Dear Faculty and Staff,
Over the past several weeks, the many dedicated members of the Return to Campus Task Force have been working hard to make plans for reopening the campus in the fall. Obviously, there are still many unknowns and the national situation continues to evolve daily. First and foremost, our primary objective is to keep the focus on the health and safety of our entire community, while also ensuring our students receive high-quality instruction and needed services. The details of the plans are being finalized in accordance with state and federal guidelines, and information regarding steps being taken to provide for the safety of our faculty, staff and students when they return to campus will be shared soon.
Faculty and staff are understandably concerned and have many questions about what returning to work in the fall will look like. While the conditions in New York State are currently trending in a positive direction, we will have students traveling to Ithaca from a wide variety of locations, which raises concerns for all about potential spikes in local cases. This is an unprecedented situation, and while we do have policies and procedures in place to address individual needs related to medical accommodations and flexible work schedules, this is a situation that we need to approach as a community.
Recently, a survey was distributed to faculty to gauge needs related to remote work in the fall. We had a high participation rate and the results indicated that approximately 50% of faculty plan to request some form of remote work in the fall. As a next step, the results of the survey will be shared with deans and chairs, indicating ONLY whether remote work is being requested. The reason for the request (e.g., medical, childcare, etc.) will not be included. Deans and chairs, working collaboratively with the faculty, will be asked to develop a plan to best meet the needs of the students, while being flexible to support requests for remote work when possible. The results will be distributed to deans this week and plans will be requested to be submitted to the dean, provost and HR by July 31, 2020. In cases where requests are denied at the department level and by the Dean, those requests will be reviewed by HR in concert with the provost and will utilize confidential procedures already in place. Plans for each department should be finalized and communicated to faculty by the second week of August.
Parallel to the process for faculty, VPs and deans will work with supervisors to develop plans for staff to work remotely, as appropriate, in order to reduce density on campus. Staff who do not provide student-facing services and are able to continue to effectively perform all of their responsibilities remotely should continue to do so. Others may have a hybrid schedule and come in only when necessary to provide services to students or maintain other critical functions. Supervisors of staff who will need to work full-time on campus when students return may consider implementing schedule changes and other safety protocols to minimize physical interaction with others.
We are all doing our best to make plans for the fall, but we don’t know what the future may bring. If we continue to work together as a community and make decisions that put our health and safety first, we will successfully get through this crisis and emerge even stronger.
Best Regards,
La Jerne Terry Cornish, Ph.D.
Provost and Sr. Vice President for Academic Affairs
Hayley Harris
Vice President for Human Resources and Planning
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20200716164824779