2 — Tuesday, April 14, 2020
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

The Senate Advisory Committee on 

University Affairs met Monday afternoon 

via BlueJeans to discuss a meeting 

SACUA had with University of Michigan 

President Mark Schlissel earlier that 

morning. Members also heard statements 

from SACUA members running for chair 

and vice chair.

During the meeting with Schlissel, 

SACUA members said they asked the 

president about virtual commencement, 

as well as financial effects from COVID-

19. 

SACUA Chair Joy Beatty said the 

administration is working on finalizing 

various 
pre-recorded 
videos 
from 

commencement speakers, such as Al Gore 

and others, as discussed in the earlier 

meeting. According to Beatty, there will 

also be videos from the School of Music, 

Theater & Dance performing “Hail to the 

Victors” and other “nostalgic type things 

to make people feel Michigan pride.” 

She mentioned there are talks still 

under development about a formal 

ceremony next year with the 2021 

graduates.

“(The) 
intent 
is 
to 
celebrate 

commencement but not be a replacement 

for commencement,” Beatty said. “They 

are actually thinking about offering some 

type of more formal commencement 

ceremony next year.” 

Beatty said SACUA members also 

asked Schlissel about the University’s 

financial situation with COVID-19. The 

University refunded $1,200 to students 

who moved out of residence halls by 

March 25 and has faced other unexpected 

financial outflows.

“Money is down,” Beatty said. “This 

is going to be a problem. They’re worried 

about it. They’ve been thinking about 

state appropriations. They don’t think 

that money will be taken from us this year 

because it’s so late in the budget cycle but 

likely there could be some effect next year 

when the budgets get rolled out.”

Beatty also mentioned the financial 

aid office will have to come up with 

“creative ways” to support students given 

that aid is usually allotted based on tax 

documents. However, strains on families 

due to loss of income or other hardships 

related to COVID-19 will not be reflected 

in last year’s documents.

Last Friday, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, 

D-Mich. 
announced 
colleges 
and 

universities in Michigan’s 12th district 

will receive more than $66 million 

in emergency grants to make up for 

financial losses due to the COVID-19 

outbreak. The University will receive 

$25,244,052 total.

The University announced earlier this 

month that employees of the University 

who require absence from work for 

COVID-19-related reasons are eligible for 

a paid time off supplement through April 

30. Beatty said Schlissel is working on a 

plan starting May 1. 

In Schlissel’s meeting with SACUA, 

Beatty said he emphasized the University, 

in taking steps to adjust the budget, will 

prioritize employment relations with 

faculty and staff.

“They want to avoid breaking the 

moral 
contract 
with 
employees,” 

Beatty said. “The last step, according to 

(Schlissel), would be reductions in force 

and layoffs… They are unlikely to be able 

to continue after May 1 at 100 percent. 

(Schlissel said he is) confident (they) will 

make it through and aim to be equitable 

in how those cuts need to be made.”

Beatty also said the administration 

is dedicated to restart research soon 

but will proceed carefully and adhere 

strictly 
to 
public 
health 
officials’ 

recommendations. According to Beatty, 

these recommendations will also be 

the guideline for making decisions on 

students returning to campus.

SACUA Vice Chair Colleen Conway 

was also in the meeting with Schlissel. She 

clarified a previous announcement about 

a digital diploma, explaining graduates 

will receive both a printed diploma in the 

mail as well as an additional, free digital 

version of their diploma.

Lastly, Beatty said Schlissel reassured 

SACUA that Michigan Medicine has 

enough personal protective equipment 

to handle the COVID-19 crisis. According 

to Beatty, each worker is matched to their 

needed level of protective equipment 

based on their proximity to COVID-19 

patients, as the hospital does not have 

enough resources to give every worker 

the maximum protective gear. 

Some workers at Michigan Medicine 

have raised concerns about wanting the 

maximum protective gear to ensure their 

safety at work. Schlissel said Michigan 

Medicine thus far discourages workers 

from bringing their own equipment 

from home, which leads to uncertainty 

in verifying that the gear is adequate 

and correct. He said a clearer policy 

on personal protective equipment at 

Michigan Medicine is underway. 

The meeting turned to discussions on 

SACUA elections for the position of chair 

and vice chair, which go live at 5 p.m. 

Monday through an electronic voting 

website. The results will be processed 

tomorrow. 

Music, Theatre & Dance Professor 

Conway is running uncontested for 

SACUA chair. SACUA members Annalisa 

Manera, Engineering professor, and 

Deirdre Spencer, librarian, are running 

for the seat of vice chair.

In her statement to the SACUA body, 

Conway spoke of how much she’s enjoyed 

being a part of SACUA thus far. She said 

she hopes to continue Beatty’s work 

as chair and enhance communication 

between the Senate Assembly and its 

committees.

“When I ran for SACUA two years ago, 

I don’t think I would’ve ever predicted 

that two years later I would be saying 

‘I think I would like to be chair of this 

organization,’” Conway said. “Especially 

over the past year, I’ve really enjoyed 

watching Joy and getting to see how we 

balance this funkiness being (a liaison) 

with administrators and having an 

opportunity to be their ear and be helpful 

to them at the same time as supporting 

faculty. Sometimes those things are 

difficult. It’s been fun to watch (Beatty) 

and get a sense of that.”

Spencer emphasized her experience 

as a librarian, which she said involves 

working with different entities and 

trying to build consensus between two 

sometimes opposing bodies. 

REBECCA HIRSCH

Daily Staff Reporter

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during 
the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is 
available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the 
Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long 
subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription 
rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. 

ERIN WHITE
Managing Editor 
 ekwhite@michigandaily.com

SAYALI AMIN and LEAH GRAHAM 
Managing News Editors news@michigandaily.com

Senior News Editors: Barbara Collins, Claire Hao, Alex Harring, Ben Rosenfeld, 
Emma Stein, Liat Weinstein 
Assistant News Editors: Francesca Duong, Julia Forrest, Brayden Hirsh, Jasmin 
Lee, Hannah Mackay, Parnia Mazhar, Alyssa McMurtry, Emma Ruberg, Julia 
Rubin, Michal Ruprecht, Arjun Thakkar

EMILY CONSIDINE and MILES STEPHENSON
Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Senior Opinion Editors: Alanna Berger, Brittany Bowman, Zack Blumberg, 
Timothy Spurlin, Joel Weiner

JOHN DECKER and JULIANNA MORANO
Managing Arts Editors 
 arts@michigandaily.com

ALLISON ENGKVIST and ANNIE KLUSENDORF
Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com

MAGDALENA MIHAYLOVA
Managing Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com 

Deputy Editors: Emily Stillman, Marisa Wright

MADISON GAGNE and SADIA JIBAN
Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com

Senior Copy Editors: Olivia Bradish, Sophie Kephart, Silas Lee, Olivia Sedlacek, 
Ellie Scott

TIM CHO and SIMRAN PUJJI
Managing Online Editors 
 webteam@michigandaily.com

Senior Web Developers: Parth Dhyani, Abha Panda, Rohan Prashant, Jonathan 
Liu

ALEC COHEN and ELI SIDER
Managing Video Editors video@michigandaily.com

Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Zoha Bharwani, Lora Faraj, Ayomide 
Okunade, Gabrijela Skoko
Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Cheryn Hong, Anamkia Kannan, Vaishali 
Nambiar, Sean Tran, Angela Zhang

Senior Sports Editors: Aria Gerson, Bailey Johnson, Ben Katz, Jacob Kopnick, 
Anna Marcus, Rian Ratnavale
Assistant Sports Editors: Connor Brennan, Lily Friedman, Lane Kizziah, 
Brendan Roose, Kent Schwartz, Molly Shea 

Senior Video Editors: Joseph Sim

Senior Social Media Editors: Jessie Norris, Mya Steir, Kristina Zheng 

Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building

420 Maynard St.

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327

www.michigandaily.com

ARTS SECTION

arts@michigandaily.com

SPORTS SECTION

sports@michigandaily.com

ADVERTISING

dailydisplay@gmail.com

NEWS TIPS

news@michigandaily.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

tothedaily@michigandaily.com

EDITORIAL PAGE

opinion@michigandaily.com

ANITA MICHAUD

Business Manager

734-418-4115 ext. 1241

ammichau@michigandaily.com

ELIZABETH LAWRENCE

Editor in Chief

734-418-4115 ext. 1251

esla@michigandaily.com

PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION

photo@michigandaily.com

NEWSROOM

734-418-4115 opt. 3 

CORRECTIONS

corrections@michigandaily.com

THEO MACKIE and ETHAN SEARS 
Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com

Senior Arts Editors: Jo Chang, Elise Godfryd, Zoe Phillips, Jonah Mendelson, 
Ally Owens
Arts Beat Editors: Samantha Cantie, Dana Pierangeli, Andrew Pluta, Cassandra 
Mansuetti, Anish Tamhaney, Sophia Yoon

SHERRY CHEN and CHRISTINE JEGARL
Managing Design Editors 
design@michigandaily.com

Senior Design Editor: Lizzy Rueppel

MAYA MOKH and ANA MARIA SANCHEZ CASTILLO
Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com

JOHN GRIEVE and BEN KORN 
Managing Social Media Editors

Editorial Staff

Business Staff

Senior Photo Editors: Keemya Esmael, Asha Lewis, Miles Macklin
Assistant Photo Editors: Olivia Cell, Ryan Little, Emma Mati, Alexandria 
Pompei, Alexis Rankin

MOLLY WU
Creative Director

SAMANTHA SMALL and SONYA VOGEL
Managing Podcast Editors

RYAN KELLY

Sales Manager

LILLY HANSON 

Senior Account Executive

ANALISE DOORHY 
Senior Account Executive

TARA MOORE 

Senior Account Exeucutive

OLIVIA CELL/Daily

Assistant photo editor Olivia Cell captured a nearly empty Law Quad as most students have left campus for their hometowns. 
SACUA talks commencement 
postponement, ‘U’ finances

Committee, President Schlissel discuss plans for pre-recorded 
videos of ceremony speakers, PPE for Michigan Medicine staff

