Officials for Chapman University in Orange County have reported that 223 students and staffers have tested positive for COVID-19 since returning to campus earlier this week.
The campus began its fall in-person semester on Monday. All students and staff are required to be fully vaccinated no later than Sept. 14. Those with acceptable exemptions will be tested twice a week.
The surge in cases has triggered concerns among students and faculty who’ve said virtual alternatives for quarantining students missing class are not always available.
"Each class room is equipped for lecture recording or virtual instruction," a spokesperson for the university said in a statement on Thursday. "However, it's up to the faculty how they deliver their courses during that short period of time when a student cannot attend."
School officials said Chapman is committed to its full return to in-person instruction, with health and safety protocols in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. However, there are no plans to provide ongoing hybrid or online instruction.
Crystal Murphy, a professor with Chapman’s political science department, told The Orange County Register that some faculty members have expressed frustration that administrators have not consulted with them on how to optimize course offerings for quarantined students.
"There are a lot of faculty feeling frustrated that we're not being consulted, that our opinions and, for many, expertise, is not mattering, either for what's best for our students intellectually, or for our students’ and our family's own health," she said.
She added that the school’s contract tracing methods have been delayed, in her opinion. She said she has heard from students who knew they had been exposed to COVID-19, but had yet to be contacted by university health officials.
"We are testing people, we are doing contact tracing," Chapman President Daniele Struppa countered. "So I think we have been very, very proactive, as we have been from the beginning. We provide follow-up to students who are isolated."
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