On Aug. 30, Winona State University sent an email to students stating another round of COVID-19 relief funding will be dispersed this year. The email also stated the funding will be sent out to students by the end of September.
The email told students to “remember to set up direct deposit information” on their Winona State eServices accounts in order to receive the relief funding.
However, it is unclear if the funding will be going to all enrolled students or only a specified group. Many students were not aware of the relief funding potentially heading their way, including Mattie Slavin, a second-year student studying mass communication: public relations and advertising.
“I did not hear about the COVID relief funding until recently,” Slavin said. “With the pandemic, I think this will help relieve some [financial] worries from students.”
However, some students feel the extra funding is too little too late and the university should do more for their students, whether by spreading this important information to students in a better way or by trying other methods entirely to support students.
Faye Lewis, a second-year student also studying mass communication, shared her thoughts on how Winona State should be supporting its enrolled students and how the school’s support has changed since last year.
“I honestly think that Winona State could be doing more to promote safety from COVID. The once-a-week emails informing us of cases is not enough. Enforce wearing masks properly and enforce social distancing,” Lewis said.
Winona State is currently enforcing a mask mandate on-campus, but many of the restrictions from last year are not being enforced, even with new variants of COVID, including the Delta variant, surging on in the country.

“There are so many things that Winona State could be doing for students, but it feels like they no longer care,” Lewis said.
Many students feel this funding will be beneficial with the many expenses that are often associated with college, tuition and otherwise, but the years since the COVID pandemic began have only made people crunch their numbers more.
“I think that Winona State should make students more aware of the relief funding and even throw in more events, like grocery bingo, that help students out,” Slavin said.
Slavin also commented on how she personally has had to budget to afford college this past year.
“This year I tried to use my money as efficiently as I can. I have tried to only spend money on items that are essential,” Slavin said.
Lewis agreed with Slavin, saying they have also been hit hard financially due to COVID.
“Financial situations changed dramatically for many people, but prices of goods did not change. This makes budgeting and purchasing much more of a challenge,” Lewis said.