Undergraduate research activities message covering Sept. 10-25

As you know, Chancellor Blank recently directed all undergraduate students to restrict their movements to only essential activities for a period of two weeks. In addition, all in-person undergraduate, graduate, and professional school group instruction will be paused from Sept. 10 – 25.

During this period, undergraduate students are permitted to report to their jobs in research labs if they are not under quarantine or isolation, and with approval from their supervisors. They must strictly adhere to campus and Dane County health guidelines. Some supervisors may choose to assign their undergraduate student employees remote work.

However, undergraduate students may not participate in face-to-face human subjects research interactions, on or off campus, beginning with the Chancellor’s directive on September 7 and extending through the pause also instituted this week, will remain in effect until Sept. 25.

To emphasize, we are not suspending on-campus research. Campus is operating as we have been since this summer. The recent announcements do not change operations beyond undergraduate student activities and modality of instruction. Most buildings remain open, employees who have been working should continue to work in the capacity they have been working, etc.

Faculty, staff, graduate, and post-doctoral research activities will continue to be permitted both on and off campus while fully adhering to physical distancing, use of face coverings, density limits, sanitization and hygiene protocols already approved in your unit. Per the Chancellor’s directive, employees may only meet in groups of 10 or fewer for essential purposes.

I remind you that employees and students have access to on-campus COVID-19 testing centers and may elect to participate in these free tests. In addition, the Alliant Energy Center is open Monday through Saturday until at least October 3 for free testing: https://publichealthmdc.com/coronavirus/testing

Please contact me or one of our Associate Vice Chancellors for Research if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Steven A Ackerman
Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education