A Call for Action: Love and Honor is a Matter of Public Health

As a public university, Miami has a responsibility to lead our community through the pandemic by promoting public health information and best practices. But despite the approaching return of students and start of classes, Miami University leadership has yet to release a COVID safety plan for the Fall 2021 semester. We are hearing from worried faculty, staff and students who need a safe environment not just for study and work, but to protect their loved ones (including unvaccinated children) and a broader community at risk.

We call on Miami University leadership to take urgent steps to protect our community by

• Following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Ohio Department of Health.
  
• Requiring face coverings indoors (barring appropriate exceptions). The CDC’s new guidance strongly recommends masking indoors, even for vaccinated individuals. Butler County is already experiencing “substantial” community transmission. Though political pressure may constrain the state from mandating masks in schools, Governor DeWine has made it clear that  “[s]chools, hospitals, and other employers may choose to require masks in their buildings. That will remain their choice.” Miami can and should require masking. 
  
• Requiring and incentivizing vaccination for students and employees. We appreciate the university’s efforts to encourage vaccination, but we must take stronger action to ensure a safe fall. Miami has the legal right and ethical obligation to keep students and workers safe through vaccination. Over 600 schools, including Cleveland State University, the University of Michigan, and many other publics, have added the COVID vaccination to their list of required vaccinations. Many require weekly testing for unvaccinated students and employees (Ohio State University and elsewhere). Many more (including Ohio State) require students to share vaccination status. Although Ohio legislators have ill-advisedly passed a law banning Ohio schools from requiring vaccinations, the law will not take effect until October, by which time it may no longer apply. Miami can and should require vaccinations now. 
  
• Permitting the option of remote work and study when appropriate for health and safety; also, legitimate, documented ADA requests for remote work must be honored.
  
• Sharing information about disinfection, ventilation, and other critical COVID mitigation efforts appropriate to the Delta-variant COVID surge.

We urge Miami University leadership to engage in shared governance while making these crucial decisions. As far as we know, plans have not yet been discussed with the Return to Campus committees formed last year to advise management, and information on how Miami is adapting to Delta-stage COVID has not been discussed with or distributed to students, faculty or staff. Less than a year ago, Miami faculty voted to call on university leadership to do more to ensure shared governance. Times are volatile—but shared governance results in better decision-making, especially at times of crisis.

Other schools are taking action now, giving their students, faculty and staff adequate time to prepare to be safe on campus later this month. Miami leadership needs to act now to ensure that faculty and staff are meaningfully involved in safety decisions affecting not only their lives and health, but the health of our region. 

*Update: Please see AAUP comments on the Provost’s August 4, 2021 COVID safety email.