Campus Update: Faculty and Staff
March 17, 2020
Dear Faculty and Staff,
Thank you for your support and patience as we adjust to this new way of service to our students and community. While you may feel that there are more questions than answers, please know that we are working around the clock to bring clarity and understanding to all of the outstanding issues. Every decision we make will be in collaboration with the University System of Georgia, the Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control.
Yesterday, the University System of Georgia (USG) decided that Albany State University along with the other 25 USG institutions will move to online and remote instruction for all courses for the remainder of the semester. This action comes after last week’s decision to suspend instruction for two weeks to ensure business and instructional continuity, and to allow further state assessment of COVID-19. Faculty are encouraged to complete their remote learning plans by March 25, 2020.
This also requires a change to our housing and residential life operations. All residence halls will be closed for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester. Residential students are not allowed to return to campus until they receive permission from the university via the Office of Housing and Residence Life. Information regarding staggered move-out times to retrieve all of their belongings is forthcoming.
Residential students who have extenuating circumstances or cannot identify housing elsewhere are required to contact the Office of Housing and Residence Life at asuhousing@asurams.edu or 229-500-2025.
Regarding financial obligations, USG will provide guidance to ASU on refunds. Once this guidance is provided, the Office of Fiscal Affairs will communicate directly with all students and begin the refund process as quickly as possible.
To ensure continuity of our business operations and essential services ASU will remain open, with minimal staff physically on-site. Although the majority of our employees are teleworking, you must be available to take calls from your normal business associates to continue the business of the university. Employees are discouraged from coming to campus unless it is necessary to conduct a business transaction.
Each of you should have received an email last week regarding the COVID-19 Telecommuting Agreement, it is essential and required you complete this agreement, regardless of your telecommuting status as you may switch to telecommuting in the near future. Additionally, your supervisor by now has informed you if you are considered essential personnel. If you have not heard from your supervisor, please contact your divisional vice president.
It is important for you to know our chief concern is your safety. We are collaborating with USG and other relevant offices to help stem the spread of the coronavirus in Georgia; and that we fulfill our mission to graduate our students even in the face of these challenging times.
Thank you for all you do!
Respectfully,
Marion Ross Fedrick
President