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1/ In anticipation of a community meeting tomorrow, I sent the following questions to Tufts University. I commended Tufts’ early response in the spring. (THREAD)
2/ But as a close neighbor, Tufts alum, as well as a professional staff union member at another university, I am extremely concerned about the decision to open campus at a time when COVID cases and deaths are surging across the country and community spread continues here in MA.
3/ 1. First, an overarching question: How will the university's decisions and actions reflect anti-racist principles, especially given its recent public commitments to racial justice and equity, and given the huge racial and ethnic disparities in the effects of COVID-19?
4/ In what ways have the disproportionate impacts on communities of color been explicitly discussed and addressed in the planning process? How will these impacts be included in ongoing decision-making?
5/ What are the expected impacts on communities of color in Somerville, Medford, and beyond (including places students will be returning from and to in the fall)?
6/ How have you ensured that Black, indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) are actively involved in the planning process?
Who serves on committees and advisory groups?
Do these include BIPOC residents of Somerville and Medford?
Who serves on committees and advisory groups?
Do these include BIPOC residents of Somerville and Medford?
7/ Have you actively garnered input from neighbors living in public or Section 8 housing in the Clarendon Hill neighborhood, a large percentage of whom are BIPOC?
Have BIPOC groups and individual students, staff, and faculty of color been actively involved in the planning?
Have BIPOC groups and individual students, staff, and faculty of color been actively involved in the planning?
8/ To all of these questions: if so, in what specific ways have you acted on their concerns? If not, how will you do so going forward?
9/ How are your plans taking into account the concerns, questions, and needs of BIPOC people and others who are disabled, LGBTQ+, immigrants, low-income, and/or members of other marginalized groups?
10/ 2. How do your plans address the involvement of students in the local community?
11/ How are you addressing the specific issues and needs of local commuter students, especially students of color, living in Somerville, Medford, and other communities with large populations of immigrants and residents of color?
12/ How are you protecting students who live in multi-generational homes with older family members, who are at increased risk of death and serious illness from COVID-19?
13/ What specific measures are you taking to support students who also work, volunteer, or intern in our communities, and protect their coworkers, customers, and clients?
How do you anticipate your plans affecting people who work at local businesses and their customers?
How do you anticipate your plans affecting people who work at local businesses and their customers?
14/ 3. How are you supporting and protecting Tufts staff and faculty, many of whom also live in our communities?
How are you protecting all staff and faculty, especially those who have disabilities, chronic illnesses, or other risk factors, or who live with people who do?
How are you protecting all staff and faculty, especially those who have disabilities, chronic illnesses, or other risk factors, or who live with people who do?
15/ Are faculty and staff who can work remotely and desire to do so, given that opportunity?
16/ Are you encouraging staff and faculty to make decisions based on their own risk tolerance without requiring disclosure of their personal medical information or that of their household members?
17/ How are you fostering a culture of trust and respect, and encouraging flexibility and autonomy among all your faculty and staff, so that they can safely do their jobs without added reporting burdens or unreasonable risks?
18/ Are faculty and staff given the flexibility with their hours and workload they need, given the trauma and stress of the pandemic and heightened attention to racial injustice, as well as increased caregiving responsibilities for many?
19/ What specific supports and protections are you providing to the lowest-paid and most vulnerable workers at Tufts - e.g., custodial and food services staff, who may not be directly employed by the university?
20/ Have you involved frontline cleaning and food services staff in your planning process? If not, how will you do so going forward?
How will Tufts and its subcontractors ensure that all those working on campus are protected from contracting and spreading COVID-19?
How will Tufts and its subcontractors ensure that all those working on campus are protected from contracting and spreading COVID-19?
21/ Will all cleaning and dining staff have hospital-grade PPE, hazard pay, extra breaks, and fully paid sick leave? Do you already have sufficient PPE (including N95 masks, gowns, and gloves) for all essential workers?
22/ If not, how will you obtain and distribute that necessary equipment or ensure that your subcontractors do?
23/ Can you publicly share specific commitments Tufts and its subcontractors are making to exceed minimum safety requirements, so that these essential workers and community members can hold you accountable for following through?
24/ 4. Given the added risks of congregate housing, classrooms, and dining facilities, what extra measures will you put in place (beyond state and local guidelines) to ensure that students will not bring and spread the virus to campus and our community?
25/ For students returning from out of state, how will you enforce the state’s 14-day quarantine requirement, especially when many of them will be housed in close quarters with other students, both on and off campus?
26/ What measures are being taken for move-in days (for dorms and local apartments) to ensure that these won’t become super-spreader events?
27/ Have President Monaco, the Provost, Deans, and other upper administrators personally participated in test-runs of classrooms, dining facilities, dormitories, the campus shuttle, and other places of congregation, at maximum capacity, to experience those spaces firsthand?
28/ If so, how have those experiences affected your rules about distancing and capacity limits? If not, will you commit to doing so before the semester begins and making adjustments accordingly?
29/ 5. Given that a certain percentage of students will not follow the rules for masks and social distancing, what is your plan for mitigating the effects?
How will you monitor compliance, and what are the consequences of non-compliance?
How will you monitor compliance, and what are the consequences of non-compliance?
30/ What are your thresholds for taking more intensive action individually and campus-wide?
In what ways do you anticipate the fear of consequences will discourage students from self-disclosing symptoms? How are you mitigating this?
In what ways do you anticipate the fear of consequences will discourage students from self-disclosing symptoms? How are you mitigating this?
31/ What is the role of community members and city/town government in addressing non-compliance?
32/ 6. How many cases (both in raw numbers and percentages) among students, staff (including subcontracted workers), faculty, and local community members do you expect as a result of opening campus? How many are you willing to accept?
33/ How many serious illnesses and hospitalizations?
How many deaths?
How will you track these numbers, and how will you share them? How often? Where will that data be publicly shared?
How many deaths?
How will you track these numbers, and how will you share them? How often? Where will that data be publicly shared?
34/ What specific measures will you take to prevent cases, serious illness/disability, and deaths from disproportionately impacting BIPOC individuals (as they consistently have across the country)?
35/ How will you respond if/when you observe these disproportionate impacts on Tufts and surrounding community?
What other data or benchmarks are you actively monitoring, and at what point will they trigger closure or other actions?
What other data or benchmarks are you actively monitoring, and at what point will they trigger closure or other actions?
36/ 7. Please share a detailed plan with respect to the quarantine trailers being installed on the tennis courts.
What is the capacity?
Who will stay there? Under what circumstances?
For how long?
Who will clean and deliver food there? How will they be protected?
What is the capacity?
Who will stay there? Under what circumstances?
For how long?
Who will clean and deliver food there? How will they be protected?
37/ Will you provide hazard pay and paid sick leave for those workers? If not, why not?
Can guests leave the trailers while under quarantine? If so, where will they go, and how will you protect the campus and surrounding community?
Can guests leave the trailers while under quarantine? If so, where will they go, and how will you protect the campus and surrounding community?
38/ How will you support their needs (including health and mental health care) while they remain in quarantine?
39/ 8. In what specific ways does Tufts take into account the ongoing mass trauma that students, faculty, staff (including custodial and other subcontracted workers), as well as community members, are experiencing?
40/ How are you taking into account the mental, emotional, and social wellbeing of students, staff, and faculty?
How are your plans trauma-informed?
How are your plans trauma-informed?
41/ How do they reflect the principles of a trauma-informed approach (safety; trustworthiness and transparency; peer support; collaboration; empowerment, voice, and choice; and attention to cultural, historical and gender issues)?
42/ What resources have you added to ensure that all have access to counseling and other supports?
How will you mitigate the stress for faculty returning to classrooms and/or overhauling their classes to be online or hybrid?
How will you mitigate the stress for faculty returning to classrooms and/or overhauling their classes to be online or hybrid?
43/ How are you providing flexibility, autonomy, and transparency to your staff and faculty to allow them to continue their work without added administrative burdens?
44/ How are you ensuring supervisors exercise compassion towards their employees during a time when they face unprecedented changes and ongoing stress?
45/ How are you specifically supporting your BIPOC faculty, staff, and students, in light of systemic racism, and specifically the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19, coupled with police brutality and murders of unarmed black people?
46/ How do you plan to improve transparency and collaboration with the local community to respond to the anxiety many of us feel about opening the campus?
This list is not comprehensive but represents issues I haven’t yet seen asked about or addressed in depth. I also asked the university to do both broad and targeted outreach, especially soliciting the input of community members who are most at risk.
Click here to register for the community meeting https://tufts.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rDutFXeKSK2KjpHdeox-qQ
I want to thank my City Councilor @KatjBallantyne for collecting and sharing community concerns with Tufts and for advocating for the meeting.
I want to thank my City Councilor @KatjBallantyne for collecting and sharing community concerns with Tufts and for advocating for the meeting.
