I understand we are planning to have an in-person fall semester, but with a number of restrictions. Could that change? What is the impact of concerns about the delta variant and the recent rise in covid cases in Tompkins County?
The university’s plan is to have an in-person fall semester. That is based on our having achieved a high level of vaccination in our campus community, at 96% currently and continuing to increase, with students being required to be vaccinated and faculty and staff required to report their vaccination status and either be vaccinated or else be tested twice weekly. The spread of the delta variant and local health conditions have led to additional safety measures, including the indoor mask requirement on campus and the resumption of weekly surveillance testing for all undergraduate and professional graduate students. These measures will stay in place as long as needed based on local health advisories and the university’s ongoing monitoring and assessment of the situation on campus. That may require additional restrictions, as happened in the spring when the university moved the MBA program to all online instruction for a period in response to a cluster of cases. Or if conditions improve and justify it, restrictions like the indoor mask requirement could be relaxed.
When do I need to wear a mask?
Masks need to be worn indoors unless you are alone in an office. Unvaccinated individuals are also required to wear masks outdoors on campus if they are not able to maintain social distancing. If you are wearing a mask and consuming a beverage or food, you can remove the mask briefly for eating or drinking but should replace it promptly when done.
Can we hold receptions and other events involving food and drink being served?
Food and beverage consumption creates the complication that masks have to be temporarily removed to eat or drink. To reduce the risks of unmasked indoor interactions, these types of events should either be moved outside, e.g. held under the tent in the Katz quad, or not include food and beverage service.
Can faculty (and TAs) use zoom for office hours?
We have some flexibility in how we do office hours. The standard model is 1.5-2 hours of in-person office hours in a faculty member’s office. For this term, faculty can consider using options like holding office hours outdoors under the tent, or reserving a conference room to use for office hours – this might be a good option for faculty who have a high volume of students at their office hours. Zoom office hours are also an option that can be used as part of the mix and provide an element that enhances accessibility to students. It may make sense to switch modes for office hours at different points during the term as needed and to facilitate student access. Faculty should also encourage TAs in taking a similar flexible approach that provides good access to students. Providing good availability in office hours is one of the items that we often see students commenting positively on in teaching evaluations.
What should I do if a student becomes sick or needs to go into isolation due to a positive test or contact?
Some faculty have indicated a desire to provide students with Zoom access to class in this situation. That is allowed, but not required. Another alternative is to provide the student with an audio recording of the class. Some faculty are comfortable using laptops or in-classroom equipment to do Zoom access or audio recording, but the Voice Memo function on an iPhone can also provide a relatively simple audio recording mechanism that can be used to record lectures. If necessary, it is also possible to receive microphones and other equipment to facilitate recording the class. ILR IT can help with this. Faculty are not expected to teach in a hybrid mode where they are simultaneously teaching to in-person and online students.
What if I become sick during the term or need to isolate due to a covid case contact?
If you are sick, you should not come to work. An important lesson of the pandemic is that coming to work while sick should not be considered a badge of commitment, but rather something that creates a potential risk to the employee and others. As an organization we need to support employees taking sick leave when they need it. You should use your sick leave in these situations. Similarly, if isolation is required due to contact with a positive covid case, you should follow the isolation procedures and not come to work. If you are not sick and able to work while isolated, that is a situation where a temporary switch to remote work may make sense. Make sure to coordinate with your manager if this situation arises. For faculty, being required to isolate is a reason why a temporary switch to online teaching might be necessary until the faculty member can return to the classroom.
What if I have a disability or medical condition that makes me more vulnerable to covid?
Any requests for disability accommodations or medical leaves should be submitted to HR and they will be reviewed by the university’s medical leave administration (MLA) office. Where there is a need for an accommodation, we will work with the employee to identify possible accommodations that can be provided. There are a range of accommodations that can be considered and what will be possible in each case will depend on the employee’s situation and the needs of the school, including the impact on students. Any accommodations involving modifications to a faculty member’s mode of instruction, e.g. a period of remote teaching, need to be approved by the dean and the provost’s office.
What about if someone in my household has a disability or medical condition that makes them especially vulnerable to covid?
We can consider accommodations in those cases as well. Those requests will also need to be submitted to the MLA office to ensure that the university is in compliance with all of its legal obligations in this regard.
Is there any flexibility if there is a disruption of childcare, school, eldercare or other family related issues?
Yes, we can consider possible accommodations in these situations. Staff should discuss these situations with their manager who will check with the responsible associate or assistant dean for their area to determine what accommodations are possible. Faculty dealing with these situations should inform their department chair, Senior Associate Dean Boyer, and Dean Colvin if it could affect their ability to teach their classes, so that alternatives can be considered.
Is there flexibility to consider hybrid work arrangements?
Hybrid work arrangements, where the employee is working in the office at some times and from home at others is a tool we can use where it serves both the employee’s needs and the school’s needs. During this transitional period when many are in the process of returning to the office, starting the fall term, and preparing to resume in-person programs, we can take a flexible approach. That may involve periods of hybrid or remote work where that is feasible, but that will also depend on the nature of the employee’s work duties. We are having an in-person semester on campus, so much of the work interacting with students and supporting those efforts needs to be performed on campus. Given the variety of work we do at ILR there is no one size fits all answer to this question, rather employees should discuss this issue with their manager who will consult with the relevant associate or assistant dean to determine what options are feasible in each individual case.
Based on the experience from this past 18 months, I’d like to be considered for a longer-term flexible work arrangement, is that possible?
Cornell has a structure in place for considering and approving workplace flexibility agreements. Some of our employees had those in place prior to the pandemic and we will continue to honor those going forward. These are designed for long-term hybrid or remote work arrangements as opposed to the short-term flexibility that we have provided in response to the pandemic and transition period. If you wish to be considered for a longer term flexible work arrangement that extends beyond this fall, that will need to be processed formally through a workplace flexibility agreement. Given the complexity and evolving nature of the current situation, it may be useful to use the flexibility in the current period to try out arrangements that can be considered for the longer-term later in the fall. The present uncertainties are challenging but also provide us with an opportunity to experiment and learn from the strengths and weaknesses of what we have been doing.
Are there any different measures being planned for ILR’s New York City and Buffalo offices?
Yes. We recognize that the situation for employees working in our 570 Lexington office in NYC is different compared to the situation on the Ithaca campus. Whereas in Ithaca we have more control of the campus environment and have achieved a very high level of vaccination in the campus community, in NYC we operate a relatively small and open office embedded in a large city over which we do not exercise control and have a workforce, many of whom have complex commuting situations involving multiple subway and train rides. We are continuing to work on safety procedures for programs in the NYC office, including participant proof of vaccination and establishing testing procedures that we can make available to our workforce. We are also examining the potential impact of the new NYC ordinance regarding vaccination requirements for indoor dining, gyms, and performances. For all of these reasons we are going to continue to take a cautious approach to our NYC operations and not expand them yet beyond the current situation where only some of our employees are coming into the office on a regular basis and we are not doing outside programs. Our current plan is to delay the target date for returning to normal NYC office operations to November 1 and the target date for resuming in-person programs in the NYC office to January 1. For now, any employees who are coming into the office or want to start doing so are welcome to do so. At the beginning of each month, we will reassess the situation and give employees notice if we are planning to change the situation for the following month.
ILR’s Buffalo office also has its own distinct situation, with a much smaller workforce and different physical environment. We will take a Buffalo specific approach and base the operations and resumption of programming on the local health situation.