UNC faculty call special meeting as fourth COVID-19 cluster among students reported
Updated: UNC-Chapel Hill will move to remote classes Wednesday, the university announced Monday. For more on this developing story, go here.
The Faculty Executive Committee at UNC-Chapel Hill held a meeting Monday to discuss the growing number of coronavirus cases among students after the first week of classes.
The meeting came shortly after the UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor announced all classes will move online starting Wednesday after reporting 130 more students had tested positive for coronavirus last week, the university announced Monday.
The university reported its fourth cluster of coronavirus cases on Sunday, according to a campus alert. The cluster, which is defined as five or more cases in close proximity, is located at Hinton James residence hall. Individuals in the cluster are isolated and being monitored, according to the alert.
Residents living in space where clusters have been identified have been provided with additional information and next steps. Contact tracing has also been initiated with anyone who had contact with an infected person.
UNC reported two clusters of the novel coronavirus in Ehringhaus Community and Granville Towers on Friday, The News & Observer previously reported. The faculty committee announced it would hold a remote special meeting shortly after those clusters were announced.
UNC reported a third cluster at off-campus fraternity Sigma Nu on Saturday. After it was announced, faculty chair Mimi Chapman urged the UNC System Board of Governors to give the campus chancellor “authority to make decisions” in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We knew there would be positive cases on our campus. But clusters, five or more people that are connected in one place, are a different story,” Chapman wrote in a letter to the board. “The presence of clusters should be triggering reconsideration of residential, in-person learning. However, moving to remote instruction cannot be done without your approval.”
The Faculty Executive Committee, which is made up of the faculty chair Chapman, a faculty secretary and twelve other members, is tasked with advising university administration on issues “that the committee deems important to the University’s mission,” according to the faculty code.
Reported cases so far
It’s not clear how many students were involved in the four coronavirus clusters. As of Aug. 9, UNC-Chapel Hill reported 189 cases among both students and faculty on its dashboard, which is updated weekly.
The university also reported that 2.8% of students tested between Aug. 3 and Aug. 9 were positive for coronavirus. The numbers for the first week of classes, which began Aug. 10, have not yet been released.
Some 14% of North Carolina’s nearly 145,000 coronavirus cases have been identified in those between the ages of 18 and 24, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
UNC Chapel Hill is not alone in the grappling with COVID-19 as students return to campus.
Multiple videos of students partying and in close proximity reportedly at N.C. State University, which also started classes on Aug. 10, have circulated in recent days. N.C. State has not yet announced any cases.
At Appalachian State University, the Faculty Senate drafted a resolution of no confidence in Chancellor Sheri Everts, in part because of her response to coronavirus on campus. The Faculty Senate will consider the resolution Monday, which is also the first day of classes.
This story was originally published August 16, 2020 at 3:03 PM with the headline "UNC faculty call special meeting as fourth COVID-19 cluster among students reported."
