msepostdoc-list Update regarding research and teaching Friday 3-20

[Bahr, David F]

MSE post docs,

In the college of engineering all “public facing” offices are now working remotely.  That means the main office doors are locked, and all contact should be via email or phone to staff.
You should continue to do research, but have been given guidance by the Executive Vice Provost for Research that we must follow stringent social distancing.  You must maintain a 6 ft distance from others while doing research, and you must not have more than 1 person per 120 sq. feet.
Training for research instruments will be discontinued as of today as we do not have a way to train and follow social distancing procedures.
All shared computer labs are closed, this includes the ARMS 2114 space.  Access via remote desktop is being set up by ECN.
Anything we say today may be superseded by the university on short notice.

You should have already been told to work remotely as much as possible by your advisors.  If you haven’t heard this, here you go.  Being on campus or in our research labs off campus should be only for doing something you cannot do remotely.  If you are checking email on campus, or working on a paper, that is something you should be doing remotely.

Here are some of the implications about stringent social distancing with research and educational delivery:
1.  If you have a shared office, you cannot have more than 1 person per 120 sq ft.  For the ARMS offices that means most rooms are now single offices only. This will vary by building.  Please contact your office mates and determine a way to let others know who/when you would need that.  And since the offices aren’t labs, there is rarely any reason you should be in those rooms in ARMS.  At remote locations there may be differences as you need a place to sit safely while an experiment is running near by, in which case it critical to make sure you practice social distancing.
2.  We are working on setting up scheduling tools for research labs.  Again, follow the social distancing rules. Anyone found violating this will lose access to any lab (shared or unshared, as a virus doesn’t care what type of card swipe you had).
3. TA’s can as of today still do the work of taping and creating content for classes as your faculty have asked, but must follow the same distance rules.  TA’s should be in contact with their instructors for continued updates on how to deliver content and assist in educational delivery remotely.  If you see students in the labs taping something, this is probably what that is.
4. Expect that packages and deliveries may stop at all our locations, and do not expect a simple way to get them if campus mail delivery is suspended.  If you have been told you have a package in, send Lisa Stacey an email to pick it up ASAP.
5. Every time you think about coming to your research space, ask yourself do I need to be on campus or at my research site to do this.  If the answer isn’t 100% yes, figure out how to do it remotely.

It’s particularly crucial to keep our research staff (that’s you) working diligently during this time, and so balancing what can be done remotely versus in person is something you should discuss with your advisor and have a current plan and a way to communicate if there are any changes needed.

These are unprecedented times, and I know this is challenging, but we’ll get through it together. Stay safe, and stay home whenever possible.

--
David Bahr
Professor and Head, Materials Engineering
Purdue University
p: 765-494-4100
email: dfbahr at purdue.edu<mailto:dfbahr at purdue.edu>
http://engineering.purdue.edu/MSE/index.html


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