[ASA-Official] COVID-19 updates | GBM virtualization | Outreach to admitted students

[Rebecca Mae Black]

Dear Student Group Leaders,

Please take note of the following announcements:

-> COVID-19 update and financial support
-> GBM virtualization and rescheduling
-> Student organization outreach to admitted students

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COVID-19 update and financial support



As you may have seen in the email from SOLE yesterday, the administration has handed down the decision to SOLE and the ASA that any student organization activity on campus after this Friday at 5 PM must be cancelled. SOLE has set up an FAQ here <https://studentlife.mit.edu/content/covid-19-student-organizations> to help answer questions, and are working with many groups already to address the effects of the new Institute policies.


We understand the financial hardship this places on many groups, and encourage any group that has been burdened with unrecoverable losses to fill out this form <https://engage.mit.edu/submitter/form/start/393416>. We will be using that information to understand the scope of how groups are being affected by the new policies, and both SOLE and the ASA have committed reserve funding to help groups to the best of our abilities with these financial losses.


Groups that applied to the ASA for LEF and/or ARCADE funding received an email from the ASA Treasurer: winter cycle groups will not have their allocations reversed due to the sudden nature of these decisions, and no spring cycle applications will be funded. As mentioned above, the funding that would have gone to LEF and ARCADE allocations this semester is being dedicated to alleviate the financial losses groups are sustaining with the sudden cancellation of their events.


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GBM virtualization and rescheduling



The ASA is currently discussing how to best handle our General Body Meeting, which was scheduled to take place on April 6th and during which the new ASA board will be elected. We value the conversations and feedback that take place during these meetings, and are exploring how to best virtualize this experience, whether with an extended format of presenting our changes and collecting feedback and questions over a week and then presenting our responses and voting for members at the end, or with a virtual platform like Zoom. More information on those processes will be distributed as we decide what the best format would be.


If you or anyone you know is interested in joining the board to help coordinate student group activities on campus, please reach out to the ASA board at <asa-exec at mit.edu>!

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Student organization outreach to admitted students



With the cancellation of CPW, the ASA has begun to explore methods of allowing groups to still virtually reach out to admitted students through a variety of methods - we are still determining the feasibility of some of our ideas, but are dedicated to ensuring that student groups can still advertise and interact with admitted students. Stay tuned for more information as those plans develop!

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Please take care of yourself and those around you during these times: we all are experiencing how stressful and sudden these changes are, and both the ASA and SOLE are here to support student groups in any way we can as the situation develops.

Best regards,

The ASA Executive Board

http://asa.mit.edu/about-asa/board-members
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