PSU-AAUP stands with the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation in their demands to the University of Oregon for proactive safety measures. The UO administration rolled out a confusing and inequitable policy that only allowed remote pivots if a class had 20% or more of its students absent for Covid-related reasons. This seemed to be a logistical decision for continuity after COVID-19 had already spread widely, not a health and safety decision to prevent spread to begin with. High COVID-19 spread, crowded conditions in classrooms, unclear and often delayed data, and barriers to remote work and learning have made the campus unsafe or non inclusive for many of our community members, especially higher risk groups like immunocompromised people and parents with young children.
The GTFF has continued to speak for their members and is working with other on-campus student and labor groups to advocate for changes including the distribution of KN95 masks by the University and the fulfillment of the University’s obligation to inform instructors of positive COVID cases in their classroom. However, these partial solutions do not address the myriad of ways COVID has impacted graduate employees, and we believe the University must do more.
We stand with the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation in their demands of the University of Oregon in efforts to maintain the health and safety of workers and students on campus. These demands include an increase in remote instruction options, improvement of in-person protection, more transparent public data, and directly engaging workers and students in the University’s decision-making power on university operations that impact the broader UO community.