RECAST | Letter of Understanding Regarding COVID Supervision, Five-Year Reviews, and Furlough Options

From: Speller, Trevor <spellert@evergreen.edu>
Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2020 8:05 AM

 Dear Faculty Colleagues –

Pursuant to the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and recent Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) in 2020 (“Provision of Instruction for Spring Quarter 2020”; “Provision of Instruction for Summer and Fall Quarters 2020 in Response to COVID-19″; “2020-21 Compensation and Furlough”), there were a number of details and processes regarding faculty reviews which needed clarity of implementation.

We have agreed to the following implementation protocols in 2020-21:

1. COVID Supervisors. Faculty may choose to accept or deny the responsibility of acting as a COVID supervisor for a given academic offering. Evergreen will not assign nor require faculty to adopt the role of COVID supervisors without their consent. When faculty submit plans for hybrid offerings, they will inform the Academic Deans whether they wish to serve as a COVID supervisor. This role includes the following responsibilities, as outlined in Campus and Instructional Safety Plans:
   1. Training: take the COVID Supervisor training, lead first-day and weekly training sessions for students, and stay up-to-date on COVID supervisor responsibilities through weekly meetings or emails;
   2. Compliance:
      1. Be present on campus during class activities to ensure that the instructional safety plan is being followed (including mask usage, social distancing, PPE use, hygiene and cleaning protocols, and more);
      1. Restrict access to the class and/or send associated students or employees home if they are following unsafe practices or demonstrating symptoms associated with COVID-19;
      1. Procure PPE from campus employees and stores as required for class activities;
      1. Monitor Health Verification forms for students and employees associated with the class; and

1. Reporting: Report potential COVID illnesses or exposure incidents using campus protocols outlined in the instructional and campus safety plans.
   
2. Five-Year Reviews. In order to maintain reasonable workload throughout the academic year, faculty were permitted to defer to 2021-22 any five-year review scheduled for 2020-21. The deans area was to be informed of the deferral by October 5, 2020, otherwise the review will proceed as scheduled.

1. Furlough Option: CAT Leaders, Faculty Fellows, Faculty Advisors, Directors: Curricular Area Team Leaders, Faculty Fellows, and Directors whose responsibilities include teaching as well as administrative responsibilities may choose to take their furlough as either twenty (20) furlough days through the academic year, or by reducing their planned academic offerings by the equivalent of 0.25 FTE in either winter or spring quarter.

1. Furlough Options: Instructional Faculty. Undergraduate and graduate full-time faculty teaching in teams may choose to reduce the teaching load for certain team members, even as the team ensures the total student credit for the offering remains unchanged. In these cases, individual faculty instruction must be reduced by 25%, with an associated reduction in contact hours, over one or two quarters. Specific reductions in credit load and contact hours should be specified in faculty furlough plans provided to the Academic Deans. 

Please contact Trevor Speller if you have any questions regarding faculty reviews, furlough options, or COVID supervision. 

A signed copy of this letter of understanding will be posted on the Provost’s website.

Best Regards – 

Jon Davies, Bargaining Chair, United Faculty of Evergreen

Trevor Speller, Interim Vice-Provost, The Evergreen State College