Associate Dean Marc Armstrong sent this message today.
Dear College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Researchers:
Today, Vice President for Research Marty Scholtz announced guidance for reopening on-campus research efforts, including detailed plans for laboratory settings. That message is below.
To reiterate, there is currently no campus-wide date for researchers, scholars, and artists who are working remotely to return to campus. You should continue working from home until central leadership determines the timeline for a gradual resumption of campus activities.
Though we do not have a date for returning to campus, it is reasonable to begin planning for the resumption of research and artistic production, and CLAS leadership is eager to see it happen. We will work closely with DEOs, researchers, artists, and UI leadership to ensure that we proceed with both safety and productivity in mind.
Given the diversity of disciplines in our college, we have many kinds of research environments to consider. These include, but are not limited to:
Archival research
Artistic production (Performance, Studio, Literary)
Clinical and other human-subjects research
Computing labs
Engineering/electronics labs and manufacturing
Field research
Practice-based research
Scientific bench labs
Each of these is vitally important to our mission as a research university, and each requires its own approach, guided by UI safety policies. You and your departmental colleagues know your discipline’s needs best. Accordingly, please consult with your DEO to develop a plan that is appropriate for work in your unit. In turn, your DEO will work with the college to secure approval. Collegiate approval is required for the resumption of any research or artistic production that involves in-person contact or travel.
As part of CLAS’s planning for reopening, Dean Goddard established a Research/Creative Work Continuity and Advancement Committee. This committee is meeting regularly and has received input from across the college, including having held four focus groups centered on the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Another focus group is forthcoming, centered on the natural sciences.
In consultation with the committee, I am working with Dean Goddard and Deans Racevskis and Tomova (respectively, the Associate Deans for the Arts and Humanities, and for the Natural, Mathematical, and Social Sciences) to offer CLAS-specific guidance to DEOs to inform their discussions with individual researchers and artists.
Please send comments, ideas, concerns, and questions to committee members or to clas-strategic-communications@uiowa.edu. Also, keep your eye on these pages for updates, resources, and information: https://clas.uiowa.edu/excellence-and-impact/clas-fall-2020-reopening-planning.
Thank you for your commitment to your work, as well as for your flexibility and patience, as we collectively resume our research and artistic activities.
Sincerely,
Marc Armstrong Associate Dean for Research and Infrastructure College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Message from OVPR (May 18)
Good afternoon:
First off, thanks to all of you for your cooperation as we work together to keep the University of Iowa research enterprise moving forward. We know how eager you are to return to campus and appreciate how much resilience and flexibility you’ve demonstrated during this very challenging time.
There is currently no campus-wide date for researchers and scholars who are working remotely to return to campus. You should continue working from home until central leadership determines the timeline for a gradual resumption of campus activities.
In the meantime, the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) is working closely with collegiate Associate Deans for Research (ADRs), who in turn will be reaching out to you to guide the creation of a detailed plan, which must be submitted and reviewed before your return to campus will be considered.
All plans must adhere to these Guidelines and Considerations [clicking downloads a Word document] but must also account for the unique conditions in particular buildings and work spaces; faculty working in the performing arts, for example, will have vastly different considerations than those working in laboratory settings. Â
Until your plan is approved and campus leadership has determined that adequate health and safety measures are in place for campus, OVPR’s ramp-down guidelines remain in effect.
College-specific guidance on developing these plans is forthcoming from your ADR. Please direct questions to them or to our office.
Sincerely,
Marty Scholtz Vice President for Research