Faculty Senate update: Special session

The faculty senators of our Mary Frances Early College of Education, like many of you, have been closely following the developments in the University System of Georgia (USG) and the University of Georgia’s plans for a fall semester return to campus. We have continued meeting as a group this summer to ensure we represent the best interests of our students, staff, and faculty. This week, on Monday, July 5, Dean Spangler met with the full Senate to discuss the following Senate resolution:

We all want to be on campus, learning, and working face-to-face. The current context of COVID-19 makes the campus environment unsafe. Therefore, we resolve that:

1. No staff, student, or faculty member will be compelled to learn, teach, or work face-to-face. There will be no penalty, either subtle or overt, for requesting online-only engagement in the fall semester. This includes supervisor evaluations for faculty and staff and attendance grades for students. No medical documentation will be required.
2. Masks will be required for all of the College’s faculty, staff, students, and anyone else affiliated with the College anytime they are on campus or representing the College off-campus.
3. The College’s administration will provide clear, quick, and accurate information about positive test results to the College’s community and have a plan in place to contact impacted individuals and a plan in place for contact tracing.

Dean Spangler indicated that the demands within the resolution were not under the control of the College and that efforts are being made by President Jere W. Morehead to ensure the safest working and learning environment for all UGA community members. We are pleased with the recent USG approval of mask requirement for all members of our campus community. However, we must continue the conversation on the mask issue to ensure that the “discipline through the applicable conduct code for faculty, staff, or students” will not include the use of campus police to enforce the policy.

We must also continue the conversations around the other two components of our Senate resolution to ensure autonomy in operational flexibility and the safety of our College community. We appreciate the leadership of Dean Spangler during these difficult times and are proud to have her represent the concerns of our College to the Administration. Please reach out to your senators or the Senate President, Chris Mojock, to ensure we continue our informed representation of your best interests.

In solidarity,
The Steering Committee of the Mary Frances Early Faculty Senate