UWF Moves To Remote Operations; All Students To Leave Dorms By Sunday; Most Employees Work Remotely

March 14, 2020

The University of West Florida is asking all students in university housing to leave campus by 5 p.m. Sunday, as all dorms will close and instruction will be online until March 30.

Here is the statement from UWF:

Instruction

All courses will be offered remotely from March 16 until March 30, 2020.

Housing and Residence Life Closure
All students living in university housing must return to permanent home residences or a non-campus alternative housing arrangement, effective immediately, today March 14 until March 30, 2020.

If you need to visit campus to gather personal belongings, you may do so until 5 p.m. on March 15, 2020.

We understand that there will be extenuating circumstances. Housing and Residence Life will work with students who are not able to return home during this time period on an individual basis. Please contact Housing and Residence Life at housing@uwf.edu by 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 15, 2020.

Campus Services
Limited campus services will be available to those students who are authorized to stay in campus housing, including dining services and residence assistance. Counseling, Psychological Services and Health Services will move all appointments to telephone.

All other campus facilities, including but not limited to Health, Leisure, and Sports Facility, Aquatic Center, University Libraries, the Education Research Center for Child Development and athletic facilities will be closed.

Employees Reporting to Work Changes
Only essential personnel are expected to report to work from 12 a.m. Sunday, March 15, 2020 through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, March 29, 2020. Employees who are unsure of their status must seek guidance from their supervisor.

Non-essential personnel, including OPS and student employees, are expected to work remotely during this time period. Supervisors are expected to provide assignments to employees. Employees working remotely are expected to:

  • Fulfill all of their normal duties and work hours.
  • Ensure that they are connecting securely and following all University policies related to access, data security and data confidentiality. Employees should contact ITS for IT-related questions.
  • Review Continuity Tools provided by ITS.

If employees are in roles that do not traditionally accommodate remote work, supervisors must assign other work, projects or professional development that can be performed remotely.

Faculty who need to visit campus in order to utilize university tools to continue to fulfill the academic mission must notify their dean and department chair before visiting campus. Faculty that need in-person services from Global Online may visit campus. Virtual training bootcamps are also available to faculty through the Global Online website.

During emergency and adverse situations, supervisors are encouraged to allow employees to fulfill family care responsibilities due to illness or closing of schools, daycares, assisted living facilities, etc. during telecommuting if the employee can effectively balance family care and work.

An employee who is unable to work due to a family care emergency may use one of the following types of time off to account for time away from work, with supervisory approval:

  • Accrued leave
  • Leave without Pay

All employees are still required to submit leave reports and time sheets by the appropriate deadlines. Please contact Human Resources with any questions hr@uwf.edu.

Social Distancing
Social distancing is the best way to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Social distancing refers to measures that are taken to increase the physical space between people to slow the spread of the virus. By maintaining a distance of six feet from others when possible, people may limit the spread of the virus. Social distancing also minimizes the number of interactions that provide the opportunity for the disease to spread.

Comments

One Response to “UWF Moves To Remote Operations; All Students To Leave Dorms By Sunday; Most Employees Work Remotely”

  1. Lucky me on March 14th, 2020 4:55 pm

    I am #EssentialPersonnel

    Picked the wrong career… Lol

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News