College of Public Health Dean Donna Petersen initiated the Respectful Responder program to address USF faculty and staff concerns about campus face mask expectations.
Courtesy of USF
By Isaiah Sterling
When USF enacted a face mask mandate during the fall 2020 semester, faculty and staff expressed concern about student compliance and confrontations to the College of Public Health (COPH).
COPH Dean Donna Petersen suggested most concern came after members of the USF community viewed “scary images of altercations” over mask mandates on social media.
In an effort to ease faculty and staff anxiety, Petersen collaborated with three university leaders to found Respectful Responders, a diverse team of volunteers trained to constructively deescalate student confrontations over face mask requirements.
The team is made up of academic advisors, student support staff, faculty and administrators.
According to USF’s Classroom Guidance for Instructional Faculty, professors should, “if necessary, contact a Respectful Responder to handle any disruption that occurs regarding the face mask expectation.”
If a responder is unable to deescalate the situation, students will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. If necessary, University Police will be dispatched.
Petersen said the majority of the USF community was willing to “step up and help out” during the program’s initial training in 2020.
“We had almost 100 people sign up to be trained across the campuses,” Petersen said.
According to a COPH news release, associate professor Miguel Ortiz was trained as a Respectful Responder.
Ortiz volunteered to become a responder to assist the university with its COVID-19 protocols.
“I took this opportunity to help serve the university community to be better prepared to address the challenges imposed by COVID-19, in particular, to help us be better prepared to prevent COVID-19 transmission,” Ortiz said in the news release.
When USF announced the removal of its face mask requirement earlier this summer, the Respectful Responder program was originally projected to be discontinued. However, Petersen said faculty and staff remained concerned about enforcing the “highly suggested” mask mandate in classrooms this fall.
Petersen told The Crow’s Nest the USF Ombuds Office revised the training program for the fall semester to ensure Respectful Responders understood masks were an expectation, not a requirement, on campus.
She said working with Respectful Responders makes her proud to be a part of the USF community.
“We are proud of this program. It speaks to who we are as the University of South Florida.” Petersen said. “We are a strong community. We come together and we look out for each other.”
