Vaccine Survey Results plus Health & Safety Agreement

4/5/2021

Dear FSU Members,

I wanted to inform you about two important matters- the FSU vaccine survey results and the recent union coalition memorandum of agreement on health and safety matters.

Vaccine Survey Results:

Over 400 members participated in the vaccine survey. The response was fairly definitive. 

Around 90% of faculty/librarians said that faculty (90.82%), staff (90.8%), and students (89.73%) should be required to be vaccinated to be on campus in the Fall.  The (ever-so-slightly) lower percentage of faculty/librarians who thought students should be vaccinated is probably explained by the fact that a couple commented that our students face enough hurdles and/or have poorer access to the vaccine.  Even still, the response was overwhelmingly in favor of requiring vaccines for those on campus.  In addition, about 60% said that the campus should not be open to the public in the Fall.

Not surprisingly, the comments tended to echo the larger data – that the university requires other vaccines (with various exemptions), that the Covid vaccine is free and will be widely available by the Fall, and that everyone should be vaccinated before returning to campus.  Vaccines now!  Period!  

Others raised a variety of health concerns – ventilation, cleanliness, social distancing – around returning to campus (see note below about recent Health and Safety agreement), including issues with taking public transportation.  Some faculty suggested we will not be at herd immunity by the Fall, the campus will not be safe, and students/faculty/staff should be given the option to work from home.  Others were concerned with having to police students with respect to wearing masks and social distancing.

A small minority suggested that requiring vaccines could be a civil rights violation; that it is a personal choice and should not be mandated; that the vaccine is still technically experimental and could not be required; or that it simply was not practicable.

But, in the end, around 90% believed the vaccine should be required for those coming to campus in the Fall.  

Health and Safety Agreement: 

For the past several months, the campus unions (CSU, DCU, FSU, GEO PSU) have been negotiating a Health and Safety Agreement with the Administration.  Like any agreement, it is not everything we hoped for.  You will, however, see that some of the issues around ventilation (HVAC systems, etc.) and cleanliness have been addressed (however imperfectly).  Perhaps equally important, the agreement mandates ongoing meetings around Health and Safety – the discussions will continue as old issues develop and new ones emerge.  So it is important that you continue to communicate concerns and issues to the FSU (fsu@umb.edu).

Steve Striffler

FSU President