Instructors
across
campus
are expressing concerns about
COVID-19 protocols currently
in place despite being told the
classroom is “the safest place to
be on campus” by University of
Michigan administration.
Among those concerned is
Rackham student Ryan Glauser,
co-chair of the Graduate Employ-
ees’ Organization’s COVID-19
caucus, who told The Michigan
Daily he felt no reassurance in
returning to the classroom this
semester.
“It more pissed (GEO) off
because we know of students
who are positive (for COVID-19)
coming to our classrooms, sitting
in class and then leaving,” Glaus-
er said. “We don’t know how
(the University) is making (the)
assessment (that classrooms are
particularly safe), but we know
it’s not based off of numbers
because they can’t provide them
to us when we asked them.”
In August, the University
announced
that
they
would
require all students, faculty and
staff to be vaccinated against
COVID-19.
U-M
community
members
who
were
granted
exemptions are required to get
tested weekly. Currently, 96%
of students and 88% of staff,
including 96% of faculty, are
fully vaccinated against COVID-
19. The University also requires
everyone to wear masks in all
on-campus buildings regardless
of vaccination status.
At the start of the fall 2021
semester,
COVID-19
cases
increased dramatically, by over
100 cases during the first three
weeks of classes. By the end of
September, the positivity rate on
campus dropped to about 0.8%
and has remained low.
Even with high vaccination
rates among students and fac-
ulty, Rackham student Erick
Aguinaldo,
graduate
student
instructor in the Department
of Women’s and Gender Stud-
ies, told The Daily on Sept. 30 he
has yet to experience a full week
without a potential COVID-19
exposure since the beginning of
the semester.
“I get overwhelmed by emails
every
week
about
students
who’ve either tested positive for
COVID, are showing symptoms
or think they might have been
exposed,” Aguinaldo said.
Aguinaldo said he found it
impossible to properly social
distance in the classroom, espe-
cially without personal protec-
tive equipment being supplied
by the University. As a result,
he decided to teach both of his
Introduction to Women’s and
Gender Studies sections out-
doors, weather permitting.
“I’ve been teaching outside
because of fear of COVID, but
to my knowledge, there are not
continuously refilled masks in
the classroom,” Aguinaldo said.
“From my understanding, (the
University’s) masks aren’t great,
so I went out of pocket and
bought all of my students KN95
masks for their safety and my
safety as well.”
Aguinaldo also said his stu-
dents’
mental
and
physical
health remain the top priority in
discussion sections, something
that is reflected in how he han-
dles COVID-19 cases.
“I’ve been telling students
(who tested positive for COVID)
to stay at home and that we’ll
work things out, which involves
them doing the assignments
from home,” Aguinaldo said. “I
definitely encourage them to rest
and focus on their well-being
instead of tripping out about the
class.”
The motivation for these pre-
cautions, Aguinaldo said, is his
fear of contracting COVID-19
and transmitting it to his ten-
month-old daughter, who is cur-
rently ineligible to be vaccinated.
“As (the delta variant) con-
tinued getting worse, I became
more and more hesitant about
being in person,” Aguinaldo
said. “My daughter’s ten months
old right now, so that was a big
worry for me.”
Echoing
Aguinaldo’s
con-
cerns,
Lydia
Kelow-Bennett,
professor of Afroamerican and
African studies, said she also felt
nervous returning to the class-
room in case of breakthrough
infections that could put her two
unvaccinated children at risk.
“With unvaccinated children
at home, I have had to change the
way we relate as a family which
has been devastating,” Kelow-
Bennet said. “Distancing from
my own children seems too much
to ask for a job.”
For faculty members to teach
remotely, they must submit a
request through Work Connec-
tions, the University’s disability
management program. Accord-
ing to University President Mark
Schlissel in an email obtained
by The Daily, 28 requests for
remote teaching were submitted
through Work Connections. Of
those requests, 20 were denied
and 4 were accepted.
The Faculty Senate met last
week to discuss and ultimately
approve five motions, including
the University’s COVID-19 pro-
tocols and the lack of options for
instructors requesting remote
teaching. Prior to the meeting,
Schlissel wrote in an email to
the assembly defending the Uni-
versity’s widespread return to in
person learning. Schlissel also
said that instructor requests to
teach remotely are carefully con-
sidered by medical personnel.
Schlissel added that “
it is not
in Work Connections’ scope to
review requests related to the
health status of an instructor’s
family members or others with
whom they reside.”
German professor Silke-Maria
Weineck, who has been advocat-
ing for faculty with serious pre-
existing conditions to be given
more consideration for remote
teaching options, said Work Con-
nections often rejects remote
teaching requests for faculty
who may be immunocompro-
mised.
In an email to The Daily, Wei-
neck said this includes faculty
who are currently in chemother-
apy or who have lost multiple
organs.
“Faculty who need to teach
remotely due to high vulner-
ability are directed to Work
Connections; a unit that has
overwhelmingly
declined
to
validate these requests,” Wei-
neck said. “These colleagues’
own physicians, overwhelmingly
UM physicians themselves, have
endorsed these requests. … Case
managers who are not equipped
to evaluate patients are given
the power to overrule experts in
their field.”
For Political Science Profes-
sor Deborah Beim, who recently
tested positive for COVID-19,
the chair of the Political Sci-
ence Department helped piece
together a plan for asynchronous
instruction during her quaran-
tine period. Still, Beim said she
wishes she had originally pre-
pared a plan in case of a positive
test this semester.
“(My
department
chair)
helped me put together a plan
where I uploaded asynchronous
lectures from last year, which
allowed me to take a week of
rest,” Beim said. “I wish, in ret-
rospect, that I had had a plan
that I could just like immediately
kick into action.”
After testing positive for a
breakthrough case early on in
the
semester,
Kelow-Bennett
said she immediately canceled
her classes but initially could not
find anyone to take over instruc-
tion while she stayed home and
recovered.
“My department just really
struggled to figure out a way to
cover my classes, which is par-
tially about everybody being
incredibly
stretched
thin,”
Kelow-Bennett said. “But it’s
also about (departments) and
the larger University not having
plans in place for the fact that
professors were going to get sick
and be out for extended periods
of time.”
Once Kelow-Bennett’s quaran-
tine period officially ended, she
still felt the lingering symptoms
of COVID-19, so much so that she
was physically unable to hold a
lecture without running out of
breath. When Work Connections
denied Kelow-Bennett’s request
to continue teaching remotely,
she said she felt helpless.
“I felt disposable when I read
that email,” Kelow-Bennett said.
“I realized that if all (the Uni-
versity) cares about is that I’m
infectious, not the fact that I will
pass out either walking to class
or talking to students, then that
means that there’s no value put
on my well-being and my life.”
When GSIs want to opt for
remote instruction, Glauser said
they are not allowed to use Work
Connections and must instead
submit both an Americans with
Disability Act work request and
a Services for Students with Dis-
abilities request.
Hoping to teach remotely,
Aguinaldo said he sought assis-
tance from his instructor, as
well as the Women’s and Gender
Studies Department, to switch to
a fully virtual format for his dis-
cussion sections.
Though the department pro-
vided Aguinaldo with a lecture
hall for his discussion sections to
be better able to social distance,
he said they ultimately declined
his original request to teach over
Zoom.
“I
met
with
the
interim
department chair, and they were
willing to provide accommoda-
tions to make me feel safer, but
there’s no way to completely
teach online,” Aguinaldo said.
“They essentially said, ‘if you
refuse to teach in person, then
we have to remove you from your
position.’”
Individual departments at the
University are subject to college
guidelines concerning teaching
format and online instruction
requests.
After the meeting, Aguinaldo
said he left feeling like his voice
was not heard and his situation
not considered.
“I made it pretty clear that
I was angry with the way the
conversation went and the way
consequences
were
framed,”
Aguinaldo said. “I felt like it kind
of devalued the safety of my fam-
ily.”
According to Glauser, these
feelings of frustration are the
general sentiment felt among
GSIs whose requests for accom-
modations have not been met.
“I know of at least ten people
who have not been able to get
accommodations,” Glauser said.
“At this very moment, we’re still
fighting to get them remote work
or extra accommodations for in-
person work so that they’re safe.”
With the Faculty Senate’s
recent passing of the motion
advocating for the incorporation
of faculty input into the Univer-
sity’s in-person teaching policy,
Kelow-Bennett said she hopes
University leadership will con-
sider faculty concerns and trust
instructors
to
govern
them-
selves.
“This moment is a critical
moment for central adminis-
tration to rethink how they are
using their power and to rethink
what faculty governance really
looks like,” Kelow-Bennett said.
“What we need are the flexibil-
ity and the support to be able to
make the decisions that we need
to make in order for everyone to
navigate this pandemic.”
Daily Staff Reporters Justin
O’Beirne and Evan DeLorenzo can
be reached at justinob@umich.
edu and evandelo@umich.edu.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
2 — Wednesday, October 20, 2021
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is publishing weekly on Wednesdays for the
Winter 2021 semester by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available
free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office
for $2. If you would like a current copy of the paper mailed to you, please visit store.
pub.umich.edu/michigan-daily-buy-this-edition to place your order.
BRITTANY BOWMAN
Managing Editor babowm@umich.edu
BARBARA COLLINS and LIAT WEINSTEIN
Managing News Editors news@michigandaily.com
Senior News Editors: Emma Ruberg, Hannah Mackay, Calder Lewis, Jasmin
Lee, Kristina Zheng, Lily Gooding
Investigative Editor: Sammy Sussman
FOIA Manager: Ayse Eldes
ELIZABETH COOK and JOEL WEINER
Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Senior Opinion Editors: Julian Barnard, Brandon Cowit, Shubhum Giroti, Jessie
Mitchell, Evan Stern
ELISE GODFRYD and ELIZABETH YOON
Managing Arts Editors
arts@michigandaily.com
ALLISON ENGKVIST and MADDIE HINKLEY
Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com
ANDIE HOROWITZ
Managing Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com
Deputy Editors: Samantha Cole, Leo Krinsky
MADISON GAGNE and OLIVIA BRADISH
Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com
Senior Copy Editors: Caroline Atkinson, Anjali Chiravuri, Ethan Patrick,
Kelsey Burke, Emily Wilson, Vanita Seed, Ellen Howell, Kathryn Kulie, Rena
McRoy, Alison Chesnick
PARTH DHYANI and NAITIAN ZHOU
Managing Online Editors
webteam@michigandaily.com
IULIA DOBRIN and ANNIKA WANG
Managing Video Editors video@michigandaily.com
Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Noor Moughni, Maya Kadouh, Eliya Imtiaz,
Jessica Kwon, Lola Yang
Senior Sports Editors: Drew Cox, Lily Friedman, Jack Kingsley, Brendan Roose,
Daniel Dash, Jared Greenspan, Jacob Cohen
Senior Video Editors: Margaret Rudnick, Jordan Shefman
Senior Social Media Editors: Kirti Aplash, Natalie Knight, Cristina Costin,
Ryan Postman, Evan DeLorenzo, Sarah Kent, Bella Morreale
Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327
www.michigandaily.com
ARTS SECTION
arts@michigandaily.com
SPORTS SECTION
sports@michigandaily.com
NEWS TIPS
tipline@michigandaily.com
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
EDITORIAL PAGE
opinion@michigandaily.com
TARA MOORE
Business Manager
business@michigandaily.com
CLAIRE HAO
Editor-in-Chief
eic@michigandaily.com
PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION
photo@michigandaily.com
NEWSROOM
news@michigandaily.com
CORRECTIONS
corrections@michigandaily.com
LANE KIZZIAH and KENT SCHWARTZ
Managing Sports Editors sports@michigandaily.com
Senior Arts Editors: Kari Anderson, Drew Gadbois, Andrew Pluta, Grace
Tucker, Sophia Yoon
Arts Beat Editors: Lilly Pearce, Peter Hummer, Mik Deitz, Sabriya Imami,
Kaitlyn Fox, Anya Soller
SHANNON STOCKING and ALLISON YIH
Managing Design Editors
design@michigandaily.com
ANAMIKA KANNAN and GABRIJELA SKOKO
Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com
HALEY JOHNSON and ASHA LEWIS
Managing Social Media Editors socialmedia@michigandaily.com
Editorial Staff
Business Staff
Senior Photo Editors: Emma Mati, Miles Macklin, Becca Mahon, Julia
Schachinger
Assistant Photo Editors: Grace Beal, Tess Crowley, Kate Hua, Jarett Orr,
Dominick Sokotoff
RORI MILLER
Creative Director
EMILY OHL and GERALD SILL
Managing Podcast Editors podeditors@michigandaily.com
SCHUYLER JANZEN
Sales Manager
ADVERTISING
WMG-contact@umich.edu
JACK GRIEVE
Digital Managing Editor jgrieve@umich.edu
ALEX HARRING and SARAH SZALAI
Co-Chairs of Access & Inclusion accessandinclusion@michigandaily.com
Senior Podcast Editors: Doug McClure, Max Rosenzweig, Avin Katyal
ACADEMICS
UMich faculty experience difficulty with
requesting the ability to teach remotely
Some professors, GSIs are frustrated they can’t teach online despite safety concerns
EVAN DELORENZO &
JUSTIN O’BEIRNE
Daily Staff Reporters
Associate Editor: Julia Maloney
SARAH BOEKE/Daily
Fall colors around Nichols Arboretum start to shine through the afternoon of Oct. 14.
PHOTO