{"id":44113,"date":"2020-05-29T15:14:35","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T19:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/?p=44113"},"modified":"2020-06-26T19:20:30","modified_gmt":"2020-06-26T23:20:30","slug":"phased-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/2020\/05\/29\/phased-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Plan for Phased Continuity of the Research Enterprise"},"content":{"rendered":"

A message from the Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School<\/h3>\n

I am writing to share with you the University’s Plan for Phased Continuity of the Research Enterprise<\/a>, and to provide an update regarding the submission and approval of research and scholarly activity requests. The attached plan, which has been approved by the university, has been prepared by the COVID-19 Research Continuity Task force. It aligns with the Governor’s plan to gradually restart Maine’s economy and the UMS\/91福利 plans under consideration to ramp up operations as safely and as controlled as possible.\u00a0 The task force, in developing the plan, has worked closely with the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), University Police, Safety Management, and Facilities Management, and has also taken into consideration inputs received from the faculty and university leadership. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the task force, as well as all the other stakeholders who have contributed to this effort.<\/p>\n

Given that the Chancellor’s extension of the\u00a0work from home directive<\/a>\u00a0extends through June 30, 2020, we must continue to stress that research that can be done remotely should continue to be done remotely, as we gradually expand the number of people on-campus or for on-site activity, while maintaining physical distancing and other risk reduction procedures. Moreover, before conducting home lab experiments that require lab safety controls, please contact your supervisor to discuss opportunities to conduct those labs on campus, potential deferral or other options.\u00a0 Further, all work conducted by everyone associated with 91福利 and UMM must be conducted in accordance with guidance available on the\u00a0UMS Health Advisory<\/a>\u00a0site and comply with guidance provided by UMS Safety Management which can be found on\u00a0the Safety Management website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As described in the attached plan, Phase 2, which is characterized\u00a0as a limited increase in on-site activity, is to start on June 1, and in alignment with the Governor’s reopening Stage 2 plan to gradually restart Maine’s economy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/i>Research & Scholarly Activity requests will continue to be submitted using the\u00a0request form<\/a>\u00a0which has been in place since March 24th, however all requests must now include a\u00a0Hierarchy of Controls (HOC) Task Assessment (Excel)<\/a>\u00a0and a signed\u00a0Hierarchy of Controls Checklist (Word)<\/a>. Requests will be sent to the applicable College or Center and the Research Continuity Task force for the respective review and recommendation regarding approval.\u00a0 Requests approved by OVPRDGS will be forwarded to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for coordination with safety and facility management support for return to work requests; you may be contacted by one or more of these offices if more information is needed. Notices of approval and other communications will be provided by my office, through Tammy Crosby (tammy.crosby@maine.edu<\/a>).<\/p>\n

As a reminder, COVID-19\u00a0Research\u00a0Guidelines<\/strong> are available at the links below:<\/p>\n