June 29 Staff Forum Recap

President Pelton and senior administrators hosted a remote staff forum via Zoom on June 29. Chief Human Resources Officer Shari Stier welcomed attendees and went over some housekeeping items before passing the floor to President Pelton for a brief hello and welcome. Next, VP for Administration and Finance Paul Dworkis spoke about how the College is planning to address the majority of the financial losses for FY21. He emphasized that the College is looking for the least disruptive ways to mitigate the financial losses and estimates will be refined over the coming weeks, as it receives student enrollment numbers and sees how the COVID landscape changes.

Dworkis reminded attendees that the College is expecting a loss between $33 and $76 million. A loss at the low end would translate to the return of 90 percent of incoming first-years, sophomores, and juniors and 100 percent of seniors. The College will experience a higher loss if only ~33 percent of international students return and 70 percent of domestic students return. Another factor in revenue loss is the decrease in the number of residential students due to de-densifying efforts.

Dworkis then outlined specific actions that will be taken to address the losses. The College will suspend retirement contributions for staff and faculty for 12 months. The annual salary increase for staff will also be suspended. Departments’ operating budgets will be reduced, and VPs will be tasked with deciding how best to achieve the savings. Travel and meal costs will also be reduced, as well as technology and printing costs.

There is a hiring freeze for staff, a delay in new faculty hires, and a reduction in the temporary workforce. The College is also looking into a voluntary incentive retirement plan. All of these actions will save $26 million, and the College plans to execute them as soon as possible.

The conversation then shifted to COVID testing. Assistant VP of Campus Life Erik Muurisepp spoke about the College’s efforts to create a robust testing program. The College has partnered with the Broad Institute in Cambridge, which will provide the test kits, process tests within 24 hours, and disseminate the results. Stier shared that the College has spoken with multiple vendors about being a logistics partner, which would be responsible for the distribution of tests, clinical oversight, a daily symptoms app, and access to a vaccine when available. The College is also working with consultants to determine frequency of testing. COVID tests will be available to people who are symptomatic or have been exposed to someone who has COVID.

Stier then launched the Q & A portion of the forum, acting as moderator for a variety of questions that centered around COVID and coming back to campus. A sampling of the questions and answers follows:

Someone asked for clarification on the 10–15 percent density of staff on campus. This is a “total” number across the entire College; some departments may need a higher percentage of staff on campus, which means that other departments will have <10 percent of staff on campus. Stier said the goal is not necessarily to reach a maximum capacity of staff on campus. The density of staff will be kept low in order to ensure less usage in kitchens, bathrooms, and hallways.

She also said that every student, staff, and faculty member who is on campus will receive two cloth masks. Community members can also wear their own masks. Many questions were asked about the process for continuing to work remotely. Stier said that staff and their managers should discuss plans by August 1. If a staff member is required to come back to campus but is not comfortable or not able to do so, they can either ask for an ADA accommodation or submit a COVID work request form.

A question was asked about the process for symptom monitoring. Stier answered that all community members heading to campus will have to fill out a form with a list of COVID symptoms prior to their arrival every day, using either an app or a printed form. Someone asked about a contingency plan for a second wave of the virus. A number of rooms are set aside for students to quarantine/isolate, and plans continue to be formed by the Emergency Response Team sub-committee that deals with outbreaks. Contact tracing was also brought up, and Stier said that there is a group working on it. Twenty community members have taken a contact tracing certification course through Johns Hopkins University.

Someone asked what is being done to protect the College’s front-line workers. Center for Health and Wellness Director Jane Powers said that the Emergency Response Team is securing and distributing PPE to the staff who need it.

Muurisepp answered a question about how the College will ensure compliance of wearing face coverings and social distancing. He said that community members will have to hold each other accountable and commit to following protocols prior to returning to campus. He and his team are talking with colleagues across the city about the compliance issue.

Someone asked if the athletic season will go forward, and President Pelton answered that we will not know until July. He said that some schools in the NEWMAC are going forward with a season and some are not. He also mentioned that ArtsEmerson is unlikely to produce a season until Fall 2021. Pelton wrapped up the forum by thanking everyone and asking for everyone’s patience as the College works on the myriad complex issues that it is facing.

Nancy Howell (Communications and Marketing)