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Instructors can foster adherence by educating students about the basics of COVID-19 and the Behavioral Compact, inspiring them to follow the requirements both in and out of class, and ensuring that the physical environment of the classroom supports physical distancing.
Remember that following the Behavioral Compact can be stressful at times, and that many students are already struggling with their mental health and well-being. Routinely encouraging them and/or thanking them for sticking with the requirements can help reduce the potential for “compliance fatigue” over time.
Some students may not be able to comply fully with the Behavioral Compact because of a disability or another condition. For example, a disability may prevent a student from wearing a mask/face covering. Student Disabilities Services (SDS) will notify you if a student’s disability will affect their compliance with the Compact. In addition, SDS will notify departments (e.g., Environmental Health and Safety and/or Cornell Health) that will identify alternative mitigation measures (e.g., adding additional distance between the student’s seat and others, a switch to online instruction) and guidance on explaining these measures to the other students in your class. If a student conveys that they have a condition that is not a registered disability but which interferes with their compliance, contact SDS for guidance.
As an instructor, you may now have responsibility for communicating, and potentially enforcing, a university behavioral policy. This role may elicit emotions for you, including apprehension or frustration. You may also have concerns for your own health, and have a low tolerance for any behavior that may pose a risk. Ideally, by fostering a positive classroom environment and setting clear expectations, you will minimize the risk that you will have to confront students who are not following the requirements.
While the Behavioral Compact delineates minimum requirements for students, you can use discretion about how to enforce those provisions in your classroom. For example, you may decide to have a “no eating in class” policy, since students would need to remove their masks in order to eat. Or you might ask the students closest to you to sit further than 6 feet away.
Regular classrooms will be arranged so seats are 6 feet apart. If there is fixed seating, seats will be blocked off. This work will be done by local facilities teams. Each assigned seat will be numbered in the room’s seating plan. Faculty can take their student list from faculty center and assign a number to each student. Lab and studio spaces may require different arrangements (e.g., if specialized equipment is involved). In those cases the responsibility for arranging the space lies with the department, in collaboration with local facilities teams.
Distributing reading material electronically will reduce the risk of viral transmission in the classroom and reinforce the importance of physical distancing. If you use handouts, the lowest risk approach would be to place them on seats prior to class. If necessary, place the handouts at the beginning of each row for students to pick up before moving to their seat. Avoid passing materials directly to students, and tell students not to pass materials between each other.
It is important to remember that we are currently experiencing both a pandemic and a national crisis related to racial injustice. In particular, many Black students and other students of color have experienced trauma due to longstanding and recent acts of police violence. In addition, Asian American and Asian students may have experienced race-related stress and fear of discrimination due to COVID-related racism, xenophobia, and acts of bias. When talking with students about their behavior related to COVID-19 prevention, be mindful that many students of color have experienced unjust treatment by authorities or by others in positions of power (including in the context of higher education). It is vital that enforcement of the Behavioral Compact be done in a way that is equitable and fair.
If we see a person who is engaging in problematic behavior related to COVID-19 (such as not following the Behavioral Compact), a natural tendency is to interpret the person’s behavior as a reflection of who they are as a person. For example, if the person is not wearing a mask, we might make assumptions, become angry, and think something negative about the student as a person (e.g., “He is so selfish.”). Furthermore, if we perceive that the person is different than us (e.g., differing in race or ethnicity), we may be even more likely to attribute their behavior to an internal quality. By contrast, if we ourselves are not adhering to the guidelines in a given moment, we are more likely to explain our behavior in relation to our circumstance. For example, if you find yourself walking down a hallway (passing students) without a face covering, you might say to yourself, “Uh-oh, I forgot my mask,” or “I’m in a real hurry but I’ll get a mask as soon as I reach my classroom.”
To summarize, if you see a student who is not in compliance, start by assuming good intentions. A student who is not wearing a mask may have forgotten to bring theirs, or they may be feeling overheated and hoping no one will notice (even though they normally wear one, and do so properly). If they are truly resistant, this will become obvious.
