March 16, 2020

From:   SDSU President Adela de la Torre and Provost Salvador Hector Ochoa president@sdsu.edu

Dear SDSU Community,

Beginning Tuesday, March 17, all non-essential personnel, and essential personnel whose work can be accomplished remotely, are asked not to come to the San Diego State University campus. Such employees are asked to telework. We recognize that, for many of us, this means we will not be heading to campus starting tomorrow.

This decision, along with others outlined below, follows today’s updated guidance and direction from state and federal public health officials and continued conversations with the California State University (CSU) Chancellor’s Office. All decisions are meant to significantly reduce the number of people able to gather on campus. This directly helps to protect those who are at greatest risk of illness, and prevents the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Please read this email in total, and as soon as possible. Also, share this message with others, as certain decisions become effective as early as Tuesday, March 17. We will communicate primarily via email any further changes or additional guidance, which is expected in the days ahead.

Telework, Essential Staff Decisions

SDSU must quickly transition all staff, management, and student employees, including those working in auxiliary units, to telework arrangements. Employees are asked to make arrangements no later than Tuesday, March 17, and Wednesday, March 18. This will allow employees to gather any essential work materials and equipment from their offices to successfully telework from home.

To support those who will telework, SDSU’s Information Technology Services has introduced SDSU@Home: Remote Work Resources. This new site provides tools and resources for remote work, including request forms for equipment and other materials that may be provided without having to come to campus. Additional resources and direction to facilitate telework will be provided as soon as possible.

As directed by updated county and state guidance, those deemed responsible for both essential services and whose work requires on-campus performance will be permitted to continue working on campus. Examples of essential work that must be performed on campus include law enforcement and work necessary for the maintenance, care, and security of critical assets and facilities. At this time, this also includes our residence halls and the support of our students who remain in residence.

Further, guidelines from the Center for Human Resources (HR) will be communicated to administrators tomorrow, March 17, regarding the process by which employees may be given authorization to work on campus due to the essential nature of their work. Supervisors and administrators who need support should contact HR by emailing chr@sdsu.edu for guidance in implementing this urgent direction. Employees of auxiliary units will follow these same directions and should contact their Human Resources Department for specific questions.

It is necessary and expected that the vast majority of staff, management, and student employees will begin teleworking as soon as possible.

Campus Facilities

All campus recreation and library facilities will be closed, and access will be fully restricted beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17.

Essential Personnel: Sustaining Critical Research

Critical on-campus, in-person research that cannot be done virtually and cannot be deferred can continue on campus as long as the recommendations around social distancing are followed. All faculty and staff engaged in ongoing critical research are encouraged to maximize social distancing by staggering work schedules, promoting remote activities and intentionally creating maximum physical spacing.

Research personnel who are able to work remotely are encouraged to do so on projects such as data analyses, manuscript development, generation of new grant proposals, or on-line training required for their scholarship.

More specific guidelines on human subjects research, grant management, working with funding agencies, and identification of critical services for planning efforts will be forthcoming.

Additional Virtual Adoption

Tutoring and other co-curricular services will increasingly be moved into virtual modalities.

We encourage all employees to maximize the use of virtual platforms in order to address their programmatic responsibilities.

Due to the fluid nature of this global public health crisis, decisions are subject to change pending new direction and guidance. Please continue to check your university email and SDSU’s public-facing COVID-19 web page regularly.

Now, more than ever, it is important that we continue to work together in dynamic, and sometimes unfamiliar ways to support our community’s health and well-being. This remains our priority above all.

Adela de la Torre
San Diego State University President