Officials respond to concerns from students, faculty
Officials responded to student concerns about the university’s COVID-19 alert level.
The university’s current COVID-19 alert level remains at moderate despite the increase of COVID-19 cases in Oklahoma City and the surrounding community. The moderate alert level is the second alert level for OCU. The “Responding to COVID at OCU” document on the university’s COVID-19 information page states this alert level means OCU and local communities can operate at moderate densities and protective measures are in place. A high alert level means OCU and local communities can operate only in low-density environments, the document reads.
The “Triggers for Raising & Lowering Alert Levels” document states the OCU alert level may be raised due to events such as a significant increase of COVID-19 transmission on campus, significant transmission increases in the local community if the institution cannot minimize interaction with the local community, evidence the campus population is disregarding safety guidelines or insufficient healthcare capacity or COVID-19 testing availability. The alert level may also be raised due to local, state or national government policy.
Joey Croslin, vice president for human resources, said the reason why the campus alert level hasn’t changed is because it is only for the OCU community, though the Emergency Operations Committee does monitor the county alert level. She said they have not observed any of the current alert level triggers in the campus community.
“We haven’t seen that yet, so far, and I hope we don’t,” Croslin said. “I want to make clear there isn’t just one specific trigger of the data we monitor that would cause us to make a change to alert level. We’re looking at all of the data holistically and how that relates to our campus community and doing what we can to keep people safe.”
She said the EOC monitors COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the local community to help determine the campus alert level
“The hospital capacity in the metro area, as well as around the state, has increased to record levels, and that is definitely creating stress on our hospital system, but we continue to have access to health care both on-campus and off-campus,” she said.
The university has tried to help mitigate an increase in transmission by implementing restrictions, such as limiting student organization in-person activities, events and meetings to no more than 10 people, she said.
Croslin said the EOC also monitors the Harvard Global Health Institute website, where you can see data organized by state and county. As of Nov. 5, the state of Oklahoma is in the red, which means there are more than 25 infections per 100,000 people tested, and stay-at-home orders are deemed necessary. Oklahoma is currently ranked 23rd in the country for most COVID-19 cases.
Croslin said the reason the university is doing well in containing the virus is because students are complying with the health and safety protocols.
“That has made all the difference,” she said. “I know it’s getting tiresome and people talk about pandemic fatigue, but we’re really close to the end of the term, and I really appreciate all the effort students have put in. They really have made this a success.”
Levi Harrel, dean of students, said the cases on campus this semester have been manageable so far.
“So, when we look at that, while the goal would be to have no cases in our campus community certainly, we know that that is manageable. We have resources to meet that need on campus, our campus clinic continues to be well resourced to meet those student’s needs,” he said.
Mark Davies, professor of social and ecological ethics, said he’s confused why the university implemented more restrictions without changing the alert level.
“It sounds like they changed some practices that the university would have, had they moved the alert level up, but they didn’t move the actual alert level up,” Davies said. “So, my question would be, if you’re making changes based on what you said you would do if you had to move the level up, then why isn’t the alert level going up?”
Davies said universities across the country should not only think about cases on campus, but also in the community.
“I think sometimes – and this is not just an OCU thing – I think universities are focusing so much on how many cases they have internal to the university, whether it be students, faculty or staff, that they’re not thinking about the negative impact that’s having on the community around the university,” he said.
Davies also said he doesn’t think the Oklahoma state alert level system is adequate to influence decisions the university makes because it is almost impossible to raise the alert level to red, and there are no current red counties in Oklahoma based on the state alert system.
Melissa Goldberg, music theater senior, is attending classes remotely this semester.
“I can’t really speak to the situation on campus or in Oklahoma because I am not there, but from an outside perspective, it seems very negligent on OCU’s part to make OCU seem invincible,” she said. “It’s really not, and it’ll be really upsetting when an asymptomatic student who went out to a bar or something gives an old professor COVID and then there are no hospital beds left to treat that professor.”
Lisi Levy, acting senior, said she thinks the university should raise the alert level.
“I don’t feel safe with the current alert level,” she said. “I think we had the most hospitalizations in the state of Oklahoma yesterday than we have the entire pandemic, and that’s horrific and terrifying. If they don’t think the state of Oklahoma statistics don’t directly impact our community, then I think they’re wrong.”
Kaylila Pasha, acting student, said she doesn’t think the university alert system should be different than Oklahoma City’s.
“I don’t think you can completely separate the two because our campus is in Oklahoma City, and our students are integrated into the city whether it be where they work or restaurants they eat at or fitness classes they attend. The city’s status directly affects the campus’ status,” Pasha said.
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