Passed: September 10, 2021
Vote results with comments
President Pollack and Provost Kotlikoff Response
Posted: September 8, 2021
Sponsors: (see list of additional faculty sponsors below)
Senators:
Richard Bensel
Laurent Dubreuil
Julia Finkelstein
Denise Green
Risa Lieberwitz
Trevor Pinch
Courtney Roby
Kora von Wittelsbach
Andrew Yen
Background:
This resolution concerns the autonomy of faculty and instructors as they attempt to conduct their classes during the pandemic. With the rising number of positive cases among the students in those classes, this has become a major issue throughout the University. The resolution has been endorsed by more than 64 faculty member cosponsors, including 9 Faculty Senators, and by the Cornell Chapter of the AAUP (American Association of University Professors).
Irene Mulvey, national AAUP President, has issued a statement that reflects the spirit behind our resolution:
“Let’s be clear: the fight for a safe working environment as we begin the new academic year is our fight since it is inextricably linked to genuine shared governance and collaborative decision making, and to academic freedom in the classroom and on campus. Faculty are the ones taking all the risks in our classrooms. It is outrageous for a faculty member to find herself in a position where she needs to consider the probability of bringing the virus home where it might be responsible for the death of a vulnerable family member. When the administration isn’t making the best decisions for the institution, it’s the faculty’s responsibility to stand up, speak out and do all they can to ensure that the core academic mission is carried out in the most effective way for the circumstances. As AAUP president, I thank you for your work in this regard. I am privileged to represent members of the AAUP as we work together during these very trying times.”
The Resolution:
Whereas, faculty and instructors are responsible for quality of the instruction that they provide in the courses that they offer and the health and safety of students in their classrooms;
Whereas, the University has said that “[our] data show that the best ways to reduce the risk of transmission are to wear masks, to socially distance, to gather outside as much as possible, and to gather only in small groups”;[1]
Whereas, many classrooms require that students, faculty, and instructors must sit in close proximity to one another in conditions where adequate ventilation is either impossible to maintain or difficult to ascertain;
Whereas, faculty and instructors have not been given detailed information on the frequency of student-to-student and student-to-faculty/instructor transmission in the classroom;
Whereas, many students have been infected with coronavirus, have had to isolate themselves, and thus missed classes as a consequence;
Whereas, faculty and instructors have not always been told in a timely way about those students who have tested positive;
Whereas, pedagogical methods, classroom routines, and styles of instruction vary widely in the University and should always, for that reason, be the responsibility of individual faculty and instructors;
Whereas, all faculty and instructors are eager to be teaching in-person, so long as doing so will be conducive to a safe and healthy learning environment for faculty, instructors, staff, and students;
Whereas, given all these factors, faculty and instructors must and should rely on their own judgment as they adapt to the uncertainties imposed by the pandemic;
Whereas, the pedagogical decision to teach on-line on a temporary basis should be left to the sole discretion of individual faculty and instructors when they determine that the conditions for a safe and effective instruction environment requires doing so;
Be it resolved, that the Faculty Senate demands that Cornell University adopt and announce a policy that individual faculty and instructors have the sole discretion to decide to teach on-line on a temporary basis when they determine that the conditions for a safe and effective instruction environment require doing so.
Faculty Sponsors:
Chloe Ahmann
Catherine Appert
David Bateman
Richard Bensel
C. Brainerd
David Brown
Anthony Burrow
Eric Cheyfitz
Sherry Colb
Erin Cornwell
Ileen DeVault
Ella Maria Diaz
Molly Diesing
Laurent Dubreuil
Shimon Edelman
Matthew Evanelista
Darlene Evans
Julia Finkelstein
J. Ellen Gainer
Shannon Gleeson
William Goldsmith
Denise Green
James Gross
George Hay
Allison Weiner Heinemann
TJ Hinrichs
Saida Hodzic
Barbara Holden-Smith
Paul Houston
Karolina Hubner
Sheri Lynn Johnson
Eunjung Kim
David Levitsky
Bruce Levitt
Risa Lieberwitz
Kathleen Long
Kate McCullogh
Estelle McKee
Joanie Mackowski
Kate Manne
Natalie Melas
Jane Mendle
Juno Salazar Parrenas
Trevor Pinch
David Powers
Rachel Prentice
Aziz Rana
Riche Richardson
Russell Rickford
Courtney Roby
Itziar Rodriguez de Rivera
Nerissa Russell
Neil Saccamano
Landon Schnabel
Anette Schwartz
Suman Seth
Rebeca Slayton
Barbara Strupp
Noah Tamarkin
Mildred Warner
Lenora Warren
Rachel Weil
Kora von Wittelsbach
Andrew Yen
[1] Ryan Lombardi, September 3, 2021 (emphasis in original)
Vote results:
Resolution 2 (Y = 53 ,N = 34, Abs = 10; DNV=31)
I have to say after working 15 years for Cornell both teaching and research, I was stunned with the inhumanity and hypocrisy of Cornell and how it handled the pandemic for faculty. It seems Cornell decided, for economic reasons, to trow faculty under the bus having disregard for their health and their family’s well being. This is while other employers around nation have transformed workplace models and Cornell that we always hold as pioneer for equity and fairness wanted to cling to the past which mainly affects most marginalized of its community!! Because of my family situation and the push by Cornell, I have considered leaving Cornell for another institution which will be a loss for my students, community and Cornell, and so have my very talented and hard working colleagues. I am encouraged to see some resolution here that is humane.
Faculty members having sole discretion may not be the best idea in terms of being able to decide to go remote. In addition, the other thing that I think should be addressed to protect students is some parameters about what it means to be remote. At least one university instructor in the Spring semester refused to record their lectures or share their slides. It was a technically difficult course and in a remote format, students really struggled. I think this issue fits under the section “that the University should adopt and announce policies that provide a broad and flexible approach for accommodating faculty, instructor, staff, and student health-related concerns;” I realize what I am suggesting would be under the “policies” portion, but I think it is important that faculty support the students especially if they are all remote, it is harder to establish peer student to student relationships in the remote classroom for note sharing to overcome faculty who, for whatever reason, refuse to make information available.