Faculty and staff letter campaign for safe SMCCCD campuses NOW

Please join your colleagues and take action by writing a letter to the Board of Trustees and Chancellor Claire, asking them to give our students safe campuses now.

In light of the district’s decision last week to move ahead with face-to-face work, our faculty union held an emergency meeting of all officers and campus reps last Thursday to draw up a list of public health and safety demands based on our members’ input. We presented this list to the Chancellor and the three college Presidents on Friday, 1/14, and we are sharing it with the Board of Trustees:

  • Universal on-demand testing for everyone who asks to be tested

  • Basic campus safety equipment, including N95 masks or the equivalent for everyone—faculty, staff and students—and air purifiers for all employees who request them

  • The option to work remotely for all District employees until San Mateo County is out of the red (“high”) COVID transmission tier

(See our full demand letter here)

On Saturday, 1/15, AFT received an unsatisfactory response from Chancellor Claire, who refused to offer open testing, air purifiers on demand, or a remote option. Without these essential protections, the District continues to put our campus communities at risk.

Even before the Omicron surge, many faculty observed that online sections were filling faster than in-person ones. Now, faculty tell us that students are seeking online options but cannot find them because all online sections are full. The lack of adequate safety measures, including a remote option, harms our students and our enrollments.

Will you send a letter to Chancellor Claire and the SMCCCD Board of Trustees telling them to give our students safe learning environments now, by making our demands a reality? We've streamlined the process with a pre-written letter you can use as is or edit, so the whole process can take as little as 30 seconds. Just enter your name, email, and zip code in the bar at the right of this page, then click "Start Writing" to go to our letter.

Thank you for taking action to make our campuses safe for SMCCCD students, staff, and faculty to return to!