With classes starting for the fall semester, many students are worried about the efficacy of classroom procedures. Is every precaution possible being taken? Is Iowa State University putting student health before everything, including costs?

A lot of lectures have moved online, and a few have decided to take on a hybrid approach. Most labs, with strict health and safety protocols, remain in person on campus.

Those with hybrid classes typically have some sort of seating chart for lectures or exams as a way to trace contact. But this begs the question: how accurately are professors and lecturers keeping track of students in class? 

When looking at the various rules and guidelines put into place to help protect students, one is that all students and staff who are physically able must wear a mask while on campus or in an area where social distancing is not possible. While this can greatly help lessen the spread of COVID-19 on campus, this rule still isn’t foolproof.

While mask-wearing is mandatory on campus, the state of Iowa is one of the few states that does not have a mask mandate. This means that students have a higher chance of contracting COVID-19 off campus. 

Additionally, even if students wear their mask, wearing it incorrectly will increase their chances of contracting COVID-19 as well. Unless staff and faculty members actively ensure all students are wearing their masks to cover mouths and noses with no large gaps, the mandatory mask rule could be rather ineffective.

The cleaning procedures for lab equipment and seating areas requires labs to use 70 percent alcohol-based sanitizer or another appropriate disinfectant to clean and disinfect between each use. This does comply with the CDC recommendation of 60-95 percent of alcohol in order for the disinfectant to be effective against COVID-19. 

In terms of space limitations in labs and in some classrooms, some students may be forced to be closer to other students for a class period. For example, Troxel Hall’s seating has students closer than six feet to one another (every other seat is available for students to sit). 

It is essential to have proper ventilation in these areas as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which suggests increasing ventilation rates, ensuring that ventilation systems operate properly, checking filters to ensure they are within service life and appropriately installing and keeping systems running for longer hours with enhanced air exchange. 

Is Iowa State University enacting these safety procedures? Are they taking every precaution they can to ensure students’ health and safety?

All classes and labs should have the option of being offered online. Ames has already seen a spike in cases since students returned, and with the “801 day” parties that brought hoards of people packed into small spaces, it can only be assumed that there will be a continued rise in cases.

While online labs are not ideal, students did have these in the spring of 2020 and were still able to overcome those difficulties. 

Student health and safety is the first priority, and with the many possible flaws that are in Iowa State’s classroom procedures, it is unreasonable to force any student who is worried about contracting COVID-19 to go to class in-person.