Students see SU’s COVID-19 protocols inconsistent, new AAUP survey finds

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The Syracuse University chapter of the American Association of University Professors released a report last week regarding students’ feelings about how the university has handled COVID-19 during the fall semester.

The report detailed AAUP’s first student survey, which asked students for their thoughts on different aspects of SU’s COVID-19 response, including masking policies and testing and quarantine protocols. SU’s chapter of AAUP conducted the survey in October.

The SU chapter of AAUP works to uphold the professional values, standards and economic security of higher education.

The survey received 395 responses, 305 from undergraduate students and 90 from graduate students. Professors shared the survey among each other to gather responses from students.

Jackie Orr, a sociology professor and a member at large of SU’s AAUP chapter, said the chapter decided to conduct the survey because no one else was trying to get student experiences and concerns about COVID-19 safety.

Nearly 45% of surveyed students agreed or strongly agreed that SU was doing a good job protecting students from contracting COVID-19, and just over 50% of students agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that they were worried about contracting COVID-19 during the fall 2021 semester.

Students expressed concerns about the lack of mask-wearing enforcement on campus, confusion about class attendance and missed instruction when isolating or quarantining and a desire for regular mandatory testing for vaccinated people on campus and clearer communication from SU regarding current COVID-19 policies and announcements. The comments included in the published report were representative samples of the most common student concerns, the report reads.

“The protocols are a joke,” a student said in the report. “They have us wearing masks in class but pay for a huge student concert where no one was wearing masks.”

The student also brought up multiple occasions, such as alumni weekend and football games in the Carrier Dome, when many outside visitors were not wearing masks on campus.

“It really seems like the protocols are performative,” the student said.

Chris Johnson, SU’s associate provost for academic affairs, sent out a letter to the faculty on Sept. 13. The letter discussed students missing classes while awaiting test results, exhibiting symptoms or testing positive for the virus. It asked faculty to do their best to work with students who are absent for such reasons and required faculty to provide students a chance to keep up with the coursework if they are out for an extended period of time.

“I think that the lack of offering for students to take online classes if they come into contact is crazy,” one student responded in the survey. “The dichotomy of don’t come if you are sick but if you are sick you miss class is pretty crazy.”

Orr said 10 people in her 50-person class tested positive for COVID-19 at the beginning of the semester, which led her to increase the amount of alternative access to course information and materials.

“Hybrid classes are enormous labor for faculty, and nobody’s asking faculty to do that,” Orr said. “Faculty are voluntarily asked to respond to that request. Some faculty are doing that and doing increased labor every week so that students who for health reasons are not in our class can access class material.”

More coverage of SU’s handling of COVID-19:

• Will SU ever transition out of the ‘Red’ level of mask-wearing?
• Gallery: SU students attend Juice Jam 2021 in-person concert
• 150+ faculty call for stricter COVID-19 prevention measures at SU

Survey responses informed AAUP’s recommendations for the university’s COVID-19 protocols for the spring 2022 semester, which include:

• Clearer guidance for faculty and students when missing classes due to potential exposure or quarantine;
• Stronger enforcement of masking requirements;
• Considering mandatory masking instead of the current tiered system;
• Improved communication regarding protocols for when a student is contact traced or quarantined;
• Considering mandatory testing for vaccinated students, faculty, and staff every seven to 14 days.

Roughly 73% of students either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that SU should have mandatory masking for all students and faculty in university buildings regardless of their vaccination status.

“SU-AAUP urges realistic planning that will not unnecessarily risk students’ well-being for the performance of ‘normalcy’ during an ongoing, unpredictable pandemic,” the report reads. “The health and well-being of SU students demands competent, well-resourced, and effectively communicated procedures for running a residential institution of higher education whose primary goal is to nurture student learning and students’ lives.”

Despite the report’s critiques of the current state of COVID-19 policies on campus, it found that 57.62% of students agreed or strongly agreed that SU is doing a good job of communicating about COVID-19 safety issues and 54.85% agreed or strongly agreed that faculty have been helpful and supportive when communicating procedures for missing classes and accessing content due to virus exposure.

Sarah Scalese, senior associate vice president for university communications, said in an email statement that the survey was completed by a small percentage of the student body in a non-random sample, and therefore cannot be used to represent the sentiments of the entire student body.

Orr responded to Scalese’s statement, saying the AAUP would welcome a larger survey of students.

Additionally, Scalese cited the university’s less than 1% test-positivity rate from the random surveillance testing program, as well as continued aggressive public health measures such as the maintaining red-level masking policies, wastewater testing, contact tracing and requiring both vaccines and booster shot as evidence of SU’s effective strategy to handle the pandemic.

Orr said she does not see a correlation between the current test-positivity rate and the number of cases on campus according to SU’s COVID-19 dashboard, which she believes is indicative of cases – especially asymptomatic ones – potentially getting through testing protocols and spreading the virus on campus.