is to engage with a program such as this .... And then we can start the work of completely eliminating sexual assault.”
commuters and faculty and staff since all residential students have been recently tested, V itangeli said. "We really were so fortunate that our positivity rate was less than 1%,” Vitangeli said. “I felt really good about what students did to keep themselves and others safe over break. I think it speaks really highly of the UIndy community." UIndy now has on-campus testing facilities for those requiring a test, according to Vitangeli. The university had no such testing capacity last semester when students were required to test off-campus. Now, the university has acquired 33 testing machines to conduct their own testing, Vitangeli said. "We have multiple locations where we're able to test, which has been a
Thank you to everybody for everything they've done to try to do the right thing." huge shift in us being able to know almost instantaneously if we have a student that needs to be quarantined or isolated off-campus," Vitangeli said. These testing locations are located in the Health Pavilion, the ARC, and Student Affairs office. The quarantine protocols have also changed from what they were for most of last semester. According to Vitangeli, UIndy now follows the quarantine guidelines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated late last year, which gives one two options to follow:
• Option 1: Quarantine for a full 10 days. • Option 2: Quarantine for five days, get tested on day five, and stay in quarantine until day seven. If the results come back negative, then a student can leave quarantine. The daily health check is still required for everyone coming to campus. T he consequences for not following protocols are outlined in the UIndy Student Handbook and can include official university warnings, fines, social conduct probation or removal from campus spaces for repeat offenders. "O ur community has been very good about complying with our policies,” Vitangeli said. “We've had ver y fe w individuals that we've really had to enforce strict consequences with … For the most part, our community is really good about caring for themselves and others." Receiving one of the COVID-19 vaccines does not excuse students from following the university ’s protocols. Vitangeli said one can still p o t e n t i a l l y p a s s on t h e v i r u s even if one has received the full dosage of the vaccine. Furthermore, if one is vaccinated and exposed to COVID-19, they will still be required to follow quarantine and isolation protocols, Vitangeli said. "I really have been so impressed at the way our community has embraced the guidelines and really tried to keep the community safe,” Vitangeli said. “I've always loved working at UIndy and I think in times of crisis it just shows that people do care about one another …. Thank you to everybody for everything they've done to try to do the right thing."
Graphic by Jazlyn Gomez
Tuition to increase this fall By Noah Crenshaw EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Editor’s Note: A version of this story was originally published online on December 11, 2020. Tuition at the University of Indianapolis will increase once again for the 2021-22 academic year, following approval by the Board of Trustees, according to University President Robert Manuel. Full-time undergraduate tuition will increase to $31,972 annually, an $1,084 increase from 2020-21. The standard room and board rate will also increase by $240 to $5,896 annually, and the cost of the 14 meal plan will increase by $188 to $5,504, according to Manuel. University fees will increase by $416 to $1,548 annually. Manuel said that the increases for next year include a number of enhancements for students and that UIndy would continue to be a low cost option for students. The increases are needed because the university wanted to improve campus facilities, provide resources to update educational technology, increase student services, manage the rising cost of utilities, and to attract and retain the highest quality faculty and staff, according to Manuel. What the tuition and room and board increases will pay for: • Improving technology capabilities for UIndy’s network and classes • Enhancing academic programs • Creating a new student recreation center in Schwitzer Student Center • Increasing funds for student activities • Expanding student health care and counseling services • Addressing mechanical and HVAC costs • Updating residence halls and university buildings • Increasing security measures The new student recreation center will take over the space that UIndy IT currently occupies on the second floor of Schwitzer Student Center, according to Manuel. The space will be converted into a larger, state-of-the art recreation center for health and wellness programming, in partnership with Community Health Network, according to Manuel. Community Health will be helping with the programming and the creation of the physical space. According to Vice President for Student and Campus Affairs and Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli, this initiative was the result of Student Life Reviews UIndy conducted. For a couple of years, the university worked with the campus community to identify initiatives that they wanted to see, Vitangeli said. “One of the main bullet [points] to
come out of that Student Life Review was an updated health and wellness facility,” Vitangeli said.“This is meeting one of the goals that came out of that Student Life Review, but will allow … for faculty, staff and students to have expanded [health and wellness] classes.” Over the past few years, UIndy has been expanding its ability for exercise classes for faculty, staff and students, and this expansion will provide more space for those classes, according to Vitangeli. UIndy has a workout space in the basement of Ruth Lilly Fitness Center and has been upgrading it over the years, but it does not provide adequate space, Vitangeli said. “It allows for expanded continuity of health and wellness initiatives for faculty, staff and students, so we’re excited about the opportunities that it brings,” Vitangeli said. “Then to tie into some of the work that Kinesiology is doing, that the Be Well program for faculty and staff are doing, and that Campus Rec and intramurals are doing for students, to really tie everything together so that there are campus-wide initiatives.” The increases will also pay for increased security measures on campus, including adding more cameras and lighting oncampus, according to Manuel. This year, the university worked with its partners at University Lofts and College Crossing to add cameras in those buildings’ parking lots, Vitangeli said. Greyhound Village also added cameras to its parking lots in October. Additionally, Vitangeli said that the hope is that UIndy will also be able to add more cameras to other parking lots and other needed places. The university also hopes to add more ID card access to buildings that do not currently have card access.
“Every year, we [UIndy] try to identify places [where] we’d like to see that happen,” Vitangeli said. “The goal would be to just continue to increase and improve both the card access and the cameras around campus.” The university has always tried to be good stewards of students’ tuition, Manuel said. UIndy has kept their tuition low compared to other universities in Indiana, according to Manuel. Among the 31 colleges and universities that are a part of the Independent Colleges of Indiana, UIndy is the eleventh lowest for combined tuition, room and board for 2019-20, according to data from the ICI 2019-20 guidebook. The university has a commitment through fundraising and endowed dollars to talk to people about how to afford an education at UIndy, especially if it causes financial hardship for students, according to Manuel. In addition to the increases in cost, the university has also increased the amount of money available for financial aid, Manuel said. UIndy is encouraging students to file their Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, by April 15, 2021, in order to be considered for federal, state and institutional grants, along with other forms of financial aid, according to Manuel. Students are also encouraged to contact the Office of Financial Aid at financialaid@uindy.edu, or at (317) 788-3217. The university is also encouraging students to use the new Student Solution Center if they have any questions. Manuel said that Center for Advising & Student Achievement Assistant Director Sunni Manges, who is currently running the solution center, is there to problem solve and help students with financial issues.
Graphic by Taylor Strnad
Hall from page 1 of space possible in Martin Hall, the school’s former location, Talaga said. “There used to be a student lounge on the first floor [of Martin Hall]. Last year, that turned into project build space for the students. So we were ver y space-constrained,” Talaga said. According to Reid, a one-word answer for the biggest thing regarding the move is “expansion.” Shop space was previously located in Martin Hall, while innovation space was in the basement of Schwitzer Student Center. “It ’s a little bit tougher being in different places, especially for student-teams because … they are doing design projects for real customers,” Reid said. With R.B. Annis Hall, there is a lot more room under one roof. The space includes manufacturing and 3D printing facilities, as well as an innovation space, according to Reid. “The program is really ready to grow,” Reid said. “It offers faculty some space for collaboration ... and it is really necessar y. We’re starting to reach across the boundaries and partner with other folks at UIndy, but also other universities.”