Issue 2 fall semester 2020_The SpringHillian

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The SpringHillian Volume 112, Issue 2

Thursday,October 8, 2020

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Questions Answered About Tuition Cut Olivia McNorton Reporter On Oct. 6, Spring Hill College hosted a virtual town hall meeting where students, faculty, and staff could have their questions answered surrounding the recent announcement of the tuition reduction planned for August 2021. Questions were presented by both Student Government Association Vice President Dionte Rudolph and Spring Hill College President Joe Lee. Not only did President Joe Lee provide answers to questions asked, but Vice-President of Enrollment Management Gary Bracken and Vice President of Finance and Account Rhonda

President Joseph Lee Photo By: Olivia McNorton Shirazi answered questions as well. The Spring Hill leaders were unable to answer all the questions submitted to the Town Hall, but they answered each question they were able to with detail and precision.

One of the first questions Rudolph presented to Gary Bracken was, “Could you elaborate on the rationale behind the tuition cut? How exactly will this help Spring Hill?” Bracken responded with a slideshow depicting

the competitive environment and the disadvantages that “Spring Hill has faced for a long time”. With the $21,100 tuition reset, Bracken confirmed that Spring Hill is “pretty much the low cost-provider now” of private institutions in the south region of the country. “It is expected to increase enrollment,” Bracken affirmed when asked how the price drop would affect enrollment at the college. Rhonda Shirazi was asked by Rudolph to answer a hard-hitting question: “Is the college in a secure-enough financial position to make this change?” “We are,” was Shirazi’s immediate response, “In recent years, we have had operational deficits, but we have very valuable

assets.” She confirmed that looking ahead toward the 2021 fiscal year, the school had to make “some difficult decisions and budget cuts due to the declining student revenue”, but was working towards a balanced budget. Shirazi spoke of Spring Hill’s long-term financial status positively. “There’s a lot of good news for Spring Hill. We’ve been very successful in securing grants, over $5 million in grants will be coming to the college in the next 5 years.” She also cited Spring Hill’s expansion into online learning and certification programs as helping to diversify the college’s revenue stream. “It’s a strong future for Spring Hill, “ said Shirazi in closing.

Student Employment Drops Due to Covid

Grace Crapps Reporter

The pandemic is affecting more than just the health of Spring Hill College students, as it also takes a toll on the amount of federal work study jobs that are available to them. Junior Tess Doyle works in the mailroom for Spring Hill College. She’s noticed that this year, the mail room staff has gotten a lot smaller. “Last year it felt like there used to be a large group of us, but now there’s only about two of us in here at a time, which is difficult considering we’re getting the same, if not more amount of mail,” said Doyle. Doyle’s comment about the mailroom is not singular. Since students have been back, they’ve noticed a decrease in work study positions. Junior Grace

Conjar, who works in Spring Hill College’s Admissions office made a similar comment. “Last year we had about 10 people working, and this year we only have 5.” Federal work study jobs offer part-time jobs for undergraduate students with financial need. The jobs help students pay for their education, promote community service work and can even relate to the student’s course of study. The lack of work study jobs causes more than just a

problem of efficiency for offices like the mailroom. It can also impact a student’s ability to pay for his or her education. The blame for this significant cut is easy: Corona. “In the past students who have applied for work study positions didn’t have a problem with getting them, but this year I think the limited amount of jobs is because of the pandemic,” said Conjar. The disappearing work study jobs are not just a Spring Hill

Grace Conjar and Anna Pellerin at work. Photos By: Grace Crapps problem. CNBC reported that over half a million students rely on Federal Work Study jobs but since the pandemic, several of these students are seeing them disappear. The reasons vary from school to school, but suspected reasons are budget constraints and the shift to virtual learning. The unfortunate job market extends beyond Spring Hill’s bubble. The New York

Times called the economy “bizarre” as it has “strong job growth, but a terrible job market.” The Times reported that there was a seven percent decrease in jobs from February to September, which is worse than the Great Recession of 2008. Major corporations like Disney and American Airlines are expecting to have a major layoff within this month.


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