As UNC’s campus goes quiet, NC Science and Math faculty requests all-remote learning
Faculty at the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, a residential high school in the UNC System, asked that the school be allowed to switch to all-remote learning in a letter sent Wednesday to its chancellor, the UNC System president and the chair of the UNC Board of Governors.
The letter, sent by the NCSSM’s faculty senate, notes the importance of in-person teaching and learning, then points to the decision announced Monday by UNC Chapel Hill to move all undergraduate instruction online after the confirmation of at least four clusters of COVID-19 infections in campus and off-campus housing.
The letter says that the faculty “believes that despite the time, energy and money invested by NCSSM to create a safe environment, the risks posed by the virus are still too great to bring students, faculty, and staff to campus even in a low-density model of face-to-face instruction.”
As a result, it says, the faculty “requests that all NCSSM courses move to fully remote instruction and faculty be given time to adjust curriculum and lesson plans to the new medium.”
The resolution also asks that all UNC System campuses be given the autonomy to determine the best response to the pandemic for their situation.
In a statement, the school’s chancellor, Todd Roberts, said, “I appreciate and am sensitive to their concerns,” and said the campus has taken many precautions to prevent the spread of illness. Dorms will occupied at less than 50% capacity, he said, and students will be required to social distance and wear masks everywhere but in their single-occupancy dorm rooms. All students will be required to be tested for COVID-19 before coming onto campus, he said.
“We took all of these precautions with the safety of our faculty, staff, and students in mind. We have also made preparations to pivot smoothly to fully remote instruction and will not hesitate to do so at any point that conditions warrant doing this to protect our community,” Roberts said.
By late Wednesday afternoon, the UNC System had not responded to a request for comment on the faculty’s resolution.
There are 17 institutions in the UNC System, including the School of Science and Mathematics. The high school trains academically talented students to become leaders in science, technology, engineering and math.
The school has said that it would reduce the density of occupants in its six residence halls in order to reopen for the Fall semester.
In an announcement, the school said it was using a phased approach to reopening. Employees came back in July and students began returning Aug. 16, with all scheduled to be at their dorms by Aug. 23.
The school said it would have protocols for screening and testing for the new coronavius, and would follow all guidelines for preventing the spread of illness.
The school has about 680 students in its residential program from across North Carolina.
Following UNC Chapel Hill’s switch to online classes this week, most students there will have to move off campus. International students, student athletes and students who wouldn’t otherwise have access to reliable internet service can remain.
Meanwhile, more than 70% of the state’s 1.5 million K-12 public school students started their school year with online classes this week, instead of getting in-person instruction. Remote instruction for those public school students will last for two months in many schools, and potentially longer, if the coronavirus pandemic doesn’t lessen.
More cases, more clusters expected
Orange County’s health director is expecting to see more cases and more clusters, Carrboro Fire Chief Dave Schmidt told the Town Council in a report Tuesday. The county is averaging 17 new cases a day this week, up 23% over the last three weeks.
Twenty-five UNC students went to the hospital with COVID symptoms on Friday, he said, and more were admitted over the weekend.
“At this point, no one is certain whether the UNC positive cases are impacting our numbers or not,” Schmidt said, in part because some students have been tested in Durham and other positive tests for students may have been reported to their home counties.
The state is expected to share positive student results sent to other counties with Orange County, health officials have said. That could take up to a week, they said.
“There is also a recognition that there could potentially be some duplicates in the number of cases reported for any UNC students who are truly Orange County residents,” Schmidt said, “so we’re going to be fighting through that data as we go along.”
UNC shut down athletics for 24 hours, GoHeels.com posted late Wednesday afternoon, due to an “upward trend in positive COVID-19 test on campus.” The shutdown lasts until “at least 5 p.m.” on Thursday, the site reported.
In Raleigh on Tuesday, N.C. State reported its first COVID-19 cluster in a campus-wide alert. A cluster of cases was found in an off-campus house on the 2700 block of Clark Avenue, where a party had been held earlier this month, the school reported.
On Wednesday, two new outbreaks were reported at two NC State sororities. The two new clusters were found in the sorority houses of Alpha Delta Pi and Kappa Delta, the school reported. The Alpha Delta Pi house currently has seven positive cases and the Kappa Delta house has six positive cases. Both sorority houses are part of N.C. State’s Greek VIllage.
Students there are so far continuing with in-person classes.
Melanie Flowers, student body president at NC State and a senior communications major, questioned the April decision from the Board of Governors to send all UNC system schools back to campus in the fall.
The move, she said on Wednesday, didn’t account for the vast differences between schools, or the months that have passed.
“I was incredibly frustrated by that,” Flowers said. “NC State is the largest school in the system. To make a call so early that was one size fits all, even though the individual campuses are so different, from cities like Raleigh, to towns like Boone, I don’t see a lot of flexibility or acknowledgment of those differences.”
A quiet UNC campus
UNC officials also told local leaders and staff at their weekly meeting Tuesday that about 500 students had begun checking out of UNC dorms that morning.
Wednesday morning, the campus was quiet. Parking attendants were waiting at various lots to assist families there to collect students, but only a handful of people were out.
At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Roy Cooper said law enforcement in communities where UNC schools are located need to work with campus officials to enforce limits on social gatherings.
“We want learning to be productive but we also want it to be safe.,” Cooper said.
With clusters reported also at East Carolina and Appalachian State universities, Cooper said in response to questions at the the press conference that “it’s possible” he could issue an executive order to try to limit viral spread at the school. But he said his administration is focused on working cooperatively with university administrators and local law enforcement to win student compliance with health safety orders.
Cooper said he left decisions on whether state universities could reopen and they how they might do so to the university system, though he said the Department of Health and Human Resources provided guidance.
Interim UNC System Pres. Bill Roper made the decision to reopen the system with advice from chancellors and local, state and national health experts. UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said Tuesday the decision to move the Chapel Hill campus back to all-remote learning for undergraduates was made in consultation with state and local health officials, UNC’s infectious disease experts and newly appointed System Pres. Peter Hans.
Just as individual public school districts decided when and how they would start school this fall, each university made its own plans about how much in-person and remote teaching would take place.
Staff writers Drew Jackson, Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan and Lynn Bonner contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 2:44 PM with the headline "As UNC’s campus goes quiet, NC Science and Math faculty requests all-remote learning."
