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More than 150 Syracuse University faculty members signed a letter calling for the university to implement more stringent COVID-19 prevention procedures.

The letter, which was circulated to faculty members among SU’s schools and colleges, urges SU’s administration to re-implement strict indoor mask-wearing guidance, extensive student testing and social distancing enforcement. 

On Thursday, Mike Haynie, vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation, announced some of SU’s new and returning policies regarding COVID-19. Some of the faculty members who signed the letter — which was circulated before Haynie’s email update — told The Daily Orange that they still have some unanswered questions, such as what to do if one of their students tests positive and how to accommodate students in quarantine.

The letter states that some faculty are concerned about the color-coded mask guidance laid out on Aug. 13 because it does not specify numbers of COVID-19 cases required for the university to switch to a different alert level. 

Dave Larsen, an epidemiologist on SU’s public health team and associate professor of public health at SU, said he took issue with the letter signed by faculty members.

“That letter reflects the anxiety of professors on campus, and it reflects their ignorance,” Larsen said. “I don’t think they appreciate everything that’s ongoing that they don’t see.”

Chancellor Kent Syverud responded to the concerns of the faculty members in an email obtained by The D.O.

In addition to restating the new safety protocols, Syverud said that 2.1% of the entire student body have received a medical or religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine requirement. Unvaccinated students without an exemption will not be allowed on campus and will be disenrolled from fall classes, Syverud said.

“This is a fundamentally different situation than we faced in fall 2020,” Syverud said.

Larsen also said that SU’s objective this upcoming semester is different due to SU’s population having such a high rate of vaccination. The vaccines “disrupt transmission, and then we (SU) have to tailor our strategy after that,” Larsen said.

The faculty-signed letter says that because the university is not requiring students to wear masks in hallways, bathrooms and other non-academic indoor areas under the “BLUE” alert level, it presents a risk to university employees, their families and the greater Syracuse community.

“Infections will not be contained to campus; they will show up at county testing sites and community hospitals,” the letter reads. “They will impact the lives of students, staff, faculty and their loved ones. They will impact the lives of community members with no association to the university.”

Covid Letter Signed by Facu… by The Daily Orange

But Larsen said he also has confidence in SU’s contract tracing system, which is now filled with individuals who don’t need the training they did the previous year.

In his email to SU faculty, Syverud said that the university is still doing what it believes is necessary to protect SU and the greater Syracuse community.

“To suggest the university has in any way abandoned our commitment to public health is wrong,” Syverud said. “Many of your colleagues … have invested countless hours during their summer months working to prepare our campus for your return and the return of our students.”

The letter states that in early August, faculty and staff with unvaccinated family members — including children and those who have an underlying health condition — began demanding SU increase safety protocols in classrooms to prevent the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19. Faculty said in the letter that they have not seen these concerns addressed directly as a result of bringing them up to administrators.

“We have tried many other available avenues at our disposal with no effect that we can tell,” the letter reads. “We ask again for the university to implement the successful and rigorous safety protocols it has the capability to so that we can all feel safe and protect others.”

As a parent with unvaccinated children, Larsen said he does not completely dismiss the emotions of staff who signed onto the letter. 

“I get it, I get the fear. I get the anxiety about it,” he said.

John Liu, interim vice chancellor and provost, also responded to these concerns in an email, obtained by The D.O. Faculty should ask any student who is not compliant with the university’s mask mandate to leave the classroom and report the student to the Dean of Students Office, Liu said.

Liu’s email did not provide any additional guidance for faculty in an academic setting. He also reiterated the university’s “BLUE” level mask requirements and the testing strategy for students and employees.

Haynie reiterated and added to SU’s COVID-19 protocols for the upcoming semester in a campus-wide email on Thursday. Many of the precautions taken in previous semesters — such as contact tracing, required testing for unvaccinated people and wastewater surveillance testing — will continue for fall 2021, Haynie said in the email. 

The email also detailed some of SU’s new COVID-19 policies for the fall 2021 semester. These policies include random testing of vaccinated people and SU’s alert system.

Also new to the university’s policy are students’ options if they are exposed as a close contact to COVID-19. For those who are vaccinated and asymptomatic, they may either wear a mask for 14 days or receive a COVID-19 test three to five days after exposure. Students who choose to take the test must wear a mask until they get their result, and if they test positive, they will have to be isolated for 10 days, Haynie said.

Vaccinated and symptomatic people are advised to stay at home and receive a COVID-19 test as soon as possible, Haynie said. If the result of the test is negative, they must receive another test three to five days after exposure. If the initial or second test is positive, the student, faculty, or staff member must isolate.

Asst. news editor Kyle Chouinard contributed reporting to this post.

Published on August 27, 2021 at 10:21 pm

Contact Richard: rjchang@syr.edu | @RichardJChang1