| This message has been distributed to all UT employees with Principal Investigator (PI) status, as well as all UT graduate students and postdocs.
| |
|
|
Dear PI Colleagues,
Last week, I shared some testing updates with you and let you know that on-campus research activities will remain at Research Level 3 (ultralow density). This is still the case, but with one new and important modification: with the approval of your associate dean for research (ADR), teams that are currently authorized to conduct on-campus research may move to cohort scheduling to allow more researchers to return to campus beginning July 27.
I understand that for some of you, a move to cohort scheduling is welcome news that feels long overdue. For others, though, using cohort scheduling to allow more researchers to return to campus may sound too ambitious given the very serious and escalating COVID-19 situation in Austin and throughout the state. I saw both of these concerns reiterated frequently in your responses to our campus climate survey last month. I want to assure you that these plans have been developed with the guidance and counsel of our campus’ medical experts who have worked closely with an ADR task force and university leadership. Our goal is to keep research moving forward safely as we all learn to coexist with this virus for the foreseeable future.
I also want to be clear about what cohort scheduling means, how the university came to this decision, and what safe and successful cohort scheduling will look like and require.
Maintaining 33% Workforce Density
Since June 1 when the university entered Research Level 3 (RL3), we have focused on campus workforce numbers. We successfully achieved our desired workforce density (30-40%) by limiting the number of people who could be on campus. This density has worked well: as I described in my testing updates memo last week, only a few researchers have tested positive for COVID-19, all of whom contracted the virus off campus. Furthermore, contact tracing for these initial cases confirmed that there was no person-to-person spread of COVID-19 among researchers in the same group or shared space, which indicates that maintaining an ultralow density and strictly adhering to social distancing and established precautions has helped keep researchers healthy while working on site.
Our cohort scheduling plan will keep research spaces at this same density while allowing more RL3-approved researchers to return to campus to work on critical and time-sensitive projects. This move to cohort scheduling means we’re no longer focusing on the total number of people who can be on campus but instead are concerned with not exceeding 33% density at any time.
How will cohort scheduling work?
The Fall 2020 Planning Research Working Group has designed a daily work shift and cohort scheduling model under the guidance of the UT Health and Wellness Working Group. A “shift” is defined as a preset, daily schedule when a researcher works (e.g., 4 p.m. – 10 p.m.). A “cohort” is defined as a group of researchers that works the same shift. Talk to your ADR to learn more about shift times and the number of cohorts that will be used in your particular college or school.
Our goal is to isolate any possible COVID-19 outbreak to a single shift or cohort, thus minimizing the spread of infection. This only works, though, if everyone strictly adheres to shift and cohort schedules. Therefore, the following policies must be followed at all times. Please visit the Research Restart page and our FAQs for more detailed information.
- Each day (including weekend days, should you choose to work on the weekend) is divided into two work shifts. ADRs have defined these shift start/end times, and all RL3 researchers must select and adhere to a shift time to continue working on campus. Researchers may only work one shift per day. This applies even if your team chooses not to divide into cohorts.
- Researchers working in the same building or complex will need to follow the same cohort model. For buildings with researchers from multiple CSUs, the ADRs are working together to develop an appropriate solution for the building.
- The number of researchers working in any given shift cannot exceed the target Workforce Density for a given Research Level. For example: the target Workforce Density during Research Level 3 is 33% of the total research workforce.
- Each CSU can have as many as three rotating cohorts to enable researchers to access necessary on-site work while maintaining the target Workforce Density of 33% at any given point in time. ADRs will determine how many cohorts their college or school allows.
- PIs must provide ADRs with a list of RL3 researchers and their assigned daily shifts and cohorts. ADRs will then approve, amend, or deny the request.
- We are not changing or expanding the types of approved RL3 research. All requirements outlined in the Research Restart plan for the current level still apply.
ADRs have worked strategically to design shift and cohort schedules that adhere to all of these baseline parameters while accommodating the unique research environments in their colleges, schools, and units. Consult with your ADR to learn more about the shift and cohort schedules for your research environment.
Please note: If researchers don’t feel safe returning to campus, they should tell their supervising PIs that they are not comfortable performing research on-site. If they are unable to come to an agreement with their supervisors directly, they can report their concerns to their department chair, graduate program director, associate dean for research, or the University Ombuds.
Research Level 3 Benchmarks and Safeguards
Introducing a cohort scheduling option is only possible because of the benchmarks we have reached and the safeguards the university has put in place over the last two months. As I outlined in my memo to you on May 29, in order to have a greater number of people working on campus, we had to have procedures and supplies in place for testing, contact tracing, and isolation to contain a COVID-19 outbreak within the UT community. We also needed coherent building management plans for the more than 80 active research buildings on campus.
We have reached nearly all of these targets. I want to review those here and be clear about the one benchmark we’re still working toward.
- Building inspections and certification plans are ongoing, and signage will direct traffic flow and encourage physical distancing.
- Thanks to the hard work of those at University Health Services (UHS) and UT Health Austin, UT currently has sufficient supplies and personnel available to offer symptomatic COVID-19 testing and contact tracing services. This also includes offering testing for anyone who is asymptomatic but who is a close contact of someone (colleague, friend, family member, roommate, etc.) presumed positive or who has tested positive for COVID-19.
- And thanks to those at UT HealthPoint Occupational Health Program (OHP) and Environmental Health & Safety (EHS), the university has the resources in place to conduct contact tracing and immediately evaluate whether spaces need to be decontaminated or closed and then take appropriate action whenever someone on campus tests positive for COVID-19.
- Also, starting this month, RL3 researchers will be able to use the beta version of a new Protect Texas Together app. This app, designed by UT students and researchers, will fully launch for everyone in August. It helps users track their symptoms each day and includes a medical algorithm that determines if they’re safe to come to campus based on the symptoms they selected. The app will offer a range of other helpful features, including the ability to quickly sign in and out of campus rooms to make contact tracing faster and more efficient.
- One benchmark we haven’t reached, however, is our ability to conduct regular proactive community (asymptomatic) testing on campus. I mentioned to you last week that given the rise in cases locally, UHS has had to suspend proactive community testing to preserve the city’s supply of testing kits and test processing services.
While suspension of proactive community testing isn’t what we’d like, I want to emphasize again that anyone who has symptoms can be tested on campus — as well anyone who is a close contact of someone with COVID-19. Additionally, the Center for Biomedical Research Support (CBRS) is working hard to bring additional testing capacity online later this month with the goal of being fully operational in August.
I want to reiterate that I know this announcement will come with mixed emotions, and that’s understandable. Some of you have been out of your lab or campus research space since March, and being able to return to your work will, I hope, be welcome news. Still, for others, adopting the cohort scheduling model may feel overwhelming. I want to assure you that every decision is made in close consultation with university medical experts. Furthermore, university leadership is constantly monitoring campus conditions and is prepared to re-evaluate our decisions if needed.
It’s critical that we strictly follow cohort scheduling policies so that we can stay at Research Level 3. My priority, as always, is to help UT researchers make progress on their work in the safest way possible.
Sincerely,
| |
Alison R. Preston, Ph.D.
Interim Vice President for Research
| |
|
|
|
