Whereas contracting COVID-19 risks serious short- and long-term harms—both to oneself and, via subsequent transmission, to the community—including long-term psychological, neurological, cardiovascular, and pulmonary harms;

Whereas only 34% of Alabamians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as of July 19, 2021;

Whereas even in several countries with more highly vaccinated populations than Alabama (such as the U.K. and Israel), daily COVID-19 cases are surging due to the Delta variant. Since May 19, 2021, new cases have increased 2300% in the U.K. and 2800% in Israel. Closer to home, since June 3, 2021, daily cases have increased 630% in Arkansas, 390% in Missouri, and 260% in Louisiana. Since July 3, 2021, daily cases in Alabama have increased 300%; and

Whereas the state of Alabama prohibits University of Alabama (UA) System schools from requiring that their students be vaccinated against COVID-19, and also prohibits them from verifying student vaccination status;

Whereas the UA System Comprehensive Health and Safety Plan states that “All unvaccinated faculty, staff, and students are required to wear face coverings inside all University buildings,” even though, with no legal way of verifying community members’ vaccination status, such a protocol is unenforceable;

Whereas the UA System Comprehensive Health and Safety Plan requires “at least three-feet circumferential distance, regardless of space size, between individuals not from the same household … in all university facilities whenever possible,” and the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) claims that this requirement “is consistent with revised Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] considerations for operating schools during COVID-19,” even though current CDC guidance restricts the “3 feet” social distancing recommendation to fully vaccinated or masked K-12 students, and recommends that unvaccinated adults wear masks and “stay 6 feet away” from people who do not live in their household;

Whereas the UA System requires all regular faculty and staff to return to campus workspaces for the 2021-2022 academic year (with few exceptions), and the UAH administration has ordered some faculty, against their best judgment, to teach in person;

THEREFORE, the undersigned UA System faculty, lecturers, staff, and students--as well as members of the broader community--urge the administrators of the UA System to:

1.     Require mask use of all persons inside classrooms and all university facilities (with few exceptions);

2.     Require six feet of distance between all persons inside classrooms and all university facilities (with few exceptions); and

3.     Permit any faculty and staff who are concerned about the safety of returning to campus workspaces to (a) work remotely or (b) take unpaid leaves of absence.

 

July 22, 2021 Postscript:

This petition was distributed for signatures on July 19, 2021. On July 20, 2021, the UA System Comprehensive Health and Safety Plan was revised.

The revised plan is less protective than the plan described above: it eliminates the universal "3 feet" social distancing policy and replaces it with an unenforceable honor system of "3 feet" of social distancing for the unvaccinated only.

In response to this revision, we again urge the administrators of the UA System to require six feet of distance between all persons inside classrooms and all university facilities (with few exceptions).

 

August 16, 2021 Postscript:

On August 9, 2021, UAH implemented a universal indoor mask mandate, thereby satisfying the first of this petition’s three demands. We applaud UAH for enacting this policy.

However, we continue to urge UAH to adopt universal social distancing indoors and to permit faculty, staff, and researchers to teach and work online (or choose to take unpaid leave).

Angela Balla, Associate Professor, English
Max Bonamente, Professor, Physics and Astronomy
Anne Marie Choup, Associate Professor, Philosophy and Political Science
Joe Conway, Associate Professor & Director of Graduate Studies, English
Heather Cross, Senior Lecturer, English
Anthony P. D'Costa, Eminent Scholar in Global Studies and Professor, Economics
Johnna Doty, Director of Music Technology and Lecturer, Music/Theatre
Lingze Duan, Professor, Physics and Astronomy
Jeremy Fischer, Associate Professor, Philosophy and Political Science
Valdez Gant, Lecturer, Mathematical Sciences
Augusta Gooch, Lecturer, Philosophy, English
John Harfouch, Associate Professor, Philosophy and Political Science
Qiang Hu, Associate Professor, Space Science
Nicholaos Jones, Professor & Department Chair, Philosophy and Political Science
Chang-kwon Kang, Associate Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Xiaotong Li, Professor, Management, Marketing and Information Systems
Phillip M. Ligrani, Professor & Eminent Scholar in Propulsion, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Propulsion Research Center
Mark Lin, Associate Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Michael L. McGinnis, Lecturer, English
John R. Mecikalski, Professor & Department Chair, Atmospheric & Earth Science
Sherri Messimer, Associate Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering
Nicole Pacino, Associate Professor, History
Joseph Robertshaw, Lecturer, English
J.A. Schneider, Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Co-Director, Materials Science Program; Adjunct, Department of Chemical and Material Science Engineering
Kelly M. Smith, Lecturer, History
Mary Snow, Senior Lecturer, Chemistry
Bruce Stallsmith, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
Christina Steidl, Associate Professor, Sociology
Ming Sun, Associate Professor, Physics and Astronomy
Joseph Taylor, Associate Professor, English
Kristin Weger, Assistant Professor, Psychology
Huaming Zhang, Associate Professor, Computer Science