For Faculty and Staff

Employees who can continue to work remotely should continue to do so. As more campus operations resume, the on-campus presence of more faculty and staff will be necessary. A guide to determining who is an on-campus essential employee is available to managers. During the summer of 2020, staff and faculty will gradually return to campus in a phased approach consistent with operational needs and state and local directives.

Managers should develop a return-to-campus plan for their departments, following guidance in the full Preparedness Plan and consulting with their supervisors and Human Resources partners. Return-to-campus plans should consider staffing needs as well as facilities and operational needs. For academic units, department chairs and program directors will work with their deans and Human Resources partners.

• Refer to the return-to-campus checklist
• Download a supervisor’s checklist for remote work
• Complete a Request for Services (RFS) to have furniture moved or address other facility needs

Employees who are in a high-risk group for COVID-19 or who live with someone or otherwise have significant contact with someone in a high-risk group should contact the HR Benefits Office to discuss a request for reasonable accommodation.

While faculty and academic leaders recognize the importance of in-person teaching, not all faculty will be able to return to campus in the fall. Teaching virtually is one reasonable accommodation available to faculty members. Faculty who would like to seek an accommodation to teach online may speak to the Benefits Office (which will work with the faculty member’s dean) or may contact their dean directly.

Faculty members who are not seeking an accommodation due to elevated risk but who would prefer to teach fully online in fall should consult with their department chair and/or dean to discuss options that balance their preferences with the needs of their program and their college. Guidance and process for making these requests will come from deans.

Employees with childcare needs should consult with their manager (staff) or department chair and dean (faculty) and their HR partner about possible accommodations that will meet both the employee’s and the university’s needs.

St. Thomas has numerous paid and unpaid leave options in place for all employees who are not able to work due to illness or quarantine. Employees who are quarantined but able to work from home are expected to do so. Employees who are not able to work may use available leave time.

• St. Thomas will provide faculty, staff and student workers up to 80 hours of paid COVID-19 emergency leave, which may be used for illness or quarantine. Leave amounts will be prorated for part-time employees based on FTE.
• After COVID-19 emergency leave is exhausted, employees may also use short-term disability (if applicable), paid leave time (PLT) (hourly staff), sick and safe time (faculty, exempt staff and student workers), vacation (exempt staff), and may apply for family emergency leave.
• Employees who need additional leave may request unpaid leaves. Where applicable, Family and Medical Leave Act leave will run concurrently with other leaves. A grid containing leave options is available on OneStThomas. Employees are encouraged to contact the Benefits Office.

Several efforts are underway now to help support faculty as they prepare their fall 2020 courses:

• STELAR is working with academic units in developing cohort-based summer training to prepare for fall 2020. Instructional designers are assigned to each school/college.
• STELAR and the Faculty Development Center are coordinating on a variety of essential workshops and training experiences for faculty and making them available online.
• STELAR will support faculty who are developing “master courses” for fall 2020.
• A large number of staff members across the university are being trained to assist faculty in creating high-quality Canvas sites to support the mix of in-person and remote learning required for fall 2020 courses.

The Center for Faculty Development has also prepared a curated set of teaching resources for faculty aimed specifically at preparing to teach during the 2020-21 academic year.