Archvied to web on October 18, 2022
Professor Peter Stoicheff
President and Vice Chancellor
University of Saskatchewan
September 29, 2022
Dear President Stoicheff,
We write to you with great concern about the University of Saskatchewan’s present approach to the Covid-19 pandemic. The University had adopted a leadership position through most of the pandemic, but this has come to an end with the start of the Fall term. We feel that the current approach does not properly mitigate the effects of this constantly mutating, disabling, and highly contagious SARS-CoV-2 virus and does not adequately protect the university community from this ongoing pandemic.
All metrics related to the presence of Covid-19 on campus have increased, in some cases, alarmingly:
- USask Covid-19 case counts continue to increase:[i]
- Week ending September 4, 43 cases
- Week ending September 11, 119 cases
- Week ending September 18, 168 cases
- Fortunately, case counts have declined for the week ending September 25, with 134 cases reported.
- The SARS-CoV-2 viral load in Saskatchewan wastewater has plateaued at the 4th highest level measured in the pandemic.[ii] September 26, 2022 update: the SARS-CoV-2 viral load in Saskatoon’s wastewater was the second highest value observed during the pandemic.[iii]
- Covid-19 has killed more people in Saskatchewan in 2022 than during the same period in 2021.[iv]
- The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases and the number of hospital and ICU admissions continues to rise over the summer months.[v]
- Research is showing that ‘long covid’ is a reality and will be a major long-term crisis in our province
- Reinfection is a reality. Recent research (summer 2022) shows that even if symptoms are mild, reinfection increases the risk of long covid as well as other acute health problems.[vi]
The pandemic is not over; it’s not even close.
We see the impact of Covid-19 in our classrooms, studios, and laboratories – absent students, absent instructors and staff, and communications with students who are navigating the trauma of Covid-19 on their families. A quick stroll around campus shows that the institution’s stated ‘preference for masking’ is not leading to meaningful uptake by the community. Even University leadership appears to view this preference as an empty gesture; many leaders are unmasked in shared enclosed spaces and when speaking at campus events.
The ongoing ‘pause’ in the mask mandate is inexplicable given the data outlined above and the university’s communications at the time of ‘pausing’ the mask mandate.[vii] The facts are simple and clear: masks are effective at preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Reluctance to adopt masking can be addressed by clear and authentic communications, as well as strong, compelling leadership as was done earlier in 2022.
Moreover, we believe that the university’s current approach to handling the Covid-19 pandemic undermines its commitments to equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and reconciliation. The Pandemic Response Team committed to “value, protect, and support” the university community. There is more that can be done.
The adoption of transparent, quantitative thresholds (e.g., a Red / Yellow / Green risk framework), based on publicly available data would provide the university community something to positively work towards, and voluntarily ‘pump the brakes’ to slow disease spread. The present course of ‘…if certain indicators reach thresholds, and there’s no one sort of black-and-white, it’s a multi sort of index discussion and synthesis of data’[viii] does not inspire confidence and lacks transparency. The recent Covid-19 update, ‘Cases on campus can be managed locally at this time with measures that have proven effective in the past’[ix] is vague and perplexing. By providing the university community with data-driven goals and thresholds that will trigger mitigation, our future steps will be less confusing than the current approach, which is akin to hand-waving in the fog.
We request the following specific actions be taken by the University administration:
- A return to mandatory masking at the University of Saskatchewan in all shared indoor spaces. A partial solution might be justified, such as a mask requirement in specific areas that experience a high density of people (e.g., lecture halls and classrooms, hallways in buildings that experience a high traffic flow), as well as in classrooms and workspaces where the air quality is known to be poor.
- A sharing of information regarding whether the actions of the University administration are constrained by specific direction, such as by the University Board of Governors (or other authorities).
- An expansion of the availability of KN95 and/or N95 masks to all those who seek them.
- A change in the tone and content of university communications, to normalize the use of masks on campus.
- The consistent use of ‘maskless’ pictures in university web and email communications sends the implicit message that mask use is not encouraged on campus. University communications should normalize mask use on campus, through the preferential use of images of masked people.
- A return to messaging emphasizing the need to ‘protect the pack’ by masking on campus. The university needs to normalize the ‘two-way’ protection of masking. A mask protects the wearer from exposure, but also protects other people from exposure from the mask wearer. Our response to the pandemic needs to be one of community protection, not individualism.
- An emphasis that asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 continues to be possible
- A demonstration of leadership through the return of masking requirements and the adoption of sensitive and compassionate messaging. The university must protect our most vulnerable university community members: the immune compromised and other vulnerable individuals as well as those who are caregiving for vulnerable individuals.
Dhruv Khullar wrote on how this pandemic will end:
‘They can end biologically, in the sense that infections slow to a trickle or cause less and less harm’ … ‘They can also end socially’ … ‘We can convince ourselves that a new, higher level of preventable death is acceptable, and turn our attention to something else.[x]
We do not accept that a new, higher level of preventable death is acceptable. This would be a betrayal of our commitment to society as a community of scholars, and a betrayal of the scholarship of our colleagues who are experts in infectious diseases, pandemics, medical anthropology, issues of social inequity, vaccines, and so forth. As scholars, researchers, educators, and leaders, we have a responsibility to protect all faculty, staff, and students.
We seek a return to the university’s former proactive and protective approach, and a new investment in transparency, candor, and accountability that is rooted in defensible and clear criteria. As a leading research and education institution simply saying ‘we are following advice’ is not adequate. A different course is still possible, based on a return to leadership, co-responsibility, caring, and common sense in avoiding harm and disruption of activities. We want history to remember our institution as leaders during this challenging time.
Sincerely,
Jim Handy, Professor, Department of History
Ryan Brook, Associate Professor, Animal and Poultry Science
Stephen Urquhart, Professor, Chemistry
Jorden Cummings, Professor, Psychology & Health Studies
Noelle Rohatinsky, Associate Professor, College of Nursing
Christine Varnam, Undergraduate Student, College of Arts and Science
Pamela Downe, Professor, Archaeology and Anthropology
Janeen Loehr, Associate Professor, Psychology & Health Studies
Angela Lieverse, Professor, Archaeology and Anthropology
Mirela David, Associate Professor, History and Women and Gender Studies
Allison Muri, Professor, English
Maurice Jr. Labelle, Associate Professor, History, College of Arts and Science
Jim Clifford, Associate Professor, History
Ashleigh Androsoff, Assistant Professor, History
Erika Dyck, Professor, History
Kyle McLeister, Lecturer without Term, History
Colleen Bell, Associate Professor, Political Studies
Ann Martin, Associate Professor, English
Alessio Ponzio, Assistant Professor, History
Colleen Anne Dell, Professor, Sociology
Glenn Stuart, Assistant Professor, Archaeology and Anthropology
Monica Mi Hee Hwang, Associate Professor, Sociology
Jessica Jack, Graduate Student, Archaeology and Anthropology
Kayleigh Kazakoff, Administrative Support, College of Nursing
Wanda Martin, Associate Professor, College of Nursing
Kim Lytle, Professional Academic Advisor, College of Nursing
Shaneice Fletcher-Hildebrand, Graduate Student, Psychology
Kirsten Fisher, Associate Professor, Political Studies
Tara Kahan, Associate Professor, Chemistry
Richard Bowles, Professor, Chemistry.
David Palmer, Professor, Chemistry
Jill Bally, Associate Professor, College of Nursing
Liz Quinlan, Professor, Sociology
Caitlin M. Woloschuk, Graduate Student, History
Michelle Gagnon, Associate Professor, Psychology & Health Studies
Adriana Cashwell, Graduate Student, Psychology & Health Studies
Jim Waldram, Professor, Archaeology and Anthropology
Robin Thurmeier, Research Facilitator, College of Nursing
Sylvia Abonyi, Associate Professor, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology
Angie Gerrard, Associate Librarian, University Library
Sheila Laroque, Assistant Librarian, University Library
Virginia Wilson, Associate Librarian, University Library
Kathy Walker, Assistant Professor, Political Studies
Greg Wurzer, Associate Librarian, Law Library
Shannon Lucky, Associate Librarian, University Library
Cheryl Avery, Associate Librarian, University Library
Susan Bolton, Associate Librarian, University Library
Ella Ophir, Associate Professor, Department of English
Anne-Marie Wheeler, Associate Professor, Department of Languages, Literature and Cultural Studies
Sarah Rutley, Assistant Librarian, University Library
Kevin Read, Associate Librarian, University Library
Julia Boughner, Professor, Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology
Erin Watson, Librarian, University Library
Hua Li, Assistant Professor, College of Nursing
Tania Bergen, Instructor, College of Nursing
Dena Burnett, Post-Doctoral Researcher, School of Rehabilitation Science
Andrew Grosvenor, Professor, Chemistry
Susanna Barnes, Assistant Professor, Archaeology and Anthropology
Kathryn McWilliams, Professor, Physics and Engineering Physics
Laura Wright, Associate Professor, Sociology
Allison Smith, Special Lecturer, STM College, Department of Languages, Literature & Cultural Studies
Nicole Webster, Assistant Professor, Biology
Christy Morrissey, Professor, Department of Biology
Jill Brown, Graduate Program Coordinator, College of Nursing
Elsa Van Ankum, Graduate Student, Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Pharmacology
DeDe Dawson, Associate Librarian, University Library
David Smith, Librarian, University Library
Daniel Westlake, Assistant Professor, Political Studies
Juan-Nicolás Peña-Sánchez, Associate Professor, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology
Hugo Cota-Sánchez, Professor, Dept. of Biology
Steve Prime, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
John, G Hansen, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
Charles Smith, Associate Professor, STM College, Department of Political Studies
Carol Bullin, Assistant Professor, College of Nursing
Jeffrey Lane, Associate Professor, Department of Biology
Marguerite Koole, Associate Professor, College of Education
Lynn Lemisko, Professor, Educational Foundations
Jennifer Crane, Professor, Department of Art and Art History
Jeffrey Long, Lecturer-without-term, Department of Computer Science
Rachel Engler-Stringer, Professor, Community Health and Epidemiology
Mark Eramian, Professor, Department of Computer Science
Shelley Bueckert, Academic Services Specialist, College of Education
Harley D. Dickinson, Professor & Head, Department of Sociology
Geraldine Balzer, Associate Professor, Curriculum Studies
Julita Vassileva, Professor, Department of Computer Science
Josh Morrison, Lecturer, Women’s & Gender Studies and English
Tatiana Nomokonova, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Paula MacDowell, Assistant Professor, Department of Curriculum Studies
Stan Bardal, Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology
Mu-Sen Kevin Chuang, Lecturer, Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology
Daniel Fuller, Associate Professor, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology
Allison Cammer, Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition
Robert Englebert, Associate Professor, Department of History
Pei-Ying Lin, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Psychology & Special Education
Paul Olszynski, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine
Adam Zulkoskey, Instructor, Physics and Engineering Physics
Brian Zulkoskey, Instructor, Physics and Engineering Physics
Cheryl Waldner, Professor, Western College of Veterinary Medicine
Lori Bradford, Assistant Professor, College of Engineering and School of Environment and Sustainability
Helen Vandenberg, Associate Professor, College of Nursing
Fabienne Uehlinger, Associate Professor, Western College of Veterinary Medicine
Gordon Zello, Professor, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition
Jaclyn McLean, Associate Librarian, University Library
Terry Wotherspoon, Professor, Department of Sociology
Claire Card, Professor Large Animal Clinical Sciences
John Tse, Professor, Physics and Engineering Physics
Daniel MacPhee, Professor, Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, WCVM
Nathan Erickson, Associate Professor, Western College of Veterinary Medicine
Nathaniel Osgood, Professor, Computational Epidemiology & Public Health Informatics Laboratory, Department of Computer Science
Terence Clark, Assistant Professor, Archaeology and Anthropology
Tim Hutchinson, Associate Librarian, University Library
David Sanders, Professor, Department of Chemistry
Matheus Costa, Assistant Professor, Western College of Veterinary Medicine
Sheri Benning, Assistant Professor, Department of English
Dawson Mierau, Student and Library Assistant, History and STM Library
Lindsey Banco, Professor, Department of English
Barbara Fornssler, Assistant Professor, School of Public Health
Danielle Rivet, Graduate Student, Department of Biology
Warrick Baijius, sessional lecturer, Geography and Planning
Julian Rioux, undergraduate student, Department of History
Kyle Anderson, Assistant Professor, College of Medicine
Josiah Nelson, Graduate student (MFA in Writing), Sessional lecture, Department of English
[i] https://covid19.usask.ca/about/safety.php#Casecounts
[ii] https://twitter.com/usask_water/status/1571903846645125122?s=20
[iii] https://twitter.com/usask_water/status/1574420462091788289
[iv] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/sask-1500-death-covid-19-1.6588594
[v] https://publications.saskatchewan.ca/api/v1/products/118859/formats/136688/download; https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/cases-and-risk-of-covid-19-in-saskatchewan
[vi] https://assets.researchsquare.com/files/rs-1749502/v1/499445df-ebaf-4ab3-b30f-3028dff81fca.pdf?c=1655499468; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9270065/
[vii] https://governance.usask.ca/documents/council/agenda/2021-2022/june-2022/9.0-2022-06-16-prt-report-to-council.pdf
[viii] https://globalnews.ca/news/9139664/university-of-saskatchewan-professor-pushes-to-reinstate-campus-mask-mandate/
[ix] Pandemic Response Team email to the campus community, September 20, 2022.
[x] Dhruv Khullar, Will the Coronavirus pandemic ever end, The New Yorker, May 23, 2022. https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/will-the-coronavirus-pandemic-ever-end