Open letter to the Truman academic community on the Covid-19 pandemic (June 29, 2020)
The June 18 email from VPAA Janet Gooch to department chairs, thence the faculty, that includes plans for reopening the campus for the fall 2020 semester has raised serious concerns about both the decisions reached and also the manner by which they were reached.
The Truman State University chapter of AAUP takes the position that both greater administrative transparency and increased shared governance with faculty are paramount in this increasingly uncertain and dangerous time. What we as faculty have been told about Truman’s plan to reopen in the fall leaves us concerned that public safety is not being adequately ensured.
We urge the crafting of an openly circulated Truman Plan that takes possible middle- and long-range responses into consideration with clear and explicit attention to health risks for both the Truman community—students, faculty, and staff alike—and the wider Kirksville community.
While acknowledging and appreciating the work that the administration has already undertaken in conditions of unprecedented strain and duress, we as faculty, in conjunction with Truman’s AAUP, respectfully request the following:
- greater administrative transparency and regularity in communication about the fall planning process
- increased faculty participation in the fall planning process, including, but not limited to, adding an AAUP representative to the planning committee
- heightened campus safety measures, including the following:
- requiring all students, staff, faculty, and visitors to wear face coverings in public buildings on campus
- providing students, faculty, and staff with an adequate supply of masks
- arranging class spaces for physical distancing and informing faculty of corresponding room capacities and approved social-distancing layouts as soon as possible
- establishing a protocol for cleaning classrooms between each class session
- establishing a protocol for the entry and exit of academic spaces in a way that ensures physical distancing and enables symptom checking (including temperature checks)
- installing HEPA-grade or equivalent filters into HVAC systems on campus to guarantees adequately filtered air ventilation in rooms
- the issuing of an openly circulated Truman Plan that describes Truman’s intended protocols for dealing with various contingencies: for instance, what happens when someone tests positive for COVID-19, what would happen if a classroom building had to be shut down suddenly for decontamination, what the conditions are which would trigger a return to fully remote learning, what the procedure is for making such a transition to remote learning, and so on. The plan should indicate concrete responses to specific circumstances: responses of the form, “If community infection rates increase by 25% over X period, Truman will…”
We look forward to working with the administration, staff, and our students in bringing about a semester that is as optimally safe, educational, and rewarding as the current circumstances allow.