YC, SSSB Students Require Permission From Deans to Use Zoom for Class

Students in Yeshiva College (YC) and Sy Syms School of Business (SSSB) must receive special permission to use Zoom for in-person classes. The policy, announced in late February, originally applied to Stern College for Women (SCW) students but was retracted due to sustainability issues.

The initial email was sent to students from their respective school dean between Feb. 21-23. It stated that to use Zoom instead of attending class in person, students must either submit a positive COVID-19 test, a medical note from a physician or email their school dean — Michael Strauss for SSSB, Fred Sugarman for YC and Ethel Orlian for SCW. 

Orlian emailed SCW students about the policy on Feb. 23, but five days later, the policy was retracted. 

Orlian stated that the “Zoom Dean” system was “impossible to maintain” and that SCW would return to the original policy for attending class by Zoom. This policy stated that a student who tested positive for COVID-19 or has a COVID-19 related issue must contact the Student COVID Line through email. From there, the relevant faculty would be directly informed of students who need to be accommodated. For all other emergencies, medical or otherwise, students must directly reach out to their instructors who will decide how to accommodate each student based on their specific needs.

SSSB and YC students are still following the new policy.

These changes came as the university transitioned back to in-person classes following the end of Fall 2021 moving over to Zoom amidst the Omicron outbreak. 

Some students were happy with the new Zoom policy. “I like this new policy,” said Rivka Margalit (SSSB ‘23) “it creates a pre-covid environment and it is helpful for students with COVID because they don’t miss class.” 

Other students felt that allowing Zoom-usage had its pitfalls. “Zoom classes are only helpful if you are on Zoom,” said Sara Nava Weiss (SCW ‘24). “If you’re in the classroom, a lot of times it takes the professor a while to figure out how to set it up and it sets the class behind.”  

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Photo Caption: Student attending class over Zoom last year

Photo Credit: Yeshiva University