Click here to view the following announcement in PDF format.
Dear faculty,
While we are experiencing this Omicron surge and guidance is evolving so rapidly, UA will continue to send these regular updates. We want to highlight key preventative measures UVM could reasonably take to be not just bare-minimum compliant but also proactive in ensuring public health. As long as UVM’s expectation is for faculty to teach in person, to teach in overcrowded classrooms, and to be available to teach, UVM should take steps that ensure that faculty can safely and reasonably meet these expectations. We will keep you updated on each issue.
1. SUCCESS: UVM BCBSVT insurance will cover rapid tests
Here is the previous situation:
Until last week, UVM’s BCBSVT insurance did not cover rapid antigen COVID tests. As a self-insured entity, UVM had the power to ensure rapid tests are covered, and in fact, other self-insured entities including UVMMC did choose to cover rapid tests. United Academics members put pressure on the UVM administration to cover rapid tests for covered employees.
Here is the update:
Since our last memo, a ruling from the Biden administration required self-insured plans to cover at-home antigen testing for free starting January 15. UVM will comply, covering 8 tests per 30 day period for each person covered by UVM's insurance (that includes dependents.) They will not reimburse for tests already purchased.
Here is what we need from you:
No ask at this time. If you run into problems with test coverage, please let us know.
2. SUCCESS: UVM will provide medical-grade masks
Here is the previous situation:
Instead of directly supplying N95 or KN95 masks, UVM allowed faculty to use professional development funds to buy medical-grade masks (in response to UA’s request for this exception).
Here is the update:
After last week’s memo, UVM moved to purchase and distribute three medical grade masks to every UVM community member on campus. Faculty can pick up masks at the Davis Center information desks.
Here is what we are doing:
During this pandemic, especially when UVM is not arranging for socially-distanced classrooms, an adequate mask is a piece of equipment necessary to performing the job of teaching in person. Equipment necessary for work should be provided by the employer. Providing some masks is a start; however, most faculty will need more than three medical-grade masks to continue to teach safely on campus. UA has requested that the administration provide additional masks to faculty as needed.
Here is what we need from you:
If you need more medical-grade masks for teaching, contact Gary Derr (Gary.Derr@uvm.edu) and make your need known (copy info@unitedacademics.org so we can track these requests.)
3. UPDATE: Modality change process is slow to respond to faculty needs during a surge
Here is the current situation:
UA negotiated a reasonable long-term modality change process during COVID-related impact bargaining in summer 2020. Variant surges, in combination with health conditions in individual faculty members’ households (eg., immuno-compromised or vaccine-ineligible family members), mean some faculty members feel particularly vulnerable in the classroom during the current COVID surge. In addition, many students have already been absent for COVID-related illness or exposure and requested various accommodations, including remote access to class. For all of these and other reasons, faculty in some cases have determined that a short-term shift to remote instruction is the most appropriate way to proceed.
Faculty currently have two options to request a modality change: 1. A formal request for longer-term shifts, which is reviewed by the Provost’s office and may involve an ADA process, and 2. An immediate request, through the department chair, for a short-term change. During the Omicron surge, a one-day modality change is not sufficient and a long-term modality change may be onerous and/or unnecessary.
Here is what we are doing:
United Academics is asking the administration to allow faculty the flexibility to make immediate modality changes for periods of up to a week. The process must be as swift and simple as a one-day modality change. This would provide reasonable flexibility in response to faculty and student health needs: for example, faculty teaching large and crowded classes; faculty who are in isolation or who have a dependent in isolation; faculty with a large number of students requesting remote accommodations. We are also concerned that faculty feel pressured to reveal protected medical information in order to secure a modality change.
Here is what we need from you:
If you are in a situation of needing to shift modalities, you should not reveal HIPAA-protected details about your or a family member’s medical conditions on the modality change form. Reach out to our Contract Administration Committee if you need support in navigating a modality change process (contract@unitedacademics.org).
NEW: Shifting norms put unfair remote teaching expectation on faculty
Here is the current situation:
UVM set an expectation that faculty will teach in-person for the 2021-2022 academic year. Faculty also have the right to request a modality change. Normally, UVM faculty are responsible for teaching in person, or if they are approved to teach online, they are responsible for teaching remotely. It’s one or the other.
However, the UVM administration is encouraging shifting norms that implicitly or explicitly pressure faculty teaching in person to offer remote accommodations to students who can not attend class in person. This extra work was not bargained, is burdensome, establishes an unreasonable precedent, and harms the faculty-student relationships of those faculty who can not or do not provide remote accommodation.
An example of this type of pressure is signaled in the “Important Faculty Updates January 13, 2022” email sent from Provost Prelock: I have prepared for those moments when students may not be able to attend class in person by recording my lectures and posting all my PowerPoints and instructional outlines as well as assignments on Blackboard—a big thank you to CTL for their help over the years in my course design!
Here is what we are doing:
United Academics takes a firm stance: faculty either teach in-person as expected, or remotely if a modality change is granted. There is absolutely no obligation to do both. We are troubled by the Provost’s signaling, and we will support faculty who hold the line that remote accommodation is neither an expectation nor a right for classes that are being taught in-person.
Here is what we need from you:
There is no requirement that you provide both in-person and remote instruction simultaneously. It sets a precedent and an expectation that is not sustainable and was not bargained. We recognize that faculty make accommodations because we want to support students. We recognize there is no good system in place to academically support a student who must isolate during in-person learning. If your students recognize this unfairness, you may encourage them–or better yet, partner with them–to contact the Provost (and cc United Academics) to request more student- and faculty-friendly policies.