UMD Research Activities Transition to 75% Occupancy of Research Spaces on April 5, 2021

The following announcement was sent to the University of Maryland research community by Vice President for Research Laurie Locascio on March 24, 2021:

Dear Research Colleagues,

On April 5, 2021, we will transition to the next phase for on-campus research other than human subjects research. Researchers will be allowed to increase occupancy of all research spaces up to 75% occupancy provided they observe the following 4 Maryland guidelines within that space:

Wear a properly fitting mask over your nose and mouth around others at all times, both indoors and outdoors

Wash your hands often and clean and disinfect frequently used surfaces

Practice physical distancing as per campus guidance (Current guidance: 6 ft)

Stay home if you are sick

These restrictions apply for all researchers regardless of vaccination status.

As previously, human subjects research will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis through the UMD IRB process.

We have been operating in Phase 2 -- intermediate presence -- since August 2020. Over the past seven months, researchers have adhered to the 4 Maryland guidelines and demonstrated the ability to maintain safe practices in our research settings in order to prevent community transmission of the disease. This has informed our decision to move to increased occupancy at this time.

However, the pandemic is not over. We will continue to carefully monitor the situation, and may need to impose additional safety practices if we see any evidence of community transmission in our research spaces. The health and safety of our entire campus community is most important as we resume our critical research activities. As a reminder, all faculty, staff and students physically on campus must be tested for COVID-19 every two weeks throughout the spring semester.

We will continue to monitor researchers' health and safety and if all progresses well in this phase, we hope to be able to move to full occupancy of research spaces by summer 2021.

Thank you for all of your hard work to keep our research enterprise going throughout this difficult year. We appreciate everything that you do to make the University of Maryland a powerhouse of research and an economic engine for the state of Maryland.

Laurie E. Locascio
Vice President for Research