An Important Update for the CU Anschutz Community, 3-13-20

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

We write to inform you of critical steps being taken now to protect the health of the CU Anschutz community. The actions announced below will assure that we can continue with our mission while reducing risk for infection with the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

As public health recommendations shift to include mitigation strategies for reducing community spread, we are taking steps to protect our campus community.

Today we are announcing several campus actions that will be in effect until further notice.  

Students

Starting today, CU Anschutz students will begin to transition to remote learning wherever possible, and this will be implemented by Monday, March 16, 2020. Faculty have been evaluating how best to use technology, such as Canvas and Zoom, to enable students to complete their educational requirements. This is consistent with what several other institutions are already doing. The information needed for students with regard to this change will be provided by schools and colleges to their students throughout the next week.

Faculty and Staff

Effective Monday, March 16, 2020 faculty and staff not designated as “critical” to their unit or department operations are strongly encouraged to work remotely whenever possible. Please reach out to your supervisor immediately to determine if you are a critical employee to your unit operations.

*Please be aware this may not apply to faculty and staff with clinical responsibilities. Please consult with your clinical supervisor.

By Monday, March 16, 2020 supervisors shall identify which employees may work remotely, meaning their work can be done partially or entirely away from campus. Supervisors should determine, in consultation with their employees, whether it is feasible for them to work remotely and if so, the manner in which they will perform their responsibilities remotely. 

As soon as a supervisor provides authorization, an employee can work remotely following their required registration on our remote workforce site 

Please note that supervisors may need to make changes as they evaluate the evolving campus needs and an employee’s work requirements on an ongoing basis.

If you are deemed to be critical faculty or staff and will remain on campus in the coming weeks, please continue to be safe and follow prevention protocols. In addition, whenever possible, we strongly encourage all meetings to be conducted remotely. 

We will be continually monitoring this evolving situation. The initial plan calls for allowing employees that have been approved by their supervisor to work remotely through March 27. Each Friday, beginning March 20, we will review whether we need to extend the remote working period. We will send updates to the campus community every Friday at 2 p.m. 

Additional information is available here from the technology team including resources and tools for remote work and learning. OIT will be sending more information soon.

Additional Events Guidance

Previously, CU Anschutz suspended all non-essential events scheduled with more than 75 people in projected attendance through April 30.

Effective immediately,  CU Anschutz will suspend all events, gatherings, campus visits, regardless of size that are not critical to our academic mission until further notice. This includes on-campus and off-campus events sponsored by the University. To request an exception, please contact events@cuanschutz.edu.

When on-campus meetings are necessary, we strongly encourage you to use virtual technology such as Skype or Zoom as opposed to conducting in-person meetings.

We understand that for many these measures will be disruptive and we appreciate your cooperation in this unprecedented situation. 

As you know from learning and working here, this is a very special place. As the only academic medical campus in Colorado and the region, CU Anschutz is a vast and complex operation that integrates classroom learning, patient care and research. Our people work in near-constant collaboration across campus, including caring for patients at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children’s Hospital Colorado and our own clinics. Anything that could disrupt that coordination requires careful thought in order to protect our faculty, students and staff as well as the patients we serve. 

We know you will have many questions on this, and we will deliver more details in the coming days. Information will also be posted at www.cuanschutz.edu/coronavirus as it becomes available.

Thank you for your continued support. Stay healthy and safe.

Sincerely,

Don Elliman
Chancellor