From: "Gross, Louis J" Date: Wednesday, August 18, 2021 at 9:28 PM To: dplowman Cc: "Schussler, Elisabeth Ellen" , "Spurgeon, Shawn Lamont" , "Lyons, Beauvais" , "Gross, Louis J" , "Patterson, David A" Subject: UFC Meeting today with President Boyd and Covid response Chancellor Plowman, President Boyd spent considerable time today with the University Faculty Council, remarking on many System initiatives. He also responded to questions about Covid responses that I and Professor David Patterson had sent prior to the meeting. In particular, he noted that he has endeavored to not constrain the leadership of each campus so that each campus has considerable autonomy on decisions, as long as they do not contravene University or Board policy. He noted that he has been having regular meetings with all Chancellors regarding the pandemic and that there is one tomorrow morning. He hinted that this might lead to a change of policy but was not specific at all. He also noted that the policy at UTHSC is similar to that at TBR institutions for which masks are required inside all buildings. Thus, given that another UT campus already has a mask mandate in all buildings, and that you evidently have the capability to make this the policy here, as Chancellor Schwab has done at UTHSC, I strongly encourage you after your meeting with President Boyd tomorrow to announce a similar policy here. As you are aware from previous correspondence, there are tremendous concerns among the faculty arising from the current limited mask policy and how this enhances the chances of the spread of the latest variants of Covid to the vaccinated as well as unvaccinated. Stay well, Lou -- Louis J. Gross (he, him, his) Chancellor’s Professor and Alvin and Sally Beaman Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Mathematics Director Emeritus, National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS.org) Director, The Institute for Environmental Modeling University of Tennessee - Knoxville President, 2006-2007, 2021-2022, UTK Faculty Senate Past-President, 2003-2005, Society for Mathematical Biology http://lgross.utk.edu/