May 11 Staff Forum Recap

A remote staff forum was held via Zoom on May 11. More than 400 staff tuned in for presentations by President Pelton and Vice President for Administration and Finance Paul Dworkis. Vice President for Academic Affairs Michaele Whelan was also on hand for the Q&A portion, and Chief Human Resources Officer Shari Stier acted as moderator.

President Pelton began by thanking staff for their work, endurance, patience, and good humor. He then shared “guiding principles” for the College’s solutions for operation during these uncertain times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He emphasized that our community is all in this together, and the health and safety of our community members is the number one priority. Any solutions must also be inclusive, humane, fiducially sound, and informed by public health and safety considerations.

He said that a working group of approximately 30 people is working on a plan for what the fall semester will look like. The group consists of five students, five staff, five faculty, the four academic deans, the AVP of internationalization and global engagement, and a sub-set of the President’s Council.

At this point in the presentation, Chief Human Resources Officer Shari Stier briefly said hello and thanked staff for their teamwork and resiliency. She mentioned that there would be a Q&A at the end of the presentations and that staff could ask questions in the Zoom chat section.

Pelton then continued, sharing the key factors for decision-making on the fall semester, which include the trajectory of the virus itself, as well as state and local guidelines. The College is developing data points to assist in the decision-making. Prospective and current students and families have been sent surveys, and surveys for staff and faculty are forthcoming. He and other staff have also been in contact with the three epidemiologists that the College brought on as consultants.

Pelton noted that the College will make a decision regarding the fall semester by the end of June at the latest. He reminded staff that there are four scenarios being looked at: full residency, academic calendar shift, hybrid model, and online teaching and learning. The working group is breaking up into four teams, with each team assigned one scenario to research.

Pelton explained that if the campus opens in some fashion in the fall, spaces may need to be repurposed and reconfigured to help reduce the density on campus. He ended his talk by assuring staff that the entire community will be engaged in the decision-making process.

Next, Paul Dworkis began his presentation by thanking everyone for their hard work during this time. He then explained that the financial implications of the campus closure in the spring and summer will result in an approximate $10 million loss over the course of FY20 and FY21, not considering any further implications for the fall semester or the rest of the year.

He went through all four fall semester scenarios, noting that full residency and academic calendar shift would be the best from a financial point of view. Reopening priorities for his department include procuring goods, such as cleaning supplies and machines, testing, and PPE. His staff are also looking at additional housing and office space rentals to transition the campus’s current vertical landscape to a more horizontal one. Dining services would also need to look different because of social distancing and density requirements.

At the conclusion of Dworkis’s presentation, Stier relayed participants’ questions to Pelton, Dworkis, and Whelan for the forum’s Q&A portion. A sample of the questions and answers follows.

Many questions were asked regarding the possibility of staff layoffs/furloughs. Pelton answered that there is no active plan for layoffs/furloughs and that the administration will be looking for the best ways to be the least disruptive going forward. Any recommendations will be vetted through the working group and will involve the community. Someone also asked for how much longer should staff expect to work remotely, and who will decide when staff should return to campus. Pelton said they would have a better idea at the end of June and that the decision would be made by division, not by the College as a whole.

Dworkis answered many finance-related questions, such as how Emerson will benefit from the CARES Act. He said that $1.35 million will go directly to student aid, and $1.35 million will go toward addressing the consequences of the campus closure in March. Another participant asked if the Marlboro campus was an option for housing and classroom space. Dworkis replied that the idea had been discussed, but the College is planning to sell the Marlboro campus. He also answered a question about whether the College’s endowment could be used to make up for the revenue loss. He said that the endowment did suffer some market-based losses due to the coronavirus and that the College must be careful to preserve its long-term financial health.

The last question asked was, “Can we have another staff forum at the end of June?” Pelton answered, “Absolutely.”

Nancy Howell (Communications and Marketing)