Return to Campus Letter #9 Returning to Work on Campus + Commencement 2021
Return to Campus Letter #9
May 26, 2021
Dear Brooklyn College Community,
This Return to Campus Letter is the ninth in a series designed to help you understand our preparations for a gradual return to campus in the fall and our focus on health and safety in that work.
In my last letter, I discussed how remote employees will begin to return to campus on August 2, 2021, the date that the University has set for a transition to in-person work. August 2 will set the stage for a safe, partial return to in-person instruction and services in the fall; however, it is bound to be challenging. Most employees want to come back to campus to resume their work onsite with their colleagues and get their lives back to normal. At the same time, many are concerned about their safety due to the pandemic and the devastating loss it has caused in our families and communities. These mixed feelings will influence how each of us sees the transition back to campus.
The last 14 months of working mostly in an online environment have revealed––surprisingly, at times––that some job functions actually work better when they are delivered remotely. We do not want to lose the gains we have made in serving our students and faculty in the best way possible as we transition back to campus.
The development of new work schedules for remote employees will raise important questions. We will soon circulate guidance to supervisors about how to collaborate with employees to develop these schedules. As you know, we will also invite supervisors to a zoom session on June 3 to answer their questions and invite all interested employees to a zoom session on June 10 as well. If you have questions you would like answered in either forum, please submit them here.
In terms of the timing for submission of fall work schedules to the Office of Human Resources Services, CUNY has asked us to turn in a revised Brooklyn College Campus Reentry Plan on June 15, which will detail our safety policies and strategies in academic and administrative departments for the fall. That plan is subject to University review and approval. Once it has been approved, we will circulate a notice and begin accepting fall work schedules in Human Resources.
We have developed a new webpage for Returning Safely Together with important information that we will update throughout the summer. As you know, Governor Andrew Cuomo recently announced that CUNY students will be required to be vaccinated to return to campus in the fall. We also understand that CUNY employees, although not required to be vaccinated, will be subject to regular testing for COVID-19 if they are not vaccinated or do not disclose their vaccination status. As we receive more information about these plans from the University, we will share it with you. Student vaccination and employee testing are new measures designed to enhance the safety of the campus community in the fall.
For now, we have an important celebration coming up: Graduation! You can Watch the Celebration starting at 10 a.m. tomorrow. For those students graduating, congratulations! (Thereafter, graduates may want to check out the June series called You’ve Graduated! Now What?.)
I will issue Return to Campus Letter #10 next week. Stay safe and enjoy graduation!
Yours sincerely,
Michelle J. Anderson
President, Brooklyn College
