Dear Colleagues,
On Thursday, March 14 through Saturday, March 16, Tulane University's uptown campus will host the third annual New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane. Last year, 12,000 attendees visited the uptown campus to experience the festival's amazing speakers, author panels, and other events and activities. Organizers anticipate that number to grow by several thousand this year. We encourage all employees to attend Book Fest events — with the approval of their supervisor — that take place during work hours. To learn more about Book Fest, visit their website.
The popularity of the festival will also increase traffic on and around the uptown campus and utilize on-campus resources, including parking and food service. Book Fest events begin Thursday at noon and continue through Saturday evening. In order to best serve our students, faculty, employees, and visitors who are on campus during this time, we encourage those staff who work on the uptown campus — but who do not plan to attend the festival and have the flexibility — to discuss with their supervisor the option of early dismissal at 3 p.m. on Thursday and remote work on Friday. All other campuses will observe normal operating schedules.
Essential personnel may not be allowed to leave early, including employees providing patient care in clinics or hospitals, engineers managing buildings, security personnel, vivarium staff managing animals, technicians performing experiments, pharmacy employees, and occupational medicine staff. You must consult with your supervisor to determine if you are able to leave early on Thursday or work remotely on Friday. Classes on the uptown campus will be held as scheduled.
Non-exempt employees on the uptown campus who do not plan to attend the festival and can leave early on Thursday should clock out at 3 p.m. on March 14. Department timekeepers will add applicable "Paid Not Worked" hours in Kronos so that employees receive pay for the remainder of the day. No action is necessary for exempt employees or student employees.
Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to seeing you at Book Fest!
Patrick Norton, Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Jonathan Small, Vice President, Human Resources & Institutional Equity
