Faculty Express Dissatisfaction with Reopening Rollout
Political science professor Melissa Mouritsen (far left) speaking to COD Board of Trustees in June.
July 19, 2021
As the College of DuPage continues a slow march toward a full, post-pandemic reopening, faculty members are expressing dissatisfaction with the administration’s process and lack of response to concerns of those who may not be able to return to campus physically.
Political science professor Melissa Mouritsen spoke during the public comments portion of a recent COD Board of Trustees meeting. She expressed her dissatisfaction with the administration’s rollout of the college’s reopening process and their messaging on how they perceive the faculty’s union, College of DuPage Faculty Association (CODFA).
“We have asked for assurances that individuals who cannot return are protected, and instead were told to fill out a form and submit to HR,” Mouritsen said at the June 24 board of trustees meeting. “Anything beyond that was deemed by the administration as just ‘the union’ trying to keep everyone off-campus. We asked for transparency, and we got insulted.”
In a subsequent interview with The Courier, Mourisen expressed how she and colleagues heard the administration wanted to offer more in-person class offerings but did not communicate those plans effectively with faculty and the union. President Brian Caputo announced via email to faculty on June 16 in-person offerings would increase to at least 50% in the fall semester.
“I don’t think many people had an issue with it,” Mouritsen said. “It’s just that we were not prepared for it.”
Mouritsen said the union’s insistence on not having faculty members forced back onto campus led to the college’s administration boiling down their issue into a single argument, “almost like a strawman argument.”
A work in progress
David Goldberg, president of CODFA, reiterated what Mouritsen said. He expressed frustration with Caputo rolling out the college’s return-to-campus plans without including him and the rest of the union’s leadership, which he says would have been the proper channel to disseminate those plans.
“It (is not) so much we need veto power,” Goldberg said. “I think it’s courtesy at a college to include the faculty when you’re going to do something that significant.” He believes at times the communication between the administration and faculty has broken down but does not believe it’s by design.
Goldberg believes there have been mixed messages given by the administration. During the board of trustees meeting, Vice President of Planning & Institutional Effectiveness, Jim Benté, said childcare is not a reason for faculty members to be exempted from returning to campus. According to Goldberg, this is a different message than what faculty were told.
Moving forward, Goldberg would like to see more clarity and more transparency from the administration in their decision-making process. As for Mouritsen, she would like to see flexibility from the administration in exempting faculty members from returning to campus for medical reasons or other reasons that would prevent them from returning.
Goldberg said he and CODFA Vice President Christine Monnier met with Caputo and had a very strong, positive conversation following the president announcing the college’s return-to-campus plans.
“We shared our ideas, and I told him what we were unhappy with and what we expect for the future,” says Goldberg. However, he acknowledged communication between both sides “is still a work in progress.”
Administration’s response
The Courier reached out to Caputo but was unable to receive a comment from him. COD News Bureau Manager Jennifer Duda sent this statement via email:
“The health and safety of our faculty, staff and students has been the focus of various protocols developed by the College of DuPage administration since the onset of the pandemic in spring 2020. With the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine, declining local infection rates and guidance from the Office of the Illinois Governor (now in Phase V) as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COD will offer expanded in-person instruction for fall 2021. The administration is confident in its due diligence as the decision-making process included much discussion and input across multiple constituencies, including faculty leadership.”
Catherine k • Jul 22, 2021 at 3:28 pm
I mean, open or don’t, but if you’re going to offer a class online, and students register for that class online, don’t change it to an on campus class. It would be less irritating if you’d have just cancelled the class and then added a new in person class. If I’d have not checked my email, I would not have known my class was switched from the online format until it was too late to find its online equivalent.
I do think faculty, though, should understand their job required them to be on campus and changes made during the pandemic were not a new way of life, they were temporary changes, f you’re unprepared to come back to do your job then get lost.
Natalie • Jul 21, 2021 at 2:09 pm
This is why I have left COD for NIU. I understand that there will be some people concerned about coming back for health reasons for themselves or a household member, but other schools are mandating vaccines, which I find appropriate, and having all classes on campus. To still have science classes online at this point is a failure. I now have to pay more at NIU for the classes I could take at COD simply because they are offering them in person.
When it comes to the board against the faculty, enough is enough. We get you don’t like their union because you simply don’t like unions. Fair accommodations can be made within reason. This is still a serious virus and those with sincere concerns should be heard. I support our educators. But the board has been playing games with them for years. Just look at all the part-time faculty being hired in place of full-time. We see what the board is trying to do. This is a school, not a corporation. But I am tired of the back and forth and therefore, I am done with my time at COD.
Fran • Jul 20, 2021 at 10:47 am
Sure, vaccinations have curbed COVID – BUT not everyone is vaccinated, we don’t know who is and who is not vaccinated, This is just another example of COD leadership not living up to the values (integrity, honesty, respect, responsibility, equity) that they expect faculty and staff to uphold. They need to be held accountable for not enacting these values themselves.
Throughout the last year and a half, communication from administration regarding COVID has been spotty at best. No check-ins to see how people are handling work, childcare, care for family members, dealing with their own illness or the loss of loved ones and friends. They’ve expected people to continue in their work as if nothing was going on. There is no care or compassion for what employees have to deal with – it’s disgusting. And now if there are childcare issues, people are not going to be able to claim that as a reason to remain remote?!?!?!
Don’t you people realize that what your employees have to deal with outside of their jobs impacts every aspect of their life, and having an employer who doesn’t care about them only brings about apathy and disengagement?
The old model of authoritarianism and hierarchy needs to be done away with, and you need to get on board with what’s happening in the 21st Century and become more employee-centric. If you treat your employees like adult human beings instead of like children, you will more than likely see a difference in the overall functioning of the college.
Brian Streufert • Jul 20, 2021 at 8:35 am
GET.BACK.TO.WORK.
OPEN.THE.SCHOOL.
Enough of the games!! The teachers union and COD are playing the same games, same as the teachers union in La Grange. There should be criminal enquiries into these groups.