March 17, 2022_Ex Com E-Vote- Mask Mandate Letter
FSU EX COMM E-VOTE 3/17/22
E-vote on multi-union letter to the Chancellor regarding the removal of the university’s mask mandate. Ex Comm votes for FSU to sign on to the letter. (10 in favor).
From: Steve Striffler <Steve.Striffler@umb.edu>
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2022 12:31 PM
To: Jeffrey Melnick <Jeffrey.Melnick@umb.edu>; Sana Haroon <Sana.Haroon@umb.edu>; Lynne B Benson <Lynne.Benson@umb.edu>; Monique Fuguet <Monique.Fuguet@umb.edu>
Cc: Caroline Coscia <Caroline.Coscia@umb.edu>; D'Urso, Katie <kdurso@massteacher.org>; Dana Commesso <Dana.Commesso@umb.edu>; Faculty Staff Union <FSU@umb.edu>; Jessica R Holden <Jessica.Holden@umb.edu>; Jose Martinez-Reyes <Jose.Martinez-Reyes@umb.edu>; Linda Ai-Yun Liu <Linda.Liu@umb.edu>; Meghan E Kallman <Meghan.Kallman@umb.edu>; Tim Sieber <Tim.Sieber@umb.edu>; Travis Johnston <Travis.Johnston@umb.edu>
Subject: FSU - Ex-Comm -- two issue -- quick thoughts
Sorry for the barrage of emails during Spring break. Two things….both somewhat tied to the university effectively lifting the mask mandate on Monday the 28th.
1) First, are we okay with sending the below letter – coming from FSU, DCU, PSU, CSU, and GEO? We would send to Chancellor on Monday. It may get modified a bit in the interim…
2) As you may have seen, the campus unions will be hosting a presentation of the ventilation report from the MTA experts on Friday, March 25th from 12-1:30. Save the date! I realize the time isn’t perfect, but the noonish time comes from staff unions. We’ve been trying to get Admin to settle on a date for this presentation….but it just never happened. But they have been invited.
Letter…………..
Dear Chancellor Suárez-Orozco,
The campus unions representing faculty, staff and graduate students write to urge you to keep the mask mandate in place through the Spring semester. The mandate has been working, the UMass Boston community is used to it, and there is no real demand for it to be lifted. Removing the mandate in the middle the semester not only poses a health risk, but will be unnecessarily disruptive for employees and students who returned to campus this semester on the assumption that our community would be vaccinated and masked. There is no reason to lift the mandate prior to the end of the semester – something the unions have communicated to others in your Administration on multiple occasions.
Sincerely…..all campus unions…