Dean's Community Message

March 20, 2020

Dear College of Engineering Community,

As you received earlier today from Executive Vice President and Provost Nick Jones, the University has provided updated guidance in light of yesterday’s announcement by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf. As noted, it is important that everyone who can work from home do so immediately and completely, until otherwise notified. A couple points to note relevant to the College of Engineering:

Telework Status Update

Department heads, directors, and administrative managers should review the telework status of all personnel and, where not already implemented, execute telework to the maximum extent possible. Department and office managers: please review and update data in the college’s Telework Tracker System for all staff as soon as possible. Additionally, as soon as possible, please enter data for all graduate assistants and researchers in the Telework Tracking System. Please reference today’s email from Matt Zerphy for further instructions or contact him (mxz206@psu.edu) with additional questions.

Instructional Labs Access

Permission to access instructional labs to record instructional videos must be granted by the college before a visit occurs. The safety guidelines for a visit are: at least two but no more than three individuals in the lab at the same time, safe social distancing must be maintained at all times, except in the event of an emergency, and personal protection equipment required for the lab experiments must be worn at all times. Only faculty, staff, and graduate teaching assistants may visit the instructional labs, and only those who are essential for producing the procedural video. Undergraduates are strictly prohibited. To request permission to access an instructional lab, complete the request form for forwarding to the appropriate department head for review and approval, followed by routing of approved request forms to Mike Houser at mlh30@psu.edu for final review. Access decisions will be made within 24 hours.

Technical Service Employees

We are awaiting further guidance from Penn State Labor Relations, which will be shared with supervisors, about reporting directions for next week for Technical Service employees who are not mission critical. Additional guidance will be provided about how to record time for today.

Student Care & Advocacy Emergency Fund

As you are keenly aware, the current situation has caused great uncertainty across the world, our country, and our local communities. Many members of our Penn State community have asked what they can do to support students who have been adversely impacted. Through a newly launched effort, gifts to the Student Care & Advocacy Emergency Fund will be made available to students in financial need across the commonwealth who apply for emergency assistance. Year-round, this emergency fund helps to provide support to students facing the unexpected. Under the present health crisis, all new contributions to the fund will be directed toward those who, as a byproduct of protective measures against the coronavirus, are challenged to afford housing, transportation, basic needs and access to required resources for remote learning, or who are facing other unforeseen personal difficulties.

This weekend, I will continue to reach out with daily messages on Saturday and Sunday, with additional outreach as warranted. Please continue to refer to the University’s informational site and the College of Engineering resources site. If you have unanswered question, please send them to L-COE_CORONA_CRISIS_TEAM@engr.psu.edu.

I hope you have a great weekend. Stay safe and be well!

Justin Schwartz
Harold and Inge Marcus Dean, College of Engineering