Though the possibility of leaving campus early weighed heavily on Lila Ward’s mind, she didn’t know what would happen to her campus job as she walked into her last shift at Food.com. 

“There were rumors at least that we weren’t coming back until the end of March, beginning of April,” said Ward, a junior advertising major. “But we kind of had a feeling that that was the end. We had all said our goodbyes when we left our last shift that day.”

Hundreds of Syracuse University students work on campus to provide for themselves, including students like Ward, who is enrolled in a federal work-study program. With on-campus courses suspended for the rest of the semester due to the coronavirus pandemic, Ward is one of many students unsure of the stability of their campus jobs. 

The novel coronavirus causes COVID-19, a respiratory disease that has infected over 470,900 people, with over 33,000 cases in New York state alone. The epidemic has killed over 21,200 people across the world.

SU said March 10 that it would move classes online until at least March 30, announcing six days later that courses would continue online for the remainder of the semester. After transitioning to virtual learning, the university did not provide Ward with clear communication about its plans for students who relied on campus jobs, she said. 

Madison Tyler, a freshman working for the university’s Event and Technical Services, said the lack of communication from SU after the March 10 announcement left her and her coworkers confused about whether they needed to submit shift excuse reports.

“They’re usually really good at communication, and they haven’t been,” Tyler said.

Ward still hasn’t heard from her supervisors about what the suspension of residential learning means for Food.com employees, she said. Although she used her income to pay for gas and groceries, Ward said she worried for other students who more fully relied on their jobs to support themselves at SU. 

The situation brought new waves of anxiety for Kate Madsen, who used her salary from her job in an office for the Setnor School of Music to pay for food and utilities. 

Madsen, a senior studying music at SU, said she is concerned about how her final semester at SU will unfold as the national economy grows more bleak and her expenses accumulate alongside unpaid bills. 

The Setnor office emailed its employees throughout the university’s decision-making process and made accommodations for students to work remotely for the remaining semester, Madsen said. 

The accommodations will allow her to complete largely paper-based tasks digitally and log working hours from home, Madsen said. It’s a welcome adaptation, but she still won’t be able to work and receive pay for as many hours as she could in-office, she said.

The decision to close SU’s campus also took a big emotional toll on Madsen and other working students, she said. Madsen was close to her peers in the Setnor office, which felt like a second home to her. 

“I looked to those people as guidance or emotional support,” she said. “I don’t have that now since I don’t get to go into the office.”

It has been especially difficult to reckon with the loss of income along with the end of many workplace relationships, said Haley Sablay, a political science major who worked as a supervisor at Slocum Cafe. 

Sablay, a freshman, said she’s now processing the possibility that she may not see her coworkers again. 

“In comparison to other places or other spaces in school where sometimes I feel outed because of my identity, I feel like Slocum, the kind of environment that people create in there, just makes me feel really good,” Sablay said. “It’s definitely weird and hard not having that now.” 

As they return home without incomes, Sablay and Tyler said they worry about putting further financial burdens on their families. Tyler had worked long shifts at the beginning of the semester to pay for new shoes for her brother. Sablay would probably spend her work’s savings on storage costs for her belongings still in Syracuse, she said.

“I am worried,” Tyler said. “I try not to think about it because, first of all, I have to get my stuff and get back home.”  

The abrupt end of Madsen’s time on campus also came as a shock to her. Madsen had only recently been able to quit her job at a local grocery store in order to dedicate more time to coursework. 

Now, Madsen wonders whether her move to only one income will bring more harm than help as the health crisis exacerbates her struggles with food insecurity. Her former second job didn’t bring in much of an income, though, since she barely had enough time to work there, she said.

Madsen is hopeful that federal financial aid, particularly the recently-passed stimulus checks of up to $1,200, will help ease the tension of her situation, she said. 

Though she currently finds it difficult to think in the long-term, Tyler said she wants to search for another job when she returns home.

“I just think that uprooting myself from Syracuse in general at this point in time is going to be stressful,” Tyler said. “I have no idea what the job market’s going to look like when I get back to LA.” 

Madsen hopes to return to her apartment on Euclid Avenue in late April, where she expects to remotely finish out the school year — but with quieter, empty nights in the neighborhood.

“I’ve dealt with a lot of change, so I just take it as it goes,” Madsen said of her pending return. “I think it’ll be different, definitely uncharted, but I don’t think it’ll be bad.”

Published on March 25, 2020 at 11:36 pm

Contact Marnie: ammunozc@syr.edu