After an extended winter break, students and faculty are returning to campus with the well-known uncertainty of what the semester will look like. For what seems like one too many times, COVID-19 has once again hovered over like a cloud of ambiguity to disrupt life as we knew it.

With the emergence of the highly transmissible omicron variant, Syracuse University reviewed and updated its health and safety measures once more. In an email sent to all community members over the break, the university discussed the required booster shot to return and announced new procedures for quarantining and isolation.

While all community members are expected to comply with the new requirements, the concern of increased academic absences arises with the infectious nature of the variant. A spike in cases is expected with the return to campus, likely leading to an increase of students in quarantine. While the school has done its job at providing resources for students in isolation, a Student Association request for hybrid options for classes made in September was met with hesitance and ultimately rejection.

SU should require professors to provide hybrid alternatives this semester because of the presence of COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant. A student petition demanding for this action emerged recently, demonstrating the pressing need students have for hybrid classes.

During the fall semester, some professors only posted their class presentations for students in quarantine without a recording of their instruction. While quarantined in Skyhall, freshman Ellie Lozow had to miss five days of regular lectures and said she was expected to keep up with the content without any further guidance provided.

“I was not learning as in-depth as I would be if I were attending the regular lectures, which was more noticeable a few weeks (later),” Lozow said. Professors should record or livestream their lectures for students who cannot attend in person. The lack of instruction from only posting a presentation to read creates a disadvantage in students’ knowledge when learning in quarantine, affecting their assignments and exams later on.

When SA proposed a hybrid option to Allen Groves, the senior vice president for the student experience, Groves expressed concern about hybrid options creating a shortcut for more students not to attend classes. There are solutions to this concern, though, such as creating a password for the online lectures and only providing it to students in quarantine.

A hybrid alternative would also give students flexibility around how to attend class in other situations where it is difficult or dangerous to come to class. SU rarely cancels classes for extreme weather conditions, as the university’s policy states that all schedules are observed during inclement weather unless indicated by the provost and chief financial officer.

Even though extreme weather conditions occur regularly in the Syracuse area, it is important to consider both student and faculty safety on the days when conditions are too intense. Most students usually walk to class under severe weather conditions, which can become dangerous with low temperatures, high wind chills and icy surfaces.

There needs to be a degree of flexibility on attendance regarding severe winter weather days. SU professors should use their discretion to determine whether in-person lectures should happen or provide online alternatives.

If hybrid options were available, students could have the liberty to decide if they feel safe attending in-person classes. With a diverse pool of students from different backgrounds and origins, not everyone handles the winter weather the same. Those differences should be acknowledged and accepted.

We are at a time where technology has evolved and adapted to become inclusive to any situation that prevents in-person attendance. SU faculty should use their resources to provide the safest learning options for students in accordance with the virus and the winter weather.

A safety concern should not be the reason why students miss out on the entirety of the content they could have learned if they had attended their classes physically. While we have to be grateful for the chance to even attend in-person classes, we also must recognize the need for alternative options for those who need them this semester.

Karla Perez is a freshman magazine, news and digital journalism major. Her column appears biweekly. She can be reached at ksperezd@syr.edu.

Published on January 23, 2022 at 9:44 pm