After the September COVID-19 outbreak and the shift to online classes, the administration’s long-awaited decisions about spring 2021 are beginning to emerge. 

Initially, there were signs of a general agreement with the administration: the majority of TAUP members would be working off-campus in the spring and would have the decision to opt-in to in-person instruction in consultation with their supervisors. We expected the number of in-person sections would be consistent with current numbers from the fall. 

Then last week, members in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) and Science and Technology (CST) received messages from their deans. Pressure was coming from central administration to increase the number of in-person sections. More specifically, a 20% quota was mentioned for CST, and more recently in the College of Education.

Members from these schools were asked to “volunteer” to teach in-person. Full-time faculty did not yet know whether their expected assignments were online or face-to-face sections. In CLA, only 48 hours were given for these faculty members to decide whether they would volunteer.

Adjuncts received the request without even knowing if they were going to receive any job offer.  A request to any contingent worker (adjuncts, non-tenure track and tenure-track faculty) to “volunteer” is a high-stakes proposition.  Not volunteering easily becomes a threat to one’s job stability and livelihood.  In addition, important information about safety measures, such as details about the expanded testing and contact tracing, have yet to be announced.

 TAUP’s response
 On Sunday night, an emergency meeting of TAUP’s Executive Committee (EC) was called to discuss the pressure for contingent faculty to volunteer.  Many of these members would reasonably worry that employment in the spring or subsequent semesters may be dependent on a willingness to risk infection. No worker should have to make that choice, unless it is essential for their work to be done in person. 

On Monday, TAUP’s leadership reached out with concerns about in-person quotas.  A senior member of the administration gave assurances that there will be no quota for in-person classes at any school or college for spring 2021. 

Though that message was good to hear, with conflicting messages coming from central administration and deans, it’s important to contact the union office if you are being told that you must teach in person. Contact us at taupaft@gmail.com.  

The administration has also told us that details about increased testing and contract tracing would be available soon. 

The TAUP EC is calling on the administration to provide contracts to workers before inquiring as to whether they will “volunteer” to teach in person and to assure all members without tenure, full-time and part-time, that their prospects for future employment will not be harmed by their decision.  

This is what a true opt-in would look like.   

Meanwhile, Temple has provided no evidence to justify the need for an increase in face-to-face classes in the midst of a worsening pandemic, including any evidence of student demand. Even if this were the case, public health concerns must outweigh pressures to increase potential virus exposure, and like this semester, only courses which must meet in person for legal/licensing purposes should be required to do so. 

The union remains resolute in its demand for members to choose to work online for health or pedagogical reasons and will continue to discuss concerns with the administration.  After the recent discussions, TAUP President Steve Newman stated, “We’ve made some progress, but we are not yet satisfied.” 

For members who want to be proactive, we will be discussing how to respond to pressure to teach in-person in both union-wide and in our college/school organizing committees.  Please contact Jenna Siegel to connect to your school’s organizing group.