In a meeting of the entire University faculty, held on Wednesday, Oct. 7, many plans were discussed to ease the struggles of students and professors because of the pandemic. 

 University President Dr. John Stewart III began the meeting with strong praise for his faculty.  

“Thank you all for your resilience over the summer,” said Stewart. 

He marked how grateful he is for professors advising their students more intensely than ever.  

One of the greatest difficulties facing the students of Montevallo is the accessibility to effectively tune in to online classes due to unstable internet connection on campus. 

Most college students can relate to the continuous tally of how many times they have been dropped from a Zoom meeting due to poor connection, or trying to find the best signal they can to submit an assignment on time. 

With the on-campus student population trying to access lectures and exams online all at once, the bandwidth just doesn’t hold up. Because of this, University leadership has made plans to replace the Wi-Fi in all of the campus residence halls. This upgrade will take place after Thanksgiving break, and will be up and ready for whatever the spring semester brings. 

The plans for incoming new students were also discussed. Due to the pandemic, many college seniors are finding it exceedingly difficult to take the ACT and improve their scores. Because of this, the University of Montevallo has made the motion to take other academic achievements, such as GPA, into account regarding admissions and scholarships.  

Furthermore, Vice President of Advancement and External Affairs, Mr. Scott Dillard announced that relief funds for students will be “heavily focused on due to COVID-19.”  

Funding has supplied 1.6 million dollars that will be distributed in the areas of student aid, tech upgrades, COVID testing, and cleaning supplies.  

This faculty meeting was hosted by Dr. Mary Armstrong, who gave a message to the student body. 

“I have been here almost 25 years and our students are amazing: caring, appreciative and eager to do the best they can even in difficult situations,” said Armstrong. “They have shown resilience and flexibility in this pandemic and we look forward to supporting you all in any way we can. ”