COVID-19 Update #2 – March 19 - Operational Changes
Dear faculty, staff, residents and learners,
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, the School’s approach to managing operations will change as well.
Our clinical faculty and their teams are on the frontlines of this pandemic and we want you to know that we are here to support you in London and in Windsor.
Our education and research teams are working hard to ensure our students are well supported to complete their years and to meet the demands of their programs. Our administrative units will continue to work to support you, as we move to an ever-changing reality.
We are very grateful to all our residents who are working in the hospitals, and to all our learners who are finding ways to support their future colleagues and the broader community.
The Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry is now undertaking a number of steps to continue to meet the needs of our own School community.
Effective March 20, all academic and administration units within Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, with the exception of the core services listed below, will be operating virtually with no staff physically in the office until further notice.
Core services have been identified as:
- Clinical departments at the hospitals
- The delivery of online courses, examinations and assessments, where required
- Information Services
- Animal care, where applicable
- Computational infrastructure maintenance
- Instrumentation oversight
- Biological specimen preservation (incubators, freezers, liquid nitrogen tanks)
- Facilities
- Key centres required to conduct COVID-19 research (e.g. ImPaKT Facility)
- Supply receipt and maintenance
- Lab equipment maintenance (e.g. autoclaves)
- Waste disposal (e.g. biological and/or chemical hazards)
The Dean’s Office will remain open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and we will be available to answer your questions and/or direct you to the right people who can support you.
We are also aware that our clinical departments are dealing with some challenges to ensure their staff have access in order to work virtually. We are working with the hospitals to identify solutions.
In the coming days, the Dean’s Office, working in partnership with Vice-Deans, Chairs, Chair/Chiefs, Managers and Directors, will develop a personnel plan for each department and academic unit to deliver these core services. We may also need to include other core services to support future needs.
In addition, each department and academic unit will need to designate a phone number and email address that faculty, staff and learners can contact during our regular business hours. This information should be posted at department entrances and on your websites. If you need assistance in posting this to your websites, please send the information to Luiza Moczarski.
We also recommend phone lines be forwarded to emails and (on a rotating basis) someone from each department check and respond to these emails in a timely manner. This added service level is important in order to continue to serve the needs of our students.
At this time, research labs will remain operational with appropriate supervision and in a manner consistent with Public Health guidelines.
The perimeter doors of our buildings will be closed and available by card access only. The University has created some dedicated study spaces for students (see below). The spaces are available from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Students can study in these dedicated locations that will be frequented by security staff and cleaned regularly. It is critical that students respect recommended social distancing practices. Rooms will be cleaned and hand sanitizer will be available at the entrance to each room. Members of our community will need card access to enter, or to present appropriate identification to Campus Community Police Service.
Dedicated study spaces:
- University College – Rooms 1105, 1225, 2105, 2110, 3220, and 3225
- University Community Centre – Rooms 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 65, and 67
- Somerville House – Rooms 2316, 2317 and 2355
- North Campus Building – Rooms 114, 117, 293, 295, and 296
These are unusual times, and we know that these new processes will not be perfect. As we deal with bumps along the way, let’s remember to be patient with one another as we get through this together.
Sincerely,
Dr. Davy Cheng
Acting Dean, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
