RENO — University of Nevada, Reno President Brian Sandoval is defending his decision to begin the spring semester with mostly in-person classes this week after a group of faculty members called for a two-week classroom closure in the face of unprecedented growth in COVID-19 cases.9
In an interview with KRNV-TV, Sandoval pointed to high vaccination rates among students and faculty and the desire from students to have in-person learning.
"That is the number one thing that we heard from our students, that they want the in-person (learning), they want to be in class, they want to be person-to-person with the faculty," Sandoval said Tuesday as the new semester began.
Sandoval said roughly 90% of students are vaccinated against COVID-19, a vaccination rate that is about 26% higher than the vaccination rate in Washoe County. He said 98% of faculty and staff are vaccinated.
But as of Wednesday, the local COVID-19 "risk meter" for the Reno-Sparks area combining multiple statistical categories is in the most serious "purple category," the worst it's been.
Hospitalizations tied to the virus have doubled over the past two weeks and the seven-day moving average for new cases per day are roughly double what they were during the previous peak surge in November 2020, Health District Officer Keven Dick said.
The faculty members represented by the Nevada Faculty Alliance who called for a two-week pause classroom teaching said in a letter to members they were protesting the university's decision to begin the semester in person.
"We call on the administration to move delivery of all classes online for at least the first two weeks of the semester to protect the health of all members of the UNR community, limit the strain on our overworked healthcare workers, and preserve hospital capacity for those who need it," they wrote in the letter to members.
Sandoval said he values their input and will continue to work with them.
"I encourage them to work with the provost if there are situations associated with a classroom, if there is a situation where multiple students may have tested positive," Sandoval said.
Students were required to be vaccinated to sign up for spring semester classes until Dec. 21, but the mandate was dropped after a party-line vote by a Nevada legislative committee. Faculty and staff are required to have the COVID-19 vaccine.
