St. Thomas student workers will be paid biweekly based on average spring semester hours and students are expected to move off campus by Wednesday, March 25, university President Julie Sullivan announced in a COVID-19 update email Monday.
Student Employment
Students are encouraged to do remote work, but will continue to be paid biweekly based on their average amount of spring semester hours, the update said.
“We know that many of our student workers depend on their student work assignments to help pay for their education, and we want to support them,” Sullivan wrote.
Essential on-campus employees will still need to come to campus regularly, but starting March 25 will only need to come when necessary. These employees may include: those in campus safety, educational operations, residences, dining services, facilities, healthcare, Innovation and Technology Services, licensing and banking, time-sensitive research employees, spiritual care employees, professional services, Student Data and Registrar, those involved in minimum basic operations and other key services including Post Office staff.
Essential hourly staff will be paid $2 more per hour on top of regular pay for hours spent working on campus, while faculty and regular salaried staff pay will remain the same.
In its previous update, the university had not announced a specific policy on remote work or continued payment of student workers.
On-Campus Housing
Students are now expected to move out of on-campus housing by Wednesday, March 25. Originally, these students were supposed to move out by Sunday, March 29. The new date comes amid speculation that Gov. Tim Walz will issue a “shelter-in-place” order to limit non-essential travel.
As previous updates stated, students who are unable to leave campus due to “travel restrictions or other extenuating circumstances” will need to submit a request to Residence Life.
Building Access
Beginning March 25, all students, faculty and staff will be required to use their St. Thomas identification cards to access most buildings on campus, the email said.
The email also stated that students required to remain on campus will have access to their residence halls 24/7. Those students will also have access to the Anderson Student Center from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. for dining.
The Center for Well-Being and the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas will remain open; however, all other buildings on campus will only be accessible to employees with card access.
O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library moved its resources online Monday, according to its social media. The building is closed to students indefinitely, but librarians are available remotely.
Abby Sliva, Kat Barrett, Carly Noble and Emily Haugen contributed to this report.