Information and Updates for Employees

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

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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.

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

Staff Senate has funding available for staff that need hardware for remote work. Staff Senate is also working to purchase webcams for staff that do not already have one.

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

All UCA faculty and staff will be required to wear face coverings when in enclosed spaces on campus, including in shared offices, classrooms, meeting rooms, lobbies, elevators, restrooms and corridors, and in high-traffic buildings. This does not include when you are in your own workspace or in a meeting when six feet of distance can be maintained.

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 Wear Cloth Face Coverings

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 in the previous 14 days, it is imperative that you stay home in self quarantine for another 14 days to ensure that you are not infected.

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 TEST POSITIVE at the UCA Student Health Center

YOU TEST POSITIVE but did not receive your diagnosis at the UCA Student Health Center

A CLOSE CONTACT TESTS POSITIVE

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.

We have ordered disinfectant wipes and they will be dispersed upon their arrival.

Questions?

Each office should reconfigure 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 no more than 10 individuals. All must wear face coverings if social distancing is not possible. Do not bring food for the group to share. All surfaces should be wiped down with sanitizing wipes after each meeting.

Questions?

Building access will continue to be available through swipe card-only access through July 6.

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?

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 Teaching Excellence 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

This year’s New Faculty Orientation (NFO) will be hosted completely online this year, including both synchronous and asynchronous experiences.

The synchronous components will be held on Aug. 17, and a detailed schedule will be shared once it is finalized. The focus of this day will be teaching essentials and resources to support instruction. Topics will include an overview of UCA students, instructor-student rapport and classroom climate, syllabus design, and surviving the first year as a new faculty member.

The asynchronous components will be information essential for faculty to know that are not directly related to instruction, such as campus safety, legal concerns, etc.

Contact the UCA Center for Teaching Excellence for more information.