School of Medicine leaders,
We trust that you are receiving the regular updates and guidance provided by the university about Coronavirus (COVID-19). For our School of Medicine faculty, staff, trainees and students, we continue to point to Emory University’s web page, Coronavirus updates for the Emory community, as the primary source of information. It is frequently updated in collaboration with CEPAR and includes the most up-to-date guidance on travel advisories and more.
Please note that the information in this email applies to University employees. Our faculty and staff who provide clinical care should be sure to follow the guidance provided by your healthcare institutions. (Emory Healthcare intranet | Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta)
At this time, we want to make you aware of additional preparedness work happening in the School of Medicine and equip you with more information to answer questions from your teams. As you know, this is a rapidly-evolving situation, and guidance may change. We will continue to communicate changes to you as more information becomes available. In the meantime, below is the most current guidance as of March 6, 2020:
Develop plans to address potential workforce and workplace issues
- Emory University Human Resources has advised all schools and divisions to begin working on contingency plans. If you have not started working with your departmental leaders on this, please start now. This includes identification of employees who must be present on campus, clear expectations and plans for remote work, handling of key duties if people become ill or quarantined, and similar actions.
- Establish and communicate a clear communications protocol within your department.
- Ensure that software/applications (e.g., Zoom) and hardware are available to support remote work. More information about IT-related preparations is below.
- Ensure that faculty and staff are prepared to support their own health and have a reliable place to find information. As noted above, our recommendation is the university's Coronavirus updates for the Emory community.
- Have discussions now about whether nonessential business travel can be postponed, so that decisions can be made in a timely way as more guidance is released from official channels.
Guidance on HR policies
As we prepare for the potential impact of a COVID-19 event, some HR policies may require exceptional consideration as public health guidelines are updated. The university has provided preliminary guidance (Emory login and password required):
Emory University HR policy guidance for COVID-19
As leaders, we request that you use this information only as a reference tool to answer employee questions and do not share it broadly within your department. This guidance is not formal university policy and has been developed within the context of currently available information. This information applies only to university employees. Emory Healthcare employees should refer to the Emory Healthcare email updates and the EHC intranet for the latest guidance on operations and procedures.
Information Technology
Another primary area of focus at this time is ensuring our IT operations are positioned to be highly responsive to changing needs and to support continued operations and the work of faculty, staff and students. Our IT team is fully engaged with the SOM operations team and university IT to ensure a coordinated response to any challenges.
In support of the telecommuting options mentioned above, we have confirmed that the Emory University network and communication tools will support a much higher volume of remote work. The support team plans to prioritize content/data access, collaboration, and general computing support.
As a reminder, below are basic steps you can take to get IT help. Please call for high-priority or complex issues.
- Navigate to IT help and click on "Something’s Broken" to report an issue with your access or performance.
- Call the SOM IT service desk at 404-727-6648.
- Email a description of your general computer issue to the School of Medicine IT support team (somits-help@emory.edu).
- Email a description of your education technology issue to the School of Medicine Curriculum Support team (meded-help@emory.edu).
Please continue to check the School of Medicine IT website for more information.
Health and safety concerns
If you have any concerns about COVID-19 and workplace safety, contact the Office of Occupational Injury Management at 404-686-8587. If after hours or on weekends, call the OIM Nurse Practitioner on call at 404-686-5500 and enter the ID #50464. All students should call Student Health Services at 404-727-7551.
Thank you for your leadership during this time.