WINTHROP RESPONDS COVID-19

TO PANDEMIC

The 2019-20 academic year proved to be like no other in Winthrop’s history.

The campus was affected by the city of Rock Hill’s serious water main break in October before fall break. Students were sent home two days earlier than planned for the break as the broken water line dumped millions of gallons of water on Cherry Road and disrupted water service for much of eastern York County.

By January, news outlets started reporting on the first coronavirus cases in Wuhan, China. Within two weeks, travelers carried the virus to Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the United States and Eu- rope. The virus moved rapidly through societies around the world and reached pandemic status. It received an official name: COVID-19, an acro- nym for coronavirus disease 2019.

By mid-March, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in the United States, and Winthrop closed its doors on March 16 due to orders from S.C. Governor Henry McMaster. The institution announced it would move to remote instruction following spring break in order to complete the spring semester. Faculty members worked quickly over the break to refashion their classes for remote instruction, while accommo- dations were made for students who didn’t have

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internet access or couldn’t return home to finish out the semester.

Interim President George W. Hynd said that when he accepted the two-year appointment to lead the campus, he could not have envi- sioned what the university would experience as a campus community. He started work on March 2, cheered the men’s basketball team to the Big South Conference Championship at the Winthrop Coliseum on March 8 and within a few days, ordered the campus closure which would allow only essential workers to report to their positions. Other employees worked remotely.

“As we pivoted to a totally new mode of teaching, learning and working in response to COVID-19, we were stretched in unimaginable ways, yet succeeded in making it through the spring semester under the most unusual set of circumstances,” Hynd said in May.

Not only did Winthrop officials respond to taking care of students’ academic needs, but also their mental, housing and financial needs. Some students struggled with anxiety, family issues and the new instruction format, according to Counseling Services’ staff members. The office handled more than 80 clients weekly during the spring semester with individual counseling, group counseling and mediation management sessions.

SUMMER 2020

Determining the Financial Impacts

The pandemic has cost the university millions in lost revenue from events, reduction in fees to students and the unexpected expenses incurred by moving courses online, according to Justin Oates, vice president for finance and business affairs/CFO.

Since students left at spring break and returned only to get their belongings out of the residence halls, the university made housing, dining and parking fee adjustments and returned portions of those fees to students. The fee adjustment process affected 2,960 students and involved distributing $3.7 million to their accounts.

Winthrop was among many higher education institutions to receive federal money from the CARES Act. Of the $5.38 million given to Winthrop, half of the money, $2,691,065, went for emergency assistance to 3,835 students. Pell-eligible undergraduates received $750, while non Pell-eligible students received $550.

Members of Winthrop’s Board of Trustees also voted to reduce the cost of Summer Session tuition. “We recognized the concern many students and families had about continuing the Winthrop experience during this unprecedented and challenging economic time,” said Hynd. “The Summer Session tuition reduction was the right thing to do as it will help our students benefit from fewer dollars invested in progress toward their degree over the next few months. It was intended to help them stay on track for on-time graduation.”

Vice President for Student Affairs Shelia Burkhalter and hundreds of other employees shifted to working remotely following the campus closure in March.

WINTHROP RESPONDS TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Student-Athletes Grapple with Spring Sports

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) cancelled spring sports seasons, which affected several Winthrop sports teams. The NCAA granted student-athletes an additional year of eligibility. About a dozen athletes – covering baseball, softball, golf and track – will take advantage of the extra year and will return for another season.

Six baseball players will take the field again in 2021 to try to capture the Big South title. Senior pitcher Colten Rendon, an exercise science major from Jupiter, Florida, said he decided to come back because he knew the team was special. “We could have had something great,” Rendon said. “So it makes me excited to finish off one more season with hopes of dog-piling on the mound in the playoffs.”

Read more about the baseball season and the returning players’ plans on pages 16-17.

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