Members have reached out to express concern about vaccine distribution to staff and faculty. NFA at UNR has reached out to University leadership in the hopes of obtaining clarification. Letter to President Sandoval is below in

"Dear President Sandoval,

We hope this letter finds you well and having a restful holiday season. We first want to acknowledge our colleagues across the system who are working hard to fulfil our academic mission over the Winter Break.

As our state moves through the distribution of vaccines to our frontline medical workers, we recognize that as critical infrastructure NSHE Faculty are listed in the Tier 2 category.

Many questions have arisen among on how this distribution will take place. While we recognize that information has sometimes been limited from both the state and federal governments, we hope to avoid miscommunication and the rumor mill within our campus and NSHE community.

To this end, we ask the following questions:
1) What criteria will be used to determine the order of provision of vaccines among faculty?

2) What criteria will be used to determine the order of provision of vaccines for other student-facing and essential staff?

3) If individuals are placed earlier in the distribution due to perceived risk, what happens to those who are not deemed at higher risk?

We recognize that plans need to be flexible; however, there is already considerable confusion among faculty. Requests for Deans and Chairs to start dividing faculty into different groups with unclear criteria are causing concern and consternation.

For example, concerns have been raised to us about (1) the inclusion of faculty and staff who have student-facing activities other than traditional classroom teaching and

(2) (2) whether faculty members who have been teaching entirely remotely because of health conditions will be lowered in priority because they are not currently interacting in person with students

(which is potentially discriminating against those who could benefit most from the vaccine in terms of both their health and their ability to return to campus).

We encourage the University and NSHE leadership to bear in mind the obligations of shared governance, and work through existing structures of the Faculty Senate, Staff Council, and other representative bodies.

The NFA stands ready to help convey messages and support safe and equitable vaccination distribution.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. We greatly appreciate your service and leadership.

Respectfully,

NFA-UNR Chapter Board"