FAMU faculty voice concerns over in-person instruction during virtual town hall

With the omicron variant raging across the US and Florida, a number of FAMU faculty asked the university during a virtual Town Hall Meeting, Thursday, if the university would consider transitioning to an online environment to start the semester out, until omicron got under control?   There request was met with a stern “No”.
 
“FAMU, along with other public universities, would operate in be fully in person,” said Provost Maurice Eddington.
 
In Florida, the private University of Miami, and several other private universities, announced last week that they will pivot to remote learning for the first two weeks of the spring semester, given the surge in COVID-19 cases.

Throughout the nation several colleges and universities such plan to resume classes in a virtual setting for at least part of the spring semester, according to a report from NBC News.

But so far, none of Florida’s public universities are making that transition during the spring 2022 academic semester, despite concerns from faculty union leaders that officials aren’t making the right decisions to protect campus communities throughout Florida.

“We are severely disappointed with the overall response to COVID at higher education institutions,” said Andrew Gothard, president of the United Faculty of Florida.

Gothard disagrees with the decision by Florida’s state university system to open spring semester with in-person classes. He said that university officials should be “listening to medical experts” to make decisions to protect students, faculty and staff, such as using remote learning opportunities.

“We don’t think that politics should be involved in local safety decisions,” Gothard said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday said that Florida’s public schools as well as the state’s public universities should remain open for in-person instruction.

“Our schools will be open in the state of Florida,” DeSantis told reporters, adding, “I’d also say the same with our state universities. … Our universities are going to be open, our state universities. They’re going to have in-person instruction, and I think any university that doesn’t do that should have to refund 100 percent of the tuition to the parents.”

Amid skyrocketing COVID-19 cases and the highly transmissible omicron variant continuing to sweep the nation, public university system leaders in Florida say they are taking precautions.
Renee Fargason, spokeswoman for the State University System of Florida, confirmed Monday that “none of our universities are going remote” in the upcoming spring 2022 semester.

During Thursday, Town Hall, Eddington admonished faculty that “students could not be mandated to wear masks in class rooms.  While, we expect our stakeholders to wear masks, we cannot mandate it.”
 
Florida strengthened its mask mandate ban in November, after Gov. Ron DeSantis, called the Legislature back  into Special Session to pass a school mask ban.  DeSantis signed that bill into law. 
 
FAMU President Larry Robinson, sent a letter Friday to the campus community, encouraging students to comply with safety practices, such as wearing a mask, testing regularly and getting vaccinated.
 
“Following recommended precautions are critical to limiting the spread of the virus. Remember, we all share responsibility for keeping our friends, families and campus community safe,” Robinson wrote.
 
Tanya Tatum, director of student health services at FAMU, strongly suggested that students and faculty wear KN-95 masks, as they provide an extra level of safety, especially against the omicron variant.  Tatum, reminded folks, that “the masks goes above your nose and covers your mouth.” 
 
“While FAMU housing does have a few isolation spaces, because this is a highly transmissible virus we will be running out of spaces.  So, I want students to begin thinking about what they are going to do, and how they are going to manage, because I can guarantee that we are going to have an isolation space," Tatum said.

"I'm really encouraging everyone to take care and take precautions and recognize that our actions sometimes have consequences,”  Tatum added.