Call for mandatory Covid measures

Message from David Stewart, Faculty Association President sent to members of the Faculty Association on August 16, 2021.

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Last week in an effort to protect those who are teaching in the fall (and indeed the entire University community) as fully as possible under the situation in which we find ourselves, I was pleased that the Provost and I were able to agree that those who wished to change their modality of teaching due to COVID related concerns would be able to do so. I fully recognize that this is only a partial solution and that any decision to switch modality is difficult and many of you would like a solution that would make the return to campus and teaching in person in the fall safer. I can say that I was disappointed in the limited nature of the additional measures announced by the administration on Tuesday and have made clear in our ongoing discussions that more action is needed. I appreciate that the Provost has been willing to hear and discuss potential additional measures.

Unfortunately, as of 3 PM on August 16, no additional measures have been announced. I am therefore now publicly calling for a mandatory vaccination policy, mandatory masking, an expansion of on campus testing, contact tracing and an unequivocal requirement that those who test positive for COVID must isolate.

I appreciate the efforts made by many of you in advocating for these and other measures over the past two weeks.

Best wishes,
David

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David K Stewart
President of The University of Calgary Faculty Association and Professor of Political Science