Assistant Vice President for Human Resources Jewel M. Washington sent the following message to the University of Maryland community on June 11, 2020: Dear faculty, staff, student employees and graduate assistants: As campus leaders continue to plan for the gradual, phased transition of faculty, staff and students back to the physical campus, we are providing additional information so everyone is aware of new guidance, requirements and resources. The April 6, 2020 guidance remains in effect – unless you are one of the designated employees who is scheduled to come to campus, please continue to stay home. We want you to stay away from campus, telework if you can, and practice social distancing. A small number of faculty, staff, and student employees have continued to work on campus throughout the period, as we have been primarily operating in a remote environment. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve and the state lifts restrictions, the university is gradually increasing the number of people approved to work on campus. Departments and units that are approved to increase on-campus operations are communicating directly with their employees to provide access to training and other information needed to safely return to campus. University Human Resources has created handbooks for employees and supervisors. I encourage you to read and refer to these resources regularly. For employees: For supervisors:
All employees and graduate assistants approved to work on campus must view a short video and read the University’s Community Responsibility Pledge about returning to on-campus work. The video and pledge are available at return.umd.edu. If you do not have access to technology to review the video, you should work with your department to identify the best way to complete this requirement. We are asking supervisors to be helpful in identifying solutions.
It is important that we all engage in healthy behaviors in our efforts to halt the spread of COVID-19. In keeping with guidance from the CDC, state and local health agencies, and the University’s Health and Safety Task Force, we are implementing new safety protocols for all employees and graduate assistants working on campus. All individuals on campus are expected to follow four core guidelines:
COVID-19 Self-Assessment – Monitoring Your Daily Health
i. For those with access to a computer, this is to be done by completing the COVID-19 Employee Screening Checklist for symptom monitoring before coming to work each day. ii. For those without computer access, complete your symptom check at home and report to work only if you do not have symptoms.
Information that is obtained from daily health symptom monitoring is only made available to the University Health Center. Supervisors will be told if someone who reports to them is advised to check with the health provider, but they will not be provided the specific symptoms recorded. The daily list of employees and graduate assistants who complete the symptom monitoring form will be provided to supervisors, so they may confirm that the form has been completed for all people working on campus each day. Reports for Health Survey completion will be made available to supervisors soon along with details on how to access these reports. Voluntary COVID-19 Testing Earlier this week, some employees volunteered to be tested for COVID-19 as part of a pilot. Additional testing for all employees is planned in the near future. This initial limited testing program will be used to inform decisions about future testing practices. Additional resources are available on the UHR Website and at umd.edu/virusinfo. Update on Campus Buildings and Supplies
At every step in planning this phased transition, the health and safety of all members of the campus community have been the top priority. Together we can reduce the spread of the virus. We must all be active participants in our health and the health of our campus colleagues. Thank you for doing your part. Sincerely, Jewel M. Washington
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Safety Practices and Requirements for Working on Campus
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University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742-1541
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742-1541
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