Temple Faculty Union Demands Spring Class Be Held Digitally

PHILADELPHIA — Temple University's faculty union is calling for most of the spring semester's classes be held digitally to prevent coronavirus infections and deaths.

The Temple Association of University Professionals in a letter Thursday demanded the shift to online.

The letter says the union is calling for all non-essential classes be held virtually through May 2021.

"The Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, which is one of the premier public health data centers, predicts 415,000 deaths by the end of the year,” said Donald Wargo, a member of the union's executive committee and associate professor in the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts.

For the past week, the union has been polling its members on planning for the spring semester.

Of its members, 79 percent believe the university should "remain largely virtual with little in-person instruction and on-campus work."

Conversely, 12 percent would support a “return to some in-person classes and on-campus work," while 2 percent want a “return fully to in-person classes and on-campus work.”

Seven percent responded “Don't know/No Opinion.”

"As we consider the best path forward for the Spring semester, Temple University will continue to focus on the academic experience, health and safety of our entire community: students, employees and neighbors," Temple said in a statement to Patch.

On Sept. 3, Temple suspended nearly all in-person classes for the rest of the fall semester after an outbreak of the coronavirus occurred among its students.

"We hope that Temple’s administration has learned from what went right and what went wrong with their re-opening plan," TAUP President Steve Newman said. "Let’s give our workers and students the assurance they need that classes and other work our members engage in will be online for the Spring semester, and let’s treat our teachers, librarians, and academic professionals like the professionals they are, giving them the information and discretion the need to make informed choices about where and how they will work."