May 25, 2020
All,
I am writing to provide an update on the university process for ramping up research on campus.
If you intend to bring back personnel into a research lab, you will need to fill out the appropriate web form and planning document on the Office of Research website:
https://officeofresearch.ucsc.
The completed planning template must provide detailed information on how you propose to ensure safe use of the lab in the possible presence of the COVID-19 virus (e.g,, by complying with physical distancing rules and instituting appropriate cleaning procedures). We suggest that you consider shifts for your lab in order to keep the number of occupants at any time low, and thereby allow more people to return safely. For example, you could set up two shifts, 6:30 am -1:30 pm and 2pm-10pm.
Note #1: The county and university directives still require us to conduct as much work as possible remotely. Therefore, we do not expect access to be granted for personnel doing non-specialized work (e.g.,computer-based research), except in well-justified cases. We recognize that there may be living situations that, even for non-specialized work, are not conducive to productive research. If that is the case, please explain in as much detail as reasonable.
Note #2: If you have personnel who currently hold permission to come to a lab through the "Essential Personnel" process, please include them in this request as they will be contributing to the density of not only the lab space, but also the building (doorways, hallways, restrooms, HVAC, etc.) and we want to be sure to properly account for their presence.
Requests submitted by June 5 will receive full consideration during the initial review, but requests can continue to be submitted on a rolling basis.
Upon submission, the requests will be reviewed by committees specific to each building. These committees consist of building administrators, facilities personnel, and representatives for the main stakeholder departments and divisions.
Please address any questions to our Associate Dean for Research, Holger Schmidt (hschmidt@ucsc.edu). Please join me in thanking Holger and Facilities Director Bob Vitale for their efforts on behalf of our building occupants to help restart our research as safely as possible.
Alexander Wolf, Dean
Baskin School of Engineering
University of California, Santa Cruz