Date: Monday, August 23, 2021 at 4:31 PM
Subject: RE: AAUP Questions on faculty control and covid safety
Dear Provost Liu and Associate Provost Johnson,
We wanted to follow up on our below AAUP message. We are very disappointed the new guidance announced Friday August 20th does not give faculty the autonomy to decide to require masks in their own classrooms when the alert levels recede to yellow or green. We would understand if University public health guidelines did not permit faculty to forbid masks when COVID risk is high, but we strongly disagree with the guidance that faculty are “not permitted” to require masks when risks are lower.
The AAUP Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities asserts it is the faculty who have primary responsibility over “methods of instruction.” In the context of a highly contagious virus, the effects of which are hugely and bafflingly variable (some are hospitalized, some are burdened with “long covid”, etc.), we assert faculty should be free to require masks even if the administration does not (and be supported in such decisions). Again, faculty whose households include immunocompromised people (including themselves) and have unvaccinated children have special reasons to be extra careful to protect themselves and their families. They also care about making their classrooms safe for students.
It is faculty who understand the diverse conditions of classrooms on campus best in terms of ventilation and social distancing capacities. Not “permitting” them to decide to require masks according to a top-down color coded alert system (the design of which was opaque to faculty consultation and expertise), is an unnecessary usurpation of faculty control and autonomy. It requires faculty to take unwanted risks with their own health and the health of their students. We demand you clarify this matter to the entire faculty as soon as possible and make clear that faculty can decide to require masks even if the threat level is yellow or green.
If you insist faculty should not be permitted to require masks when they see fit, we again request your written rationale as explained below (beyond the little rationale you provided in your message last Friday). Please also address in your rationale why SU’s mask policy is not in compliance with CDC guidance as of 7/27/21, which recommends indoor masking for fully vaccinated people in areas of substantial or high transmission. We are currently in an area of high transmission, and the code ‘blue’ masking policy only requires indoor masking of vaccinated people during academic instruction. The CDC also unequivocally stated on 7/27: “CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status.”
We also want to reiterate our request below: we asked for the names and affiliations of members of the University’s Public Health Team, referred to in several campus emails, as well as a way for faculty to directly communicate with the Team.
Sincerely,
Matt Huber – AAUP President
Joanna Spitzner – Vice President
Gail Hamner – Treasurer
Jenny Breen – Secretary
Ivy Kleinbart – Non-TT Faculty Representative
Jackie Orr – Member at Large
Crystal Bartolovich – Past-President
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2021 8:50 AM
Subject: Questions on faculty control and covid safety
Dear Provost Liu and Associate Provost Johnson,
I’m writing on behalf of the executive committee (EC) of the SU Chapter of the AAUP. A member of our EC contacted Mike Haynie about mask mandates on syllabi and he, properly, directed us to the Provost’s office on this matter.
We strongly assert that faculty should have control over their syllabi and modes of instruction, including mandating masks under current conditions of pandemic. We do understand that masks are currently required in instructional and other indoor spaces because of our “blue” covid threat level, but should this “level” change to a more lax one, we want to be assured: if students refuse/resist, will the administration back up faculty decisions to mandate masks in classrooms and other instructional spaces (e.g. the writing center, office hours, library tutoring, etc.)? Relatedly, will administration support faculty in flexible office hours arrangements including holding them remotely given resurgent pandemic concerns? And, will they announce these policies clearly to all faculty before classes begin?
If the answer is ‘yes’ to these questions, we appreciate you respecting faculty control over these matters. If ‘no’ we kindly request an explanation in writing, which we will share with faculty members, re: the university’s rationale for not supporting faculty decisions to impose mask mandates in their instructional spaces or hold office hours remotely if they wish.
We have heard from members as well as other faculty who are very concerned about the safety of teaching in person this semester without stringent and consistent mask usage, as is the case at many other schools, such as Cornell; this is especially a concern for those faculty whose households include immunocompromised people (including themselves) and those with unvaccinated children. Since social distancing will be impossible in many classrooms, masking is all the more vital.
In addition, we strongly endorse the ability of staff in non-instructional spaces with a lot of student traffic (such as the library, department offices, etc.) to also have mask policies that exceed the color-coding requirements, since staff, too often have young children or other vulnerable populations, at home. We consider this a separate issue to the policy in instructional spaces but wanted to bring it to the table. It would go a long way to show staff that they are cared for and respected.
Finally, we ask for the names and affiliations of members of the University’s Public Health Team, referred to in several campus emails, as well as a way for faculty to directly communicate with the Team.
We appreciate your timely response to our concerns, as the semester is fast approaching.
Sincerely,
Matt Huber – President
Joanna Spitzner – Vice President
Gail Hamner – Treasurer
Jenny Breen – Secretary
Ivy Kleinbart – Non-TT Faculty Representative
Jackie Orr – Member at Large
Crystal Bartolovich – Past-President
SU AAUP 