MUN to bring back some staff to campus, slowly, with new plan
Non-academic staff returning to campus part time beginning Nov. 23
It will soon be back-to-school for some staff at Memorial University, as the school plans a phased-in return to campus for its employees beginning Nov. 23.
That date will see some non-academic staff return for a minimum of two days a week, with a full return for them set for the first half of 2021, Memorial University announced Tuesday, saying the change applies to all of its campuses and locations.
The vast majority of university staff, academic and not, have been working remotely since the school's properties across Newfoundland and Labrador largely shut down when pandemic restrictions hit the province in March. Most classes are being taught via remote, online instruction, which MUN previously announced will extend through the winter semester.
The impending return of non-academic staff is meant to "lead to greater support for students and a gradual increase in services," the university said in a press release on its website.
The university said it had based its plan, in part, on COVID-19 risk levels, the possibility of community transmission and what other institutions within the Atlantic bubble are doing.
Staff set to return to campus will be bound by public health regulations like physical distancing, and exceptions will be made for people with compromised immune systems or other requirements.
The university said it has a fallback plan to return to remote work if the need should arise, and there will be a full evaluation done in January to see if more changes should be made.