How to keep safe at IU this semester

August 20, 2020

Several informational emails have been sent out by Provost Robel, Vice President for Research Fred Cate, and the College, all of which highlight the efforts being made by IU to keep us safe this coming semester. The message from the College included a suggested survey for large virtual classes, and a document with online exam recommendations and students’ tech needs.

The message from Provost Robel, sent 17 Aug 4:42pm detailed the measures being taken to mitigate the pandemic. I’ve been informed by Vice Provost Pavalko that this FAQ included in the https://fall2020.iu.edu/ page given in the Provost’s email is updated regularly.
VPR Cate’s email (18 Aug 2:46pm) included a link to specific guidelines for undergraduate research, https://research.iu.edu/coronavirus/undergrad-research-guidelines.html The guidelines begin with, “No student—graduate or undergraduate—should be required or pressured to participate in on-campus research during the COVID-19 pandemic,” and “Undergraduate research that can be conducted remotely should be.”
In the document named “08 19 20 Update on technology…” sent by the College (19 Aug 8:16pm), which was largely put together by Martha, instructors are asked to survey their students’ access to technology and provide statistics to the department chair. The Dean of Students will be acting as a clearinghouse for students who cannot afford the necessary technology for online courses. As mentioned before, our own majors who need financial help with purchasing required tech can potentially be covered by our Chemistry undergraduate scholarships. Charles has more information, so please reach out to him with questions.

IMPORTANT! Travel- As of 17 August, the requirement to obtain pre-approval for any international and domestic travel has been extended to in-state (including inter-campus) travel. That means that if you wish to be reimbursed by any IU account (grants, foundation, startup) you MUST get pre-approval. Until this past Monday, a fillable pdf was submitted for pre-approval. As of Monday, the pre-approval is processed directly through Chrome River, so you will need to contact Kristin Ousley if you have any plans for travel that involves reimbursement. Here is a link to the travel FAQ page: https://travel.iu.edu/covid/covid19-faq.shtml