My morning emails from AJC readers have started to sound like battlefield reports.
The COVID casualties shared with me today include a school cafeteria worker and a bus driver. A note about a student hospitalized with the virus. Middle school students confined to their classrooms because there are no subs. College professors resigning because they can’t require masks even though their health or that of a family member puts them in real danger from COVID-19.
The leadership of the state of Georgia is failing, and our schools and campuses are paying too high a price. What is happening now is more damaging and more chaotic than a year ago. The delta variant is marching through our schools, and Gov. Brian Kemp and leaders in his service are clearing a path for it.
And that includes the Board of Regents.
Doctoral students in public health at Georgia State University sent this letter to the Board of Regents, which has abdicated its responsibility to ensure order and safety on the state’s campuses. The Regents, Kemp and the University System of Georgia are watching the wreckage burn from their cozy political cocoon.
Here is a searing letter signed by 34 Ph.D. students in public health at GSU. The letter lays out needed changes to keep students and staff safe. These students are our state’s next generation of public health leaders. The Regents and Kemp ought to listen to them.
An open letter to the University System of Georgia Board of Regents:
In a time when institutions are judged by inclusivity and equity, the University System of Georgia (USG) Board of Regents has expressly forbidden faculty from moving in-person courses online with threats against their jobs. University administration and faculty have repeatedly and unsuccessfully requested more autonomy from the Board of Regents to use COVID-19 mitigation measures. These unsuccessful attempts only worsen the already inequitable access to higher education and foment an environment of fear, paranoia, and ignorance.
This call to action requests that the USG Board of Regents:
● Reinstates COVID-19 recommended accommodations, such as flexible work and educational arrangements, which prematurely expired June 30, 2021.
● Allows USG colleges and universities to implement additional COVID-19 protocols beyond those required by USG, including greater autonomy to hold classes in person, hybrid, or completely virtual depending on public health conditions, course context, and the needs of students.
As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local public health authorities, and health care providers fight to vaccinate and guide communities to safer practices, every inch of progress is hindered when facts are ignored. As public health doctoral students of Georgia State University (GSU), School of Public Health, we hold the USG Board of Regents accountable for their inadequate policies. Further, GSU’s enforcement of the USG policy contradicts its mission to solve complex issues using the “scholarly work and artistic expression of the university’s faculty.”
The relaxation of prevention measures created the environment for SARS-CoV-2 variants to rapidly spread. As the Delta variant causes COVID-19 cases to surge in Georgia and counties declare states of emergencies, we are increasingly concerned with the health and wellbeing of our families and communities while also trying to engage in education and business activities fully and safely.
Vaccinations, social distancing, and wearing masks all play an essential role in slowing the spread of this virus. While Governor Kemp has allowed local K-12 school districts to implement their own COVID-19 prevention protocols, he and the USG Board of Regents, who oversee more than 340,000 students and 40,000 faculty and staff, have not allowed the same level of autonomy to Georgia’s public colleges and universities. Currently, the USG Board of Regents COVID-19 protocols include:
● encourage, but do not require vaccination,
● encourage, but do not require wearing masks in indoor spaces,
● encourage, but do not require reporting a positive COVID-19 test,
● and students are not required to stay home after a positive COVID-19 test.
Furthermore, faculty have been denied the flexibility to move in-person courses online without permission from administrators, even if one or more students in class test positive for COVID-19. This limits instructors’ ability to conduct classes in the safest and most effective manner, forcing students and faculty to make difficult decisions about their health, jobs, and education.
For students, courses offered in person, without an online equivalent, forces them to choose between the risk of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, or death by attending courses in an unsafe environment or delaying their educational progress. If students decide to attend in person and become infected, get seriously ill, or become hospitalized, they may not be able to return to classes for several weeks or months.
This can lead to withdrawing from classes and paying for courses a second time. For faculty who become ill or hospitalized, there is no equivalent to K-12 substitute teachers, likely resulting in significant disruptions to student learning. This may leave students inadequately prepared for later courses and educational milestones or unprepared to meet the expectations of the workforce after graduation.
Without a doubt, the continued politicization of the COVID-19 response has extended to the USG Board of Regents, who have demonstrated greater concern for political reprisal than the overall safety of university students, faculty, staff, and Georgia communities. Appeals by faculty and staff to the USG Board of Regents policies have been denied and created an environment where some professors fear losing their jobs if they make decisions to protect their own safety or the safety of their students.
Granting instructors the freedom to negotiate appropriate classroom guidelines with their students would mitigate the risk to the health and wellbeing of Georgia residents, keep more students and faculty in the classroom, and create a more equitable educational experience.
As public health practitioners and GSU doctoral students, we cannot be asked to put our families and community at risk for a system that has shown, above all else, a complete disregard for the knowledge they claim to value so highly. According to the USG website, our higher education system is “a significant source of stability and played a critical role in the state’s recovery with an $18.6 billion statewide economic impact.” To continue this success, the health of faculty, staff, and students is essential.
We call on the USG Board of Regents to model responsible leadership and grant institutions, faculty, and students the flexibility and authority to implement appropriate mitigation measures based on local COVID-19 realities. This is the only way we can protect ourselves, each other, and the families and communities with which we live. We cannot accept nor condone actions and policies that directly contradict both the letter and spirit of our school, studies, and profession.
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