HSU receives around $12M in federal relief money
Humboldt State University recently received nearly $12 million from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund to sustain critical university functions.
After being notified of the second round of emergency federal funding, HSU launched an effort to gather feedback from the campus community on how the funds should be allocated, according to a press statement from the university. Following the review of more than 200 submissions, the President’s Administrative Team made the following allocations:
• Safety and Operations — $2,200,000
• Instruction and Technology — $3,150,000
• Student Success and Completion — $1,770,000
• Strategic Investments and Campus Resilience — $4,864,442
According to a breakdown from HSU on how funds will be dispersed, safety and operations funding will enhance ventilation and air filtration in classrooms, support hybrid work environments and supply PPE and other operational expenses to support campus operations during COVID-19.
Instruction and technology funds will also support hybrid work environments by providing technical equipment and supplies for faculty, staff and students. These funds will help the university to “reimagine instruction spaces to be Hyflex, a ‘hybrid-flexible’ approach where students can attend in person or online” while also providing additional faceto-face course sections that meet social distancing guidelines. Approximately $50,000 of the funding will specifically support the ethnic studies requirement implementation as well.
“This will involve IT improvements to create more smart classrooms and labs with cameras, microphones, enhanced technology, and displays around the room so that instructors and students can interact with the remote students as though they also are in the room,” HSU spokesperson Grant Scott-Goforth told the TimesStandard.
Student success and completion funds will support student food programs, mental health services and emergency housing for students. The funds will also aid in textbook accessibility, a “reimagined commencement experience” and student programs, such as the Department of Native American Studies Food Sovereignty Lab and Cultural Workspace, the statement said.
The majority of funding will go toward “strategic investments and campus resilience” to offset
the significant loss of revenue for student dining and housing services which were hit the hardest during the pandemic, according to Scott-Goforth. The funds will also help the university invest in renewable energy and a microgrid to allow the university to maintain connectivity in the event of an emergency.
The statement also noted that HSU received an additional $1 million in federal Minority-Serving Institution funding which increased funding allocations from $11 million to $12 million.
The $12 million in funding is in addition to the $5 million being directly allocated to students for emergency aid, of which more than $4.5 million has been distributed. More than 4,100 students have received grant funds. The funds were allocated “based on their financial aid status,” Scott-Goforth said.
Scott-Goforth also said the funding will not be used to bring back lost jobs or to protect jobs in jeopardy.
“University leadership has worked very hard during the pandemic to avoid layoffs of permanent staff and faculty, and have continued to provide jobs to many students,” Scott-Goforth said.
“While this funding does not address long-term budget goals for the University, it provides a unique opportunity to invest significant one-time resources to creatively address current pandemic challenges in ways that can benefit students, staff, and faculty for years to come,” he added.