![]() ![]() He says those who don’t will have to reapply for their job come spring, should the campus reopen again. #Dragon express oneonta fullSUNY Oneonta says a few students who wish to stay on campus may still request to do so, but those who leave will receive full refunds on their room and prorated returns on board.Ĭaro says any RAs who stick around may receive minimum wage for desk hours. Wilsbach Dining Hall is now open for students to grab takeout in-person, and the school is considering whether to continue this on a smaller scale once the majority of students have gone home.Ĭooper Levine is an RA in Hulbert Hall, a mixed dorm on campus.Ĭaro, Levine, and the other RAs have dropped their demands for now, in order to help with the mass exodus expected through Monday. In an interview with WAMC earlier this week, college President Barbara Jean Morris acknowledged that the school struggled with the initial rollout of its socially-distanced meal plan. "I know one of my friends on Wednesday, she spent eight hours just giving out food – when she had classes, and we had Club Expo that day, and she was on duty that night.” And then they just kind of left it and were like, ‘Bye!’ And we’re like, ‘Wait, what do you mean, bye?’ They’re like, ‘Bye!’ So we’re like, ‘Cool. “For the first three days of quarantine, which was the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of this week, they delivered food. Levine says the wait-time between when a student tested positive and when they were moved into quarantine varied greatly, further putting RAs at risk when it came to, say, delivering meals. But Caro says RAs continued knocking on doors and interacting with students regularly - in some cases, even, to communicate test results or quarantine plans in the middle of the night. When the college initially shut down on Sunday to pool-test its entire campus community, students were largely confined to their dorms. Before Thursday’s shutdown news, Caro and Levine were among 40 RAs threatening to strike next week, unless the school ponied up minimum wage for the extra work – and extra risk – brought on by COVID-19. SUNY Oneonta’s Office of Residential Community Life employs nearly 130 students, who typically receive a shared bedroom and discounted meal plan as compensation for hours at the front desk, regular meetings, monthly programs, and more. So when it first shut down I was, like, not in a good headspace.” Not saying that everyone didn’t – just more people than you’d expect were. "We had to really push the masks to these people a lot more, because they didn’t really understand the gravitas of the situation. So we were kinda seeing firsthand the amount of people that were going out and partying," Levine explains. Officials have blamed unsanctioned off-campus gatherings for the spike.Ĭooper Levine is a sophomore working his second semester as an RA in Hulbert Hall, the largest dorm on campus. Unlike at some other Northeast colleges, Oneonta students were not required to undergo COVID testing prior to their return. He likens RAs to the school’s “Swiss Army knife,” tasked with building community among residents while also enforcing campus policy, playing therapist – and now, acting as health inspector. And we barely made it to September.”Ĭaro is in his fourth semester as an RA, and says it’s always been a heavy-duty job. "I didn’t think that we would make it past October. “Even training, social distancing and CDC guidelines were spotty," says Caro. ![]() ![]() He says he was skeptical of the college’s reopening plan from the get-go – even as he and his coworkers prepared dorms for the return of students in early August. Mike Caro, a junior working as an RA in Huntington Hall, was hardly surprised by the school's decision to send students home. Mike Caro is an RA in Huntington Hall at SUNY Oneonta. ![]()
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