Name: OU staff protest in-person return, plead for job security
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OU staff protest in-person return, plead for job security

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Nuria Martinez-Keel NORMAN — Staff at the University of Oklahoma demanded 100% online classes and protections from layoffs during a protest Monday afternoon.University officials, though, said furloughs and layoffs are unavoidable unless OU reopens for in-person instruction. OU is set to welcome students and employees back for fall classes, which begin Aug. 24.Staff members said they fear for their health and job security as they spoke outside Evans Hall, OU’s administration building. Protesters held signs that read “In COVID times, online saves lives” and other messages pleading for fully virtual education.“How much does tuition cost per student?” Spanish instructor Sarah Warmker said. “Is that worth my life?”Warmker said she is scheduled to teach two in-person Spanish courses over the fall semester, and her department has no online instruction options available for her.If she declines to teach, she could lose her health insurance. But, Warmker said she has only one kidney and worries about severe health consequences if she contracts COVID-19.Staff members demanded no layoffs and that administrators and high-earning athletics staff take pay cuts before the university reduces employee hours or jobs. They also asked essential workers earn 1.5 times their hourly wages as hazard pay.Hosting all classes virtually is the best protection from the pandemic, and employees shouldn’t have to produce medical records to be granted permission to telecommute, protesters said.“OU is marching us head first into a catastrophe,” staff member Mauve Kay said. “We know it’s only a matter of time before there are outbreaks on campus.”Oklahoma recorded 43,963 cases of COVID-19 and 605 deaths on Monday. Cleveland County reported the third-highest number of cases since the pandemic began with 3,017 people testing positive and 55 dead.In a statement through its media office, the university said it granted 97% of faculty requests to teach virtual classes, and the remaining 3% are “being worked on.” All but seven staff requests to telecommute were granted, according to the statement.OU executives and highly paid officials would be among the first to take pay cuts, but this wouldn’t be enough to prevent layoffs and furloughs for staff positions that are unnecessary in an online-only environment, the university said.“All OU full-time employees were retained after spring break, but this would no longer be financially sustainable if OU were to extend fully online through the fall semester,” officials stated.The university has spent millions on protective measures and cleaning for its campuses. All students will be required to take a COVID-19 test before moving into residence halls.OU stated many of its students couldn’t complete their degrees without face-to-face classes.“Importantly, the power of the OU degree is greatest when delivered in-person,” the university said.However, the instructors responsible for providing that education and the students intended to receive it have resisted OU’s push for in-person classes. About 1,800 students, faculty and staff signed a petition last month demanding more options for online courses to protect from COVID-19.“Every class that goes online saves lives,” Warmker said. “Every class that goes online protects essential workers. Every class that goes online will let our faculty sleep at night.”

Nuria Martinez-Keel NORMAN — Staff at the University of Oklahoma demanded 100% online classes and protections from layoffs during a protest Monday afternoon.University officials, though, said furloughs and layoffs are unavoidable unless OU reopens for in-person instruction. OU is set to welcome students and employees back for fall classes, which begin Aug. 24.Staff members said they fear for their health and job security as they spoke outside Evans Hall, OU’s administration building. Protesters held signs that read “In COVID times, online saves lives” and other messages pleading for fully...

OU staff protest in-person return, plead for job security

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