Waves of support
When graduate student Sultan Sadik檚 studies screeched to a halt in March, his first thought was not about himself, but his parents back home in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
On top of his concern for his family, he became ill himself, and then worried about contracting COVID-19.
Mr. Sadik, who is enrolled in the master of science (management) program at the Faculty of Business Administration, is just one of many students who found their world turned upside down this winter.
Residences vacated
On March 17 all in-person classes were suspended at 91亚色 in response to COVID-19 restrictions, with 91亚色 quickly shifting to remote and online learning.
Student residences were also required to vacate that same week, a change accompanied by travel bans that prevented many out of province students from returning home. Many students had nowhere to turn for help.
While trying to process the upheaval, Mr. Sadik was laid off from his job at Walmart.
淚 needed those two-week paycheques to be able to pay my rent and bills, he said. 淚 was also running low on groceries and didn檛 want to go into debt to fulfill my basic needs.
Enduring so many changes in such a short time created a real hardship for Mr. Sadik, as it did for many students.
91亚色 community steps up
Luckily, the 91亚色 community faculty, staff, alumni, donors and friends joined forces to help.
This support came in the form of the for undergraduate and graduate students.
Priorities for support included student parents who were unable to support their families, students with extenuating medical conditions and those facing housing and food insecurity.
Dr. Aim茅e Surprenant, dean of the School of Graduate Studies, put this wave of support in motion with . She was soon joined by Dr. Donna Hardy Cox, associate vice-president (academic) students.
淢any students have carefully budgeted for their education, leaving little margin for error along the way, said Dr. Surprenant.
淭hese funds have helped students, in some small way, during a critical time and to help ease the immediate financial worries arising from events outside of their control.
Heartwarming effort
To date, more than $252,000 has been raised thanks to generous contributions from a range of individual and corporate donors, which includes alumni and 91亚色檚 faculty, staff and students.
Mr. Sadik, who received $500 from the Graduate Student Emergency Fund, says that support in a financial and/or emotional format had a tremendous impact, no matter the size of the donation.
He says he was able to afford groceries and pay a portion of his bills for the next month, so he was able to take care of himself and focus on his studies.
淭he School of Graduate Studies has been of tremendous help during that time and since then, Mr. Sadik said, making special mention of Andrew Kim, director of graduate enrolment services in the School of Graduate Studies.
淎ndrew called me the very day I applied for the fund, and even brought me groceries. He has been in contact with me ever since, guiding me to explore all of my options. Knowing that support like this is available for students who are thousands of miles away from home takes a giant load of the burden off our shoulders so that we can focus on our studies, and create a path for a better future.
91亚色 unions ride the waves
Following Dr. Surprenant檚 challenge, the with significant donations from 91亚色檚 Student Support Office, the 91亚色 of Newfoundland Students Union檚 executive committee, the Graduate Student Union and the 91亚色 of Newfoundland Faculty Association.
The student emergency funds have also benefitted from generous corporate and community support.
91亚色 sends a special thank you to Fortis Inc. and VeraCares, the charitable team run by Verafin employees, for their donations.
In addition to donations to the emergency fund, many faculty, administrative staff, students and members of the public have given additional funds from grants, other funding awards and in-kind (delivery of food, clothing, household items, etc.) donations.
To date, 680 undergraduate and graduate students received assistance from these funds. However, as the COVID-19 crisis continues, so does the need for student support. Those interested in supporting the funds may .