CoE Colleagues:
The “return to campus” date of July 1, 2021, was set for the university when Board of Regents President Mike Richards lifted the State of Emergency for the public universities and implemented guidelines to facilitate the transition to regular operations.
In CoE, we have already been planning for a traditional fall 2021 semester — with a return to in-person classes, research, and student activities — and working to re-establish an on-campus presence. Beginning July 1, the following collegiate offices are expected to be open during normal business hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday):
- the Dean’s Office;
- academic department offices;
- the Student Development Center; and
- the Engineering Technology Center.
This will require us to adjust, once again, to new work arrangements as we approach fall 2021.
The college continues to be committed to exploring the long-term viability of alternative work arrangements. Accordingly, as outlined in our preliminary guidelines, the college will engage in a pilot phase this fall to evaluate the feasibility of remote, hybrid, and flexible work schedules that preserve and build upon our core values of excellence. The pilot phase will take place Aug. 2 to Dec. 31 and will align with the campus-wide Future of Work@Iowa initiative.
The Dean’s Office is currently reviewing data from the recent staff survey regarding work arrangement preferences. Over the next two weeks, we will be communicating with unit leaders to confirm the business rationale for any remote or hybrid work requests, and to ensure that the operational needs will be met under these proposed work arrangements. Staff approved for an alternative work arrangement will then be required to complete a form documenting the arrangement by July 1.
The pilot will help us to balance the educational and support needs of our students, the business needs of the university and the college, the preferences of CoE employees for reasonable flexibility, and the physical infrastructure that CoE occupies. The evaluation phase of the pilot will include the opportunity for staff to provide input and the opportunity for continuous customer feedback captured via online surveys. These efforts will provide data to inform decisions through the pilot phase and into 2022.
Please note that these pilot guidelines apply to CoE P&S and Merit staff only; they do not apply to faculty, postdoctoral scholars, or graduate assistants. Faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate assistants will follow guidelines from the Office of the Provost.
Harriet B. Nembhard
Dean, College of Engineering
Roy J. Carver Professor of Engineering
Cathy Koebrick
Director of Human Resources, College of Engineering
