Important information for Student Clubs & Organizations in response to the Coronavirus outbreak.

3/17/2020

Dear RIT Student Organization Leaders and Advisors,

The Center for Campus Life would like to provide updates on the status of student organization activities following the updates that have come from President Munson and RIT administrators regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Due to recent events and out of an abundance of caution, all in-person RIT student club and organization sponsored or hosted events, activities and meetings in venues both on and off campus, must be postponed, cancelled or offered virtually. This decision is effective immediately and applies to the remainder of the semester.

This is a fluid situation and information is changing hourly. Please monitor the RIT coronavirus website for the most up to date information and encourage your members to do the same.

The following guidelines will go into place immediately:

Meetings/Events: Please cancel all meetings, events or activities at reserve.rit.edu. No new room requests will be accepted from now until further notice.

Meetings/Events located in RIT Campus Recreation Facilities: All recreational and competitive club sports practices and games have been cancelled for the remainder of the year. Any other student club or organization event occurring in the Hale-Andrews Student Life Center, Gordon Field House and Activities Center, or Global Village fitness center from now until further notice have been cancelled as those facilities are no longer operating. If you have additional questions, please contact studentevents@rit.edu.

Off-Campus Events: Events off-campus (i.e..: Banquets, formals, etc.) will need to be cancelled. Please reach out to vendors directly and update your Campus Life Finance Advisor when changes have been determined.

Club Purchases: At this time, all purchases for student organizations will be suspended until further notice. If you need to submit an EAF for a refund related to a recent purchase or for an event that has already been approved, please contact your financial advisor for further information.

CampusGroups Refunds: If your club/organization has used CampusGroups to sell event tickets or if a store is open in CampusGroups and you need to process refunds, please make note of the important steps below. Due to the volume, please be patient as we work through the refund process. We are working closely with Student Financial Services to follow an organized process to ensure that this happens in the most effective way possible.

Please note that refunds from CampusGroups are a two-step process. After a refund is complete in CampusGroups, it is then processed by Student Financial Services.

• Use the CampusGroups wiki to follow the instructions on how to process refunds in CampusGroups. Your club can manually process refunds (https://wiki.rit.edu/display/RITCG/Refund+for+Events+-+Clubs) or students can request refunds directly (https://wiki.rit.edu/display/RITCG/How+to+request+a+refund).
• Once you decide that you are processing refunds, please email ritcampusgroups@rit.edu and provide your Group Name and the Event/Store which is being refunded.
• The RIT CampusGroups support team will be sending information to Student Financial Services in batches throughout the next few weeks.

Funding/Contracts/Payments: We recommend that you work directly with your performers/speakers/vendors to cancel/refund your payments for events scheduled from now until further notice. If a payment was already made, you may see if they will apply it to another event in the future.

• For any upcoming flights that have been booked, an airline may give you credit for your flight and allow you to use that credit within the next year. You may need to pay an extra fee if you would like to be able to change the name on the ticket to someone else for future.
• Please note: Depending on the vendor, you may not be able to call and cancel the reservation or payment. If you purchased a flight for a speaker, the vendor may require that the speaker call and not a club member. This will be managed individually by each vendor.

Please keep your Campus Life Finance Advisor (Dawn Rizzo – darccl@rit.edu, or Austin Vyskocil, axvccl@rit.edu) informed of refunds and cancellations by emailing the name of your event and the status of the refunds and cancellations for each vendor involved with your event. If you need further assistance, please contact Dawn Rizzo, Austin Vyskocil or Elaine Kanara (ekkccl@rit.edu).

Catering: Please directly work with your caterer on your cancellation. For RIT Catering orders, please email catering@rit.edu. Please update Dawn Rizzo and Austin Vyskocil when you process these cancellations.

Helpful tips going forward:

Keep yourself healthy:

• Wash your hands often (Don’t forget to wash for at least 20 seconds with warm, soapy water!)
• If you are feeling especially anxious, know you are not alone! You can always consult with a staff member from Counseling and Psychological Services. More information including business hours and contact information can be found at https://www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/counseling/). Services and support are also available through Spirituality and Religious Life. More information including business hours and contact information can be found at https://www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/religion/resources.

Continue to check your email for all important communications regarding academic continuation from your professors and to stay up to date with information from the university as it continues to be shared on the RIT coronavirus website

• It is our main priority to support you continuing your education from a remote location and this may require a period of adjustment.

Communicate with your organization members:

• Please share the university’s website that has the most up-to-date information regarding campus announcements and policies: https://www.rit.edu/coronavirus
• Please forward this email along with any other updates to your members so that they may also stay up to date
• DO NOT try to force members to stay on campus. Safety is our number one priority for you all and your members. RIT is requiring that all students in on-campus housing vacate by Sunday, April 5th. Remind members that they must log onto mylife.rit.edu to submit their Spring Residential Plan as soon as possible.
• Please give members grace and understanding during this time as many students will need to focus on transitioning to a new way style of learning with online classes and alternative instruction methods. Please continue supporting your members and peers during this challenging time.

Alternative ways to meet ONLINE:

Please begin to explore ways of conducting the event through livestreaming or other technology.

• Slack: Voice and text chat, can create a group for people to group chat. Supported on desktop, browser, and mobile app

• Google Hangout Meet: Premium features free through 7/1/2020. Offers live-captioning and video recording that can be shared out with members later.

• Zoom: Useful for Online Meetings, Training & Technical Support, Marketing Events & Town Hall Meetings, Build Collaboration-Enabled Conference Rooms. Free option includes: Host up to 100 participants, Unlimited 1 to 1 meetings, 40 mins limit on group meetings, unlimited number of meetings, online support.

We will continue to share other opportunities to engage your members in the coming weeks. As student leaders on campus, please continue to be proactive about implementing safe practices and limiting the amount of risk for all members in our community while continuing to adjust to safety measures set in place. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

We understand that these changes will create challenges for student leaders, their advisors, and the greater community. This pandemic has created unprecedented circumstances making these actions prudent and necessary.

These decisions were not made lightly and we want you to know that we will continue to be dedicated to supporting your clubs and organizations and helping you transition through the rest of the semester. Please email clubs@rit.edu or crcccl@rit.edu.

Sincerely,

RIT Campus Life Staff