The University of Rhode Island is closely monitoring novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and is following all the recommendations put forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For the latest updates from the University please visit the URI COVID-19 website.
Narragansett Bay Campus community updates from Dean Bruce Corliss
March 20, 2020
The University has posted all news releases and updates on the COVID-19 crisis at web.uri.edu/coronavirus. This is the primary source of information to the university community. In addition, emails have been sent out that provide helpful additional information.
One of the latest announcements has been that classes will be taught online for the remainder of the semester. GSO faculty and TAs have been working very hard to get ready to go online next week and have made significant progress in learning and testing WebEx and other teaching aids. This has been an impressive effort to deliver our classes and is of critical importance to the university.
Next week the University will likely announce details about this year’s commencement activities, as discussed yesterday in the Faculty Senate, and the senior administration is considering a number of options.
Contact information: It is important that any issues, questions or suggestions from the NBC community be addressed quickly, and we want to make sure that the lines of communication are open to all. Here is a list of contact folks:
General issues, suggestions: Bruce Corliss (bcorliss@uri.edu)
Administration: Jim Patti (jpatti@uri.edu)
Business Office: Jane Miner (janem@uri.edu)
Facilities: Dave Palazzetti (djpalazzetti@uri.edu); Seth Pilotte (sethp@uri.edu)
Communications: Peter Hanlon (peterhanlon@uri.edu)
IT: Bob Sand (rsand@uri.edu)
Graduate student issues: David Smith (dcsmith@uri.edu)
The Endeavor left Cape Verde and is steaming home with most of the scientific crew onboard.
The GSO/NBC/URI communities have done an outstanding job in addressing the many challenges presented by COVID-19. We will get through this together, and our top priority will continue to be the safety and well-being of all. I am grateful and inspired by the dedication and thoughtfulness of our community.
March 15, 2020
All,
I am writing to encourage you to work remotely at home this coming week, if this is possible. This suggestion is consistent with Governor Raimondo’s suggestion to all Rhode Islanders last Friday. Please contact your supervisor to see if working remote is possible, and if so, to work out a work plan for the week. I have submitted a list of eligible employees to the HR office today and most employees are eligible to work remotely. The objective of this effort is to prevent or minimize the spread of the coronavirus and to maintain our research, outreach and educational activities.
Working together, I know that we can accomplish the important goal to protect the health of our community and Rhode Islanders. Thank you for your help and support of this important endeavor.
March 13, 2020
The COVID-19 crisis continues to develop across the country and there have been many recent responses to the outbreak relevant to the Narragansett Bay Campus. Here is an update on URI and GSO’s responses.
1. The response to my request to cancel events with groups larger than 25 individuals at the NBC has been very positive, and I appreciate the support and help that many individuals have given resulting in significant changes in plans. Meetings less than 25 individuals are discouraged, and I would ask you to consider how necessary any meeting is at this time before proceeding with the meeting.
Meetings/lectures that have been cancelled or postponed include:
March 16, 2020
OCG 695 – Seminar in Oceanography is postponed and will be carried out online, once classes resume. Details will be outlined next week.
March 18, 2020
Bio at Noon with speaker Dr. Skylar Bayer, an NRC postdoctoral scholar at the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center Milford Laboratory, Maine, will be rescheduled.
March 19, 2020
Bay Informed will have an online event at 7 p.m.
March 26, 2020
8th Annual Scott W. Nixon Lecture: ‘A Perfect Storm of Plastic’: Science & Stories from the Front Lines is cancelled and will be rescheduled.
March 28, 2020
URI Chapter of Society for Women in Marine Science is postponed until the fall.
April 1, 2020
GSO Harpoon Seminar is postponed.
April 1-4, 2020
Global Ocean Summit: Linking Large Marine Ecosystems to Local Science and Management for Sustainable Development is cancelled.
April 24, 2020
17th Ronald C. Baird Sea Grant Science Symposium—Offshore Renewable Energy Interactions with the Environment: Lessons Learned from Europe is cancelled and will be rescheduled.
April 27-30, 2020
Ocean Exploration Trust Science Fellows Workshop will be virtualized.
2. The Endeavor is completing an Atlantic transect with the Lohmann group and will be arriving in Cape Verde on Tuesday. The plan is to take on fuel and stores, disembark some of the scientific party, and depart on Wednesday and head directly to GSO. No shore leave will be given to the crew and only critical personnel will be allowed on the ship. NSF and UNOLS will announce today a 30-day stand down and pause across the fleet. We had planned to go into Florida to pick up a scientific party for the next cruise, but this will not happen and, once she is home, Endeavor will remain in port until the pause is lifted.
3. (From President Dooley’s memo of March 11, 2020) Beginning Monday, March 16, through Friday, March 20, 2020 all face-to-face undergraduate and graduate classes on all campuses are canceled.
- Beginning Monday, March 23, 2020, through at least Friday, April 3, 2020, all undergraduate and graduate classes will be delivered remotely. All face-to-face instruction is suspended. This includes any class meetings.
- Online classes will continue as scheduled.
- Individual faculty are expected to be in contact with their students regarding their plans for remote instruction prior to Monday, March 23, 2020.
Faculty are making good progress with plans to teach classes online with WebEx, and I would echo Jim Yoder’s comment of how great it is to see folks helping each other during this challenging time.
4. Nautilus Galley is closed until March 30, 2020.
5. (From Graduate School memo of March 12, 2020) Oral exams and defenses may be performed in-person or via remote access or a combination thereof. For exams and defenses that are performed in-person, only the student and the committee members will be allowed to attend. To request remote access, you, after consultation with your Chair, should contact Associate Dean DeBoef: bdeboef@uri.edu.
Upcoming Graduate School deadlines may be extended. See the Graduate School’s Calendar page for details. To request individual extensions, contact Associate Dean DeBoef: bdeboef@uri.edu.
6. Two faculty searches are presently underway and interviews have been scheduled for both searches. In view of safety concerns for the applicants traveling to the NBC and campus personnel, we are cancelling the interviews at this time and, instead, will have virtual online visits, likely utilizing WebEx. I have asked Tatiana Rynearson, Art Spivack and David Smith to propose a format that can be used for both interviews, and we will have these worked out next week. Once the online interviews have been completed, I will confer with the search committees to see if in person campus interviews are necessary, and if so, we will attempt to schedule these in late April or May, depending on the status of the COVID-19 outbreak at that time.
7. Working Remotely (From President Dooley’s memo of March 11, 2020)
- The University will temporarily follow the State of Rhode Island’s Teleworking Policy. Where telework is a viable work option and approval is granted in accordance with the Teleworking Policy, an employee may temporarily work from home.
- Employees out of work due to a mandatory quarantine period as a result of traveling on work-related business are eligible for paid administrative leave. Non-work-related exposure resulting in mandatory quarantine will be covered by available leave options including: Sick leave, Family Sick Leave, Annual leave (vacation), Compensatory leave, Leave without pay, and Medical leave without pay.
Following the Teleworking Policy, employees will need to develop a work plan with their supervisors and submit the plan to Jim Patti. He will then submit the plan to Anne-Marie Coleman, Assistant Vice President, Human Resources Administration, for review and approval.
8. (From President Dooley’s memo of March 11, 2020) These are the steps we can take to reduce risks and stay safe:
- Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and warm water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand gel;
- Sneeze and cough into your elbow or cover your mouth and nose with a tissue;
If you are sick, stay home from work, school. Avoid close contact with people who are sick; - Do not share utensils, water bottles, or other personal items. Many germs that cause viral illness are spread through saliva;
- Wipe down common items like phones, keyboards, doorknobs, and railings with a disinfectant;
- Do not travel if you are sick. If you have a recurring fever, cough, or shortness of breath, contact your primary care doctor.
I would also add the practice of social distancing at all times. A useful article on this is in The Atlantic.
9. Employee Domestic Travel (March 12, 2020 memo)
Effective Monday, March 16, 2020, all University-related non-essential domestic travel by employees is prohibited until at least April 3. As applicable, consult with your supervisor and funding provider to determine whether your University-related employee domestic travel is essential. We strongly encourage you to consider alternative methods, such as teleconferencing.
For personal travel within the U.S., we strongly urge you to use your judgment and exercise extreme caution. Check the CDC website for the latest U.S. travel information.
10. Prospective graduate student visits are cancelled at this time and online interviews may be carried out.
11. We have just heard from the Provost’s Office the following about faculty meetings: AAUP and the Administration have agreed to relax Section 2.3 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which requires faculty attendance at meetings called by the President, Dean, or Chair. We are particularly concerned about faculty who are 60+ years old or who may have underlying medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to serious illness from COVID-19. We ask that meetings be conducted via conference call or WebEx or that those in vulnerable groups be excused from face-to-face meetings.
12. The custodial staff does a great job in maintaining our facilities and they are enhancing their efforts to disinfect bathrooms, surfaces, door knobs, etc. I thank them for all of their efforts.
This is a challenging and stressful time for all of us, and I appreciate everyone’s efforts to work together to keep our operations effectively running and to safeguard our families, friends and colleagues.
March 11, 2020
All hands,
The coronavirus outbreak has become a national health threat and cities, states, institutions and universities are responding in a variety of ways to prevent the spread of the virus. The University of Rhode Island has cancelled all international travel and additional information should be forthcoming.
I am concerned about the Narragansett Bay Campus because we have a small community and our public spaces are limited in size. Given that, I am writing to inform everyone of procedures and guidelines to limit NBC exposure and risk.
1. Effective immediately, public meetings or lectures will be limited to 25 participants and larger meetings or lectures need to be cancelled, postponed or virtualized. URI has WebEx which can be used to virtualize meetings or lectures. International participation of small meetings is not encouraged and virtualization is again a good solution. These restrictions are in effect until May 1st and will be reviewed and updated as the outbreak continues to evolve. I have reached out to a number of meeting/ lecture organizers and appreciate their understanding and support of this policy.
2. The Endeavor is at sea and the officers and the support staff have been working on a set of procedures to protect participants and the ship’s crew. Any exposure on the Endeavor would result in a two-week quarantine, so we are particularly concerned with vetting scientific parties and international participation over the next few months. UNOLS is having their spring meeting today and are working on fleet procedures.
3. Dave Palazzetti reports that the custodial team will be enhancing their efforts to clean and disinfect common areas with a focus on surfaces. We are attempting to obtain additional cleaning material that can be available in public areas.
4. Undergraduate and graduate classes will be carried out based on directives from the Provost’s Office.
Guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus have been well documented and all include hand washing, avoiding people that are sick, and staying home if you are ill for your sake and to prevent exposure to friends and colleagues. I would encourage all to carefully consider the need for professional domestic travel and personal travel at this time.
If you have suggestions on how to address our response to COVID-19, please share these with the Dean’s Office. I will keep you informed as additional information and procedures become available. These restrictions will create some challenges in the short term, but the well being of the community is the top priority at this point.