Ninth Memorandum of Understanding between Western Washington University and United Faculty of Western Washington University

A signed copy of the MOU can be found here

Modality

  1. For the Spring and Summer 2022, all faculty members can choose instructional modality, whether in-person, hybrid, or remote. Faculty who choose in-person or hybrid modalities do not need to seek approval. Faculty who wish to teach remotely can make requests based on the criteria below.


If a faculty member chooses remote instruction for one of the following reasons, their request should be sent to Human Resources:

  1. Faculty who have approved medical or religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination requirements;
  2. Faculty who are immunocompromised or otherwise at high risk as determined by their health care provider, whether or not they are vaccinated;
  3. Faculty who anticipate having unvaccinated, immunocompromised, or otherwise high-risk individuals in their household;

If a faculty member chooses remote instruction for one of the following reasons, their request should be sent to the Provost’s Office:

  1. Faculty whose travel circumstances preclude in-person teaching (e.g., residence out of state);
  2. Faculty whose personal health situation or health situation of their household makes them uncomfortable with in-person instruction;
  3. Other personal or professional reasons to prefer remote instruction.

For requests that rely on a rationale based on items (a), (b), or (c), HR will approve or deny the request.

For requests that rely on a rationale based on items (d), (e), or (f), a panel composed of one representative from the Provost’s Office and one representative from UFWW will evaluate the request using a blind review process and approve or deny the request. If the panel deadlocks, the request will be approved.

  1. If a request is denied under items (a), (b), or (c) above, the faculty member can opt to have their request reviewed under items (d), (e), or (f) above.
  2. No adverse action will be taken against any faculty member making such a request, even if that request is denied.
  3. Faculty do not need to request permission to move from in-person or hybrid to remote for two weeks or less due to disruptions related to COVID 19 including faculty isolation or quarantine, to care for someone who must isolate or quarantine or otherwise stay home, or if a significant number of students in the class must isolate or quarantine. If doing so, faculty should notify their students and chair.
  4. Faculty will make initial requests for modality changes for Spring by 4 February 2022. Those for Summer should be made by 18 April 2022. Emergent requests after these dates will be evaluated using the same process.

Safety

  1. The University will comply with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers’ (ASHRAE) recommendations for maintaining healthy buildings, including maximizing fresh air intake, minimizing cross-flow of air in occupied spaces, and optimizing system filtration to the greatest extent possible. The university will provide all available data on: (1) real-time monitoring of supply air and exhaust rates on all air handlers to ensure that ASHRAE standards for supply air are achieved, (2) the approximately 130 CO2 monitoring points in building supply air systems to ensure air provided to large sections of buildings contains sufficient outside air (OSA), and (3) the approximately 100 CO2 monitoring points in individual lecture halls and GUC’s to verify that the overall ventilation strategy is effective. This data will be provided by March 1, 2021 (via a webpage or email) and will be updated if the ASHRAE  recommendation is not met. The University will continue the use of  MERV 13 air filters where system design and operating capacity allows and complete routine scheduled maintenance of all HVAC systems to ensure proper operation. Any building or room that falls below the ASHRAE recommendations will be taken offline or marked as for limited use. For buildings without supply air systems, the University will implement site-specific solutions within one week.
  2. The University will provide faculty with vaccination rate information (including information on boosters, if available) for their classes 1 week prior to the first day of class and will update that information if it changes during the course of the quarter.
  3. Faculty will not be required to clean / disinfect rooms or elements of instructional spaces. The University will follow all health guidance and best practices with regards to cleaning and sanitation.
  4. Faculty will have access to their workspaces even if they teach remotely, assuming state guidance permits.
  5. The University will provide supplies and equipment including disposable masks, disinfectant, and disinfectant wipes in departmental spaces and classrooms. These materials will be restocked as needed upon notification.
  6. The University will notify faculty of positive cases of COVID-19 in their classes within 24 hours of receiving notification.
  7. The University will make COVID-19 testing available on a voluntary basis to vaccinated faculty, including rapid antigen testing if possible on campus. If not possible, the University will provide transportation to the voluntary testing site as necessary.
  8. The University will provide information on local vaccine availability upon request.

Workload

  1. No instructor will be required to teach a section including both remote and in-person students. If a faculty member is asked to do so by any official of WWU (including but not limited to Deans, Chairs, Academic Program Directors, the Office of Student Life, and the Disability Access Center), and agrees, then the faculty member will be paid 50% of the usual overload rate, i.e. 1/72 of their academic year salary per credit hour.
  2. Additional compensation for any additional scenarios not mentioned here will be determined by discussion between the appropriate Dean / Provost’s Office / faculty member and UFWW and any agreement will apply to all significantly similar situations.

Post Tenure Review

  1. Upon request, tenured faculty scheduled for post-tenure review in the following academic years can opt for a one-year extension.

PTR scheduled for AY 2024-2025 may be postponed to AY2025-2026

PTR scheduled for AY 2025-2026 may be postponed to AY2026-2027

Tenured faculty should submit their requests for postponement to their department chair, college dean, and the Provost in the year prior to their scheduled review.

Signed and dated this 24 of January 2022

This provision extends that in the second COVID MOU, signed 15 May 2020, which stipulated that: “Upon request, tenured faculty scheduled for post-tenure review in the following academic years can opt for a one-year extension:

PTR scheduled for AY 2020-21 may be postponed to AY 2021-22

PTR scheduled for AY 2021-22 may be postponed to AY 2022-23

PTR scheduled for AY 2022-23 may be postponed to AY 2023-24

PTR scheduled for AY 2023-24 may be postponed to AY 2024-25”