NUCC Subcommittees

We are finishing up our Winter 2021 mask purchase and distribution drive. Thanks to donations from many student orgs and depts, we were able to provide majority of masks for free and ready for distribution the first week of March. We expect to have some extra masks, so if you have not been able to get one, please reach out to COVID-19 Committee e-mail.

Unsafe transportation to and from campus was indicated as one of the highest concerns for graduate students and postdocs during the COVID-19 Pandemic. This committee is exploring and advocating for expanded intercampus hours and has developed a proposal for an external shuttle that'll service Chicago Campus workers to provide equitable transportation access to Evanston Campus.

Advocating for safety protocols such as required 6ft distance, masks on campus, increased signage in campus common areas, etc to NU Administration.

At this time, Northwestern University (NU) does not have its own share of vaccines to distribute. As NU continues to work with both Evanston and Cook county public health departments to negotiate vaccine allocation and organize rollout strategies, the NU COVID-19 Committee will play an advisory role in determining priority for NU workers. As of 3/29/21, all graduate students and workers in higher education are qualified for the COVID-19 vaccine in Illinois. We encourage everyone to sign up for their appointment. Navigate to the "COVID-19 Vaccine Resources" tab to see our compiled materials advising on how to schedule a vaccination appointment. (4/1/21)

The COVID committee, over the course of this academic year, has worked with TGS and the Transportation and Parking office to provide discounted parking for students commuting to the Chicago and Evanston Campus. These efforts have resulted in discounted parking rates for Evanston students, as well as the ability of any student, regardless of where they live, being able to purchase a parking pass. In our continued efforts, we are working on getting discounted or free parking for the Spring quarter on both campuses.

Our committee regularly solicits feedback from the community regarding NU COVID Testing services and discusses these issues with the relevant administrators.  NUCC has been in regular contact with Luke Figora (senior associate vice president and chief risk and compliance) and Dr. Robert Palinkas (Executive Director of Health Services).  Our discussions ensure that graduate and postdoctoral researchers are taken into consideration with regards to testing requirements.  We then distill these discussions into a format that makes testing requirements clear for you.  In addition to feedback, we hold monthly town halls with NU administrators so that researchers can ask their questions directly.

We have been made aware of NUGW's advocacy efforts in support of various graduate student needs, including universal one year and safe transportation subsidies, including a recent petition for the university to use endowment surplus to fund these needs. These advocacy efforts fall in-line with the NU COVID-19 Committee's goals to promote graduate students during the pandemic. We hope to facilitate discussions over these issues going forward.