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The undersigned faculty, students, and staff at the University of Florida reject the recent policy announcement of a move to partial face-to-face teaching for the 2021 spring semester. Instead, we support continuing to teach remotely next semester, thus fulfilling all of our obligations with proper regard for the safety of the university community. Faculty moved their courses to remote formats in March 2020 to respond to the public health emergency associated with COVID-19. The format is not ideal, and no one, least of all faculty, sees it as a permanent method. But under these very unusual and dangerous circumstances it works well and ensures the safety and well-being of everyone involved.
The public health emergency has not ended. COVID-19 spread is associated with people aged 18-30, the age of our students, who live together, socialize, and are not tested with any regularity. COVID-related deaths are closely associated with older people, that is, a large percentage of our faculty. There is also mounting medical evidence of long-term effects associated with the virus, including lasting damage to critical organs. With the governor’s policy of opening up businesses such as bars without a mask mandate, we should anticipate another surge of infections. The best medical expertise predicts a nation-wide increase with the onset of colder weather. Masks and distancing mandates on campus, which everyone knows have not been followed, will not produce requisite safety. On the contrary, the premature move to partial classroom teaching will compromise it all the more. Evidence suggests that infected air can be spread throughout buildings that, like those on the UF campus, lack adequate ventilation, a danger not addressed in any of the discussions that we have seen.
The demand for partial face-to-face teaching is both poorly conceived and reckless. It offers no pedagogical advantages and presents additional challenges that will have adverse effects on teaching and learning. A small minority of students will take classes in live format but not most. The majority will continue to take classes in remote format. Hybrid classes require guidance, training, and additional technical resources to be successful. With little thought devoted to implementation, this format will diminish both the live and remote experiences. Most important, such a plan endangers the health and indeed the lives of UF faculty, staff, students, and their families in Gainesville and throughout the state.
Policies concerning education and health should be discussed and agreed upon by the faculty and medical experts most knowledgeable about practicality and impact before any talk of implementation. The policy has already caused serious worry in the campus community. It should never have gotten this far. It should be dropped immediately.