Meeting with President Thomas and Provost Gooch

Meeting between AAUP leadership committee and President Thomas and Provost Gooch
7/28/20, via Zoom

Present: President Thomas, Provost Gooch, Scott Alberts, Kathryn Brammall, Anton Daughters, Laura Bigger, Stacy Davis, Mark Hatala, Marc Becker, Christine Harker, Bill Alexander

———–

AAUP expressed thanks for some of the safety precautions implemented in the most recent announcement for COVID-19 protocol. We appreciate that a lot of the points addressed in our June 29 open letter were implemented, in particular the mask policy.

Truman’s COVID-19 Policy

• What is the capacity for TSU to test students? How many students could be tested per day?
  • The county receives 288 rapid tests per week from the state, managed through the ambulance district.
    • Truman received 40 rapid tests from the ambulance district and can get more as needed.
  • The Adair County Health Department purchased an Abbott ID Now rapid test machine for Truman, so we can test on campus.
    • We are looking into whether we can buy tests additional to what the county has
  • If there is a negative rapid test it needs to be verified by a second PCR test.
  • These PCR tests need to be sent to Quest or Lab Corp – with 5-10 day delays for results. Quest has established three levels of priority testing and asymptomatic individuals would be in the lowest priority level of testing.
  • It is beneficial to do as many rapid tests as possible. With positive results, students go into isolation, with negative tests, students go into quarantine.
• How feasible would it be to test all students before coming to campus?
  • This is not recommended by the CDC. Unless you bubble them upon testing/arrival, the in-between time can render the tests pointless.
  • AAUP appreciates that TSU is abiding by the CDC recommendations
    • But one of the things the CDC said is that in certain settings where COVID-19 can spread quickly, quick turnaround tests actually would be beneficial.
  • President Thomas: testing 6,000 PCR tests in and of itself would be challenging and individuals would have to quarantine until the results came back.  Given the slow turnaround time for the results, this is not a viable option.
• Another idea was having students quarantine for a week or 10 days upon arrival or asking students to self-quarantine for a week or 10 days prior to coming to campus. Have those ideas been discussed? Even if students don’t abide by the request, it might reduce some risk.
  • Several schools in VA are asking students to quarantine prior to their return to campus.
  • Provost Gooch: parents of new students have been sent a notice about safe behavior prior to their return to campus. Quarantining has been suggested.
  • TSU is looking at sending information to all students, faculty and staff about precautionary measures that should be taken before coming to campus.
• Contact tracing: Brenda has been working with Adair county health:
  • Truman will do the contact tracing for students. She has worked with health science faculty members and they have students who will be working with them to do contact tracing. Brenda, a health sciences faculty member, and two athletic trainers have been trained through either the CDC or Johns Hopkins contact tracing courses. The CampusClear app for daily symptom checking can provide some preliminary information for contact tracing.
  • Adair County will do contact tracing for faculty and staff.
    • AAUP is encouraged to hear that faculty expertise on campus is being utilized

Standing COVID-19 committee

• What is the possibility of drawing on faculty expertise on campus? AAUP proposes a standing COVID-19 ad-hoc committee with faculty expertise. Nancy Daley-Moore is willing, an AAUP rep (Christine volunteers), Bill Alexander is willing to serve as the microbiology element + ?
  • It seems like the administration has been shouldering the full load.
  • We could mine the expertise of our faculty.
  • The group could help provide a clearer pathway for communication
    • Nancy’s epidemiology students will be helping with the contact tracing
    • Student nurses might be helping check on the students who are quarantining.
  • What about the communication issue?
    • It seems like decisions on a national level are not necessarily being made on a scientific basis but are politically biased. The task force could be strictly informed by science.
  • President Thomas: how would this group work? We need to be careful about putting out different kinds of information. TSU has been working closely with ATSU and Adair County. We need to be collaborative and comprehensive with what we do.
    • The specifics about the charge of the committee – a group that is a designated COVID conduit for conversations between faculty and administration. The faculty have a perception that their voices aren’t being heard as well as they might be.
  • President Thomas: they have used the existing faculty structures as the voice in all of this. There was a COVID task force early in March when decisions needed to be made very quickly. They transitioned into the existing structure, which allowed them to get feedback from faculty members.
    • Perhaps it could be a body that meets along with Faculty Senate. Having a focused group that works with epidemiology etc. would be good. They could be an advisory body on Faculty Senate.
      • Scott: lately it has been Scott working with the executive committee to oversee this stuff. Perhaps a couple of people could be added to the executive committee.
      • Christine: it’s not just communicating between faculty it’s also about putting forward scientifically-grounded recommendations.
        • Spelman College has a standing committee like this that is fairly comprehensive.
      • Kathryn: if we want to work within the existing structure couldn’t we form a subcommittee of Faculty Senate that could be the communication hub on COVID-19 related issues? This committee could also give feedback for how we might respond to issues that the Administration brings to them, essentially a think tank.
      • President Thomas: asks AAUP to talk to Scott and Kathryn about forming such a committee and to get back to them.
    • Provost Gooch: they have been thinking in more peripheral ways as well. For instance there will be a SPAW session focused on mindfulness.

Departmental autonomy over course delivery

There is some confusion about how much autonomy faculty members have about selecting the method of delivery for their courses. Initially it seemed like a mandate but now it seems more flexible.

• Mark: we have talked about greater autonomy at the discipline level (as opposed to at the faculty level). It feels that students and faculty could be open to a variety of modes of teaching.
  • Provost Gooch: what about at the Dean level?
    • It does seem the chairs have a better sense of what happens in their discipline. This would be problematic as we need to preserve our status as a residential school.
  • Provost Gooch: How would we deal with it if everyone decided to be online? They have tried to set it up so faculty can look at their course offerings, classroom availability, etc. and then faculty can work with the chairs and deans – they are thinking about what is best for the University.
• The mode of delivery is set for the Fall. If a faculty member is teaching a hybrid course, if they have several students who have tested positive with COVID – how much authority do they have to switch the delivery?
  • The discussion should be between the chair and faculty and the dean should be consulted.
  • They need to be able to tell parents and students what the courses are like from an awareness perspective.
  • President Thomas: they need to maintain consistency among the University. If they leave it at the department level, there could be 29 different responses, which can cause liability difficulties, so there needs to be some kind of consistency.
  • Will they be providing benchmarking of what percentage of students in a section will make it such that a class needs to be switched to online?
    • Not a single university has put forward a percentage amount because there are so many factors.
    • They are working on a document input from the local and state level on decision points. These decisions have to do with the ability to support faculty, staff and students.
    • How could benchmarks be established?
      • Considerations:
        • Can they quarantine the number of students they need to quarantine?
        • Does a particular room or building get closed down for cleaning?
        • These need to be situation-based decisions.
    • Faculty need to be communicating with chairs, who will talk to deans and on up the line so that we are aware of what is happening on campus.
      • Specific student names will not be released due to HIPAA. Students can share with faculty or not. Adair will anonymously share with TSU if there is a positive result from testing that TSU hasn’t done.
      • Contact tracing would be in regard to people who spend 15 minutes at close contact, fewer than 6 feet apart. Most students in a shared classroom would not be considered at risk.
      • Brenda will be keeping spreadsheets on students, faculty, and staff testing results – she cannot use names to share information. Contact tracers will know this information but no one else will.
      • Faculty won’t be getting notified about students in our classes who are testing positive.
        • Faculty won’t have a sense of how many cases of COVID-19 are in a given class unless students directly tell us that information. The attendance policy is vague so that students don’t have to tell faculty.  For example, students who experience symptoms in the daily self-check are instructed to remain at home, but they may not be positive for COVID-19.
        • As an instructor it may be difficult to know if students are blowing off a class or are ill or need accommodations. Mental health may be a factor as well.
          • Faculty can still reach out to check in on students like they ordinarily would. HIPPA prevents the University from sharing the identity of individuals who test positive.
        • Data will indicate the number of positives at the campus level, rather than at a class or building level.  Contract tracing will be used to determine if there are class and/or building trends.
      • What happens if students live off campus? How do we know students will do what they are supposed to do?
        • We can’t really know this or control it.
        • TSU has been asked by Jim LeBaron about our thoughts concerning the activities students engage in off campus.  We have no jurisdiction over off campus activities unless they violate a city ordinance or our student conduct code. If Adair County issues a directive and the City adopts the directive, we can use our conduct code for students who violate the directive.
      • Christine: Mansfield U has a social compact for health – it is essentially a COVID honor code that might help with the campus culture. Truman could do this…
      • We don’t have the ability to require or enforce that students get tested, either.

Faculty Contracts

AAUP is concerned about the nature of the at-will language in the contracts for non-tenured faculty. It seems to put TSU in violation of the 1940 AAUP Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure (https://www.aaup.org/report/1940-statement-principles-academic-freedom-and-tenure) that stipulates that faculty are NOT at-will employees. Specifically, that statement states:

“
Notice should be given at least one year prior to the expiration of the probationary period if the teacher is not to be continued in service after the expiration of that period.

”

• Why was there this change in language?
  • President Thomas: All non-continuing employees have the at-will language in the letter as an acknowledgement that MO is an at-will state. This makes it clear that faculty fall under other policies as well. All faculty also have the language in there that they are under the Board of Governors policy.
• Anyone who is not tenured is non-continuing?
  • Yes
• An additional concern: there are no dates of employment stated in the contract and they aren’t signed. Are they legally binding before term begins?
• Are you planning to fire people at the term break or once you have census data?
  • Provost Gooch: that is not their intent. They did their best to maintain all of their non-tenure-track folks (other than those who resigned)
  • They have no intention of doing that once the academic year begins
  • Marc: The only way TSU can let people go mid academic year is if TSU claims financial exigency
• Will this at-will language continue to be in the contract?
  • President Thomas: will have to talk to their General Counsel – their understanding was that the at-will language was also paired with the guidance in Chapter 6. Based on their guidance the two statements were not in conflict.
  • Scott: According to Chapter 6, in your first or second year at TSU you need to be notified by March 10th. Any time after that, you get a year in advance.
    • So the one-year notice is for year 4, 5 and 6 for any non-tenured faculty.
    • For any non-tenured faculty member: can we tell them confidently they cannot be let go at semester?
    • For non tenure-track faculty – they can be let go because they are technically not under contract?
      • Provost Gooch: Non tenure-track faculty do have a term that is listed in their letter specifying the academic year or semester.
        • Marc thinks this isn’t true. The example contracts that AAUP has don’t list any term of service.
      • Why has the language changed? They have moved to a letter rather than a contract?
    • AAUP is concerned about the ramifications of putting this language forward in these letters – Truman might be sanctioned by national AAUP.
      • President Thomas will talk to the TSU General Counsel and get back to AAUP about that.
      • Also, Chapter 6 isn’t mentioned on the contract.
      • Plus, the language creates morale issues.
    • Provost Gooch: perhaps an explanation of why the letters have changed would help alleviate some of these concerns.
    • AAUP is also concerned about the lack of the dates, lack of a teaching load – terms are not explicitly written on the letters. The letters read like they might be leaving a loophole.
    • The at-will language at the bottom is identical to the language in staff contracts who are at-will employees.
  • AAUP really appreciates that President Thomas and Provost Gooch took such a large chunk out of their afternoons to meet with us.
  • Recap:
    • We brought up the possibility of students self-quarantining before coming to campus.
    • AAUP will follow up with Scott about putting together a COVID response subcommittee.
    • Faculty contracts – President Thomas will talk to the Counsel and get back to AAUP.

-minutes recorded by Laura Bigger