Dear Faculty and Staff,
As we approach the upcoming Academic Year, we would like to provide an update regarding the landscape of our faculty and staff and their return to campus. As of March 2020 last year, it was hard to imagine how long this pandemic and transition will take place. There has been significant progress and we are finally experiencing a new but different “normal” in our daily routines. Thank you for all of your continued flexibility and achievements throughout such a challenge time.
We promised to update you on return to campus decisions as we have worked through this past year on how Carlow’s future workplace will look like on our campus. It is important to know that our goal is to always ensure your health and safety and want to navigate through these changes and adjust based on what is best for our employees and Carlow.
A primary purpose for this plan is to promote collaboration and our efforts to continue to build a culture of encounter that values authentic engagement in many forms. Our campus environment helps drive innovation, connection and development and it will remain a core part of our work experience. While we highly value face-to-face collaboration, we also realize providing more flexibility to our Faculty and Staff is critical in this new world. We are committed to creating a more adaptable, agile and modern workplace culture, and believe a true culture of collaboration will be a real competitive advantage for Carlow.
Below outlines our future of workplace landscape and key elements to review:
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Effective August 16, 2021, we are adopting a hybrid approach of both on campus and virtual work for our Faculty and Staff based on department and supervisor review of business needs. Some employees/teams have already implemented hybrid and return to on-ground to prepare for the academic year and that should continue as managers have been approved to facilitate. Employees who have been identified as essential workers, including essential contractors, will continue to work on campus.
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While the majority of roles will participate in our hybrid approach, some positions may be required to be performed fully on campus, depending on the position’s responsibilities and requirements. Your Supervisor will connect with you and confirm if you are in a 100% in person position.
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In addition to those positions that are reviewed based on their need to be 100% on campus, the University has also identified the departments that will transition to permanently remote work. These departments include: Capital Planning, Finance and Administrative Services, Human Resources, Marketing and Communications, and the Office of the Provost/Academic Affairs (non-faculty positions). These departments are considered non-student facing and the strategy is designed to help prioritize student facing departments. These employees have already been contacted and are continuing to work through this permanent remote transition with their Supervisors.
We understand that after working from home for more than a year, it may take some people more time to get comfortable with being back in an office environment on a regular basis. You can be confident that we will follow all CDC and local COVID-19 protocols in all of our buildings and offices. And now that vaccines are readily available across the country, we strongly encourage you to take advantage of these and get vaccinated when you are able to if not already vaccinated.
We know you will have questions about our new Future of Work framework and your specific situation. Just as we have had to be flexible over the past year, we ask is that you continue to be flexible as we adjust and improve our future work landscape. Let’s remember this is new for ALL of us –so we ask for your patience as we evolve and adapt to this “new normal” together.
On behalf of the Leadership Team, we THANK YOU for the agility and personal flexibility you have shown, successfully adapting to work-from-home conditions for such an extended time. We cannot wait to see all of your faces at the office once again!
Bridgette N. Cofield, JD, SPHR
Vice President – Human Resources & Chief Diversity,
Equity & Inclusion Officer
412-578-8897
bncofield@carlow.edu