On Feb. 10, President Hanbury hosted an undergraduate student town hall meeting via Zoom to allow students to ask President Hanbury, the deans of individual colleges and other high-ranking university officials questions pertaining to their own university experience.
The meeting began with a video presentation by Hanbury, who called for persistence and perseverance in the face of adversity. NSU has continued to face the COVID-19 pandemic while celebrating the resilience of the students, staff and employees who have worked hard to keep the campus community safe during these uncertain times. Hanbury also mentioned the 2025 Vision for the university, which aims that by the year 2025, NSU is recognized as a preeminent professional-dominant research university that produces alumni that lead a life of leadership in their communities and careers.
According to Hanbury, NSU is certified by Governor DeSantis to offer vaccinations to the NSU community and involve students in NSU’s professional health programs to assist in that process when vaccines become available.
“Stay tuned. I’m sure it will be coming. I hope we will have everyone vaccinated before fall of next year so we can, hopefully, start in the fall with some semblance of normalcy. We still will have to be wearing masks… I think [not wearing masks] is something we can all look forward to, [but] in the meantime, we have to keep going. We can’t let down our guard,” said Hanbury.
Emily Kolankiewicz, president of the Student Government Association (SGA), presented on topics of pride and concerns raised by the students’ overall response to highlight where future efforts might be best focused. Points of Pride in the university’s efforts were focused on the excitement for the opening of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Office, ease of access with the SharkLink update, delight with the Unity Mural and NSU’s mascot Razor’s new makeover. President Hanbury clarified that BlendFlex is expected to be applied to post-COVID-19 semesters, there will still be a focus on the continuous cleaning of high-traffic areas and senior housing contracts will be extended until commencement on May 17.
Students brought concerns to the SGA about hopes to maintain small class sizes as advertised, expanding ExEL eligible courses for students in programs that struggle to maintain ExEL credits and communication with departments such as Enrollment and Student Services (ESS) to find a better form of communication to best fit students needs.
Hanbury explained that undergraduate student enrollment will be capped roughly at the amount it is now, 6,500 students, to maintain a 70% graduate and 30% undergraduate student split. Meaning, that with future enrollment, the university will be more selective with student applicants and this will maintain the class sizes students have been promised. According to Ron Chenail, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, the academic catalog will be reviewed with different majors and a thorough review will be conducted to expand ExEL eligible courses for students. To address the concern over ESS communication issues, Hanbury promised to put together a task force to improve upon the current system and provide more clear communication strategies to students with these issues. There were other questions students asked that involved nursing students and their program, an inquiry about tuition being raised and masks being improperly worn on campus, among others. Students who have additional questions are encouraged to submit their questions on the online form here or attend any of the other virtual town hall meetings.
