CSU Bakersfield’s President Lynnette Zelezny had given a tentative date for the Higher Education, Emergency Relief Funds. It is the second round of aid sent out to university-level students and faculty.  

“We received 14 and a half million [dollars] in the first round, and we received 22.9 million in the cares second round for a total of $37.4 million,” Vernon Harper, CSUB’s provost and vice president of student affairs, said. 

CSUB’s Police Chief, Mike Williamson, announced that CSUB will once again be doing COVID-19 testing on its campus. 

“It’s free. It’s an antigen test, you’ll have the results in 15 to 20 minutes after you’re tested. Total time we expect to be 20 minutes,” Williamson said. 

Testing will begin Tuesday, Feb. 16 from 9 p.m. to 6 p.m. Williamson reminded all to wear the proper face coverings when arriving at their appointments. Appointments can be made online, through the CSUB website, and made through March of this year. 

“We’re going to try it. We’re going to take appointments for the next two months. Well through the end of March and we’ll see how it goes,” Williamson said. 

CSU Board of Trustee Krystal Raynes gave some updates about the federal agenda by the Board of Trustees. 

“First is highlighting to support and protect dreamers, including by nearly restoring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protection,” Raynes said. 

Raynes continued to explain the federal update that included the talk of Pell Grants for students. 

“Third, we have our third federal update, which is to invest in students access by significantly increasing the maximum Pell Grant and restoring the annual cost of living increases to the program,” Raynes said. 

The University of California has launched a double the Pell Grant campaign which is a partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship league. Raynes commented that it has not been decided if the CSU system will follow suit but discussions happening district-wide. 

CSUB administration is still hopeful that the campus will be open for more in-person classes in the Fall 2021 semester.