Coming Back Together Safely
Many faculty and staff members are already working on campus as essential employees. With more coming back over the summer in a phased return to on-site work, we're making changes to buildings and operations to try to keep everyone safe.
- Many faculty and instructors will be asked to use a new hybrid format this fall, offering their classes using both face-to-face and online instruction, with no more than half of their students meeting in person at a given time. This will reduce the number of people in the classroom at any given time.
- Classrooms will be professionally cleaned at least once per day. They'll also be stocked with hand sanitizer and disinfectants that students and instructors can use to clean their seats and work areas.
- High-touch areas, such as door handles, light switches and bathrooms, will be a cleaning priority.
- UWM will provide all employees with hand sanitizer, soap, disinfectants and cleaning supplies. Gloves, goggles and plexiglass will be provided to units that need them.
- Buildings will have signage, showing people where to line up, enter and exit to manage traffic flow and reduce contact.
- Everyone must wear masks in campus buildings and outside areas where 6 feet of distance can't be maintained. UWM will provide employees with cloth masks, or they can supply their own.
- Faculty and staff will return to campus in the following phases: 1) expansion of on-campus research activities; 2) academic and student support services for summer classes and prospective students; 3) employees needed to prepare facilities and operations for fall; and 4) other administrative functions and employees. The first phase, with researchers returning to campus, will begin in June.
- Some employees may continue to work remotely to reduce density on campus.
- Meetings should be held virtually whenever possible. If a virtual meeting is not possible, attendance should be limited and social distancing requirements followed.
- Use of mass transit is discouraged, and employees should walk, bike or drive to campus, if possible. Campus shuttles will be equipped with plexiglass barriers behind drivers, floor markings that indicate where to stand and sit, and PPE kits.
- UWM will not test employees for COVID-19. Instead, faculty and staff with symptoms should contact their personal health care providers.
- It is not appropriate to ask colleagues about their health, including whether they have tested positive for COVID-19.
- Once departmental plans for onsite teaching and work are better known, employees with concerns about working onsite should feel free to discuss that concern with their department chair or supervisor. Also, employees with health conditions that place them or their families at higher risk may contact Human Resources to discuss the situation with an HR business partner, who can help them complete necessary documentation for an ADA accommodation or FMLA leave, where applicable.
- Some employees will continue to work remotely to reduce density on campus. Each school, college or division will determine which of its staff members will continue to operate remotely.
FAQs
Campus Updates
Procedure developed to provide PPE and supplies
June 30, 2020
The EOC-PPE and Supplies Team has developed a strategy to ensure that UWM maintains a readily accessible inventory of personal protective equipment and other essential safety supplies during this time of extraordinary demand. Personal protective equipment (PPE) and supplies are… Read More
Faculty and staff returning to campus
June 25, 2020
Now that we know students will be returning to campus in the fall, we can begin bringing more faculty and staff back to our campuses. Access to campus has been restricted to essential employees, including police and researchers conducting high-priority… Read More
Town hall meeting on Thursday
June 22, 2020
Chancellor Mark Mone and other campus leaders will hold an online town hall meeting for faculty and staff at 9 a.m. Thursday, June 25. They will provide updates on the university’s plans to reopen campus in the fall and answer… Read More