Classroom mask requirement ends
The new masking policy went into effect on Oct. 30. Students are no longer required to wear masks in the classroom, but professors can set their own rules.
For the first time since March 2020, students and faculty can be in a classroom together without masks.
On Oct. 28, the CSB/SJU Pandemic Planning Committee released an updated statement about the new classroom masking policy beginning Oct. 30. Currently, masking is strongly encouraged in the classroom but up to each professor’s discretion for their own classrooms’ requirements.
A temporary masking policy had been in place since the beginning of the year. This was intended to stay in place until the CSB/SJU community reached a high enough vaccination rate, according to Casey Gordon, chair of the CSB/SJU Pandemic Planning Committee. After attaining a 90% vaccination rate, the temporary policy was incrementally removed as positive COVID cases on campus remained low.
In a statement made on Oct. 1, the CSB/SJU Pandemic Planning Committee said that masks would no longer be required in classrooms as of Oct. 16 but later postponed the mandate lift to Oct. 30. Masking is still required on the Link bus, at indoor sporting events, in large performance venues and for unvaccinated visitors to campus in indoor locations.
“We didn’t quite have a full two weeks since we moved to optional masking in areas outside of the classrooms, so the decision was made to continue required masking in the classrooms for an additional two weeks out of an abundance of caution. We wanted to be absolutely certain that we weren’t seeing additional community spread,” Gordon said.
The committee meets weekly, dedicating their time to ensuring the safety of all college employees and students. Their decisions closely follow recommendations from the MDH and CDC with possible policy changes depending on the number of COVID cases on campus.
After the announcement from the CSB/SJU Pandemic Planning Committee, there remained some discomfort with the new policy.
“I’m personally grateful for my professors who have said we would rather you still wear the masks because that makes me more comfortable. I wasn’t very happy when I heard we weren’t required to wear them anymore, but I understood the meaning behind it,” CSB sophomore Sara Hoppe said. “I think part of the reason why I’m a little uncomfortable with it being now is that it’s been implemented right after Halloween, and Halloween’s a time of parties and mixing with other people that you probably wouldn’t normally see.”
The discomfort is also felt by some faculty members themselves. Some departments have released statements announcing the continuation of mask requirements in their classrooms. Stearns County is currently at an extremely high COVID risk, with the St. Cloud Hospital having limited ICU beds, affecting not only COVID patients but also others who may need immediate care.
“We are not just in a bubble here. We interact with the wider community all the time,” sociology professor Ted Gordon said. “When you go off campus, which a lot of people do—for work or for family or for fun—then [you] are interacting with people who, in our area, likely may not be vaccinated.”
Amid the pandemic, professors have also paid close attention to the adjustments in learning styles and possible difficulties in their classrooms.
“A lot of faculty [members] have decided and found that wearing a mask does not make it harder to achieve learning goals, it doesn’t make it harder to achieve the purpose of the class and it is a simple step that everyone can take to reduce the spread,” Gordon said.
For some, wearing a mask is necessary for the continued protection of our society as a whole, not simply the individual.
“Wearing a mask is not necessarily really even about just protecting the person who wears it,” Gordon said. “It’s about protecting the wider community.”
