PhD students voice health concerns over BU policy that requires they return to campus

PhD students at Boston University had to decide whether to return to campus in the fall or stay home and lose their stipend and medical benefits, per a BU policy. COURTESY RACHEL @GREENHOUSE PHOTO AT GHPHOTOCO.COM; INSTAGRAM @GREENHOUSEPHOTOCO.

By Hannah Shearer

As COVID-19 has disturbed all aspects of on-campus life for students across the country, Boston University’s administration gave PhD students — incoming and incumbent — an ultimatum for the fall semester: return to campus or lose their stipend, medical benefits and part of their academic tenure.

In an initially private memo released in July that was eventually shared around online by multiple students, University Provost Jean Morrison and Associate Provost for Graduate Affairs Daniel Kleinman detailed a controversial plan for the upcoming semester, which addressed stipends, return options and quarantine. 

The memo stated, “We do not believe it is advisable to allow even experienced teaching fellows to teach remotely, barring public health restrictions that require remote-only teaching.”

Information was added to BU's website to address questions students have.

The memo also read that doctoral students, like professors, can be medically exempt from returning to campus if they have health concerns. This requires students and faculty to reveal personal health records to the committee created, which raises red flags for some in terms of privacy. 

Students had until Aug. 1 to make the decision. Any students with a service position, such as teaching assistants and lab instructors, who cannot return to campus by Sept. 1 must take a leave of absence, hence forfeiting their stipend and medical benefits.

Not all students are required to return, such as non-service students who are further in their degree. However, in order to receive funding support, they must be on U.S. soil, bringing up specific problems for international students. 

International students faced additional pressure in July when the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement adopted a policy that would force any of them not taking in-person classes out of the country. While this rule has since been rescinded following a lawsuit filed by many universities, including BU, the aftershocks of the initial statement still resonate.

Yiyan Zhang, a doctoral student in emerging media studies in the College of Communication, said that returning to China, which has more control over the virus, would mean quarantining in Boston for two weeks, logging symptoms daily and finding a flight home. 

This process could take months given the constant cancellation of air travel, not to mention the steps to take once she arrives. 

To cope with her own stress and confusion right now, Zhang made a flowchart to illustrate the experience of being an international while schools debated all-remote learning vs. a hybrid option that’s in-person and online.

Her main struggles included getting or renewing a visa, cancelled flights and the amount of money required. After gaining traction in China, the chart was translated to English for a POLITICO article.

“The flowchart is basically saying: there are a lot of arrows and possibilities, but with all possibilities, we just have nowhere to go,” Zhang said. “That is everywhere.”

On top of difficulties with travel, international and domestic students must take safety measures to protect themselves and others, which makes the entire process of picking up and moving more complicated, not to mention nerve-wracking.

For Winnie Wong, an incoming graduate student studying chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences, the process of moving to campus includes renting a U-Haul and purchasing gloves and disinfectant. 

Wong said she originally planned to live in the on-campus graduate apartments, but had to change her plan after reaching out to BU Housing via email. She asked if they had any information about how on-campus graduate housing will look, but the main response was to just wait a little longer for information.

“Basically what we're hearing is that you just have to hang tight,” Wong said. “When I finally emailed them back, they said that they were not providing housing, but there was nothing on the website. I had to reach out to them to know.”

While there are online resources to help graduate students with the housing search, information on specific locations is not clearly available.

The move-in process for BU students, especially international ones, requires extensive forethought and planning. However, many students feel the university hasn’t clearly communicated the steps they must follow.

When asked for comment, Kleinman said improving communications is “definitely on the agenda.”

Alexis Shore, a graduate student in emerging media studies, noted that it’s not only students who are left confused by the plan, which has made the situation feel even more convoluted.

“As much as students want answers, I think there are very few people who actually have them,” Shore said. “I assume there's a lot of communication going on behind closed doors. The only reason I know anything is through private group chats [with other PhD students], and I know that's the case for a lot of people.”

In regards to the health requirements for professors and doctoral students returning to campus, Shore said she believes the statement around medical exemptions can be limiting and possibly give people no choice but to reveal private information.

“It was very unclear who the exemption would be applicable to,” Shore said. “My interpretation was that you had to have a severe health problem or else it wouldn't apply to you, and that doesn't take into consideration students who live with people who are older or immuno-compromised.”

After listening to BU present their plan at a virtual Boston City Council Committee on Public Health meeting on July 9, Zhang said she felt unsure that the semester would be as concrete as the memos and emails had described. 

“They didn't even know who would do all the tests, and how often will we do the tests? And will somebody, like us PhD instructors, be tested? Will people be wearing masks? I don't know,” Zhang said. “Like, those things are so unclear that I don't have any confidence to say we're protected.”

As of Aug. 4, BU has put in place a plan for testing, which involves students performing their own nasal swabs at designated sites on campus and giving the sample to the observers at the testing site.

As the school year approaches, and as more information is released, students have continued to feel unsteady in their return to campus, and the idea of teaching or attending classes being put first. 

“I think they need to consider that the decisions are not just about the university, or about teaching, or about taking courses,” Zhang said. “They’re about our lives.”