We gave the test electronically, and there allegations of cheating. It was a mess. In the end we did not have enough evidence for academic review, as some students who brought forth the allegations did not want to present evidence and be named in the investigation. But there was a feeling that some students got away with behavior against the code of conduct for our university, and that is understandable. There was a divide.
And I was the next lecturer to take over the course...
3/
So, to stem the spread of illness in outlets class and to try to teach a month's worth of effective lectures, I decided to toe the line and send an email out asking the students to consider masking in class. Now, this was a risk. It was against state law and university guidelines to mandate masking. But I thought, "These are students training to be scientists. I can witte an appeal that is apolitical and relies on the information out there to allow them to make a better situation." My announcement to the class is in the highlighted section below, from a negative evaluation I received (the only one bringing up this communication). It is posted in the student's evaluation to attempt to add what they viewed as me breaking the law into a record of my teaching. And that's fine - I wrote this knowing that it could be half against me. (I have attached the same image three times below to accommodate the alt text in totality, because I don't think screen readers would be able to read the photographed text.)
4/
@Brad_Rosenheim I hope that student gets poor marks. In fact, I suspect they already do.
