The Valdosta State University senate’s virtual meeting on Thursday sparked controversy among staff following the senate’s plan to start meeting in person.

The VSU senate has made plans for the council to start meeting in person for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic struck starting next semester.

Senate President Forrest Parker said that the virtual meetings were originally held online to accommodate for the pandemic.

“We originally transitioned to virtual meetings in response to the extraordinary events of the pandemic which made in-person gatherings impossible,” said Parker, “At that time, virtual meetings were necessary for the safety and well being of our community.”

The University believes meeting in person again will allow staff to be more engaged and connected socially.

“Meeting face-to-face fosters meaningful interaction, stronger relationships, and a greater sense of shared purpose, something that simply can’t be replicated through virtual participation alone”, said Parker.

These plans were met with controversy due to many of the staff’s inability to commute to the university

Some staff said that the commute to the university would pose a problem to their schedules due to how much time it would take away from their duties.

“I live two hours away… so that’s four hours [in total]. That doesn’t sound like much, but that’s a whole day that I lose coming to campus,” said senate member Knicole Lee.

Some staff believe that the senate’s return to in-person meetings could be a good thing due to how they help to build a sense of unity between senate members.

“I joined the senate for the idea of building community and shared governance, and I absolutely believe that face-to-face gives us the opportunity as a collective to be in the same space with our energy and commitment to share governance,”said faculty senate Vice President and President elect, Susan Boddie.

Some staff are concerned that the decision to go back to in-person meetings was made unfairly and abruptly.

“I’m okay going forward if we want to be face to face, but I’m also okay being online. I believe we’ve got to stick to the rules,” said senate member A.J. Ramirez, “[If] we start changing the rules because we just want to change them, we lose the foundation of who we are. We lose what it means to be a governing body for the people, for the senate, for the faculty members.”

Some staff believe that the transition back to face-to face meetings should have an online option for those who can not attend in person.

“If you are determined to go forward [meeting in person]… for January, it might be beneficial to offer it hybrid, at least for that meeting…” said Ramirez.

The first in-person meeting of the senate next semester is scheduled for Jan. 16 at 3:30 in the Magnolia Room.

Written by James Brown, Staff Reporter. Photo courtesy of VSU.