This update was sent to CLAS faculty, staff, and graduate students on Friday, July 10.
CLAS Weekly Reopening Update: July 10
Return-to-Work Matters
Required action: Employee Health and Safety Acknowledgment. On Monday, July 6, UI Human Resources sent this campus-wide message, which outlines the requirement for all UI employees to complete an Employee Health and Safety Acknowledgment form. When you log into your Employee Self-service portal, you will see a banner message that will direct you to the Employee Health and Safety Acknowledgment. The acknowledgment includes workplace health and safety practices and illness and exposure protocols based on the latest guidance from UI experts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Iowa Department of Public Health, and other governmental agencies. Please read the statement carefully and acknowledge your commitment to follow all of the outlined expectations. If you have any questions regarding the expectations or if you have concerns regarding your specific circumstances, please contact your local human resources representative.
Temporary Alternative Work Arrangements. The COVID Campus Update from the University of Iowa on July 8, 2020, included information about requesting temporary alternative work arrangements for those who have medical vulnerabilities as defined by the CDC. As noted, the form for submitting a request is now available on the UI Faculty and Staff Disability Services website. For those with teaching responsibilities in Fall 2020 who are requesting an alternative work arrangement, you are encouraged to submit the intake form by Friday, July 17, 2020. CLAS Human Resources recommends that employees who fall into one or more of the high-risk categories as listed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or who have a household member in one of the high-risk categories, and who wish to seek a temporary alternative work arrangement beyond the COVID-19 workplace measures taken by their respective departments or units should directly submit their own intake form. If you have questions about the process or need assistance with submitting the form, please contact CLAS Human Resources. If you complete an intake form, you should expect to hear from a member of CLAS HR soon regarding next steps.
Continue to work remotely. At this time, there is no set date for when employees working remotely should return to campus. Employees working remotely should continue to do so until further notice and should not return to campus until CLAS leadership instructs DEOs and supervisors otherwise.
Facilities
Safety of air handling units (AHUs) in buildings. The UI’s Steps Forward document contains a section on ventilation that lists steps that UI Facilities Management (FM) will take to ensure that our AHUs are functioning optimally so that risks are reduced. Associate Dean Joshua Weiner and CLAS Facilities Director Eugene Buck have these details to add:
The UI Critical Incident Management Team (CIMT) formed a ventilation subcommittee comprising individuals from the Colleges of Engineering and Public Health, UI Environmental Health and Safety, and FM. The subcommittee consulted experts such as the CDC and ASHRAE, the industry group for air handling, and developed recommendations.
FM is making classrooms their #1 priority to ensure safety during instruction.
FM is assessing every AHU on campus on a six-point scale based on ASHRAE guidelines for factors protective against COVID-19 transmission.
Most buildings have had filters with a MERV rating of 8. This is a common industry standard, and is estimated to block 40% of viral particles in air. The new ASHRAE recommendation against COVID-19 is a MERV rating of 13, which blocks 70% of viral particles. This is what UI Hospitals and Clinics uses, and there has been no transmission through AHUs there. FM will purchase and install MERV 13 filters in all buildings where the AHUs can handle it (there may be a very few buildings that can’t because the better filter slows air flow too much). Buildings of concern, such as EPB and MacLean Hall should be able to handle MERV 13 filters.
FM is examining every AHU for the extent to which they can increase fresh air vs. recirculation. In all cases where fresh air intake can be increased, it will be.
In several older buildings, FM is conducting experiments to measure and ensure that the proper volume of air is being exchanged in a given amount of time.
Every morning, FM staff analyze overnight data from a fault dynamics system with 90,000 data points taken at five-minute intervals to ensure all AHUs are functioning within guidelines.
The website FM@YourService will soon be adding FAQs specifically related to preventing viral transmission. Employees may ask FM experts COVID-related questions through the website. All questions related to building ventilation should be addressed directly to FM through FM@YourService. If your question is not addressed satisfactorily, please contact Eugene Buck.
International Students
New guidelines issued by the US Department of Homeland Security regarding the visa status of international students indicate that students enrolled in an online-only course of study are ineligible for F-1 status. They further state that students currently residing in the United States whose institutions have announced online-only plans for the fall are required to depart the country (or to transfer to another school). Finally, they indicate that students whose institutions change to a full online mode at some point in the semester would have to leave the country. These new policies, which are being challenged in federal court, are causing understandable anxiety to international students and are of great concern to our entire community. CLAS is working with the Graduate College, the Office of the Provost, International Programs, and other University of Iowa constituencies to better understand the guidelines and how we can adapt to them so that our international students can continue to study and conduct their teaching, research, and creative work with minimal disruption.
UI Campus Updates
Virtual Campus Update Forums
VIDEO: Virtual Campus Update Forum: Academics & the Classroom July 1 session | July 2 session
VIDEO: Virtual Campus Update Forum: The Student Experience July 8 session | July 9 session
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