Dear Faculty and Staff,

Welcome back to the spring semester 2021. I hope that your holiday break was joyous and restorative.  In-person office coverage is scheduled to resume Monday, January 11, 2021, with our Traditional Undergraduate students beginning their return to campus on January 14th.  While the mitigation orders enacted by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf in mid-December have been lifted, certain restrictions remain in place, including the continuation of telework unless impossible.

Similar to the fall semester, supervisors in each division and unit of the University are permitted to establish telework parameters for their team members as long as they ensure robust coverage for student-services, as well as the operational and administrative needs of the University.  The following guidelines should be observed:

• All offices on campus must be opened and staffed.
• Supervisors are authorized to implement a staggered attendance schedule to ensure that all offices are open daily while permitting employees to work remotely as warranted by individual circumstances.  Supervisors should communicate staffing plans to their divisional executive for affirmation.
• Essential Employees, and those whose work context requires presence on campus should report to campus.  
• Departmental supervisors are responsible for ensuring timely completion of departmental tasks, including timely response to emails, phone calls, etc.
• Employees with health vulnerabilities, or household members with health vulnerabilities, or other extenuating circumstances that require a broader accommodation than the staggered attendance schedule described above should submit a Work-From-Home request (see myEastern>Offices & Centers>Human Resources>General Employee Forms) to their immediate supervisors. Such requests will be considered in the context of the University’s operational needs.  The University may require that the employee submit medical documentation to support requests for health-related accommodations to Human Resources.

Thank you for your faithful service during continued stressful times. Please join me in prayers and practices promoting campus health and safety.

Warmly,

Kacey Bernard

Chief Human Resources Officer

Dear Members of the Faculty and Staff,

On November 24, 2020, President Ron Matthews advised faculty and staff to work from home, to the extent possible, until further notice.  Today, the President and the Executive Team have announced that following the Christmas break (i.e., January 4, 2021), Faculty and Staff should work from home, to the extent possible, through January 10, 2021.  Offices on campus will resume normal operations effective January 11, 2021 barring further restrictions from the Commonwealth or other developments. Essential employees whose job duties are campus-based should report to work as scheduled beginning January 4, 2021. Student employment for the spring semester may commence on or after January 11, 2021. Visitor-access to the University’s campus and sites will remain restricted pursuant to the provisions of the University’s Visitor’s policy.

Employees who submitted COVID Work from Home Requests for the fall semester, may request extension of their requests for the spring by submitting an email to their supervisor and Human Resources (i.e., kbernard@eastern.edu).  Please include the dates of your requested extension in the email and list COVID Work from Home Request-spring in the subject line.  

Please monitor your Eastern University email for updates to this guidance.

On behalf of the University Leadership, thank you for all that you have done in support of the University’s mission and our students through the challenge that was 2020.  We wish you a joyous Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Warmly,

Kacey Bernard

Chief Human Resources Officer

Dear Members of the Faculty and Staff,

I hope this email finds you able to enjoy this Thanksgiving season.

In my November update below, I reported that EU employees should “work from home, to the greatest extent possible, during the week after Thanksgiving.”  On Monday, November 23, 2020, the Pennsyvlania Secretary of Health, in concert with the Governor, announced that businesses must allow employees to telework when possible beginning November 27th.  Based on this guidance, following Thanksgiving, members of the Eastern University faculty and staff should plan to work from home, to the extent possible, until further notice.  Please contact your supervisors for further instruction. The University will update this guidance prior to the Christmas holiday.

Essential employees whose job duties are campus-based should report to work following Thanksgiving as scheduled.  Leadership will work with the supervisors of these positions to determine appropriate modifications.

Thank you for your understanding amid the changing protocols and their impact on EU.

With respect and appreciation,

Ron

Ronald A. Matthews, D.M.A.

President | Eastern University

Colleagues,

The University’s decision to reopen its campus for Fall 2020 has been (and will continue to be) anchored by the judgments and directives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  Throughout the pandemic, the Governor of Pennsylvania, in concert with the state departments of Health and Education have acted decisively in closing and/or reopening geographical regions in the state based on scientific data and real-time information about the pervasiveness of the virus.

Based on current guidance from the state authorizing the resumption of campus operations, the University has committed to the investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars to implement mitigation strategies to optimize the safe return of both students and employees.  Concomitantly, we have implemented policies and procedures to minimize further exposure risks to COVID-19.

In addition to these actions, the effective return to campus of our traditional undergraduate students includes a critical mass of employees—across the institution—to provide robust service to our students (and to each other).  University leadership recognizes the importance of balancing this need against recent guidance from the Governor for the continuation of telework, as well as emerging decisions from K-12 school districts that will require some employees to care for their children many who will spend 2-3 days per week studying from home.

To that end, effective immediately, Supervisors in each division and unit of the University will be permitted to establish work-from-home parameters for their team members as long as they ensure adequate coverage for student-services, as well as the operational and administrative needs of the University.  The following guidelines should be observed:

•  Beginning August 10, 2020, all offices on campus must be opened and staffed.

• Supervisors are authorized to implement a staggered attendance schedule to ensure that all offices are open daily while permitting employees to work remotely as warranted by individual circumstances.  Supervisors should communicate staffing plans to their divisional executive for affirmation.

• Essential Employees, and those whose work context requires presence on campus should report to campus.  The Leadership is actively exploring ways to accommodate these positions, and will follow up with those departments by August 10th.

• Departmental supervisors are responsible for ensuring timely completion of departmental tasks, including timely response to emails, phone calls, etc.

We recognize that the duties of some jobs and units within the University can only be attended to on campus.  We acknowledge the inequities that result from this policy; still we offer it in good faith, toward the end of serving both our students and our employees well during these unprecedented circumstances.

The administration will closely monitor the results of this policy and render policy adjustments as needed to ensure that our students are served well, that our university is running smoothly and successfully, and the health of all is protected.

With appreciation,

Ron

Ronald A. Matthews, D.M.A.

President | Eastern University

Dear Colleagues,

Effective today, June 26, 2020, Delaware County entered the green phase of Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 plan for recovery and reopening.  For institutions of higher education, guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of Education stipulates the following for Green Phase operations:
 

• Institutions may more fully resume in-person instruction and other routine operations.

• Restrict large, non-instructional gatherings to no more than 250 people.

• Continue to adhere to CDC, DOH, and PDE guidance.

• Monitor public health indicators and adjust plans as necessary.

We will spend the month of July incrementally resuming routine operations on campus.  During the week that begins Monday, June 29th, supervisors and department heads will be permitted to return to campus for the primary purposes of assessing their work spaces and outlining a phased-in schedule for the return to campus of their team members beginning Monday, July 6, 2020.  As supervisors and department heads assess their work spaces, the objective is to determine any area-specific mitigation or distancing strategies that may be required to facilitate your team members’ safe return to campus.  (Kacey Bernard and Meggin Capers are leading the University’s COVID-19 Task Force for Employees and Visitors, and will be available to assist with questions.  You may contact them at reopening@eastern.edu.)

By July 3, 2020, each supervisor and department head should contact their team members to communicate when they should return to campus.  Our goal is to stagger the return to campus of our staff and faculty.  With the exception of those employees noted below, the return to campus of all staff personnel should be completed by Monday, August 3, 2020, and the return of all faculty personnel pursuant to their covenant obligations.

Employees with health vulnerabilities (or household members with health vulnerabilities), or other extenuating circumstances (e.g., childcare or eldercare needs) may request accommodation regarding return to campus by completing the COVID Work-From-Home request and submitting to their immediate supervisor (see myEastern>Offices & Centers>Human Resources>General Employee Forms). The University will consider such requests in the context of the University’s operational needs.  

The COVID-19 Task Force for Employees and Visitors has taken the lead on promulgating a Health and Safety Plan for the University that delineates University guidelines for returning to campus.  That plan is undergoing final review by the University leadership.  We anticipate publishing this plan no later than July 3, 2020.  Please look for an email announcing its availability.

Thank you for your patience during this extraordinary time, and for your perseverance in serving our students and fulfilling our University mission.  Please continue to pray for Eastern University, each other, our students, our state, our nation, and our world as we seek to overcome the pandemic, and foster equality, justice, and peace.  As Paul wrote from house arrest in a Roman prison in praise to God and to encourage the church in Ephesus:

To God, who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.  Amen. 

With respect and gratitude,

Ron

Ronald A. Matthews, D.M.A.

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for the remarkable way that you have transitioned our educational and operational realities to an online-remote context in response to the COVID-19 concerns.  I thank God daily for you--and for the care that you continue to render to our students and to one another during this unprecedented circumstance.

Earlier this week, PA Governor Tom Wolf issued a “Stay-at-Home” order for Delaware and other counties in Pennsylvania.  As a result, Eastern University campuses will remain closed to the public for the mandated period (currently, through April 6, 2020).  Pursuant to my previous guidance, faculty and staff should continue to work remotely until the campus reopens.  Please contact your supervisor or department head to discuss remote work assignments.  (Note that Esperanza College personnel should adhere to the independent plan established for that site.)

Campus access is limited to only those employees that have been designated as “Essential Personnel”.  Essential personnel should adhere to the following guidelines:

• If you have been exposed to COVID-19 or are feeling sick, do not come onto campus.

• Let your supervisor know when you are coming to campus.

• Sanitize anything you touch upon entering and exiting the space.  Please bring appropriate wipes if you have them.

• Practice social distancing of a minimum of six feet.

• Wash your hands before and after you enter your space.

Employees who cannot fulfill their work roles (including essential personnel who cannot fulfill their on campus assignments) should contact their supervisor, or Human Resources, to discuss leave options.

May the Lord bless you and protect you, may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you, may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.

Grace and strength for the journey,

Ronald A. Matthews, D.M.A.