Schools in State System deal with issues of reopening
Instructors feel ‘very unsafe’ about return to classroom
About 70% of instructors in the State System of Higher Education’s universities say they would feel “very unsafe” about returning to the classroom this fall because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and 12% say they want to teach in person, according to a survey released Wednesday by the union that represents them.
Jamie Martin, president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, said about two-thirds of the union’s 4,800 members responded to the email survey sent out last week. The survey also showed about 40% of those who responded have some type of pre-existing medical condition that puts them at risk if they get the virus and more than half live with someone who would be at risk.
The survey also showed that 95% of those who responded don’t believe students would follow recommendations from health officials to maintain social distance to reduce the spread of the virus, and
60% said they would be very concerned about getting the virus on campus.
“The thing that came out the strongest was the amount of faculty members not feeling safe,” Ms. Martin said. “These were just very sobering numbers.”
Ms. Martin said union leaders have had some meetings with system administrators, and additional talks are scheduled next week to discuss the union’s concerns about in-person teaching. But she acknowledged the union has little power other than lobbying to influence the decision about how to provide classes.
“We can make the request [to teach remotely], but at the end of the day, they can decide how we provide classes,” she said.
In a statement, system spokesman Dave Pidgeon said classroom safety is “our concern, too.”
“That’s why the State System put forward a framework that emphasizes CDC and state health guidelines; the role individuals have in responsibly interacting with others on campus, through mask wearing, social distancing, and so on ...” he said. “University plans for Fall 2020 have been and will continue to be developed in consultation with local stakeholders, including faculty and staff, and those plans provide pathways toward flexible working arrangements for faculty and staff who are at high risk for severe illness from COVID19.”
Last month, the State System’s board of governors authorized each of its 14 schools to develop its own protocol for the start of the new school year for the system’s 96,000 students by Wednesday.
The State System schools in Western Pennsylvania are California, Clarion, Edinboro, Indiana and Slippery Rock universities.
The Western Pennsylvania schools all released plans that require classroom instruction in most cases. Last week, the largest in the system, West Chester University in suburban Philadelphia, announced it will hold virtual classes only for the fall semester.
“You could almost hear the sigh of relief coming from our people at West Chester,” Ms. Martin said. “I was happy to see [administrators] followed the science [that recommends against gathering large groups of people].”
The union is concerned that administrators have taken a hard-line approach to deny faculty requests for a reduced teaching schedule because of concerns about the virus, Ms. Martin said. Similar requests were routinely approved in the past, she said.
Ms. Martin said her other major concerns involve bringing together thousands of students from a variety of communities — urban settings with high numbers of COVID-19 and rural areas with few cases — on equally diverse campuses ranging from urban such as West Chester to rural like Clarion or Slippery Rock.
It doesn’t make sense to her that the system canceled classes in the spring with less than 100 cases but wants to restart five months later when there are thousands of cases, Ms. Martin said.
“It just seems like a plan for disaster,” she said. “My fear is we’re going to be in the same situation we were in last spring, when we had to leave in a hurry.”
In addition, there is concern that a big campus outbreak could overwhelm small facilities such as the Indiana Regional Medical Center, the provider near the Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus where she teaches, Ms. Martin said.
Faculty members understand complaints from students who say they weren’t satisfied with online classes last spring, Ms. Martin said. But with more time to prepare, she said, instructors can develop an entire course for online instruction.
“Obviously, the best approach is where we can face the entire class from the front of the room,” Ms. Martin said, “but not if it’s going to be in an unsafe environment for everyone involved. We want to teach. We just don’t want to be sick.”
Regardless of which approach schools take, Ms. Martin said it’s important for decisions to be made soon so instructors can prepare.
“In terms of when we need to know, as soon as possible.”