UNC-Chapel Hill professors petition to delay in-person classes for at least a month
UNC-Chapel Hill professors are pushing for university leaders to delay in-person classes, days before the fall semester is set to begin.
More than 300 people, including tenured faculty members and teaching assistants, have signed a petition saying it’s not safe to teach in full classrooms, given the rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. They call on UNC-CH Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and Provost Bob Blouin to “move to remote classes for the next 4-6 weeks until the more transmissible Delta variant surge is brought under control.”
“Rushing back to the classroom this week puts us all at risk,” the petition says.
The petition mentions concerns about hospital ICUs filled with COVID-19 patients and breakthrough cases in vaccinated people. It says the current plans for full classrooms, dorms and dining halls and football games with no masks without a vaccine mandate is “a formula for disaster.” It suggests the university needs “a block of time to get this situation under control.”
The petition was crafted by a group of faculty members associated with UNC-CH’s American Association of University Professors chapter and spread to instructors across campus.
History professor Jay Smith, who helped organize the petition effort, said he’s unsettled by where things stand at the moment.
“It seems to us that the administration and our board are running the risk of repeating the disaster of last August,” said Smith, who is the vice president of the UNC-CH chapter of the AAUP.
“We understand why they began planning for a normal fall semester … but circumstances have changed pretty dramatically,” he said.
First UNC cluster last week
UNC-CH announced its first COVID-19 cluster of cases for the fall semester last week, as university leaders debated a vaccine requirement. More than 100 students and employees have tested positive since August, with a positivity rate of about 2.2% on campus, according to the UNC-CH dashboard.
Despite the worry from some faculty and students, Guskiewicz has assured the campus that they don’t have to choose between safety and in-person classes. At a campus meeting last week, he said UNC-CH has “no intention of pivoting to a remote learning environment or sending our students home.”
The university is relying on vaccinations, COVID-19 testing and mask requirements indoors to try to limit the spread of COVID-19 cases on campus. Guskiewicz said infectious disease public health experts and Orange County Health Department officials support UNC-CH’s fall plans.
As of Monday, 86% of students have told UNC-CH they are vaccinated and 78% of faculty and staff have attested they are vaccinated, according to the university.
Smith is set to teach an in-person class with 45 students. He said he’s worried about the lack of social distancing in classrooms and students’ resistance to wear masks.
“It’s entirely possible I will have to confront a student that’s not complying,” Smith said. “It’s uncomfortable, it’s awkward and it has the potential to flare up and really none of us should be put in that position.”
UNC-CH students started moving into dorms and apartments last week. Classes on campus start Wednesday.
This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 1:50 PM.
