UVM union says contact tracing for faculty is insufficient and files grievance

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The union that represents faculty members at the University of Vermont filed a grievance with the school, saying administrators failed to alert instructors when students who interacted with them tested positive for Covid. -19.

United Academics, which is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, filed the grievance on November 18. By negotiating with university officials, the union hopes to institute a contact tracing procedure that would notify faculty members when students around them test positive for Covid-19.

The grievance claimed that the alleged lack of contact tracing violated a section of the contract between faculty and administrators that guarantees safe and healthy working conditions.

United Academics cited four instances where an instructor was not notified that a student they were working with one-on-one had been diagnosed with Covid-19, as well as other instances where professors were not notified. were not informed by the administrators of several students during their tests in class. positive.

“Instructors only become aware of close contact exposure when they are notified directly by students in their classes who have tested positive,” the grievance read.

According to university policy, students are not alerted to possible exposure to Covid-19 if one of their classmates tests positive. Administrators say they adopted the policy because there was no evidence of classroom transmission during the 2020-21 academic year.

But the union rejected that reasoning, pointing out that classes last year were socially distanced, while this year they are not.

In a statement, the university said its Covid-19 policies meet or exceed guidelines from state and federal health agencies.

“We take compliance and the health and safety of our employees very seriously,” Joel Seligman, the school’s communications director, said in an email.

Seligman said the university invited union leaders to “share information with the university about any situations they are aware of where they believe COVID-19 procedures were not followed properly” and did not had not received a response. But the grievance claims that the university’s policies themselves are inadequate.

Most of the instances described in the grievance occurred when a faculty member was meeting with or instructing a student one-on-one. Although these types of interactions pose a greater risk of transmission of Covid-19, they are a necessary aspect of teaching, said United Academics President Eleanor Miller.

“It’s hard to teach someone to draw blood when you’re 6 feet away,” said sociology professor Miller.

Because the situations presented in the complaint occurred indoors, school policy states that everyone involved should wear masks. The university reports that 100% of students at the university are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and recently required all faculty and staff to be vaccinated as well.

For vaccinated people without symptoms of Covid-19, quarantine is not necessary after possible exposure, according to guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although the agency recommends getting tested and to wear a mask indoors for two weeks afterwards.

Miller said alerting professors to the infection of a student who happened to be near them shouldn’t be the responsibility of the student themselves.

Last year, teachers received a notice from administration when a student couldn’t attend class for several days, Miller said. This was interpreted by many instructors as an indication that the student had Covid-19 and effectively became a contact tracing tool for faculty.

This year, however, that system is not in place, Miller said, leaving some faculty members worried they could bring the virus home without knowing it.

“The University should recognize that faculty may have unvaccinated children or immunocompromised elderly parents and immediate family members who are at increased risk and/or may not be able to be vaccinated,” the grievance said.

Filing the grievance now triggers a meeting between union representatives and designated members of the provost’s office, said Katlyn Morris, executive director of United Academics.

If the two sides can’t resolve their differences at that meeting, then the administration is supposed to file a written response to the grievance, Morris said. After that, the union can take the dispute to the Vermont Labor Relations Board.

But union leaders are hoping the administration will step in before that point is reached and meet their demands, which also include expanding the availability of Covid-19 testing and giving instructors more flexibility to hold classes remotely.

“We need a clear (contact tracing) procedure with faculty, which we don’t have,” Miller said.