Dear Colleagues:
I write with additional information to help address outstanding questions and to clarify the thinking around our return-to-campus plans for the fall semester.
In anticipation of a full campus reopening in September including in-person academic delivery, co-curricular and extracurricular programming, support services, athletics training and competition, and residence halls at full occupancy, we will need our employees to be present on campus to most effectively serve our students, who are eager to return after the challenges of the past year and a half. The senior administrative team and I also look forward to having our employee community together again on campus to carry out Monmouth University’s mission.
Accordingly, it is our expectation that all staff employees will resume their pre-pandemic work arrangements by Monday, August 2, 2021. All faculty employees are similarly expected to return to campus for the start of fall classes, as is customary each fall semester. We have gone to great lengths to ensure a safe living, learning, and work environment for all on campus, and we are confident that our recently announced healthcare protocols will help to safeguard our community this fall. To achieve a full return of our workforce by these dates, I have asked each Division Head to determine the best return-to-campus schedule for their respective area.
While the remote work schedules in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic will end July 30, 2021, flexible schedules relating to work hours may be available for qualifying employees. Additionally, the voluntary reduced work schedule first announced on December 16, 2020, is still available for employees who are interested in reducing their current work schedule. In considering requests for any of these individual work arrangements, we will need to continue to prioritize the collective best interests of the University – and our students.
The University will continue to consider requests for reasonable accommodation(s) under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), if and where needed, to allow employees to perform the essential functions of their job. Any such requests should be directed to the Office of Human Resources. If you have other exceptional circumstances impacting your ability to return to campus on August 2, and would like to petition for an alternate work plan, you must notify your Division Head and the Office of Human Resources at humanresources@monmouth.edu by Friday, July 16, 2021. We will process these requests as quickly and carefully as possible, according to a variety of factors and, while there is no guarantee of approval, please know that we will try to be as reasonable and equitable as possible with our decision making.
If you have questions on these return-to-campus expectations, please direct them to the Office of Human Resources, at 732-263-5228 or humanresources@monmouth.edu. Our campus reopening this fall will require the best efforts from all of us. I am confident that our faculty and staff will continue to deliver the first-rate program that makes Monmouth University so distinctive and special for our students. I look forward to seeing you in the coming weeks.
Sincerely,
Pat
Patrick F. Leahy
President