Sneeze Guards in lecture rooms, installed while switching to face-to-face classes, are causing inconvenience to students. Most complaints from the first semester were not resolved in the second semester.
They continue to be an annoyance causing many problems. Student items get caught in the sneeze guards making loud noises. They interfere with listening to lectures. Others complained that they looked dirty, were uncomfortable for testing, and found it difficult to communicate during group projects. Students added they were troubled by not being able to talk while eating with friends in the cafeteria. Most students said they wanted to remove the sneeze guards.
The Ministry of Education announced the ‘University COVID-19 Infection Prevention Management Guide (7th Edition).’ The guide says that population restrictions can be reduced for universities according to opinions in schools. Yeungnam University announced a plan to prevent and manage COVID-19 infection in August this year. According to the management plan, maintaining sneeze guards is a free decision for the colleges and cafeterias.
Currently, most colleges have sneeze guards installed. Only a few colleges do not have them, including the College of Life and Applied Sciences, the College of Engineering, and the Electrical Engineering Building. The Student Union Building Cafeteria removed the sneeze guards after briefly installing them. Instead, it has a quarantine robot. The College of Science Cafeteria is currently installing sneeze guards.
What do colleges think about this? The Yeungnam Observer asked each college administrative office. The College of Business and Economics answered that there are many complex problems. The considerable cost of installing the sneeze guards is one of the reasons why the College of Business and Economics maintained them. There was also a point that it was currently difficult to remove them because students are using the lecture rooms, and it takes a lot of time to remove them. They cited that the sneeze guards cannot be reused even though they cost a lot. Another administrative office said, “There were some hesitations because the headquarters’ guidelines did not come down clearly.” For those reasons, they could not be removed hurriedly. However, there was also an intention to remove the sneeze guards. They are discussing removing them during the winter vacation according to the student’s demands.
The College of Engineering has offered a different solution. They said they would clear the sneeze guards following student wishes. Instead, new guidelines have been issued. Students are required to wear KF94 masks.
YU is moving toward removing the sneeze guards. They are gradually expected to disappear from the lecture room.
