Coming Back Safe and Strong Update
What You Need to Know, When You Need to Know It
Hearty Welcome to Fall Semester, from Maurie McInnis
“Welcome to the start of Fall 2020. Today marks the beginning of so much — a reimagined campus experience, a strengthened commitment to our health and safety practices, and an embrace of new forms of learning and academic inquiry …” President Maurie McInnis formally welcomed students, staff and faculty to Stony Brook University as our doors officially opened for the 2020-21 academic year this Monday, August 24.
Read the full message here ... and welcome. The semester has gotten off to a Stony Brook Strong start!
Check Out the COVID-19 Dashboard
Last week, we described Stony Brook University’s new COVID-19 dashboard -- now available here -- and which provides regularly updated information on:
- COVID-19 cases in the local area and on campus
- Efforts to control the spread of the virus
- Cases in Suffolk County among SBU students
- Quarantine and isolation rooms
- Student COVID-19 positive test rates
Refer to this fact-filled tool for current information on COVID-19 as we move forward together.
When, Where and Why To Wear Your Mask -- See The Latest Video
View the latest video in our ‘Wear Your Mask Campaign’ series to see why President McInnis wears her mask. Click here.
Find other new videos, including ‘maskot’ Wolfie safely riding the bus around campus, on the regularly updated Multimedia section of the Coming Back Safe and Strong website.
Restarting Research Lab Guidance
In response to several inquiries, the Restarting Research Task Force has provided this clarification for people returning to the labs:
- Principal Investigators (PIs) can bring all group members back -- while still complying with Research Phase 4 personnel restrictions -- by staggering schedules and using all days/hours of the week. (This guidance was shared with Deans, Chairs and Center Directors on August 17.)
- Undergraduate participation in research remains remote, but PIs can propose in-person presence, on a case-by-case basis, which Chairs and Deans would then need to approve.
For more information on Restarting Research Lab, Field and Studio activities, click here or go directly to the Restarting Research FAQs. Or if you have additional questions on Research Activities and Laboratories, please contact ovpr_communications@stonybrook.edu.
What You Need to Know About Students’ Return to Campus
If you haven’t tuned in yet, take some time to watch or listen to a timely, informative and engaging conversation containing the guidance and information all students and their families will want to know about ‘Coming Back Safe and Strong’ to campus this fall. It’s all on the latest episode of Beyond the Expected, entitled, ‘Welcome Back Students’.
Stony Brook Medicine Return to Work
Return to Work Training
As part of Stony Brook Medicine’s phased-in approach to safely bringing remote Hospital employees back to the workplace, the second group of staff members returned today (Thursday, August 27). We are continuing to monitor our ability to ensure safeguards for protecting all employees as they return. We are also closely monitoring Hospital and regional COVID patient numbers, which continue to decline. Based on this, employees in our third and final group are tentatively expected to return to the workplace on September 24.
All Stony Brook Medicine employees must complete the online Return to Work Training (log-in required) that provides important updates about the safeguards that have been put in place to help us work together to help create a safe and comfortable return to the workplace. The training is called “Working Together for a Safe Return to the Workplace” [HTZ046].
Health Screening and Attestation
All Stony Brook Medicine faculty and staff in the Hospital or in any other clinical/patient-facing setting need to undergo an active health screening upon entering the building where they work at the start of each shift. In addition to temperature monitoring, all SBUH employees are required to complete a form attesting that they are symptom-free upon arriving at their work unit. Employees should use one of the following methods, in the following order of preference:
- For those who have Stony Brook email accounts click here (log-in required) to access the Attestation of Temperature Screening Symptom Review form or scan the QR Codes posted in front of the hospital and below.
- For those who don’t have a Stony Brook email account, click here (log-in required) to access the Manual Attestation of Temperature Screening Symptom Review form.
- Paper attestation logs are available at the unit/departmental level.
Employees with any questions about these or other protocols are asked to speak with their supervisor or they may contact HR by calling 631-444-4700 or by emailing sbuhhr@stonybrookmedicine.edu.
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Some Important Reminders ...
Preventing the spread of COVID-19 is everyone's responsibility. Remember to:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.
- Use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available.
- Maintain a physical distance of at least six feet from other people, wherever and whenever possible.
- Wear a mask (in all buildings, when using campus transport, and in venues and situations where physical distancing isn’t possible, including outdoors).
- Cover coughs and sneezes.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces in your own workspaces daily. This includes tables, desks, phones, keyboards, etc.
- Avoid use of other people's phones, desks, offices, tools and equipment, when possible.
- Stay home if you are sick.
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