UFF-UNF’s Activity Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic
As with the rest of the world, UFF-UNF continues to monitor the effects of the novel coronavirus. In March 2020, UNF moved all Spring and Summer 2020 on-campus courses to online/distance learning instruction, effectively limiting campus activities to essential services. UFF-UNF remains committed to ensuring transparency in universities policies related to faculty. In doing so, UFF-UNF continues impact bargaining sessions, resulting in various important agreements to support faculty rights. Below is a summary of UFF-UNF’s activities related to pandemic:
- Memorandum of Understanding (4/10/2020)
- Ensures faculty ownership of faculty-created content of any course converted to remote instruction during the Spring and Summer semesters of 2020.
- Permits faculty who are unable to deliver assigned courses to completion the ability to transfer course materials to another faculty member during the Spring and Summer 2020 semesters.
- Allows individual faculty to determine administration of ISQs for courses taught in Spring and Summer 2020 semesters.
- Allows individual faculty to determine use of ISQs for courses taught in Spring and Summer 2020 to be used for annual evaluation and tenure appraisal.
- Allows individual faculty to determine use of ISQs for courses taught in Spring and Summer 2020 to be used for tenure or promotion dossier.
- Adjusts the administration schedule of Spring ISQs for timely completion of faculty ISQ opt-out form.
- Confirms that tenure-track faculty can exercise the option to increase the tenure-earning period by one year (in addition to periods pursuant to the CBA), and that the University will collaborate with UFF for consequential protocol enforcement.
- Acknowledges online attendance to approved conferences for Spring and Summer 2020 semesters be treated as equal to in-person attendance.
- Confirms all other CBA rights will be retained during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Town Hall event (5/19-5/29/2020)
- In response to the BOG’s plan to move forward with reopening universities in the fall, UFF-UNF planned a Town Hall event to discuss a range of issues affecting faculty, including remote work and campus safety.
- Prior to the event, solicited feedback via a Google Doc where faculty could anonymously voice questions, comments, needs, and concerns about the reopening of campus in 2020.
- Forwarded a list of 45 questions gathered from the Google Doc to Provost Rhodes and FA leaders and requested answers
- Held a zoom Town Hall discussion with 70+ in attendance to develop policy positions on areas of evident consensus, to then be sent to Provost Rhodes and President Szymanski.
- Letter to Provost, President, and BOT (6/1-6/2/2020)
- Sent letters to Provost Rhodes and President Szymanski (with the BOT cc’d), documenting consensus findings based on the May 29th Town Hall event, preceding activities related to the coronavirus pandemic, and BOG’s plan to reopen campus for the Fall 2020 semester.
- Explained the purpose, timeline, and hopeful impacts of the Town Hall event.
- Delivered consensus findings, including the need for guidelines to be driven by data/science; individual faculty rights to determine mode of teaching; implementation of CDC guidelines for cleaning/disinfecting campus spaces; implementation and enforcement of safety protocols for all individuals on campus.
- Reported on Google Doc findings, including policy, safety, course instruction, and healthcare concerns.
- Letter to President (6/27/2020)
- Urged President Szymanski to pause the university’s plan to reopen campus on August 5, 2020.
- Asked for the implementation of a fully remote start of Fall 2020 classes, beginning August 17, 2020.
- Memorandum of Understanding (6/30/2020)
- Retains the responsibility of UNF and UFF to responsibly plan for campus reopening, guided by the Florida Board of Governors Blueprint.
- Commits UNF and UFF to incorporate the University’s environmental health and safety procedures and COVID-19 related protocols regarding high risk populations, social distancing, sanitizing and cleaning, prevention methods and transmission minimizations, and CDC, FLDOH, an DCDOH recommendations when enforcing procedures and recommendations.
- Acknowledges the need to remain agile and ready to revise procedures and recommendations in preparation for the fall semester in addition to acknowledging the need for UNF and UFF to work together (along with the larger campus community) to create a safe campus environment.
- Reinforces safety protocol procedures in Article 15 of the CBA.
- Confirms all other CBA rights and collective bargaining rights will be retained during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Forum on Faculty Rights (7/31/2020)
- Zoom event held for in-unit faculty to highlight faculty rights and protections per the CBA and MOUs reached as a result of impact bargaining.
- Presented updates from the UFF-UNF Faculty Bargaining Team
- Held a Q&A for faculty with questions concerning their rights in light of the COVID-19’s impact on faculty activities
- Memorandum of Understanding (9/1/2020)
- Ensures faculty ownership of faculty-created content of any course converted to remote instruction during the Fall semester of 2020.
- Permits faculty who are unable to deliver assigned courses to completion the ability to transfer course materials to another faculty member during the Spring and Summer 2020 semesters.
- Allows for tenure-track faculty (including new faculty starting in the Fall 2020 semester) to increase the tenure-earning period by one year (timeline extended to December 15, 2020).
- Ensures that attendance to online conferences be regarded as the same as in-person attendance for Fall 2020.
- Confirms all other CBA rights will be retained during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Memorandum of Understanding (2/17/2021)
- Permits faculty to address the impact of COVID in their Annual Evaluation Portfolio/Annual Report of Activities
- Reminds faculty of the option to include a self-rating in their Annual Evaluation Portfolio/Annual Report of Activities
- Inserts a COVID statement that accompanies ISQ results for Academic Year 2020-2021 and Summers 2020-2021 (to be included when preparing promotion and tenure dossiers in the future)
- Inserts a COVID statement (watermark) on Annual Evaluations (to stay attached when preparing promotion and tenure dossiers in the future)
- Permits the inclusion of a “Teaching, Research and Service COVID-19 Chair Statement” in annual evaluations (to be included when preparing promotion and tenure dossiers in the future)
- Agrees that any future impacts on ISQs as a result of the pandemic can be raised and both sides will engage in good-faith bargaining on those impacts
- Extends relevant provisions of prior MOUs
- Memorandum of Understanding (3/4/2021)
- Extends visiting appointments currently contracted for the 2020-21 academic year, when offered by the university, by one additional year for the 2021-22 academic year, for a maximum of five years
- Chapter Grievance (5/7/2021)
- A UNF announcement that lifted an on-campus mask mandate breached a ratified Memorandum of Understanding to follow health and safety guidelines put forward by public health departments, including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
- Following the university’s announcement, chapter leadership sought faculty feedback in the form of a Google Doc, which faculty accessed and commented on from 5/8/2021-5/11/2021
- An informal resolution meeting was held between UFF-UNF and UNF representatives on 5/18/2021
- A formal grievance hearing was held on 8/11/2021
- Joint Statement with FA on Change to Mask Policy (5/12/2021)
- From Faculty Association (FA) and UFF-UNF leadership, this statement expresses concern “with UNF’s announcement about the change to its mask policy.”
- UFF-UNF Virtual Town Hall (8/5/2021)
- Zoom event held to gather insight from all in-unit faculty regarding potential impacts of the pandemic and the university’s Fall 2021 reopening policies
- Petition to Keep Our UNF Community Safe (8/8/2021)
- A community petition was created with three simple asks of the UNF BOT, President, Provost, VPs, and Deans: 1) Return to the bargaining table to consider UFF-UNF’s proposed MOU; 2) Honor previous commitments to campus safety by following CDC guidelines; and, 3) Show compassion for the UNF community and their health and safety.
- www.change.org/
keepUNFsafe
- UFF-UNF Day of Action (8/12/2021)
- Peaceful rally outside of the Student Union on campus during the 8/12/2021 BOT meeting provides the UNF community with a space to express their feelings on the recent announcements made by the university in light of the ongoing pandemic.
- Both the rally and meeting received local media coverage: First Coast News, WJCT, News4Jax.
FYI: Health and Safety Reporting
University Policy alongside Article 15 of the CBA dictates how and when campus community members should report, investigate, and resolve unsafe conditions, including those related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reporting: As university employees, it is our duty to report unsafe conditions, per university policy, to a direct supervisor. These unsafe conditions should be reported to Environmental Health and Safety online via: https://www.unf.edu/ehs/Report_a_Safety_Hazard.aspx
Investigating: University employees should not perform tasks which involve acts or conditions they have reported to be unsafe until receiving clearance from their supervisor. The Director of EHS shall reply to the reported concern within 7 days after notification of the faculty member’s concern. This reply shall be in writing when the concern was communicated in writing.
Outcomes and Protections: If the outcome or resulting action doesn’t adequately alleviate a faculty member’s concerns or meet the time requirements for intervention, employees should reach out to UFF-UNF. There are no penalties or disincentives related to reporting hazards or unsafe acts.
