COVID-19 Pandemic
Regulatory Citation: March 5, 2020 Electronic Announcement; March 5, 2020 Electronic Announcement COVID-19 FAQ; April 3, 2020 Electronic Announcement, April 21, 2020 Electronic Announcement; May 15, 2020 Electronic Announcement
PURPOSE:
This policy and procedure addresses Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College’s adjustments to the normal policies and procedures listed below during the COVID-19 pandemic.
POLICY:
Distance Education
In accordance with guidance received from the US Department of Education (ED), Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College has switched to online and electronic forms of instruction only for the spring 2020 and summer 2020 semesters. (March 5, 2020 EA)
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College will allow students attending foreign schools, who were in-country and had started classes for the spring 2020 semester prior to being called home, to complete classes via distance education if the foreign institution provides this format of study. (March 20, 2020 FAQ)
R2T4
Official withdrawals
The Financial Aid Office will generate a report of all of the students who officially withdrew during Spring 2020 and review our records to get a list of those students who had aid returned. We will then review the withdrawal information to see if the students indicated a reason that was not related to COVID-19.
If the students did not indicate a reason for their withdrawal, then the Financial Aid Office will contact the student by sending a letter to their campus email to ask the student if their withdrawal was caused by circumstances related to the COVID-19 national emergency. If we receive a positive reply from the student, we will adjust the student’s award package and re-disburse Title IV funds. (May 15, 2020 EA)
Note: We switched to online instruction only on March 18, 2020. March 30th, was the benchmark for earning 60% of the aid for the term and at that point, the students are allowed to keep their aid. Therefore, nearly all of the Return of Funds for official withdrawals took place prior to when we sent students home to finish the semester online.
Unofficial withdrawals (All F)
We will contact instructors as part of our normal procedure for any student who has a Last Date of Attendance in CampusNexus beyond the 60% date of the Spring 2020 semester. If a professor confirms that the student participated beyond the 60% date, then the professor’s response will be documented in the student’s file and the Return of Funds calculation will not be performed.
Enrolled in an on-campus program: For students who did not participate beyond the 60% date, the Return of Funds calculations will be performed on COD but no adjustments will be made to the students’ aid packages on CampusNexus and the students will retain their aid. We will keep documentation of the amount which would normally have been returned for later reporting purposes. (May 15, 2020 EA)
Enrolled in a distance-only program: If a student was enrolled in a distance-only program when they failed to complete any courses during the Spring 2020 semester, the Financial Aid Office will contact the student by sending a letter to their campus email to ask the student if their academic issue was caused by circumstances related to the COVID-19 national emergency. If we receive a positive reply from the student, the Return of Funds calculations will be performed on COD but no adjustments will be made to the students’ aid packages on CampusNexus and the students will retain their aid. We will keep documentation of the amount which would normally have been returned for later reporting purposes. (May 15, 2020 EA)
Per guidance from NASFAA AskRegs team, since we have planned our Summer 2020 and Fall 2020 terms differently from the beginning of the term, if all goes as planned, then we do not have a campus disruption. For Summer 2020 and Fall 2020 unofficial withdrawals (All F students), the R2T4 flexibility still applies if we have an attestation from the student. Therefore, we will contact each student who did not participate beyond the 60% date to determine if their failure to earn credits was related to COVID-19. If we receive an attestation from the student, the return calculation will be performed and documented, but aid will not be returned. (May 15, 2020 EA)
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
SMWC Financial Aid Office will continue to count courses from the 2020 spring and summer terms as attempted hours in the SAP calculation. Students who fall below SAP standards will not need to submit an appeal. Sutdents will be placed in a SAP WARNING status and they will be sent an e-mail explaining that they did not meet SAP criteria. (March 5, 2020 EA)
Verification
Verification documentation, including institutional financial aid forms, must still be submitted pursuant to current verification policies with the following exception: SMWC will waive the notary requirement for the 1920 academic year between March 16, 2020 and July 31, 2020. (April 3, 2020 EA)
Citizenship
Citizenship documentation must still be submitted pursuant to current SMWC policies with the following exception: SMWC will waive the notary requirement for the summer 2020 term between March 16, 2020 and July 31, 2020. (Institutional policy)
Federal Work Study Program (FWS)
Following guidance received from ED, the College will pay students who receive Federal Work Study for the hours they would have been expected to work as reported by their supervisor for the spring 2020 semester up to the dollar amount of the FWS allotment in their award packages. (March 5, 2020 EA)