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Workspace Access Update

Re: Workspace Access Update
To: Faculty, Graduate Students, Postdoctoral Scholars and other academic personnel
Nov. 10, 2020
 
Dear Faculty, Graduate Students, Postdocs, and other Academic Personnel,
 
Merced County is currently in COVID-19 Tier 2 status , which allows us to increase some research, instructional and scholarly activity on campus.
 
The occupancy limit of spaces specific to the research relaunch plan, as coordinated by the Office of Research and Economic Development, have been adjusted. Faculty can check on expanded capacities at InfoReady and either update their current operational plans or submit new plans for research that must be conducted on campus.
 
Academic personnel may also access workspaces managed by academic departments instructional, research, and scholarly activity. Examples of these activities include use of personal office space or cubicles for academic work and use of labs for research that does not necessarily need to be conducted on campus.
 
Faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, lecturers and other academic personnel may submit requests for Tier 2 access to their workspaces via Service Now . Requests will be routed by space coordinators in each school to department chairs, who will review for approval. The review will consider floor and building densities.
 
Requests to access sole-occupancy spaces will be reviewed and approved first; after that use is monitored for an initial period of time, requests for shared spaces will be reviewed. However, requests for either type of space may be submitted at any time.
 
Of course, all those using campus space must adhere to physical distancing guidelines , and if necessary for human and animal subjects research, must have approval of the Institutional Review Board .
 
Both tiers require that personnel comply with requirements including COVID-19 testing, daily health attestation and flu vaccination . Both tiers also require that personnel continue to request space access through their position delegates.
 
Finally, Merced County could revert to Tier 1 status, in which case Tier 2 space access will be restricted until public health conditions warrant.
 
Thank you everyone for your perseverance and patience as we continue to establish procedures for expanding support of the campus mission while mitigating the health risks of this pandemic.
 
Gregg Camfield, Ph.D.
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
 
Marjorie Zatz, Ph.D.
Interim Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development
 
Andrew Boyd
Chief Resilience Officer