Florida Phoenix
Isaac Morgan, August 4, 2020
The United Faculty of Florida, a statewide union representing full-time faculty, has doubled down on its call for state officials to shift all Florida college classes to online courses for fall semester.
But so far, officials including Gov. Ron DeSantis, have not responded.
“The only one to respond was the governor with the form message, ‘Due to the volume of emails…,’” Marshall Ogletree, UFF’s executive director, said in an email to the Florida Phoenix.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 infections continue to rise, with a total of 500,000 infections across Florida expected within a day or two.
After state officials didn’t respond to the first letter, UFF sent another letter on Monday outlining recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for distance learning only at schools, high COVID-19 positivity rates in Florida and “a lack of adherence to social distancing guidelines by younger people.”
“Requiring them to return to crowded college and university campuses will only make things worse. We risk turning our Institutions of Higher Education into the super spreader sites of our state and in our communities,” the letter states.
Signatories to the letter were UFF President Karen Morian, and Dr. Jaffar Ali Shahul Hameed, UFF First Vice President.
Both letters have also been sent to Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, State University System of Florida Chancellor Marshall Criser, and Florida College System Chancellor Kathy Hebda, but none have responded, according to Ogletree.
“We represent over 20,000 faculty and graduate assistants statewide and you would think that would deserve a courtesy call or at least, a ‘Hell no we are not considering all remote learning at colleges and universities,’” Ogletree said.
UFF’s first letter – sent last week- underscored a variety of issues surrounding reopening college campuses too soon, from potential deaths and hospitalizations among students and faculty, to colleges’ reopening plans failing to reflect the current climate of COVID-19 in the state.
Gov. DeSantis’ communications staff has yet to respond to a request for a comment from the Florida Phoenix.