AFTNJ President Donna M. Chiera and Dr. Susanna Tardi, AFTNJ’s executive vice president/higher education, spoke at length Aug. 13 about faculty COVID-19 safety concerns at colleges and universities during a virtual meeting with New Jersey’s Office of the Secretary of Higher Education.
Standing in once again for Secretary Dr. Brian Bridges was chief of staff Sandra Gilot West, who spent most of the roughly 50-minute meeting listening as Chiera, Tardi and other Higher Education Leadership Council members addressed key issues as the fall semester approaches.
“We all have a concern about safety in higher ed, particularly with what’s happening with the delta variant,” Dr. Tardi said early on. “I looked at the information that OSHE sent, and it had to do with recommendations. And while I understand that recent recommendations had said three-foot distancing, when I went on that site, it still said in public areas it should be six-foot distancing — and those are the CDC guidelines. So is the state following the CDC guidelines?”
Dr. Tardi followed with what she classified as “our real issue in higher ed.”
“We almost have no state guidelines,” she added. “We have nothing coming from the state. It’s each individual university, administration determining what’s to happen. And frankly, I’m a little uncomfortable. … What we’re asking for is that the governor please provide what he has provided for K through 12: some consistent guidelines that they are mandated in higher ed to abide by across the board.”
“The last thing we want is for a university to have to turn on a dime and say, ‘We’re back to remote learning,’ ” Chiera said. “The governor [set guidelines] in PreK to 12 … and we feel those same guidelines and those same conditions should be instituted in all higher ed institutions.” She also emphasized the need for labor to be at the table to participate in the decision-making process regarding safety protocols.
“I think one of the reasons why we’re asking for a mandate from the governor on masks is because all of these things take a little bit of courage for a college president to do, and a lot them don’t have much courage,” said Tim Haresign, president of the Council of New Jersey State College Locals.
“Inconsistency in the state is what sends the wrong message,” Chiera said. “Why do Stockton, William Paterson and Kean have to have vaccines, and other campuses don’t? …. A consistent mandate throughout the state is what we’re asking for. I know the vaccines is one step [Gov. Murphy hasn’t taken], but certainly the mask mandate — to me, that’s really an easy lift.”