This fall, faced with the major COVID-19 pandemic, NC State University decided to have face-to-face classes for as many students as possible and subtly pressured professors to do so. The administration unilaterally invited all the students to return, live and eat in fully occupied university, Greek and off-campus housing, required freshmen to live in dorms and hoped that all would turn out well. Within two weeks, students were dismissed, and faculty were supposed to convert all courses to online for undergrads but maybe teach grads. 

This was not a well-planned off ramp. It was closer to the sand in a runaway truck ramp, or at Dunkirk, with nice equipment, wounded warriors (students, staff and teachers) and maybe casualties strewn around the beach before we were done. NC State reported spending almost $2 million on COVID-19 preparations since July 1 for two short grim weeks of in-person classes and communal living. In addition, BIPOC and white staff who had to prepare, clean and maintain dangerous spaces are now at risk of sickness, furloughs or termination.

Blame Poor Planning, Not the Students

Students should not have been here in person in the first place. If here, they should have had socially distanced dorms and Greek houses (e.g. one per room, one-third capacity) and dining, been given pre-testing and tracing and treated as if we were serious about COVID-19 from day one. Some other universities have taken that approach and have students on campus still. Such intensive health screening and a partial residence approach is expensive, but it still costs less than a full opening and a panicked retreat.  

The students’ profligate social behavior was blamed by the NC State and UNC-CH chancellors for the disaster, which is a diversion, pure and simple. This outcome was entirely predictable, especially by leaders who supposedly are world-class scientific research leaders. Our motto, after all, is “Think and Do!” What were they thinking? That a biblical or presidential level miracle would occur and COVID-19 would become less contagious and go away?   

Students never should have been here in the first place. They—and we—were just thrown onto the beach/breech by the Board of Governors and the North Carolina state legislature. Then, they could make the (failed) political point that we should open, abetted by the complicit and pious chancellors, who shifted blame to students and avowed their vexation and innocence.  

Meanwhile, faculty were expected to miraculously convert all undergrad classes to online in days and maybe still have grads in person, despite unsafe conditions—changing class times, locations, delivery mechanisms, technology, students and academic schedules. We are overrun, and, of course, the students are confused, will learn less and lose much more. Essay and problem tests are far less effective online, since they must be taken home or carefully controlled to prevent cheating. This requires students to figure out how to type well or PDF and post each test in limited time. Tech experts with expensive phones and computer systems will fare best, not student scholars or limited access and low income students.

Let’s Plan Collaboratively 

Sure, backbench criticism is easy — too easy here, in fact. What could we have done better and what should we do now? At no time has the university administration seriously sought or heeded faculty, student or staff input on opening, schedules, housing, classes or anything. Sure, they had to follow the UNC Board of Governors’ mandates, but even UNC-Charlotte managed to develop a rational deferred opening approach in the same UNC System.

The chancellor and provost must have an emergency University COVID-19 advisory board, although it cannot be found anywhere on the NC State website. If that is correct, faculty, staff and student groups should be included and consulted. Their views should be adapted before more sudden decisions are made and announced. The current faculty, staff and student senate bodies have not had any perceptible role in current decisions. We need new input from activists and critics (students, workers unions, AAUP) who will speak truth to power so the chancellor and provost hear something genuine, immediately. 

Let’s use stakeholder consultation and collaboration and adapt COVID-19—and other NC State—policies based on input, not on the distant view from the top of the hill. Transparent collaboration will improve our challenging future for students, staff and faculty.  

Adapted from a talk given at NCSU Grad Workers Union Protest, August 27, 2020

Fred Cubbage is a professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at NC State University.