“Safer at Home” for Academic Affairs

As you are likely aware, Governor Newsom and Mayor Garcetti issued “Safer at Home” COVID-19 directives on Thursday evening, mandating that California residents stay inside their homes unless they are engaged in “essential activities”. Although the order includes an exception that places colleges and universities in a category of essential activities and businesses that can remain open, we would like to minimize on-campus activity in the spirit of these directives. We strongly encourage employees to work from home, except for essential duties that can’t be performed remotely. The following activities are considered essential with respect to the academic program:

• Faculty who are delivering remote instruction from on-campus teaching spaces or with equipment that is available only on campus.
• Faculty or academic support staff who need to care for/maintain laboratory animals, plants, or sensitive equipment.

You may also come to campus to retrieve any materials that will enable you to perform your work remotely.

The College will be sending a message to all staff and faculty tomorrow with more information about how “Safer at Home” impacts Oxy. We appreciate all that you are doing to promote the health and safety of the members of our community both on and off campus.

Take care,
Wendy