Information and Updates for Employees

In order to ensure that we have a safe work environment, all employees are required to wear face coverings when in enclosed areas and when moving through common areas such as bathrooms, stairwells, elevators, hallways, shared workspaces, high-traffic buildings, or other shared spaces. This does not include when you are in your own workspace. Instructors may remove their face coverings if they can maintain 10-12 feet of distance between themselves and students they are teaching. Face coverings should also be worn outside when physical distancing is not possible.

While you are free to wear your own face covering, UCA will also provide you with a face covering if needed. These will be distributed to you by your building administrator upon your return to campus.

CDC Recommendation on How to Safely Wear and Take Off a Mask

KN95 masks are available, upon request. To request a KN95 mask, departments/units should complete and submit a PPE Supply Request Form to pplantwarehouse@uca.edu. Anyone receiving a KN95 mask must read and sign a KN95 Mask Information Form. Signed forms should be maintained by each department/unit that requested the masks.

KN95 Mask Maintenance

Questions?

Faculty and staff who are sick should not come to work. If you have had any of the following symptoms, stay home and contact your healthcare provider or the Student Health Clinic immediately:

• A fever of 100.4 degrees or greater in the last two days;
• A cough;
• Difficulty breathing;
• A sore throat;
• Or a loss of taste and smell

Additionally, if you have had contact with a person known to be infected with COVID-19, it is imperative that you follow the advice of your doctor and stay home in quarantine until cleared to return by a medical professional.

UCA Contact Tracing and Notification Protocol

If you are awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test, do not return to campus until you have received a negative test result or have been cleared by a medical professional to return to work. For more information on special leave options available to employees, please contact humanresources@uca.edu.

UCA Medical Director Dr. Randy Pastor has developed a protocol outlining the steps faculty and staff should take if they get a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.

Here’s what to do if:

You feel that you need to be tested for COVID-19

You are a faculty or staff member and test positive for COVID-19

You are a faculty or staff member identified as a close contact of someone who tests positive for COVID-19

Questions?

We will continue to emphasize the CDC’s recommended measures for reducing the spread of virus, including washing hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds; coughing and sneezing into your elbow; coughing or sneezing into a tissue, throwing it away immediately and washing your hands; and avoiding shaking hands.

If soap and water are unavailable, you can use an alcohol-based sanitizer with at least 60-percent alcohol. We have increased the number of sanitizing stations set up around campus. They can be found in many high-traffic and high-contact areas and in building lobbies.

Guidance for Use of PPE

CDC Recommendation for When to Wear Gloves

Questions?

Custodians are cleaning buildings, classrooms and restrooms on a daily basis and are focusing on wiping down all touch points such as sinks, door knobs/handles, tables, elevator buttons, toilets, faucets, light switches, etc. All desks in classrooms will be sprayed with disinfectant once daily. In addition, hand sanitizing stations will be located in hallways. Interior doors will be propped open where feasible to minimize the necessity for frequent touching.

In addition to routine maintenance on all heating and air units, the Physical Plant is also changing air filters multiple times a year and cleaning air handlers and air core units regularly.

Disinfectant wipes have also been placed in key areas around campus, such as in classrooms and near vending machines.

Questions?

Each office has reconfigured shared workspaces and other common areas, such as break rooms, to maintain six feet of physical distance at all times and minimize opportunities for congregating.

In shared kitchens and break rooms, the CDC recommends that you do not share dishes, glasses, cups or utensils. Use disposable items whenever you can, or use your own items and wash immediately after use and store at your desk. Wash with a disposable paper towel; do not use shared sponges and/or dish brushes. Do not leave dirty dishes in sinks or on countertops.

It is recommended that you wipe down vending machine buttons after each use.

We strongly discourage you from using water fountains, but if you must, please wipe down levers and buttons with a sanitizing wipe after each use.

Best Practices for Facilities

Preliminary Guidance for UCA Classroom and Academic Building Adjustments

Questions?

In-person meetings should be limited during this time. Continue to utilize video-conferencing platforms as appropriate.

When in-person meetings are necessary, limit attendees to the number that can successfully social distance. All must wear face coverings. Do not bring food for the group to share. All surfaces should be wiped down with sanitizing wipes after each meeting.

Questions?

Please find the description below which matches your proposed event and follow the instructions to secure approval for your plan. By submitting a request for approval, you agree to follow all applicable COVID-19 directives from the Arkansas Department of Health, State of Arkansas, and University of Central Arkansas.

Directives can be found at: https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/programs-services/topics/novel-coronavirus

Standard department meetings, such as staff meetings, etc., do not need to be approved on an individual basis. Such meetings fall under Best Practices for Facilitates and general COVID safety guidance.

Events with under 100 attendees, without members of the public:

• Your event is for the campus community (students, faculty, and staff) only and is not open to any  public attendance.
• This event requires approval by the applicable Department Director / Chair
  • No form is required, but email approval by the event organizer should be secured at least one (1) week prior to the event.

Events with under 50 attendees, open to members of the public:

• Your event is open to public attendance, meaning anyone beyond the campus community.
• This event requires approval by the applicable Department Director / Chair and Vice President / Dean
  • No form is required, but email approval by the event organizer should be secured at least one (1) week prior to the event.

Events with over 49 but under 100 attendees, open to members of the public:

• Your event is open to public attendance, meaning anyone beyond the campus community.
• This event requires approval by the applicable Vice President / Dean and the UCA Physical Distancing Working Group
  • Vice President/Dean approval must be secured by email prior to submitting a plan to the Physical Distancing Working Group
    • Plan approval request form can be submitted at https://forms.gle/ukqUWA5kMR5NTnQY7 
      • Requests must be submitted at least two (2) weeks prior to the event

Events with 100 or more attendees, without members of the public:

• Your event is for the campus community (students, faculty, and staff) only and is not open to any  public attendance.
• This event requires approval by the applicable Vice President / Dean and the UCA Physical Distancing Working Group.
  • Vice President/Dean approval must be secured by email prior to submitting a plan to the Physical Distancing Working Group.
    • Plan approval request form can be submitted at https://forms.gle/ukqUWA5kMR5NTnQY7 
      • Requests must be submitted at least two (2) weeks prior to the event.

Events with 100 or more attendees, open to members of the public:

• Your event is open to public attendance, meaning anyone beyond the campus community.
• This event requires approval by the applicable Vice President/ Dean and the Arkansas Department of Health.
  • Vice President/Dean approval must be secured by email prior to submitting an application to the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH).
    • Plan approval request can be submitted at: https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/programs-services/topics/adh-event-plan-submission 
      • Requests should be submitted as early as possible, approvals have taken as long as two (2) weeks and will only lengthen as the spring semester continues.
• Once ADH approval is received, please submit a copy to the UCA General Counsel’s Office at wreadnour@uca.edu.

As UCA faculty and staff return to work, we want to keep our campus visitors at a minimum, only allowing necessary deliveries and those visits that are critical to everyday operations. Please do not invite your spouse, friends, or other unnecessary guests to campus, as this could diminish our efforts to keep the campus community healthy.

Questions?

Resources for employees and supervisors, including FAQs, leave options, physician forms, and remote work information.

Learn More

Norms and Expectations for Remote Work

Business-related travel for employees will be limited at this time. Vice President approval is required, and each travel request will be approved on a case-by-case basis.

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) consultation service provides assessment, short-term counseling, information and referral (if indicated) for employees (including their spouses and dependents) who experience some form of personal distress. Services are confidential, and there is no cost to employees.

SafeColleges, UCA’s vendor for employee training, provides UCA employees with 24 courses within the Health category. Six of these courses specifically address COVID-19. Access these courses via MyUCA.

UCA BeWell has many resources to help employees maintain balanced, healthy lives, as well as a variety of strategies to help you navigate the challenges of COVID-19.

To request Virtual Private Network (VPN) access, contact Information Technology.

The University of Central Arkansas athletics department is committed to the health and safety of all student-athletes, staff and the entire campus community. In order to ensure a safe return to campus and athletic activity, UCA Athletics continues to follow current recommendations and protocols set forth by the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH); the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the National Athletic Trainer Association Council for Sports Medicine; the American College Health Association Guidelines (ACHA); and the National Collegiate Athletic Association Sport Science Institute.

Student-athletes, coaches and support staff are required to routinely undergo COVID-19 screening and testing before engaging in athletic activity on the UCA campus. Scheduling of routine screening and testing is conducted through a multidisciplinary team of professionals with the UCA sports medicine department and Conway Regional Health Systems. Those individuals who refuse testing will be required to quarantine for 14 days. Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 undergo the same quarantine and contact tracing procedures set forth by the university. These procedures can be found here, under Testing, Tracing, Isolating.

View the Academic Affairs Guidelines for the 2020-2021 Academic Year

The UCA Division of Outreach & Community Engagement provides the following guidelines for all university faculty, staff, and students while the university continues to make changes to operations to meet the health and safety needs of our campus and community during the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Questions? Contact Dr. Lesley Graybeal at lgraybeal@uca.edu 

Institutional Review Boards (IRB) are charged with protecting the rights and welfare of human subjects and supporting the university’s research mission. Given that mission, the rapidly evolving circumstances regarding COVID-19, and the University of Central Arkansas’ focus on the health and safety of faculty, staff, students, and the community, the Office of the Provost, the Sponsored Programs Office, and UCA’s IRB have come together to revise our standards related to research involving human participants that requires face-to-face interaction.

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Academic Leadership has compiled the most recent resources and tutorials available for faculty to transfer instructional content and activities to the online environment. Our goal is to continue instruction and minimize disruptions to learning that could impede students’ academic progress.

Questions? Contact cte@uca.edu