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Sent on Behalf of Christopher Delello, Chief Human Resources Officer, UConn and UConn Health -- Dear Colleagues at UConn's Storrs and regional campuses, First, I want to thank each of you for making this semester a success. Since spring, there have been many impacts not only from changing our whole manner of work and where we work in many cases, but also doing so while juggling our family and loved ones' priorities, especially as many family members lost employment in other work communities, became ill, or dealt with disruptions in their education. Also, some of our community suffered the incomprehensible loss of parents, siblings, loved ones, friends, and neighbors during this pandemic and many things held dear which are important to one's wellbeing. As Huskies, we faced and are facing some of these issues alone and others together as a community. On behalf of the entire HR team and University, it is that courage and persistence that makes you who you are and who we are as a community. You should all be proud of being you, individually -- and together as the UConn Nation of employees. That can't ever be taken away from us even as 2020 comes to a close. Today, I am also writing you to provide each of you an update on the spring 2021 On-Campus Registry for employees, and upcoming testing protocols for the remainder of this year and for the spring semester. On-Campus Registry In July, Human Resources asked organizations to identify and register employees who would be working on campus during the fall semester. With this information, UConn HR assembled an On-Campus Registry to maintain a low density of on-campus employees and have a roster of employees for baseline and surveillance testing. As we prepare for the spring semester and continue to maintain a low density of employees on our campuses, we are asking organizational heads to update the Registry, as appropriate. As we did for the fall semester, we will be asking organizations to identify employees (faculty, staff, and post-docs) who (1) will be returning to campus for the spring semester; (2) are already on campus; and (3) will remain telecommuting during the spring semester. It's important to remember that employees should return to or be on campus only for the following reasons: * Direct contact with / support for students: defined as close professional contact with students within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes as a primary job function. For example, a classroom instructor in front of students, residential life staff, certain academic functional assignments, staff providing continued window service, or a food/retail service professional. Even with these roles, where telecommuting or rotational programs can be supported, they should be. * Critical infrastructure support: defined as a role with or without direct student contact on a full-time basis where all primary job functions cannot be done remotely, such as facility operations, police/fire, or animal care. It does not include work that is "preferred" to be accomplished on site or non-critical infrastructure work by an employee or manager, or any such work that can continue to be done remotely in areas outside these critical infrastructure responsibilities. * Part-time or rotational critical support functions: defined as roles that include some and limited critical administrative functions that cannot be done remotely, such as financial, payroll, administrative, and HR functions for a small number of hours per day for one to two days per week. It does not include work that is "preferred" to be on site or non-critical infrastructure work by an employee or manager, or any such work that can continue to be done remotely. Employees and those in this category should be less than 15 to 25% of a manager's staff. * Research: any research faculty or staff employees currently approved to be working in labs via the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR). Those unable to work in the labs or who cannot telecommute should be noted. For those of you who are not in any of these groups but might need to be on campus to pick up a book, for example, or bring a computer in for a repair, registration is not required. However, we ask you to work with your manager to ensure they know you will be on campus for a few hours on a temporary and not regular basis. It will be important and required that all managers and employees adhere to these registry categories of employees approved to be on campus - adherence will be essential to limit transmission, ensure the capability of social distancing, establish contract tracing efforts and notification. We continue to expect no more than 40% of our Storrs and regional employees will report to our campuses for work as outlined above for the entirety of the spring semester. Any cases of registry lapses or on-site visits to campuses outside of these requirements will be swiftly addressed by divisional leaders and the University. Human Resources will ask organizational heads to finalize their On-Campus Registry entries no later than Dec. 15 to ensure we invite all employees to baseline testing from Jan. 2-19 (more details below). Employees need to continue to register for this testing and we need to ensure that capacity of the testing, though voluntary, can be accommodated from a staffing and density perspective in early January. Update on Faculty and Staff Testing - Regionals For the rest of 2020, HR will continue potential exposure testing and invitations for employees not experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to participate in surveillance testing conducted by CVS or Vault, at the employee's election. Colleagues close to Storrs or Farmington are also being provided the opportunity to test at these two locations. More information about baseline testing for each of the regional campuses will be provided later in December. Graduate assistants will be tested using the student strategies that will be communicated by Student Health and Wellness. Update on Faculty and Staff Testing Effective Immediately - Storrs Beginning today, Nov. 16, the University has moved on-campus testing from the Depot Campus Brown Building tent to the main Storrs campus at Hawley Armory. I want to thank the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) and all the employees working in Hawley and all event organizers for moving so quickly to allow us to stage this important testing where they work. Again, this is another example of Huskies coming together for our community. Throughout semester break, HR will continue to invite 400 employees not experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to test each week at Storrs. During this break, we will also be asking specific communities on campus to ramp up potential exposure testing for their employees not experiencing symptoms. Employees are encouraged to ask their managers for this testing even if it means you are tested every week. Managers are asked to send these requests to HR at the links mentioned below. As with the regional campuses, graduate assistants at Storrs will be tested using the student strategies that will be communicated by Student Health and Wellness. Starting Thanksgiving week, testing at Storrs will take place every other weekday (M-W-F), and current plans are that this testing will occur weekly at Hawley throughout the spring semester (even during the year-end holiday weeks). HR might later add more time to this schedule, but for the time being, testing at Hawley will occur as follows: Mondays: 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Fridays: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Our testing invitations will also provide instructions and details for employees who need special accommodations for testing due to Hawley's location and accessibility. In most accommodation cases, our UConn Health colleagues will meet you in specific parking areas outside Hawley to perform the test in or near your vehicle. Please let HR know in advance of any special needs. NOTE: Any employee invited for a test during semester break who does not intend to be back on campus until the start of spring semester is not required to come to Hawley for a test during break. Testing is encouraged, but not mandatory. In fact, the University recommends you do not come back to campus for a COVID test if you otherwise do not have to for work-related purposes until you are invited to baseline testing, which occurs Jan. 2-19 in preparation for spring semester. What kind of COVID test will be administered at Hawley Armory? At the Brown Building testing tent at Depot Campus, UCH colleagues performed a nasal pharyngeal PCR test throughout the fall semester. Beginning today and until further notice, all COVID-19 tests at Hawley Armory will transition to the anterior nasal<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fdownloads%2FOASH-nasal-specimen-collection-fact-sheet.pdf&data=04%7C01%7C%7C33da319033d140e3f5aa08d88a81f246%7C17f1a87e2a254eaab9df9d439034b080%7C0%7C0%7C637411637999905985%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=k4%2Fvu0aWxN7d%2FlJAjVS6ZKdlKQVzKl6iRCFn3E%2FyhXM%3D&reserved=0> test, which is less invasive than the current testing method. Frequently Asked Questions Please refer to a new set of FAQs<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhr.uconn.edu%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F1421%2F2020%2F11%2FCOVID-19-FAQs-11-13-20.pdf&data=04%7C01%7C%7C33da319033d140e3f5aa08d88a81f246%7C17f1a87e2a254eaab9df9d439034b080%7C0%7C0%7C637411637999910974%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=g40W7c8gBm9J7YKUCUpLm6Yyqu0M4dfr09TqLBBI7I0%3D&reserved=0> about faculty and staff testing at Hawley. The Office of Human Resources is also happy to address any other questions via email at [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>. To close, I ask all Huskies to continue the efforts we have made throughout the fall semester to stay safe and keep our community healthy. Wear masks, socially distance, wash your hands and please refrain from eating together with your colleagues during this pandemic as New England winter weather approaches. Stay Healthy, Be Vigilant, Think Hopefully. In gratitude, Chris Christopher Delello Chief Human Resources Officer, UConn and UConn Health