Poll Showed Faculty Hesitant About Face to Face Instruction

By Casey Michie

cmichie1@mail.ccsf.edu

An update on City College’s return to campus plan showed continued hesitancy to a return to in-person classes. This hesitancy, presented over the summer at the June 24 Board of Trustees meeting, comes well before the emergence of the more contagious Delta Variant that now accounts for over 90% of cases in the United States. 

The Spring 2021 Employee Survey, unveiled during the report, found that as of June 7 86% of City College Staff were vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus. However, 49% of employees reported being “somewhat uncomfortable” or “very uncomfortable” with returning to in-person instruction.

Top responses given by employees on factors that would improve comfortability with a full return to campus include the full vaccination of employees and students, improved ventilation, and continued mask wearing. Tom Boegel, Vice Chancellor of the College, noted, “[City College’s] plan for the Fall 2021 semester addresses each of these concerns.” 

As the Delta Variant has wrought more uncertainty to the safety of in-person classes in recent months, City College has since announced a vaccine mandate as of Aug. 12. This move is intended to protect people on campus as 30% of students return to in-person classes this semester.