A day after the New School and its part-time professors reached a labor agreement, students on Monday were left wondering what exactly the remainder of their fall semester would look like after nearly a month off.

Over the weekend, the New School posted online that classes would pick up again come Monday after the 25-day strike. But there was little detail as to exactly how that restart would happen so late in December.

Some students said they picked up a job and would have to change their entire work schedule to finish the term. Others think returning for just a few days of instruction isn't useful.

Some students, like violinist Anthony Monoyios, missed their classes.

"I'm very happy to be back. Some of my professors are like, 'OK, we're back, finals now,' and we are all like 'ahh,'" Monoyios said, laughing. “We are sort of scrambling.” 

A group of students is trying to get their money back for the time they did not have classes.

"We are now asking for a tuition refund for the time that was lost due to the strike because that was entirely the admin's decision to allow that to go on the way it did," said Sebastian Alexander Johsnon, a jazz student part of the group fighting for a tuition refund. "They had so much time to fix that before waiting 25 days before classes."

The contract the union agreed to is well above the school's initial offer. Pay raises for part-time professors will increase by 13% in their first year, and rise 36% by their fifth year.

The university also agreed to compensate the part-time professors for work they put in outside the classroom, and the school says it will make improvements to its health plan.

Johnson and his peers don't want their tuition to go up in response to the agreement.

"We are asking for a tuition freeze until the 2027-2028 year," Johnson said.

The New School said in a statement that the "university regularly adjusts tuition to reflect inflationary increases in health care, property leases, real estate taxes, and a range of other cost increases. We have a responsibility to look at all options for cutting costs and increasing revenue in the future."

As students now return to their classes, the school is working to figure out how to best proceed with instruction so late in the semester. For one, the grading deadline for the fall semester was extended into January.

Back on Dec. 5, the school's president, Dwight McBride, said that the best way to restart school was to try to finish the work and grade the semester.

"That's what's fair to the 600 students who are ready to graduate this month. That's what's fair to the students who are here on visas and must have their letter grades in order to maintain their student status,” McBride said. “That’s what's fair to the large number of our students who receive federal financial aid and must receive letter grades in order to meet eligibility requirements. And that's what's fair to the students who have worked hard and deserve to have a smooth transition to a spring semester.”

But in response to the school's most recent post on Instagram – in which they announced a deal between union leaders and the university had been struck – some students vented their frustrations that the school is rushing them back with little planning after almost a month off.

Teachers had been barred from communicating with students during the strike. Now, they're trying to assess where the students are and how ambitious the remaining schedule can be with the last day of the term just six days away.

Simone Dinnerstein, a piano teacher at the New School, told NY1 she’s been working hard to remain in touch with all her students — whether they’ve gone home yet or not.

"One of my students has already left — he's gone back to Istanbul where he's from — and we are going to have Zoom lessons,” Dinnerstein said. “And the rest of them, I'm going to give them lessons these next couple of weeks. And I was in contact with all of them, and they were all really excited to begin lessons again."

Dinnerstein said it's been a very disruptive time, and acknowledged the stress on students, but said she is hopeful that all the parties – students, administrators and teachers – have a better understanding of how labor relations at the school can improve.

As of the fall semester of 2021, there were approximately 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students in attendance at the New School. ​