Research/Creative Work Continuity and Advancement Committee--Meeting Notes 4/28

The Research/Creative Work Continuity and Advancement Committee of the CLAS Fall 2020 Reopening Planning process met Tuesday, April 28.

Areas of focus were assigned to committee members:

  • Chairs
    • Marc Armstrong, Associate Dean for Research and Infrastructure
    • Maggy Tomova, Associate Dean
  • Humanities/Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts
    • Christine Getz, Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Outreach and Engagement
    • Rebecca Tritten, Administrator, Division of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
  • Clinical/Wet Labs
    • Chris Cheatum, Professor, Chemistry
    • Warren Darling, DEO and Professor, Health and Human Physiology
  • Facilities and Buildings
    • Eugene Buck, Director of Facilities
  • Information Technology
    • Lance Bolton, Director, CLAS IT
  • Support Functions
    • Erin Herting, Collegiate Budget Officer
    • Tom Koeppel, Administrator, Physics and Astronomy
  • Coordination Across Areas
    • Kristi Fitzpatrick, Director, Grant Support Office
  • Human Resources
    • Christina Berthel, Senior Director, CLAS HR
  • Communications
    • Nic Arp, Director, CLAS Strategic Communications

These topics were discussed:

  • Dean Armstrong is preparing a survey so the committee can learn more about the impediments researchers are facing.
  • Virtual focus groups are being set up by CLAS and OVPR to learn researhcers' ideas, questions, and concerns.
  • Dean Getz highlighted the unique external pressures that humanities researchers face.
  • Need for prioritization of uses/needs/dates for on-campus facility access
  • Some units have animal-care issues that require ongoing attention.
  • What are other big public research institutions doing regarding reopening research? Everyone is dealing with essentially the same issues, so we should check what others are doing.
  • Discussion of safety in labs and studios not just with the actual work hazards, but also with regards to being alone.
    • Agreement to look into systems or apps we can use for people in labs or studios to check in to let people know they are safe, as well as alert Public Safety if they are in trouble or concerned.
  • Discussion of possible tracking apps for general building occupancy.
  • There is huge concern on campus about having adequate PPE and other safety protection.
    • We need to ensure that all faculty and staff are equipped with the PPE and other safety items necessary for their jobs. A central UI safety task force is working on this issue, which CLAS will implement for the college.
  • CLAS will create a facilities ramp-up plan roughly modeled after OVPR’s.
  • We need guidance from IRB on testing guidelines with human subjects. Can we ask if they’ve been tested? Etc.