On April 17, 2020, Hunter College President Jennifer J. Raab shared this update:
Dear Students,
We hope that you had a restful and safe break. Now that we are nearing the end of the semester, we want you to start thinking seriously about plans for summer. As with everything else during our current crisis, summer needs to be reconsidered. We know now that aspects of social distancing will continue through summer 2020, and we anticipate that there will be challenges with travel, internships, and employment. Your summer plans may be changing. While summer school may not have been in the cards before, we want you to start thinking about it now, and we’re here to help.
Our current goal at Hunter is to maximize your time this summer and ensure that you stay on the path to graduation. As you can read in my Daily News piece this week, encouraging students to enroll in summer school is Hunter’s call to action for all colleges. To this end, we strongly encourage all continuing students to take at least one class this summer. We are working closely with the faculty to develop a menu of summer classes that will help you advance towards your degree. Pathways courses will be available, as well as major and minor requirements and courses in public health and policy that are especially relevant to these challenging times. Consider using the summer sessions to fulfill your Hunter Focus requirement, whether you need language courses or want to explore our certificate programs in public policy, business, and human rights.
We understand the financial stress many of you are under right now, and that is why we have a concerted drive to raise funds with the goal of providing support for any student in need. We are committed to making sure that financial need is not an obstacle for anyone to take a class this summer, and we have already begun to raise a special, dedicated fund for this effort. The application for these scholarship funds is available online (login with your NetID and password). In addition, we are continuing to provide funds for students financially impacted by the crisis through the Coronavirus Emergency Assistance Fund. You can also still request a long-term laptop loan, and the 68th Street Food Pantry is open and stocked. Laptops are being shipped directly to students, and we are developing neighborhood-based pickup locations for both laptops and supplies from the Food Pantry that we hope to roll out in the coming weeks.
In addition to financial resources, we have created a special one-stop advising program to help you think through summer school. You can make an appointment today to get personalized advising that will help you make strong choices for this summer. We have continued to invest in our mental health and counseling programs. In addition to moving our regular operations so you can access them remotely, we have created a new coronavirus anxiety support group for students experiencing personal or academic difficulties related to the current crisis.
In the uncertain times ahead, your Hunter degree will be more important than ever. To support your future, we want to help get you to complete your education as soon as possible. Taking a few classes this summer and taking advantage of Hunter’s support services are the best way to fast-track your graduation. Despite these challenging times, we hope you will join us in turning this summer into an opportunity for academic advancement and personal success.
Sincerely,
Jennifer J. Raab
