By Sydney Rodriguez and Matt Hirsch
Various CUNY student governments expressed their concerns about in-person learning in a letter to CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, requesting the university to reconsider its 70% capacity policy as COVID cases and the Omicron variant persisted. Some demands include more remote options until the end of 2022, an in-person class capacity of 50%, and more transparency as CUNY deals with the pandemic.
“For your administration to dictate that students go back to school resembles how out of touch our leaders are with our situations at home or even the science behind COVID-19,” written in the letter signed by various CUNY student governments.
The letter also demands open communication between CUNY and student government presidents and the University Student Senate Steering on plans to ensure students’ safety and health needs.
“My concern is that the Chancellor is not being transparent to the CUNY community about faculty and staff vaccinations status,” Saaif Alam, USS Vice Chair for Disability Affairs, told The Vanguard. “Although the Chancellor mandated students to get their booster shot or they will not be able to enroll in summer and fall 2022 courses, students are not made aware whether or not faculty members and staff members have the same mandate.”
All faculty are required to be fully vaccinated, according to CUNY’s official website, though they were not mandated to during the fall semester. Students without medical or relgious exemption, however, were required to get the COVID jab for on-campus access since the fall. Alam, who contributed to USS’s letter to Chancellor Matos Rodríguez had further concerns for CUNY students with disabilities.
“As USS Vice Chair of Disability Affairs, I strongly advocated in the letter with my colleague from School of Professional Studies, Jamie Brecher, USS and CCSD Delegate for more online course flexibility so some students with disabilities can succeed during the pandemic since they do not feel safe taking in person classes,” said Alam. “As student leaders we are expecting the Chancellor to communicate with us more so we can relay his updates to the student body.”
Along with the letters from student governments and University Student Senate Committees across CUNY, a Change.org petition asking Chancellor Matos Rodríguez to “save online classes at CUNY” amassed over 25,000 signatures.