President Mark Schlissel reminded University of Michigan faculty and staff who can work from home to continue to do so and reiterated the hope of a public health-informed fall semester on all three campuses that combines in-person and remote instruction.
In an email sent June 12 to all faculty and staff at U-M’s three campuses, just under three months since instruction moved online and campus buildings were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Schlissel thanked faculty and staff for their adaptivity and said a decision on the fall semester will be made by the end of June.
“The University of Michigan moved quickly to remote instruction for the remainder of the semester and directed employees to work from home whenever possible,” the email read. “These were the first steps we took to reduce density on our campuses, flatten the curve, and slow the spread of the COVID-19 — and they are working.
“Today, we are in a much better place because of your ability and willingness to adapt and your incredible diligence in the face of adversity.”
Schlissel’s reminder to faculty and staff to work from home unless specified by a supervisor comes as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has relaxed some of the stay-at-home orders statewide. Schlissel, who said he is working from home and has instructed his leadership team to do so as well, said working from home when it is an option is consistent with Whitmer’s most recent executive order, signed June 12.
“By continuing to follow guidelines, we all can help to maintain the positive trajectory we have established in the battle against the pandemic,” he said.
Schlissel said fall semester planning is ongoing and involves hundreds of members of the university community on all three campuses, including a dozen committees formed by himself, Interim Provost Susan M. Collins and Interim Vice President for Student Life Simone Himbeault Taylor.
Schlissel said the committees include many faculty and staff experts in public health, innovative teaching, engaged learning, physical space use and more, and also that Student Life has engaged with hundreds of students. The UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint campuses also have convened broad planning groups.
“I want to express my appreciation to the hundreds of members of our community who have engaged in this important planning work,” Schlissel said. “We’ve approached this challenge from multiple angles that befit the breadth of U-M’s problem-solving capacity, including health and safety, ethics and privacy, and the many educational and workplace needs of a university of our diversity and scale.”
Among the specific issues planning members are examining related to public health and the delivery of U-M’s mission are:
- Density in classrooms and offices.
- Face coverings.
- Coronavirus and antibody testing.
- Contact tracing.
- Pedagogy.
- Graduate and professional student needs.
- Student life’s many dimensions.
“This planning further includes how we would protect vulnerable populations, monitor the spread of the virus, implement measures to contain the virus, care for anyone who is sick, strengthen our public health infrastructure to protect our community, and enact ongoing mitigation strategies, including interventions we would deploy in advance of the semester and as conditions change,” Schlissel’s email read.
As health and safety protections are put in place, Schlissel implored the U-M community to protect each other by respecting social distancing, wearing face coverings when 6 feet of distance cannot be maintained, practicing sound hygiene and keeping density low by working from home whenever possible.
“Our hopes for the fall semester and beyond rely on everyone continuing to care for one another,” he said.
He added that senior leadership has discussed the future of work at U-M looking different if changes are enacted that would address longstanding issues such as parking, U-M’s environmental impact and traffic.
“There is much further work to be done here, but already you have showed us how much can be done remotely,” he said. “Together, we have demonstrated the power of our collective effort and slowed the spread of the virus.
“I am grateful for your everlasting compassion for the University of Michigan and for your dedication to each other during this pandemic.”
Merle Rosenzweig
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