Working from home

March 20, 2020

Tori Tragis

— by Dan White, chancellor

Things are changing everyday as COVID-19 becomes a community transmitted virus around the country. I wanted to reiterate the importance of employee safety on campus and off campus. 

I encourage employees to work remotely if their duties are able to be performed from a distance. It’s important during this critical time that we minimize close contact and conduct business through appointments and/or web-interfaced technology such as zoom and Google hangouts. Observing social distancing, per the CDC.gov guidance, is important to slowing the spread of COVID-19 and continuing to serve our students, staff and faculty. 

Deans and directors should work with their units to determine what position and functions are essential to conducting business on campus and which can be done remotely. There are many functions that can be done remotely, such as is being done in our development office, alumni relations, or at the UA system office. Clearly many functions at UAF, however, require on-site work. Plans to transition functions to off-campus remote work and work from home should be thoroughly reviewed between employees and their supervisors. 

It’s also critical that departments and employees transitioning to working remotely document who is on-site versus off-site for business continuity and campus safety. The UA System Office will be releasing additional details on connectivity and reimbursement options for internet access as employees begin to work remotely.

Thank you for all that you do. I know this is a critical time and we still have many unknowns ahead.