In late August, a Reddit user with the handle JumpyFix7248, argued that the “additional cost and stress” imposed by President Jay Hartzell’s return-to-office mandate could spell disaster for UT’s ranking and academics. While this sounds frightening for many of UT’s high-achieving students, it is nothing more than reckless fear-mongering. In reality, this mandate can help usher in a new era of academic and professional excellence while leveling the playing field for staff.
At the start of the pandemic, former President Gregory L. Fenves effectively turned UT into an online university to keep students and staff safe from COVID-19. This change, along with similar ones from other institutions, was intended to be temporary. However, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly three years into the pandemic, 54% of post-secondary schools — including the Forty Acres — were still using hybrid instruction or work. This type of work has now proven to be problematic, as studies show that these fully remote interactions offer less substance and productivity and often hurt the careers of people who choose to continue them in the long run.
This negative impact was one of the main motivations for bringing employees back to campus with the mandate.
“Staff members can most effectively serve our students, faculty, fellow staff members, and other stakeholders when working together in an environment that fosters collaboration, innovation, availability, and reliability,” said Hartzell in the June 12 press release.
Although implementing the mandate is a challenge, it was a necessary decision made by UT that will make the University a leader in higher education by having staff on campus every day to support students. With expanded in-person academic advising, students can build deeper relationships and get better advice, while advisors can better reach underperforming and underserved students.
The benefits to staff will also be immense, with 31% of remote workers being promoted less frequently than those who worked in an office, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Additionally, working from home offers fewer opportunities for mentorship, and having those important moments of human connections is vital to quality of life. There are provisions in the mandate to accommodate unique cases where an employee performs “functions that require high levels of individual time” to ensure that UT retains the best and brightest staff.
The benefits haven’t prevented some from protesting the change. A representative of the UT Austin Union has complained that employees could be left behind. However, only keeping them hybrid will do that. Although hybrid work seems to offer new opportunities and flexibility, it limits career progression and performance.
All this is to say, when the mandate comes into force, UT’s rankings likely won’t tumble. Instead, the change will allow our ability to teach to improve, our staff will become more responsible and research more collaborative. Our function as an institution is to be good stewards of our mandate to educate, and the mandate ensures we will continue to be at the top of Texas.
Oppenheimer is an economics sophomore from Flower Mound, Texas.
