In a special meeting held by DASB Senators, it was announced that some student employees will still be paid, despite the complete closure of the campus.

“We are going to be paying all student employees,” said Hyon Chu Yi-Baker, Faculty Director, College Life and Judicial Affairs Officer. “So they will get a paycheck during this time of closure.

The paychecks would apply to flea market student employees and teacher’s assistants, as well as students who work as office assistant students said Yi-Baker.

The meeting was held via Zoom at 4 p.m. Monday following concerns raised by students about the closure of campus and students were not being informed in a timely manner as the situation developed.

The agenda had one item, the endorsement of a letter to Judy Minor regarding the school closure, but after an hour and a half, no formal action had been taken.

According to the draft letter, DASB senators are asking the administration to “Publicize an explicit list of resources available for international students provided both on and off-campus, including but not limited to healthcare, legal and immigration advice, and on-campus jobs, as international students make up almost 10% of the student population of De Anza College.”

The letter was debated by DASB members heavily over the hour and a half meeting as senators debated specific language used in the letter.

“I do agree with Hyon Chu that some things do read as ‘petty’ and we do need to read as extremely professional,” said Shelly Michael, DASB senate president. “We are going to be taken less seriously just because of the dynamic of power that we have.”

However, other senators were concerned about the language being taken as too soft.

“We need to strike a balance between maintaining professionalism and making sure we are not softening our words too much,” said Halina Liang, DASB Finance committee chair.

According to the draft letter, DASB senators will also be requesting administration “Maintain consistent and concise communication regarding resources that can reach students across multiple social media platforms.”

This meeting comes at a time when students and faculty are in the midst of juggling personal priorities as well as academic responsibilities.

For example, BK Baek, DASB senator, resigned effective last week due to personal reasons as he tries to get back to South Korea amid the pandemic and increasing travel restrictions.

The meeting was held via Zoom due to the recent relaxing of the California open meetings law in response to the emergency situation. Dennis Shannakian, College Life Office Coordinator reminded senators about the 24-hour notice to be provided to the public for special meetings.

The next special meeting is proposed for Wednesday morning and a link to the Zoom will be provided to the public.