After having all classes moved online in mid-March due to coronavirus concerns, nearly all Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) student organizations had to quickly find ways to get themselves online as well. Many organizations have had to cancel most of their events altogether because they are reliant on meeting in person for various activities. Student Council has begun to move all meetings online over Zoom. The first Student Council Zoom meeting, on March 31st, acted as a trial run in order to maximize the efficiency of this upcoming one (Tuesday, April 14th).
The March 31st meeting started off with nominations for officer positions and award nominations for members of the year followed by a continuation of the last meeting and a quick introductory discussion of emergency powers and bylaw amendments in order to make online meetings run more smoothly. Notably, this includes a quorum change of only 25% of voting members and authority to make certain decisions given to the president if quorum is not met at the last meeting of the semester (this is when certain notions are passed that are immediately related to the next semester such as information relating to O-week).
After emergency powers were discussed the council moved on to elect Donny Badamo as the new Vice President of Operations and the rewards for most valuable member and rookie were passed; results will be announced at the awards ceremony.
The most relevant part of the meeting that concerns the whole student body came next. Discussions were had about moving the pass/fail grade system decision. The deadline was moved to May 8th and there are currently officers discussing it with campus officials. The university recommends that you discuss this with your advisor before moving forward as other options may be open and using pass/fail for certain classes may have adverse effects. Refunds for things such as graduation are also being discussed with S&T faculty. Lastly, it is encouraged for students to look online to see which services have been moved online; it is likely more than you would think.
In general, students should be expecting most events to be moved online if quarantine is still active at the end of the semester. If any services campus provided are closed physically on campus then they are probably available online. Some big services that have already migrated almost entirely are the Library, Student Health and counseling, and academic help services such as LEAD. It is again recommended to talk with your advisor either by email or via Zoom in order to work out whether or not taking pass/fail grading is the best option for you for any specific class. Further updates on faculty response will keep being pushed through the student involvement emails and in other new articles posted by the Missouri Miner and by Missouri S&T’s official paper. Stay healthy, keep safe, and make the best of what you’ve got.
