Return to Campus/Remote Working

*** June 22 email sent to LFS Faculty and Staff from Rickey Yada ***

Under the direction of the BC Provincial Health Officer (PHO), and with support of Vancouver Coastal Health, the UBC Return to Campus planning is now underway with more faculty and staff expected to be returning to campus over the coming months. As there is no one-size-fits-all solution for this return, LFS will be taking a careful and measured approach to the resumption of activities, keeping the health and wellbeing of our community a priority through the process. A phased approach is being developed by the LFS leadership team and UBC to ensure individuals with critical issues concerning the preparation of in-person teaching, learning, research, student support and other activities for the 2021/22 academic year have their needs reviewed and considered in the initial stage.

Remote work:

With the varying operational requirements across LFS and the University, the return to campus and remote work planning will vary at the local level. The directors and supervisors within LFS are being asked to start having these conversations with their team members to develop a plan that maintains their operational effectiveness and support of in-person teaching, as well as the long term Faculty goals and LFS Action Plan, as we move into the new academic year. UBC has developed the Remote work guidelines, which is a series of resources to help guide directors and supervisors through this process. Plans should be submitted to the LFS Restart Committee by July 15^th 2021.

For more information on the Remote Work Program guidelines, please visit:
https://hr.ubc.ca/remote-work-guidelines

Safety planning:

In consultation with Public Health, UBC is streamlining the safety planning process to align with the BC Restart Plan. This will provide consistent infection prevention while reducing the administrative burdens of the current safety planning process. UBC Safety and Risk Services (SRS) has developed UBC’s COVID-19 Safety Planning Framework, which are activity-based safety plans designed to meet the requirements of WorkSafeBC, Post-Secondary Sector Go-Forward Guidelines, and Vancouver Coastal Health. They will be broadcast in the coming weeks.

For more information on the new safety planning framework please visit:
https://srs.ubc.ca/covid-19/safety-planning/

Research activities:

Although some of the safety measures we have been accustomed to over the last 18 months will be eased in the upcoming stages of the BC Restart Plan, it is important that we prioritize the mental and physical health of the LFS community while keeping our operational needs in the forefront of the planning process. The LFS Restart Committee will be working on changes to our current protocols to align with the new PHO guidance. More information on these changes and the new UBC activity-based safety plans will be distributed in a separate communication as official UBC guidance is made available.

Additional information

The University will share more information in the coming weeks through UBC Bulletins.

Earlier this month, UBC held multiple town hall sessions to hear questions and concerns about the Return to Campus planning from the UBC community. On June 15^th the UBC Provost office held a response session which can be viewed here. A detailed list of responses from the UBC Return to Campus planning town halls can also be found here:
https://academic.ubc.ca/return-to-campus-town-halls-response

Some specific issues of high concern have been addressed:

https://academic.ubc.ca/return-to-campus-town-halls-response#transit
https://academic.ubc.ca/return-to-campus-town-halls-response#vaccinations
https://academic.ubc.ca/return-to-campus-town-halls-response#ventilation

Also, I encourage you to watch the Post Secondary Townhall with Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry:

Join the July 5 LFS Townhall:

We recognize LFS faculty and staff may have further questions and concerns about returning to campus. With resumption planning now being in the early stages, we understand the need for an open and effective communication throughout the process. We invite you to post questions.

Visit Slido (www.slido.com):

Enter event code: LFSRTC
Submit a question, upvote questions, provide feedback

We will communicate updates on Monday, July 5 at our LFS Townhall for Return to Campus/Remote Working scheduled for 2-3pm PDT. Rebecca sent an invitation to faculty and staff today, but if you didn’t receive it, please email lfs.dean@ubc.ca.

Sincerely,

Rickey