CLAS sent this message to our staff and faculty on Wednesday, July 15.
Dear CLAS Community,
Yesterday's decision by the Iowa City Community School District Board of Education to begin the 2020-21 school year all online causes significant challenges for our staff and faculty who are parents with school-age children.
CLAS is acutely aware of those challenges, and we will work with all staff and faculty, and supervisors, to provide flexibility in work arrangements and expectations.
We want to ensure the best possible instruction for our students and the continued advancement of our faculty research and artistic production. We will all need to be creative as we fulfill those imperatives while respecting the difficulties many staff and faculty will face as they juggle their childrens' educational needs and the demands of their jobs.
We also understand that there may be concerns among those who do not have school-age children that they will be called upon to take on the workload of their colleagues who do. We will all need to work together to prevent that from happening, which will mean changing our expectations for what is possible to accomplish this year. UI and CLAS Human Resources will share additional information and guidance in the coming weeks. In the meantime, please start thinking about creative solutions within your units that will help us serve our students while balancing our commitments to family, work, and each other.
In the July 17 CLAS Weekly Reopening Update, we will provide general information on college-level and unit-level planning for individual staff and faculty members' return to work.
We are also preparing guidance for supervisors.
In the meantime, I wanted to write today to acknowledge the anxiety and concerns among staff and faculty with regard to juggling work responsibilities and parental educational obligations.
If you have concerns or questions about your particular situation, please talk with your supervisor or contact your CLAS HR representative.
Thank you.