Path to a Safer Spring Semester
We hope you and your loved ones are healthy and safe in these uncertain times. We are writing to solicit your thoughts on the best path to a safe spring semester, and to share the union's perspective on these issues. After reading this message, please complete this five-minute poll before midnight Friday, January 21.
Spring semester begins January 28. Many members of the CUNY community may be ill with COVID, recovering and isolating after illness, or caring for family members. The path of the omicron variant is not fully predictable. Despite widespread expectation among public health officials that infections may soon subside in NYC, the hospitalization and fatality rates, which lag behind infections, continue to rise, and infections are likely underreported given the prevalence of at-home testing. The strain on families and institutions, particularly the City’s healthcare system, is considerable.
CUNY intends to offer at least 70% of classes in-person this Spring. Their continued rigidity around this contributes to scheduling difficulties, stress, and enrollment shortfalls. Despite the eagerness that we and our students share about returning to in-person learning and the supportive environment that flourishes on campus, pandemic conditions in the City highlight the need to improve conditions on our campuses first.
- Community safety dictates that CUNY should make the first two weeks of spring semester a transition period where most non-essential work and teaching is done remotely. Planning ahead for a discrete two-week window is the least disruptive path to a safer, more in-person Spring term.
- The State mandated vaccination for CUNY faculty and a booster for students, but is not requiring vaccinations for staff. This is a mistake from a public health perspective and as a matter of workplace equity. CUNY should immediately negotiate the terms of the vaccine implementation for all members of the PSC.
- CUNY surveillance testing should be enhanced so a larger percentage of the vaccinated members of the campus community are regularly tested and the results clearly reported and tracked over time on CUNY’s COVID dashboard.
- CUNY should direct federal relief funds to provide medical-grade masks to members of the campus community on-site, along with free rapid test kits.
3,200 Faculty and Staff Sign Petition Calling for a Safe Return
President James Davis delivered the Spring Safe Return petition to Chancellor Matos Rodríguez on Thursday, January 6. His letter and a link to the signed petition are below.
Dear Chancellor Matos Rodríguez,
In December, before the Omicron surge, we discussed the need for the University to provide clear, sensible, safe guidance for the Spring 2022 semester that is responsive to emerging information about new variants. We reiterated our view that the guidance to date unilaterally established arbitrary standards, preventing the local exercise of academic judgment and undermining shared governance. The PSC supports a smart and gradual return to work for faculty and staff because we believe CUNY students are generally well served by in-person instruction, advising, and counseling. But we asked that CUNY meet the following conditions.
- Urge college HR officers to honor remote work requests from employees who live with someone who is immune-compromised, and urge supervisors to extend remote work agreements to staff who would primarily be working remotely (via computer or telephone) despite reporting in-person.
- Permit academic departments to exercise independent judgment about the appropriate percentage of Spring 2022 in-person classes, rather than adhere to a one-size-fits-all minimum of 70%.
- Count hybrid classes toward the in-person category for Spring 2022, as they were in Fall 2021, and define what qualifies a course as hybrid.
- Preserve in-person classes with lower than expected enrollments if demand for hybrid or remote sections exceeds demand for in-person sections.
- Refrain from offering HyFlex courses absent an agreement with the PSC about the terms and conditions under which instructors undertake HyFlex teaching.
What's Happening to Retiree Healthcare
JUDGE TIGHTENS OVERSIGHT OVER RETIREE HEALTHCARE CHANGES
DELAYS RETIREE HEALTHCARE SWITCH TO APRIL: The City planned to have its Medicare Advantage Plus plan in place on January 1, 2022. In a court order, made public at 5 pm on Tuesday, December 14, Justice Leon E. Frank in effect said NOT SO FAST. He extended his injunction, pushing back implementation of the Medicare Advantage Plus plan to April 1, 2022 and the opt-out date to March 31, 2022.
The order was in response to the lawsuit brought by NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees.
Frank wrote that his “preliminary injunction will remain in effect until” the City and the Medicare Advantage vendor, The Alliance, satisfy "the following conditions:"
- 'The effective date of the Medicare Advantage Plus Plan (the “Advantage Plan”) shall be April 1, 2022, with the opt-out period to end March 31, 2022. However, there will be a continuing opt-out period until June 30, 2022, even while the Advantage Plan is in effect;"
- "Respondents shall send to all retirees a letter containing a list of the corrections and additions made to the previously sent Enrollment Guide as discussed between the parties, on or before January 7, 2022. The letter must contain information on how a retiree can obtain a corrected Enrollment Guide free of charge, and the specific web addresses where the corrected Enrollment Plan may be seen; and"
- "Respondents must ensure that there only be one set of deductibles in the calendar year 2022 for all retirees."
In addition, in order to clarify which medical providers accept the MA+ plan, the judge ordered the City to report bi-weekly on “how many medical providers have been contacted personally regarding the plan…[and] how many medical providers in such areas have yet to be personally contacted about the plan, and how and when those additional medical providers will be contacted.”
We’ll have more analysis shortly.
Click here to read the judge’s order.
