OSU continues to offer specialized student resources despite COVID-19 restrictions
May 13, 2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations within Oregon State University have had to make some changes to resources offered to students, such as engineering printing, math tutoring and legal consultations.
The College of Engineering has made arrangements to allow engineering students to use their 1,000 prints included on engineering tuition. The students of the College of Engineering can make use of their available prints by sending the prints to the Milne computer lab on the Corvallis Ore. campus, using their engineering student account.
In an email, Thuy Tran, senior director of Advancement Communications for the College of Engineering said engineering students can use their account to print 1,000 single-sided, black and white pages in the Milne computer lab.
The Milne computer lab is available Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for all students who need printing and computer access.
The Mathematics department has put together a virtual Mathematics & Statistics Learning Center that can be found on an OSU Mathematics slack channel, where students log in with their ONID and DUO credentials and can ask their questions on #mslc-ask-a-tutor that can be found on the left side of the screen. The MSLC has also implemented its red cup system, where students can add a red cup emoji when they need assistance, and tutors can add a green cup emoji once the student has been helped.
The MSLC tutoring center is open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday; on the weekends, the MSLC is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
“It is anticipated that the MSLC will continue to have expanded online tutoring available even after the physical MSLC is able to return to its normal operations,” Tom Dick, former MSLC faculty director, said via email.
In an email, Wendy Aaron, Mathematics & Statistics Learning Center coordinator said now that the MSLC has gone completely remote, it has been wonderful to see people’s personalities emerge online. She said the communication style that the tutors use to provide their services has changed, but they are trying to adapt to the new model.
“So much of mathematics and learning, in general, is about communication, and we have totally changed our mode of communication; where we text, host Zoom meetings and send emojis instead of making eye contact and reading body language,” Aaron said via email.
According to Aaron, such a transition wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Johnner Barrett, Mary Beisiegel and Dan Rockwell, who comprise the Math department’s Teach & Tech Team.
Another resource that has become available through remote interaction is the Associated Students of Oregon State University’s Legal Services. ASOSU Legal Services will continue offering students legal consultation via Zoom or phone call, depending on the students’ preference.
The ASOSU Student Legal Services is maintaining its traditional hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and students can reach Legal Services by calling (541)737-4165 or by emailing [email protected].
“We are continuing to provide the same scope of services to students and would encourage anyone with a legal issue that is listed in our “Areas of Dispute” section to contact us,” Noah Chamberlain, staff attorney for Access the Law legal services said via email. “Even if a student’s legal question does not appear to fit into one of the listed categories, students are still encouraged to contact us to discuss their issues.”