As UNC continues preparation for its first in-person instruction since August, some faculty members are urging the university’s leadership against returning students to campus.
Nearly 70 faculty members of UNC shared their concerns in an opinion-editorial column published by The Daily Tar Heel on Wednesday. The group cited rising COVID-19 cases in both the state and country as an indicator the university’s campus could experience community spread this spring if limited students return to campus as planned.
“Our planning for the Spring 2021 semester must be guided by a sober and realistic assessment of the pandemic conditions we face,” penned the faculty members, who all signed their names at the bottom of the piece. “Nationally, we are averaging, as of this writing, 174,000 new cases per day, nearly twice the daily average as recently as November 3.”
Additionally, the column cites how daily reported positive cases in both the United States and just North Carolina are three times higher than when students returned to campus in the fall. While the state has since advanced its reopening from the pandemic, several coronavirus trends have recently reached record highs, including hospitalizations. Governor Roy Cooper and state health officials have urged North Carolinians to continue following public health guidelines, like wearing face coverings and following gathering limits, while also extending Phase 3.
When UNC began its fall semester, the university established a list of community standards in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. One week into in-person instruction, however, outbreaks in several residence halls lead UNC to shift classes to fully remote models and to move many undergraduate students off of campus.
For the upcoming spring semester, UNC leadership has informed the campus community of required testing protocols for students attending in-person classes and living within the greater Chapel Hill community. The strategy is for the approximately 3,500 students expected to live on campus to perform self-administered COVID-19 tests at least once a week, with three testing centers established around Chapel Hill and a lab on campus processing the results. UNC leaders say the students will receive the results of their tests in 48 hours or less.
The faculty who penned Wednesday’s column said while these are improved testing methods, they still harbor concerns about the increased student body on campus, students sharing common areas like bathrooms in residence halls and the challenges of monitoring off-campus activity.
“Given current conditions and UNC’s track record,” the group wrote, “the plans for spring are doomed to repeat too many of the failures of the fall. The only ethical decision is to cancel face-to-face instruction (with the exception of classes that demand it, such as clinical experience) and to keep on-campus residency reserved for those who have special circumstances.”
In a statement to Chapelboro, Vice Chancellor of University Communications Joel Curran said like many universities across the United States, UNC learned from its experience this fall semester. He wrote:
“With input from faculty, staff, students, members of the local community, and officials from the Orange County Health Department, we have planned for a significantly different on-campus Carolina experience in the spring, including mandatory testing. We are closely monitoring state and national case counts, and we are prepared to adjust our plans at any time and will announce changes no later than January 9 – prior to the return of our on-campus residents, if the conditions necessitate it.
Key changes include a robust testing program that will feature mandatory testing for undergraduate students. Last fall, our pilot testing program yielded a .53 positivity rate, and we believe our students will embrace our more rigorous testing regimen this spring. Like the fall term, most classes will still be taught via remote instruction, and we have improved the communication and enforcement of our COVID-19 Community Standards to better manage off-campus student behaviors. The University will be communicating regularly with students and parents over winter break to ensure they fully understand their role in protecting our campus and community next term.”
The upcoming spring semester for UNC is slated to begin on Tuesday, January 19.
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