Category: Classes

All Hands on Deck! Sustainability Planning Team Seeks RU Input this Fall 2022

This Fall 2022 semester, students and faculty in SUST 350 Service & Sustainability will work with Roosevelt’s Environmental Sustainability Committee (ESC) and members of the university community to update and revise our Strategic Sustainability Plan, originally adopted in 2015. We need your help and hope that as many RU folks as possible will contribute their ideas, advice, and expertise to this endeavor!

Sustainability at Roosevelt University is a constantly evolving and dynamic process grounded in the “Three Es” of Environment, Economy, and Equity. Our first sustainability plan was written to be a “living document” that is updated periodically to reflect on our progress and articulate new goals and initiatives. The updated plan will be organized along the comprehensive and internationally-recognized STARS campus sustainability guidelines and incorporate the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. By doing so, we will conceptually as well as concretely connect the local to the global.

RU’s sustainability efforts encompass the greening of buildings and campus operations; innovation and expansion of sustainability education and research opportunities for students, faculty, and staff; and most critically, the promotion of social and environmental justice within and beyond our campus. As noted by President Malekzadeh in his letter introducing Roosevelt’s first STARS sustainability assessment in December 2015, “The task of envisioning and creating a truly sustainable world is immense and complex. Colleges and universities are not only well suited to engage in this important work through innovation, education, and community engagement, they are obliged to do so” [emphasis added].

Our team of student researchers, in concert with the ESC, will engage in outreach efforts this fall to involve every segment of the RU community in this process, which is designed to be inclusive, participatory, and voluntary. We plan to host in-person and virtual workshops, info sessions, roundtable discussions, and other events to get ideas, feedback, and constructive criticism from students, faculty, staff, administration, alumni, and trustees about Roosevelt’s present challenges and its sustainable future. We hope you’ll join us in this endeavor!

SUST 250 Sustainable University students developed proposals for improving campus sustainability in Spring 2022

The updated strategic plan will set out a new five-year timeline of goals, initiatives, and recommendations designed to reduce RU’s ecological footprint, fulfill our mission of promoting social and environmental justice, address the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, enhance our reputation as a sustainability innovator, and contribute to our long-term environmental and financial sustainability.

Stay tuned for upcoming announcements of planning info sessions, workshops, and other events! For questions or to make suggestions, please contact Dr. Mike Bryson (mbryson@roosevelt.edu), Professor & Director of Sustainability Studies, Chair of the Dept. of Sociology & Sustainability, College of Arts & Sciences.

Greening RU & Saving Big Bucks: A Recap of Spring 2022 Campus Sustainability Student Presentations in SUST 250

by Alyssa Spleha (BA ’22), Sustainability Student Associate 2021-22

The reports are in for Roosevelt University’s SUST 250 Sustainable University course and the results are astounding! Throughout the semester, SUST 250 students have been identifying and tackling some of RU’s sustainability weak spots. Broken up into five teams, the class focused on the athletics department, dining center, student orientation, general waste, and sustainability leadership. Through conducting research and consulting students, faculty, and staff, each team found solutions to major problems, all of which include substantial cost-saving measures.

The Athletics Team tackled four main areas within the department: replacing disposable water cups with reusable water bottles, assessing choices for ethical sourcing of non-game day wear, donating used gear, and conducting future materials audits. By switching to reusable water bottles, the athletics department could save $204-352 per year and reduce their waste immensely. In addition, the team found that by donating old gear, the university could write that value off on its taxes.

Athletics Presentation S22 Wk14Download

The Food and Dining Team focused on reducing dining center waste and explored the option of reusable dining ware. One of the main issues they identified was the lack of labeling on the disposable dining ware as well as the lack of labeling on trash receptacles throughout the cafeteria. By switching to reusable dining ware, not only is it much easier for diners to properly dispose of their waste, but it will save the dining center a whopping $58,866 in the first year and an even more impressive $65,500 per year thereafter. (Remember that number!) Moreover, giving new students a set of their own dining ware to reuse again and again will reduce theft and greatly reduce waste.

Food and Dining Center Presentation S22 Wk14 updatedDownload

The Student Orientation Team wanted to promote awareness of sustainability to new and transfer students by creating a PowerPoint presentation and a comical skit for the orientation team to present to incoming students each semester. With this presentation, incoming students will be well-versed in the basics of sustainability and Orientation Leaders can promote good waste-reduction habits. If all students collectively reduce their waste, it will save RU money in annual disposal fees and more importantly reduce the university’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Student Orientation Presentation S22 Wk14Download

The Waste Team had the pleasure of conducting a waste audit of a heavily used disposal area in the dining center. They first conducted a pre-audit by weighing each waste bag collected from these receptacles: trash, recycling, and compost. Then, by further inspecting the contents of each bag, they discovered that an alarming proportion of compostables was being thrown in the trash. More specifically, over 90% of the trash by weight was compostable. They further found that the lack of labeling on packing items students to unknowingly throw out recyclable and compostable materials instead of properly disposing of them, despite the presence of recycling and compost bins throughout the campus. The team concluded that taking away unlabeled bins would encourage students to properly sort through their trash at the designated trash-sorting areas.

Waste Presentation S22 Wk14Download

Last but not least, the Sustainability Leadership Team examined the accomplishments of past and present sustainability leaders at RU to make a case for why RU needs a designated sustainability coordinator on staff. Not only would a sustainability coordinator stay on top of reporting our sustainability efforts, but they would be able to write grants, create positive PR through green certifications, and implement cost-saving projects such as all the ones listed above. Just implementing the recommended switch to reusable dining ware in our cafeteria would generate more than enough annual savings to fund a full-time sustainability coordinator as part of the university’s operating budget — a staff person who in turn would identify other areas of savings as well as revenue generation.

In addition, implementing a “green fee” of $5 per semester per student could generate approximately $33,070/year to be used on specific sustainability projects such as creating a climate action plan, implementing student-led projects, offering professional development for faculty and staff, and much more. Besides these cost-savings, the team noted that supporting sustainability-related commitments to reduce carbon emissions, minimize waste, and promote environmental and social justice — all of which would be led and supported by a sustainability coordinator — is an ethical obligation of the university as well as a key fulfillment of its 2015-20 Strategic Sustainability Plan‘s goals and recommendations.

Leadership Presentation S22 Wk14Download

All in all, the students of SUST 250 each identified areas within the university that can be improved and would save the university tens of thousands of dollars every year. Beyond these remarkable cost-savings, though, as a social justice-oriented institution we are ethically obligated to prioritize projects such as these. By having a sustainability coordinator guiding these projects, the possibilities and savings far outweigh the initial upfront costs.

Want More? Watch these Zoom Videos of the SUST 250 Team Presentations:

Topic: SUST 250 Campus Sustainability Symposium 2022 (Food/Dining and Student Orientation) Date: Apr 19, 2022 10:50 AM Central Time (US and Canada)

Meeting Recording: https://roosevelt.zoom.us/rec/share/PdNsQwc_flzTfM0D_4n3XMK7NE1lChxIKRFcwtxiRBy4hPDjKrpSSsge6wswYiPS.v__yiQoTNZstY3Oj

Topic: SUST 250 Campus Sustainability Symposium 2022 (Athletics, Leadership, and Waste) Date: Apr 21, 2022 10:51 AM Central Time (US and Canada)

Meeting Recording: https://roosevelt.zoom.us/rec/share/1gI5wq2lmT2jCybabzwYcds6FjpEmIix8iNCvgthSqAxsYSKc2NJXCyEg65DwEDG.mfue7NiK8swvZ5Us

Elevate Your Education this 2022 Summer in SUST 390 Rooftop Garden @RooseveltU

This coming summer semester (2022) the Sustainability Studies program will reprise our popular and innovative special topics course, SUST 390 Rooftop Garden, at the Chicago Campus. The class will utilize RU’s unique 5th-story rooftop garden on its LEED Gold-certified Wabash Building as a living classroom for a hands-on, place-based, get-your-hands-dirty learning experience.

  • Title/number: SUST 390 Rooftop Garden (section 10)
  • Semester offered: Summer 2022 (10 weeks from May 31 thru Aug 8)
  • Location: Chicago Campus
  • Day/time: Online learning commences 5/31, with garden workdays and field trips to selected urban farms/green rooftops in the Chicago region scheduled by the instructor according to students’ availability.
  • Pre-req: ENG 102

SUST majors and minors may take this class to fulfill an upper-level SUST 3xx requirement, but 390 also is open to students at large seeking an experiential learning course, needing a general education course, or desiring elective credit.

RU President Ali, staff, and students harvest greens from the WB Rooftop Garden during the #AmDreamConf service day, 15 Sept 2016 (photo: RU Media)

Course Theme: Rooftop Gardens, Campus Sustainability, and Urban Agriculture

Diana Ramirez (BA ’17) works the garden plots on the WB Rooftop Garden, July 2017 (photo: M. Viveros)

Gets your hands dirty in this ten-week hybrid course which focuses on the unique urban ecosystem, the green rooftop, and features work in and stewardship of the fifth-story Roosevelt University WB Rooftop Garden in downtown Chicago. Students will learn about the relationships among food, biodiversity, waste, urban agriculture, green space design, and campus sustainability leadership through multiple modes: reading, participating in online discussions, taking field trips, and working in the RU garden during the summer late spring / early summer planting and growing season.

Course requirements and activities include online interaction through Blackboard; participation in garden workdays as scheduled by the student and instructor; and field trips to other urban community gardens and farms, whether rooftop or street-level. Participation in this course constitutes a significant contribution to the sustainability of RU’s Chicago Campus, and helps our community make progress on our 2015-2020 Strategic Sustainability Plan.

Moses Viveros sowing seeds in the rooftop garden, August 2017 (photo: D. Ramirez)

The RU Rooftop Garden in Chicago was started in the spring/summer of 2013, the first growing season after the opening on the Wabash Building in fall 2012. Since then, it has been funded and managed by the Department of Physical Resources, with work being done primarily by student interns and volunteers from the Sustainability Studies Program in the College of Arts & Sciences.

For questions and more details about this course, please contact Vicki Gerberich (vgerberich@roosevelt.edu), adjunct professor of Sustainability Studies; or Mike Bryson (mbryson@roosevelt.edu), professor & director of Sustainability Studies.

Maria Cancilla (BPS ’18), Prof. Vicki Gerberich, and Michelle Giles (SUST senior) during #AmDreamServiceDay 2018 (photo: M. Bryson)

Apply for the Mansfield’s 2022 Fellowship for Activism and Community Engagement (thru 3/2/22)

The Mansfield Institute Fellowship for Activism and Community Engagement (FACE) will fund a second cohort of 15 Roosevelt University undergraduate students from any college or discipline. The cohort-based summer fellowship includes funding for a 3-credit Social Justice in Action internship-based course in May 2022. In addition to tuition, fellows will receive a stipend of $2,500.

Following their course work in late May, Fellows will work in a social justice–focused community-based organization in Chicago for 10 hours per week, for 10 weeks over the summer starting in early June. Fellows will have an opportunity to work with past Fellows, attend University events together, and have opportunities to present work at conferences.

Eligibility:

  • Open to all Roosevelt University undergraduate students in any college or major
  • Students must have between 45 and 72 credit hours completed on March 2, 2022
  • GPA of at least a 2.0
  • Be able to participate fully in fellowship activities including course work, internship work, and ongoing cohort activities throughout the year

Deadlines:

  • The application process opens on February 1 and closes on March 2, 2022.
  • Applicants will be notified by March 16, 2022.

To apply, visit the Mansfield Institute Fellowship for Activism and Community Engagement (FACE) webpage. For questions or more information, please contact Prof. Heather Dalmage (hdalmage@roosevelt.edu), Director of the Mansfield Institute.

Eden Place Founder Michael Howard Addresses the Resilience Studies Consortium on Environmental Justice

Mr. Michael Howard, CEO and co-founder of Eden Place Farms and Nature Center in Chicago IL, will address the Roosevelt and Resilience Studies Consortium (RSC) communities on Tuesday, 26 Oct 2021, at 11am CST on the topic of “Sustaining Environmental Justice in a Pandemic.” Please join the faculty and students of SUST 350 Service & Sustainability at Roosevelt University and ENVS 397 Environmental Justice at Western Colorado University as they host Mr. Howard’s virtual presentation and a Q&A session. This presentation is made possible by the generous funding of the RSC — thank you!

Michael Howard’s life passion is to improve the quality of life for the citizens of the Fuller Park community on Chicago’s South Side, both financially and environmentally. As Founder and CEO of the Fuller Park Community Development (FPCD) organization in the 1990s, he has worked to address housing, education, and environmental issues that have kept this generally African American and low-income community in poverty and disrepair.

In the late 1990s, Michael and his wife Amelia Howard led the effort to clean up a three-acre vacant lot near their Fuller Park residence that was piled two stories high with illegally dumped waste. With help from many in the community, the site was cleared of debris and restored into a thriving green space called Eden Place — still the only nature center on the entire South Side of Chicago. In the early 2010s, Eden Place opened its farm operation about a half-mile south of the nature center. They host community events, market their produce to local restaurants and farmers markets, and provide ecology, urban farming, and nutrition workshops to citizens of Fuller Park and beyond.

Since 2014, students in Roosevelt University’s SUST 350 Service & Sustainability class have volunteered one morning a week in a multi-year service project at Eden Place, helping with farm chores, repairing and painting structures, building trails, planting and harvesting crops, and organizing events to support the organization’s mission. In return, Eden Place has taught them much about the process and importance of community organizing, the rigors of urban environmental conservation and farming, and the challenges of fostering sustainability and community resilience in this era of social and economic stress.

Zoom Login Info:

Topic: Michael Howard on Environmental Justice for RSC
Time: Oct 26, 2021 11:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://roosevelt.zoom.us/j/97714968242
Meeting ID: 977 1496 8242

For More Information:

Contact Mike Bryson (mbryson@roosevelt.edu), Professor & Director of Sustainability Studies, Roosevelt University

The Resilience Studies Consortium, of which Roosevelt is a charter member, is a network of small liberal arts Institutions dedicated to sustainability and community resilience, place-based educational experiences, and shared academic and co-curricular offerings in ways that empower students with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in a rapidly evolving world.

SUST 350 Students Organize Concert & Fun Fest @ Eden Place Farm (Fri 10/15) & Nature Center (Sat 10/16)

Dear RU community — The students of Prof. Mike Bryson’s SUST 350 Service & Sustainability class have dedicated this past week to planning two pop-up events to help our longtime community partner non-profit org, Eden Place Nature Center and Farm, survive and thrive in these difficult pandemic times.

  • Friday 10/15 Music! “Farm Aid” benefit concert (6:30pm, doors open at 6pm) to save Eden Place Farms (live in person at 4911 S. Shields Ave., Chicago). Live concert is free to attend in person, with suggested donation and mandatory vax proof; make any online donation for livestream access.
  • Saturday 10/16 Family Fun! “Family Fun Fest” event at the Nature Center the following day, Sat 10/16, from 12-4pm to connect with the community and help raise funds. Details below.

Here’s how you can help with Saturday’s Fun Fest!

Where: Eden Place Nature Center (4417 S. Stewart Ave.) — 10min walk from the 47th St station on the Red Line, or EP staff can pick you up at the station if needed

When: Set up from 9:00am-12:00pm , event at 12:00pm-4:00pm , clean-up 4:00pm-5:00pm

What: Looking for at least 1-2 people to manage the raffle/pumpkin pick-up booth and a wristband seller at the entrance during 12-4pm event. Also looking for raffle donations from local businesses, saleable clothing items and/or plants in small pots.

Activities: Train ride and pumpkin/plant pot painting (wristband activities), bake sale, raffle, thrift and houseplant sale, and free games such as jumbo Jenga, basketball, cornhole, etc.

RU Contact People:

  • Alyssa Spleha (aspleha@mail.roosevelt.edu), SUST 350 student event organizer (main student contact for volunteering at event)
  • Gabriel Gonzalez (ggonzalez25@mail.roosevelt.edu), SUST 350 student thrift sale organizer (for dropping off gently used clothing @WB today or Friday)
  • Mike Bryson (mbryson@roosevelt.edu), SUST 350 prof (for general questions)

Eden Place Contact Person:

  • Michael Howard (michaelhow@msn.com), Eden Place executive director and co-founder

If you have some time this week to contribute to this effort, please get in touch with Alyssa or Gabriel to find out how you can help and discuss logistics. The most pressing need is for a couple extra people to help work the entrance and booths at the Fest. However, if you can bring some clean articles of clothing to WB for the thrift sale, that’d be great too. Sorry about the short notice, but we’re doing the best we can on a tight deadline!

All off-campus volunteers would need to complete the RU Travel Waiver Form. Return to me (mbryson@roosevelt.edu) prior to the event. 350-98 RU Waiver Forms 2021Fall.pdf

Peace and thanks to all,
The SUST 350 Service / Eden Place Team

Service Project Info for SUST 350 (Fall 2020)

Hey, SUST 350 students! One of the unique experiential learning (EXL) features of our online section of SUST 350 Service & Sustainability is that you get to determine what your individual service project is for the Fall 2020 semester. This is your chance to contribute to the sustainability efforts of an organization you care about that is advancing sustainability and/or enhancing resilience within in your home or neighboring community, in the city of Chicago, here at Roosevelt University, or even beyond the borders of the Chicago region. It also serves as an analog to the on-site service work at Eden Place Nature Center and Farm performed during the last several years by students in past F2F versions of this course.

So what counts as a suitable project in this context? And what do we mean by community-based sustainability work? You will address these questions from the perspective of your own personal/academic knowledge and background, work and educational experience, personal interests, geographic range/limitations, and personal/family safety considerations here in the Covid-19 era.

My own general answer as the SUST 350 instructor is that there are a wide variety of service projects you can undertake, whether in person or remotely, as long as they contribute in some form or fashion to the advancement of any one or combination of the Three Es of sustainability within a given community — environment, economy, and/or equity — which in turn impact the resilience of that community.

For more detailed information on the service project component of our class, check out this document: 350 Service Project Info 2020Fall (pdf)

7/31 Update on Covid-19 & Fall 2020 Planning @RooseveltU

Roosevelt University’s Coronavirus (Covid-19) Emergence Response website provides the university community with up-to-date information about this rapidly changing situation. This includes a helpful section on Learning and Working Remotely for students and faculty. Please check this site frequently for new information on classes and campus operations. RU students also should check their student email accounts frequently for announcements from the university as well as their professors.

7/27/20 Weekly Recap: please read this info posted on 7/31/20 for Covid-19 related info on RU’s upcoming Fall 2020 semester.

COVID-19 Website Update

Updated quarantine guidance along with updated FAQs were posted to the COVID-19 website. Please keep in mind there are still many unknowns and the information is subject to change given the current state of public health.

Fall 2020 Athletic Competitions Postponed

Earlier this week, Roosevelt University announced its postponement of 2020 fall sport intercollegiate athletic competitions as the result of ongoing public health concerns related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Roosevelt will begin work immediately to plan the resumption of competition in those impacted sport programs during the 2021 spring academic semester. Read More

Return to Campus Information Session Recordings

Thank you to all the members of the Roosevelt community who attended our Return to Campus Information Sessions. If you were unable to attend, please view the recordings below:

Upcoming Return to Campus Information Sessions and Discussions

Current Students, Campus Life and Residence Life
Hosted by Jamar Orr, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
Wednesday, August 5 at 12 p.m. CDT
For current students and family
Click here to RSVP

Human Resources Protocols and Procedures
Hosted by Toyia K. Stewart, Vice President for Human Resources
Thursday, August 6 at 10 a.m. CDT
For Roosevelt faculty and staff
Click here to RSVP

Stay in Touch. Update Your Contact Info.

We want to make sure you are receiving important updates from Roosevelt. If you haven’t already done so, please make sure your contact information is up to date by submitting this form.

Kind Regards,
Roosevelt COVID-19 Response Team

covid19info@roosevelt.edu
Roosevelt COVID-19 Website

Remote Participation Guide for Students @RU

Roosevelt University has created a Coronavirus (Covid-19) Emergence Response website to provide the university community with up-to-date information about this rapidly changing situation. This includes a helpful Student Remote Participation Guide. Please check this site frequently for new information on classes and campus operations. RU students also should check their student email accounts frequently for announcements from the university as well as their professors. All Spring 2020 classes are fully online format for the rest of the Spring 2020 semester.

Students — I hope this note finds you healthy and safe, whether in your home or your RU dorm room. Please continue to take care of yourself and your loved ones during this pandemic crisis. I know keeping up with your classes is a difficult challenge to face on top of everything else. Do your best, but also reach out to your profs if you need help, have questions about the course, or seek flexibility with an assignment due date.

In the meantime — hang in there, get your rest, eat well, stay in as much as possible (except for healthful walks, as you can manage), and do your best to adapt to this strange and disconcerting new reality. I’m (virtually) right there with you, working from my home office at Chez Bryson in Joliet IL, and tending to my own family during this difficult time. If you need help with your studies, internet access, academic advising, etc., please see RU’s Student Remote Participation Guide and other Services on the Covid-19 Response site.

Sincerely,
Prof B

A Note to Students / RU Updates on Covid-19

Roosevelt University has created a Coronavirus (Covid-19) Emergence Response website to provide the university community with up-to-date information about this rapidly changing situation. Please check it frequently for new information on classes and campus operations. RU students should check their student email accounts frequently for announcements from the university as well as their professors. All Spring 2020 classes will resume in fully online format on 3/23.

To my students:

I hope this note finds you healthy and safe, whether in your home or your RU dorm room. Much has changed in these last two+ anxiety-riddled weeks. I’m sure you’ve been checking your RU email and following the university’s Emergency Response Site to get the latest updates on what’s happing at Roosevelt. Please continue to do so — but more importantly, take care of yourself and your loved ones during this pandemic crisis.

I want you to know that I recognize that this is a very stressful and uncertain time for all of us, and I will endeavor to be flexible as the rest of our semester continues. All RU classes are scheduled to recommence online this coming Monday, 3/23. While for many classes this will entail significant and somewhat inconvenient changes, as well as unexpected challenges, I am fully confident that in our SUST 101, 220, and 340 courses we will have a rich learning experience for the remainder of our course.

Today I simply wanted to check in with you, send you general words of encouragement, and invite you to email me questions if you have them. I will also set up “Water Cooler” discussion forums in all my Bb sites for general conversation and course-related questions for each class.We will endeavor to create and maintain a sense of community online as best we can.

In the meantime — hang in there, get your rest, eat well, stay in as much as possible (except for healthful walks, as you can manage), and do your best to adapt to this strange and disconcerting new reality. I’ll be (virtually) right there with you, working from my home office at Chez Bryson in Joliet IL, and tending to my own family during this difficult time. If you need help with your studies, internet access, academic advising, etc., please see RU’s Student Remote Participation Guide and other Services on the Covid-19 Response site.

Sincerely,
Prof B

The following is quoted directly from the latest post on the RU coronoavirus site, as of 3:24pm on 20 March 2020.

Dear Roosevelt Community,

Today [Friday 3/20] at 3:00pm Governor Pritzker has issued a ‘Stay At Home’ order for Illinois residents effective Saturday, March 21 at 5pm through Tuesday, April 7.  Keep in mind, while this is a serious mandate to protect ourselves, families, friends, neighbors and fellow citizens, residents can still go to the grocery stores and pharmacies and put gas in their cars.  All local roads, including interstate highways and tollways will remain open to traffic.

Illinois’s Stay At Home Order

The order allows the following to remain open:

  • Essential services to continue: healthcare operations, grocery stores, food banks, convenience stores and other establishments engaged in retail sale of canned food, dry goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, pet supply, fresh meats, fish and poultry, and other household consumer products
  • Operation of gas stations, auto supply and repair businesses
  • Banks and other financial institutions
  • Hardware stores
  • Restaurants that serve food only for deliver and carry-out
  • Home-based care for seniors, adults and children
  • Laundromats, drycleaners
  • Mailing and shipping services and other

Social Distancing at Roosevelt

Here at Roosevelt we have already been taking those steps by practicing all forms of social distancing, including by moving classes online and providing students with guidance and resources around maintaining their coursework while not in the classroom. In an abundance of caution and social responsibility, we have also canceled or rescheduled a number of scheduled events.

Now that the stay at home order is in effect, we write to provide you with information regarding services and resources that will continue to be available at Roosevelt.

Students in Residence Halls

  • The Wabash Building and the University Center remain open and accessible for all residential students. If you have not notified the office of residence life that you intend to remain in the halls, please do so immediately by emailing reslife@roosevelt.edu.
  • The dining center in both buildings will remain open.
  • Only essential residence life, building maintenance and campus security staff will remain on campus.
  • For a full list of student services that remain available via phone or online, please visit the COVID-19 website.

Classes

  • There will no longer be scheduled in-person classes. All classes will be held online.  Please check Blackboard, your email, and the COVID-19 website for updates.  As previously communicated, online classes will begin as scheduled on Monday, March 23rd.
  • Roosevelt has 24 hour/7 day a week technology support. Go to roosevelt.edu/helpdesk and if you are unable to resolve the issue through knowledge base, you can submit a ticket or call 312.341.HELP (4357).  For Blackboard and Zoom related help email blackboardhelp@rooesvelt.edu.

Payroll

  • Payroll for faculty, administrators and staff will continue to process, as scheduled, and will be paid by direct deposit. If you do not have a direct deposit form on file, please contact Heather Williams at hwilliams15@roosevelt.edu
  • Direct deposit is strongly encouraged and those who have not established direct deposit could experience lengthy delays in getting paid.

Campus Facilities

  • All university buildings and offices are closed, or moving fully online, until further notice, with the exception of the following: campus safety, office of residence life, dining services and university facilities.

What we know today is that we will continue to make decisions in order to keep our community safe and healthy during this local state of emergency.  We will keep you updated on the impact this mandate has on our community as we get the information.

Please continue to visit this site for all the information, updates and resources and email us at COVID19info@roosevelt.edu if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Ali R. Malekzadeh, Ph.D.
President

Lois Becker, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs