COVID-19 Departmental Resources

Message from the Chair of EEB: June 11, 2021

Dear EEB,

As you know, with changes in the COVID-19 policies by NYS, and the high incidence of vaccinations, the university instituted a whole range of new regulations starting 1 June. In case you have had difficulty following the regulations, they are well summarized in the following web pages:

The EEB Departmental Planning Committee to Resume Research (DePCoRR) met this Tuesday to interpret these policies in the context of Corson Hall. Our interpretations are outlined below. Although described in terms of Corson, the principles should apply to all EEB spaces. We hope that this e-mail will be helpful for reference and will post it on the departmental website here early next week, and it can be bookmarked for convenience.

DAILY CHECK IS STILL NEEDED IN CORSON
EEB employees, EEB graduate students and undergraduate students must complete the Daily Check in advance of coming into Corson. If you have not registered for the Daily Check, please e-mail Sally Blinn to arrange that. Surveillance testing is required of unvaccinated individuals, and that is organized through the Daily Check.

MASK WEARING AND SOCIAL DISTANCING IS REQUIRED IN CORSON BY THOSE WHO ARE UNVACCINATED
Individuals who are vaccinated do not have to social distance or wear a mask. However, vaccinated individuals may also wear a mask if they wish to do so.

THERE ARE SOME SPECIFIC PROCEDURES FOR SOME VISITORS TO CORSON
As a member of EEB, you may welcome employees, graduate students and undergraduate students from other departments into Corson as appropriate. They should fill in the Daily Check before coming into Corson and wear masks and social distance if they are unvaccinated.
If you are hosting a non-university visitor, they can come to Corson (and they should wear masks and social distance if they are unvaccinated). The following applies to these non-Cornell individuals:
Visiting researchers, other center users, and support staff for equipment maintenance, who are on campus for no more than five days per visit, do not need to enroll in the Daily Check or surveillance testing. However, their hosts must inform them and they must agree in writing not to come to campus on any day that the answer to one or more of these questions is yes:
1) In the last 3 days, have you been feeling any different from usual? Have you had any symptoms linked to COVID-19?
2) In the past 2 weeks, have you been around someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or someone that you think might have COVID-19?
3) Do you have any reason to think that you may have been exposed to COVID-19?
4) Have you ever tested positive for COVID-19?
Please note that it is the responsibility OF THE HOST to ensure that visitors have made this written commitment.

SIGNAGE IN CORSON WILL CHANGE
There will no longer be signage about single way corridors, restriction of numbers of individuals in rooms, or mask-wearing/social distancing. These restrictions are not needed for vaccinated individuals. At the entrance ways, there will be reminders to fill in the Daily Check and for unvaccinated individuals to wear masks and keep social distance. This signage will change early next week.

SANITIZATION STATIONS WILL BE RETAINED
These are at the entrances to Corson and by the elevator on each floor.

CONFERENCE ROOMS, SHARED OFFICES AND LABS CAN BE USED UP TO FULL CAPACITY
Please note that the Fern Room is unavailable because of a temporary shortage of office space.
Please note that some people may be uncomfortable with the return to high density. All of us in the department need to be sensitive to the fact that different individuals will take different lengths of time to adjust to the return to pre-pandemic conditions.
We recommend that supervisors/advisors discuss with members of their team/lab what their comfort level is, and make arrangements accordingly. Individuals should not be forced to work in Corson in circumstances that they feel uncomfortable with.

GOOGLE CALENDARS
These are no longer needed but, as a precaution, they should be retained.
If labs wish to carry on using them, they are perfectly free to do so.

REACTIVATION PLANS
These are no longer needed and the information in them is likely to be out-of-date. As a precaution, please leave them as they are – don’t update them and don’t delete them.

TRAVEL
Business travel (including fieldwork) that involves an overnight stay and/or is out-of-state still needs college-level permission. Please provide the following information to the Chair of Department at least a week before the trip:

  1. Name of Traveler and title:
  2. Advisor if the traveler is a student
  3. Academic Unit:
  4. When will travel occur:
  5. Point of Origin (city, county):
  6. Destination(s):
  7. Will you be meeting or encountering others at the destination (if yes, explain)?
  8. Purpose for Travel:
  9. Why is this travel essential?
  10. Will all travel be in the form of day trips or is overnight planned?  If overnight, what precautions will be taken?
  11. Mode of travel and precautions to be taken during travel:
  12. If travel involves car/minivan/SUV/truck, will there be more than one individual per vehicle traveling?  If so, why is this necessary and what precautions will be taken?

For travel outside of New York and contiguous states, NYS requires that you fill in this form. For overseas travel follow this guidance.

DePCoRR
The committee will stay intact but hopes that it never has to meet again.

FINALLY
Let’s as a community be aware of the continued anxiety that some individuals may have in relation to COVID-19 and a return to pre-pandemic conditions in Corson. Please note that there is a webinar later this month, suitable for both supervisors/advisors and team/lab members:
Managing the Anxiety of Returning to On Site Work
June 24, 1-2pm & June 25, 9-10am.

The following individuals are also available for confidential discussions about any concerns that you have about returning to high density conditions in Corson – please don’t hesitate to reach out:
Alex Flecker, DGS (asf3@cornell.edu)
Jeremy Searle, outgoing chair (jbs295@cornell.edu)
Jed Sparks, incoming chair (jps66@cornell.edu)
Kelsey Jensen, graduate student rep (khj22@cornell.edu)
Jen Holleran, Administrative Manager (jeh46@cornell.edu)

Best wishes, Jeremy

 

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