Fall Planning
Barring any new government restrictions impacting the ability for employees to return to the workplace, Northwestern’s goal is to have employees transition back to their previous, or into their new regular work location, by August 1, 2021.
The VP, department head, and supervisor are responsible for managing employee schedules and determining work locations, as they know their business needs best. Departments are encouraged to consider a phased approach, such as alternate weeks/days to allow employees a reasonable time to transition back to working onsite and to ensure that mitigation protocols are in place.
The information below regarding working remotely is being provided to supervisors today so you have time to think through remote work options and possible impact to your area before the Remote Work Policy is sent to employees next week.
If you have positions in your area that are conducive to remote work, it will be important to talk to your employees regarding their desire or request to work remotely prior to August 1. Employees interested in pursuing remote work should read the Remote Work Policy and complete and submit the Remote Work Request. If an employee wishes to request a new ADA accommodation or flexible work schedule related to the pandemic, a new request form for Fall 2021 must be submitted for consideration. (Note: employees previously approved for an ADA (Americans with Disabilities) accommodation do not need to submit a new request.)
If you have employees who are uncomfortable returning to the worksite, please reach out to your HR Business Partner to discuss.
A Supervisor Guide to Remote Work is being provided to you as a resource to help you navigate the remote work landscape.
Commencement Viewing Opportunity
As you know, spring commencement ceremonies will be taking place in the Knight Performance Hall (KPH) on May 14 & 15 at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. While each graduate will be provided up to three tickets for their guests to attend in KPH, due to COVID protocols, there is not room in KPH for faculty or additional guests to attend. As such, all four ceremonies will be livestreamed so faculty and other guests may view from home or elsewhere (the livestreaming links are located on the commencement planning page).
As an alternative opportunity to celebrate with your graduating students, faculty are invited to view the commencement livestream in the Nazareth Great Room (NGR) where light refreshments will be available. Six-foot distancing will be in place, resulting in room capacity of 54 faculty per ceremony. After each ceremony, you are encouraged to attend a reception on the campus green to greet graduates and their guests in person (seated reception in Graham Commons if inclement weather).
- Note: Prepackaged to-go light refreshments for graduates and their guests will be available on the campus green for graduates only to pick up. Beverages will be available for all.
Request: In order for me to assist Bon Appétit with refreshment quantities for use in the NGR and to ensure maximum capacity is not exceeded, please RSVP by Monday, May 3 indicating which ceremony/ceremonies you plan to attend in the NGR. Since there is limited seating, responses received will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Ceremonies are listed below:
- Ceremony 1: Friday, May 14, 10 a.m.
- Ceremony 2: Friday, May 14, 3 p.m.
- Ceremony 3: Saturday, May 15, 10 a.m.
- Ceremony 4: Saturday, May 15, 3 p.m.
Please feel free to let me know if you have questions.
Additional note: Because of COVID protocols, we had to divide up graduates differently than we normally have in the past when we simply identified which Colleges were in which ceremony. This time, we had to determine which graduates are in which ceremony down to the major level. As such, while most departments/schools are intact, some departments/schools are divided between ceremonies (e.g., for the Department of Psychology, Criminal Justice & Law Enforcement, psychology majors are in ceremony 2 and criminal justice majors are in ceremony 4). Additionally, portions of all three Trad Colleges are participating in all four commencement ceremonies. As such, it is important for faculty to look at the detailed breakdown as found at the below links and as provided here again for your convenience (commencement planning page).