COVID-19 update

July 24, 2020

Jeff Richardson

July 24, 2020

Dear UAF faculty and staff,

As the fall semester approaches, you will start receiving more communications from me, vice chancellors and members of our Operations Support Team (formerly the Incident Management Team). In addition to my communications, such as my regular Tuesday email, we will have notices, Cornerstone announcements and will be holding virtual forums. Look to Monday’s Cornerstone for an announcement about the forum schedule. The first forum will be with me and members of the core cabinet and Onsite Operations Team a week from today to discuss fall planning efforts.

As part of preparations, the facilities team and others have been ordering supplies, signage, and putting up plexiglass barriers. While they have ordered many supplies that will be common use supplies, the operations support team has created a more simplified way for units to order supplies that they will need. For ordering unit specific supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic an online form was created.

The form can be used to order the things necessary for safe on-site operations, including


  • cleaning and sanitizing supplies

  • personal protective equipment like masks and gloves

  • Signage and decals that encourage social distancing and safe habits


In order to manage costs and ensure quality control, units located in Fairbanks can order via this form, rather than ordering directly from vendors. There will be no separate cost to units for these items as they are part of our COVID costs that are being managed centrally. Ordering via the online form will help ensure the university can seek federal or state reimbursement for these pandemic-related expenses. We don’t know how long this reimbursement will be possible so it is important that we coordinate as much as we can through this process now.

CRCD and other units located outside of Fairbanks should use the form to order branded masks and signage, but should order any needed PPE directly from their chosen vendor. Questions, including the funding source for outside orders, can be included in the text-box section of the form.

Some units may have already purchased supplies. While future purchases should be made using the online form, units should forward documentation of past purchases to Shelby Carlson at sccarlson@alaska.edu as soon as possible so the on-site operations team can determine whether those expenses are eligible for reimbursement.

UAF Facilities Services continues to order supplies, which means there is some stock on hand. Additionally, the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department is ramping up to provide refills for all hand sanitizer and spray disinfectants for UAF’s Fairbanks locations. The form to request these products is here.

Facilities Services will also order and install signage and place cleaning supplies in all common areas and classrooms on UAF’s Troth Yeddha’ Campus and other Fairbanks  locations.

Units should only order the supplies and signage they need for departmental office areas as common areas will be supplied centrally. If you have additional needs that are not currently available on the order form menu, please use the available text-block section to detail these requests.  More details on UAF’s COVID-19 cleaning protocols can be found here.

Thank you for your efforts in ensuring UAF is ready for fall semester. And thank you for choosing UAF!