WASHINGTON - April 20, 2020 - While most other universities are waiting to see what happens regarding the pandemic, George Washington University [GWU] has announced that it will require faculty and students to return to in-person classroom teaching this fall, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

Interestingly, the article in the school newspaper first reporting on this decision, which appeared Sunday night, was mysteriously missing from the newspaper's web page on Monday morning.

Readers checking the newspaper's web page [gwhatchet.com] on Monday, when updated news is frequently posted, would not have seen the article, since it does not appear among the many others likewise pertaining to pandemic-related developments at GWU.

Interestingly, the article announcing the commencement of in-person classroom instruction this fall, despite the current crisis, did not directly mention the threats posed by any such decision, nor how the university might seek to protect faculty and students from becoming infected with the deadly and highly-contagious virus. But a university web site mentioned in the article did.

On it GWU acknowledged that "early information indicates some individuals are at HIGHER RISK of getting VERY SICK from this virus. [emphasis added] This includes older adults, and people who have serious chronic medical conditions including heart disease, diabetes and lung disease."




Faculty recognize that it would be virtually impossible to maintain social distancing in most classrooms unless radically re-configured to provide much greater distance between seats and much wider aisles, and impossible when students cram together in elevators between classes, eat together at common tables, etc.

Faculty members also understand that they are much more likely than students to be in the higher-risk-of-getting-very-sick category than students since many are over 60, obese, and/or have a wide variety of different medical conditions. That's why, for example, an article in InsideHighEd argues that "colleges must minimize the risks to those groups."

This respected higher education publication suggests "Here's how to limit risks to faculty and staff members:



* They should be given a choice between working with good personal protective equipment (PPE) or stepping away for a year on furlough pay.
* Those 60 or older or who are otherwise at high risk should be asked to teach the limited number of remote classes that will have to be a part of a responsible reopening."

Whether on not GWU will offer these or other protections remains to be seen, especially since many major decisions such as this are being made, according to the GWU Faculty Senate, without significant faculty input, and in violation of long established academic principles of shared governance (between faculty and administrators), suggests Banzhaf.

http://banzhaf.net/ jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com @profbanzhaf

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