Penn State faculty want final decision on where, how to conduct classes in fall
Surveys show that tuition-paying college students want face-toface instruction this fall, pandemic or not. Campuses in Pennsylvania are intent on obliging to the extent they can.
But if faculty fear health risks, should they have the final say on whether to teach remotely?
That question has surfaced at Penn State University, which announced its reopening plans Sunday, even as a letter signed by more than 1,100 faculty, graduate assistants and others called on the state’s flagship university to offer greater safety assurances and more transparency about the evidence on which the decision was based.
The issue involves uncertainty over a deadly pathogen that has claimed more than 116,000 lives in the U.S., as well as workplace rights and the belief that academic freedom means professors should be able to deliver instruction as they see fit. It also reflects a desire by university leaders to give students a residential and classroom experience they consider more beneficial.
Penn State’s fall blueprint resembles those announced by other schools, including an on-campus semester requiring masks that ends earlier than usual: on Nov. 20, before Thanksgiving. The last class sessions and final exams are to be administered remotely.
Penn State officials, in rolling out their plan, said the university will maintain a workplace that meets health standards. Like other schools, the instruction will be a mix of face-to-face and remotely delivered instruction, depending on circumstances.
“We understand that each employee is facing different circumstances at home and at work, and we will be as flexible as possible with work arrangements, particularly for immunocompromised and other at-risk employees and
those with household members who are high-risk,” said Lorraine Goffe, Penn State vice president for human resources and chief human resources officer.
But signers of the letter want a greater assurance:
“The university will affirm the autonomy of instructors in deciding whether to teach classes, attend meetings, and hold office hours remotely, in-person, or in some hybrid mode,” the letter requests.
“Staff should also have the option of working remotely. Instructors will be able to alter the mode of course delivery at any time if they deem it necessary for their own safety or the safety of their students.”
It also asks that “no one will be obligated to disclose personal health information as a justification for such decisions, and they will not face negative repercussions from the university or supervisors.”
The letter with 1,130 signatures includes 835 tenured and nontenured faculty, plus graduate assistants and others on Penn State’s main and branch campuses. It was submitted to Penn State President Eric Barron and other university leaders Friday, and it includes calls for free and widespread testing, with faculty authority to bar students from class who ignore mask requirements.
It also seeks job protections for contingent faculty and for staff as Penn State faces hard budget choices resulting from tens of millions of dollars in coronavirus-related costs, including housing refunds this spring.
Penn State enrolls about 96,000 students on its main University Park campus and nearly two dozen branches statewide.
University leaders point to what they say was a deliberative and phased decision that involved 16 task groups, four town halls, employee and student surveys, and a website devoted to providing updates on the issue and decision-making process.
The process involved “active information gathering, planning, consultation, engagement and transparent communication in the university’s decision making throughout this crisis, that included engaging the university Faculty Senate,” said Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers.
But Sarah Townsend, an associate professor involved in the letter’s distribution, who is herself a Senate member, said faculty representation was modest. Of 250 task groups members, she said, only 16 were faculty, and many of them also held administrative titles.
She reiterated a point in the letter that faculty are not opposed to face-to-face instruction.
“On the contrary, most faculty I know do not want to be teaching online,” said Ms. Townsend, an associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese. “I think we want the ability to determine what we need to do for our own safety and also the safety of our students.”
Ms. Townsend has lupus, an autoimmune disease that could put her at higher risk, but she is asymptomatic. She said she has not decided what she plans to do but added, “I firmly believe in face-to-face instruction. I think it’s much better.”
Michael Berube, a professor of literature and immediate past chair of the Faculty Senate, said his reasons for signing the letter included a desire for Penn State to be more transparent about its finances and the longstanding position on academic freedom by the American Association of University Professors.
“I think it should be beyond dispute that faculty should determine for themselves how best to deliver their classes,” he said. “This is really a non-negotiable aspect of academic freedom, and the AAUP makes this very clear.
“Some of us will want very much to teach in person, especially people in the performing arts, or research labs, or agricultural science involving work with animals, or kinesiologists and physical therapists,” Mr. Berube said. “You really can’t duplicate those disciplines online. Others will want to avoid the petri dishes that all our campuses will become, especially if they’re in highrisk groups.
“I had an inside look at how the place works during my time in the Senate, and especially as Senate chair,” he said. “... Most of my colleagues have had no idea what the task forces have been doing. I think that’s why we got over 1,000 signatures.”