Approach
In order to restart research activities in a safe and flexible manner, we implemented a multi-phased approach for the resumption of research activities from the research Ramp Down phase:
Category | Ramp Down | Phase 1 | Phase 2A | Phase 2B | Phase 3 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Effective Date | Mar 18, 2020 | June 8, 2020 | Sept 2, 2020 | Jan 4, 2021 | June 7, 2021 |
On-Campus Researcher Population | Less than 5% | Less than approx. 33%* | Less than approx. 66%* | Less than approx. 66%* | 100% new normal |
Remote Work | Most activity remote | All that is possible | All that is possible | All that is possible | When reasonable |
"Research" Activities | Critical only | Critical + prioritized | Expanded | Expanded | All |
Faculty / Staff / Post-docs | Essential only | Voluntary | Voluntary | Voluntary | Yes |
Grad/Med Students | Essential only | Voluntary | Voluntary | Voluntary | Yes |
Co-op Students | Essential only | Voluntary | Voluntary | Voluntary | Yes |
Undergraduates | No | No | Non-credit bearing activities | Credit and non-credit bearing activities | Yes |
Mitigation (e.g., PPE / Physical Distancing / Cleaning) | Required - Follow CDC guidelines | Required - Follow University Guidance | |||
Approval Required | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
*The physical distancing requirements must be maintained at this level of activity and could limit the overall density
Transitioning between these phases is designed to allow safe management of population density requirements with the cumulative increase of activity. It is anticipated that changes in guidance and process may be required, given new information related to COVID19 and our own experiences.
Given the diverse range of research activities across the University, Colleges / Schools / Departments we use the following broad research categories to characterize all of these activities.
Category of Research | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
On-Campus |
Activities that require access to specialized equipment, facilities Can include face to face activities |
Lab-based, computational analysis, animal studies Clinical or behavioral activities that include human subjects |
Field-Based |
Activities that require data collection in specific locations (on-campus, off-campus) Can include face to face activities |
Community based research, field specimen collection Non-Clinical, clinical, or behavioral human subjects projects occurring at external sites (i.e., nursing homes, individual homes, community centers) |
Clinical – Medical |
Activities that include clinical medical interventions, procedures, assessments, or treatment |
Clinical trials and investigator-initiated research with human subjects, studies involving “vulnerable populations” |
Clinical – Non-Medical |
Activities that include non-medical clinical assessments, or treatment |
Behavioral assessment of research subjects |