Pilot program for returning to campus

The University of Iowa is instituting a pilot program involving research and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics to test health and safety protocols in a phased return to campus.

The first phase of the research pilot will begin within the Carver College of Medicine (CCOM), which will return to modified daily operations beginning May 26, 2020, and has established health and safety guidelines for the ramp-up. Subsequent phases of the research pilot, including a timeline, are being developed and will be announced shortly.

Iowa’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics will begin returning select coaches and staff on June 1, 2020. Football student athletes who choose to participate in voluntary workouts will return beginning June 8, 2020, and Men’s and Women’s Basketball student athletes beginning on June 15, 2020. Student athletes will participate in a formal clearance process for the return to voluntary practice. The process will follow NCAA, B1G, and campus best-practices and supervised by UI Health Care medical staff.

Athletics continues to finalize its health and safety guidelines, but like CCOM will include measures to lower the risk of exposure to COVID-19 such as:

• Use of protective equipment and hygiene (face covers, face shields, hand washing, and use of hand sanitizer).
• Public space configuration supporting social distancing.
• Limited occupancy of buildings and spaces.
• Revised operations (transportation, purchasing, package delivery, and custodial services) necessary to minimize exposure to COVID-19.

During this phased reopening, employees of Iowa Athletics and CCOM will be notified by their supervisors regarding when to return to work on campus.

The pilot program will give the university an opportunity to operationalize recommended health and safety measures in specific settings and learn how to best implement these practices on a larger scale.

At this time, there is no campus-wide date for employees who are currently working remotely to return to campus. Employees working remotely should continue to do so until further notice and should not return to campus until they are asked to do so by their dean, vice president, or unit manager. The dean, vice president, or unit manager will be provided guidance on how to bring daily operations back to campus in the following weeks.

Procurement directives

As the university establishes campus-wide health and safety protocols, Purchasing will provide support and guidance for procuring necessary protective equipment, cleaning supplies, and/or physical barriers intended to lower the risk of exposure to COVID-19 and spread.

Approved items will be purchased centrally to ensure the lowest cost possible and should NOT be purchased with procurement cards or e-vouchers unless pre-approval is obtained by contacting Debby Zumbach or Renee Funk.

Without pre-approval, items purchased on COVID-19 MFKs via a procurement card will be considered a violation of the procurement card program, which may result in a suspension of procurement card privileges. Items purchased via procurement card may NOT be eligible for reimbursement by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the department will be responsible for covering the cost.