Faculty members take issue with test-only COVID policy at Modesto Junior College
Faculty members at Modesto Junior College are worried about the risks of teaching classes with a mixture of students who are vaccinated and not vaccinated against COVID-19.
Aishah Saleh, a humanities professor and president of the MJC Academic Senate, told Yosemite Community College District trustees Wednesday that a test-only program approved by the board Oct. 20 places “in peril the lives, livelihood and future of students, faculty, administrators and their families.”
A COVID vaccine mandate at public universities in California is credited with allowing students to safely return to lecture halls and lab classes after taking online courses for months.
Community colleges like MJC and Columbia near Sonora were not included in the vaccine mandates imposed at University of California and state university campuses. The 73 community college districts in the state are responsible for setting their own contagious disease measures.
Last month, the YCCD board over MJC and Columbia decided against a vaccine mandate for students and staff. The colleges plan to bring thousands of students in remote learning back to classrooms in the spring semester under a COVID testing program for both vaccinated and unvaccinated students.
MJC’s Academic Senate has argued a test-only policy is fiscally irresponsible and may be dangerous for professors teaching in classrooms this spring. Saleh presented the faculty concerns at the YCCD board meeting Wednesday evening.
Vaccinations have been shown to reduce the risk of contracting the virus and preventing serious illness. Vaccinated people with breakthrough infections can transmit the virus to other people.
A survey of faculty members found nearly 80% support for a policy requiring students and staff to make a choice between vaccination or frequent testing. Another option could be a vaccination requirement, which would allow students and staff to opt out for medical or religious reasons.
Saleh said the YCCD testing requirement resulted in a reallocation of $5 million and is the most expensive measure in trying to ensure safety in classrooms. The professors contend that a test-only policy will bring fewer students back to in-person classes and labs because of the need for distancing in classes that combine vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
Students testing positive will trigger isolation and quarantine protocols and could interrupt courses and labs that students need to continue their education.
Most everyone agrees the college needs to put more students in classrooms to reverse an unprecedented enrollment decline that’s coincided with the pandemic, or MJC could become a smaller college with long-term financial difficulties.
Saleh said faculty members are hearing that the college may not have physical distancing in face-to-face classrooms this spring. “While this decision still doesn’t make (the plan) fiscally sound, it does make it more dangerous,” she said.
The YCCD board members did not discuss the input from the Academic Senate.
Board member Nancy Hinton said Thursday she is not to the point where she can vote for mandating the vaccine. She said she knows of six people who came down with COVID-19 in the last 45 days, and three were fully vaccinated.
“They cannot prove there are no long-term effects,” Hinton said. “We have not had enough time for them to show the vaccines are safe.”
Hinton said she is fully vaccinated and supports an incentive for students to get the shots. She said the test program at MJC should include an initial test for vaccinated people because of breakthrough infections.
Distancing rules may depend on vaccination rate
MJC president Santanu Bandyopadhyay said Thursday that distancing protocols in the spring semester may depend on how many returning students are vaccinated and how many are not. The district should get a better read in December on the number of immunized students.
The colleges are offering $500 to students who verify they are vaccinated and enroll in six or more units in the spring semester. MJC is promoting a “free college” campaign, waiving tuition and student fees, in an attempt to bring students back for the spring 2022 semester.
Bandyopadhyay cited regulations that recommend but do not require distancing protocols on campuses with mixed vaccination status.
“When we say (distancing) is recommended, it depends on what proportion of students in class have been vaccinated,” he said. “If it is 80%, are we good then? These are things we don’t know at this time.”
The MJC president said the first week of spring registration in late October was slow, but interest is picking up since the launch of the “free for me” campaign. The dedicated webpage has been getting as many as 27,000 views per day, he said.
Some students are eager to return
Catalina Martinez of Modesto has a daughter who plans to attend in-person and online courses in the spring. Her daughter is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, she said.
”In my opinion, the students are adults and it is up to each one to decide if they are vaccinated,” Martinez said.
She said she understands the need for immunizations in smaller classrooms, where students work in small groups, and she wouldn’t take issue with a vaccine mandate. The $500 incentive for immunizations should help students with buying books and other expenses, Martinez said.
The community college district budgeted $6.7 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding to pay for the tuition waiver and vaccination incentives.
The Health Services Association for California Community Colleges is asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to issue a COVID vaccine mandate for junior colleges. The group’s letter to Newsom on Nov. 1 said 33 of the 116 community colleges in the state have adopted mandatory COVID vaccinations.
Bandyopadhyay told board trustees Wednesday there may be a need for vaccinations for certain groups of students, such as those participating in theater, music and dance productions at venues requiring an immunization.
He said MJC is also close to signing an agreement with Amazon’s Career Choice program. Amazon is funding tuition for employees to take college courses and advance their education. The agreement with MJC, which is separate from the “free for me” program, will enable employees at Amazon centers in Tracy, Patterson and Turlock to take classes starting next year.
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 8:10 AM.
