To Mask or Not to Mask
Mako Watanabe for The Santa Clara
Santa Clara professors weigh in on the university’s updated mask requirements
Following the weekly “Prepared SCU” roundup email last Friday, the university announced plans to lift the mask mandate for the majority of indoor public spaces, beginning March 18.
While the county ended their mask requirement on March 2, Santa Clara adopted a more cautious approach. The announcement confirmed the university’s intention to reach a “high level of booster vaccination” to minimize potential transmission on campus before lifting their requirement.
Since March 18, the university has switched to “strongly recommending” the use of masks indoors, but will continue to require that all unvaccinated students, faculty and staff wear masks. Masks are still required in all classrooms and in the Cowell Health Center.
To gain a better sense of how staff and faculty at Santa Clara are responding to these changes, we asked three university lecturers to share their thoughts about the end to the mask mandate. Here’s what they had to say.
How has the school year been for you in regards to COVID-19 and changing regulations?
Dr. Andrew Ishak, lecturer in Communication: It's been good. I’m happy we're back in person. When we weren't in Jan., that was challenging (but understandable). Especially after coming back in the fall, it was hard to go online once again. Being in class surrounded by other people is so important to the human experience.
Dr. Damian Park, lecturer in Economics: Changing regulations minimize monotony, so I appreciate the additional excitement. The bigger downsides? Teaching to those that are on Zoom or want to remain on Zoom — it’s harder to assess their progress and learning.
Dr. Robert Shanklin, senior lecturer in Philosophy: Not particularly troublesome — the changes were not burdensome on me, and in general upper-division students needed little to no guidance or accommodation from me. First years were different, however: there were lots of feelings and opinions about changing regulations, which contributed to anxiety and stress for many (though not all) students.
From your understanding, how has the mask policy changed at the university? Do you agree with the school's timeline for adjusting in relation to fluctuations in county-level COVID-19 cases?
Ishak: My understanding is the university is waiting a couple of weeks to adjust the policy. We’re wearing masks indoors and there's not a particular date set for classrooms. I have to say it's strange. We've been doing this now for two years (and within reason), but we should in my opinion align exactly with what the county is doing. If the county is saying masks are not mandated indoors, we should follow what they’re saying. It’s very confusing for students, faculty, and staff who don’t know what the policies are. We don’t need special rules here on campus. Why would be go above and beyond what the county is saying (a very restrictive, cautious county at that)? If masks aren’t mandated in public spaces, I feel like it shouldn’t be in the classroom. Seeing someone’s face helps so much in facilitating connection, response, and language. Why wouldn’t we prioritize that in the classroom?
Park: The policy didn't ever change, in my eyes. They have been required since fall ‘22, and as of March 13, they won't be. Agree? Yes — I trust "them" to make these decisions for us.
Shanklin: I suspect requiring professors to wear masks in classrooms, rather than encouraging it, is asking more than the administration — and many students as well as their parents — realize. Projecting through a mask for as much as four hours a day is just unrealistic for many of us (and I've even done theater).
What are your thoughts on lifting the mask mandate? Would lifting the mandate for classrooms influence your teaching style or the structure of your course at all?
Ishak: I will probably not change my teaching style. I try to be as energetic and lively as I can in the classroom. The difference, I think, will be that I don’t have to think about or talk about the mask, it’s not a barrier anymore. I was one of the first ones to opt to come back to campus when we could, just because I value that in-person communication so much. Students need that in-person college experience in the classroom, in the dorms, in the dining hall. There’s a reason were not doing online school. Thinking about it from a communication standpoint, the more information I can get (body language, voice, social cues) the better I can understand them as correctly as possible and engage with them better. That was the hardest thing about Zoom, you couldn’t get that rich feedback, which is crucial to valuable connection making.
Park: It will not influence what I do in the classroom. I am OK with lifting it. If we don't lift it when cases are low, then when in the future will we lift it? It seems like the utilitarian thing to do, although I do suspect that a few people might suffer as a result.
Shanklin: No, thankfully — I'll be teaching outside because of my medical history. I would be quite concerned if I were indoors.
Do you have any concerns about what the ending of the mandate might mean for students and faculty who express fears or discomfort about unmasked individuals?
Ishak: I think COVID has made us both hypersensitive to risk and has warped our understanding of how we take risks. Because of that, COVID has caused fear in weird ways. We think about the risks we take 20 times a day now and avoid doing certain things to mitigate those risks. It’s weird how things we used to do all time we’re now, as a culture, incredibly fearful of. I mean, we still drive in a car everyday despite car accidents being super common. Car accidents aren't contagious, but you know what I mean. There was a point where we should all be wearing a mask, when the numbers were super high and the bad outcomes were likely (hospitalization and death). But at the same time, when the risk is not high (where we are now), we have to give people the freedom to live in a “normal” way — part of that is not wearing a mask around other people.
I do feel concerned for students mentally, though — it’s challenging to think about how risk changes. I have kids, so I think and worry about risk all the time. But risk changes, and when risk changes it's ok for the community to decide that everyone’s responsible for evaluating what’s risky, what’s not, and what they’re comfortable with, on their own.
Park: Because individuals are able to wear stronger masks (N95s), sit farther away from people, request a different room with more ventilation, etc. I do not have concerns. That said, it is also impossible for me to judge how others perceive risk and if these and other defensive measures are enough. One way to think about this situation is to view air as a commonly owned resource. Some want it to be pristine, and others want to be able to pollute it with sickness — i.e. not intentionally pollute it, but they want to breathe shared air without testing every day and ensuring a lack of sickness first. Compared to making everyone mask up (which does not even guarantee clean air because of imperfect compliance and permeable masks). It is possible that individuals taking precautions may be a better way to address these conflicting "rights" to air.
Interestingly, the pandemic seems to have altered expectations over these rights as well. Before, it was socially acceptable to come to class with a cough, etc. Now, the right to breathe clean air is more clearly established (I hope), which may partially alleviate fears/discomfort. I'd like to see this property right continue to be clearly defined in favor of cleanliness in more situations, like shaming people who idle cars near people (exhaust bothers me...)
Shanklin: I think it's quite difficult for students, though in many different ways. Some students hate wearing masks. Some hate it that some students do and some don't. Some students — only first years in my experience — hate it if the professor is talking outdoors without a mask, but they (the student) hear the university as forcing them to wear masks. I don't see a neat solution there, and am extremely grateful — for my health and for avoiding/reducing these issues — to be teaching outdoors.
What are you most looking forward to as COVID-19 cases continue to decline across the country?
Ishak: Personally, I’m looking forward to travel feeling more free. I feel that one of the challenges with COVID has been when you try to go on vacation to gain more experiences, learn about a new place, and gain various cultural experiences, but there are a ton of restrictions (like mask-wearing) because it’s part of the current culture. When everyone is masked, you can’t explore the cultures as freely. I’m really looking forward to traveling to places to learn what the culture is like the way it might have been before the pandemic. Again, I’ve found it really depends on the place. Sometimes when we travel with family, they're not thinking about it, but other places COVID is very much a part of their current lifestyle and culture, which impacts travel. I’m looking forward to going to places where you can experience it in full.
Park: Visiting family, more flu :)
Shanklin: I'm just hoping [cases] do [decline] — especially as people come back from spring break.