CIS Reactivation Plan

We have been completing the CIS reactivation plans, including a formal process for requesting access to Gates Hall. The Statistics and Data Science Department will coordinate its reactivation process with the respective building coordinators in Comstock, Malott and ILR. As we initiate these reactivation plans, including building access, we will use an electronic tool developed and maintained by the CALS IT team, which they are generously providing access and configuring for use by other units. It provides three options; one for instruction; a second for research involving special-purpose labs; and another for all other functions including office use and PhD/postdoc desks. Note: Faculty who have been approved to reactivate research need only process an additional reactivation request if access to additional space is required. 

As a reminder, faculty and staff who are currently working remotely must continue to do so unless approved to return to campus by the CIS associate dean for administration and the relevant department chair and administrative director, working with the CIS/COE safety officer. If you have research, instructional or administrative work that must be done on campus, you can use the process described below to apply for permission. 

Below are key points for the process. A link to the system can be found here (click on “Start Reactivation Plan” icon after logging in and scroll down the list of colleges to CIS).  Please note: the system should be entered through Chrome or Firefox – other browsers do not allow for full functionality of the system. Note also the following points of contact for the roles that appear in the process: 

  • CIS associate dean for college administration Pat Musa (pm22); 
  • CS chair Kavita Bala (kb97) and administrative director Tammy Gardner (tlg6); 
  • IS chair Steve Jackson (sjj54) and administrative director Eileen Grabosky (eg482);
  • SDS chair Marty Wells (mtw1) and administrative director Donna Bunce (dlb9);
  • Directors of Graduate Studies Robert Kleinberg (rdk2) for CS; Francois Guimbretiere (fvg3) for IS; and Jim Booth (jb383) for SDS;
  • Director of Facilities for CIS and Engineering Tom King (tek39).

Guiding Principles for Re-opening

1. The overall goal is a safe environment for faculty, staff and students, and 100% compliance with required CDC, federal, NYS and Cornell policies, and recommended best practices.

2. Faculty, staff and students who can work remotely should continue to work remotely in order to support campus de-densification efforts. 

3. For occasional visits to campus, faculty, staff and students must receive advance authorization to access CIS space from their department chair or departmental administrative director, and for administrative units, the associate dean for administration. The online Daily Check and EHS Office Guidance Checklist must be completed, as well as maintaining a log of contacts while on campus.

4. Faculty and staff who need to access their offices and other building resources on a regular basis must complete the CIS reactivation process detailed below; PhD students should contact their advisor or DGS to coordinate access. 

5. All group or subgroup meetings will be performed using Zoom

6. Gates lecture, seminar and large conference rooms (G01, 114, 122 and 310) have been assigned to the university classroom scheduling pool and are unavailable for department scheduling.

7. Any essential 1:1 meetings must adhere to social distancing and mask requirements and are best scheduled at present in outdoor locations; using single offices or small meeting rooms for essential 1:1 meetings for up to one hour with social distancing in the room is an option. 

8. Departments are responsible for density compliance, provision of personal protective equipment (PPE), and coordinating joint space.

Successful reengagement will require continued compliance by all members of the community. Occasional non-compliance should be respectfully addressed at the time of infraction when possible. Report repeated non-compliance to the individual’s supervisor, chair, or advisor.  You may also report any issues at any time to the relevant department chair or administrative director, or to the associate dean for administration.

Plan submission/reactivation process

1. Requests for reactivation will fall into three categories.  In the online system they are named as follows:

  • Instruction: for units with instructional labs and other spaces used solely to support instruction; an example in CIS is the new studio space in first floor Rhodes.
  • Research: only for activities that include a special-purpose lab.
  • Non-research: all other activities by faculty, other academics, and their research groups that do not involve special-purpose labs (including research taking place in an office rather than a lab), as well as department staff. We are asking for separate sub plans to be submitted for a) faculty; b) PhDs/Postdocs; c) department staff and d) student services

Please start by contacting your department administrative director, who will advise regarding plan submissions.

Once you are approved and are submitting a plan, please indicate the appropriate sub-group: Faculty, PhDs/Postdocs, Administrative Staff or Student Services. Note: Faculty requesting access for members of their research group will submit two plans: a) faculty and b) PhDs/ postdocs

2. A guide to use the system, including a process map and system FAQs can be found within this help guide.

3. Requests to reactivate a research program using special-purpose labs are approved at the college level and will route from there to the Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR) upon approval. 

4. Requests to commence activities other than research using special-purpose labs require a pre-approval step – to occur electronically through the Reactivation Portal Tool– as follows:

  • A short description of the proposal must be prepared outlining the activity proposed for reactivation and the reason why this work must occur on campus.  Before entering the system, it is recommended that department personnel first discuss their proposal with their department chair and administrative director.  
  • Proposals will be submitted to the department/unit “gatekeeper” for review and consideration for reactivation (For departments, the administrative directors serve in this gatekeeper role, and for college administrative units, the associate dean for administration serves as the gatekeeper).
  • If approved, the proposed activity will advance in the reactivation tool for full plan development and processing. If denied, the work will need to continue remotely.
  • A review committee will be identified for each department, and include the chair, administrative director and facilities representative. 
  • Plans approved by departments/administrative units will be approved at the college level (by Facilities and the associate dean for administration) and will  route from there to the Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, and the Deputy Provost for their information.

5. All submitted plans will generate an email to each individual on the plan requiring that they complete a certification process/Personnel Questionnaire. Issues arising from responses to the Personnel Questionnaires will be addressed by the department chair or associate dean for administration.

6. Personnel newly seeking approval may not return to campus until they receive final electronic notification that they have been approved.  Once approved, those in the plan will begin receiving daily check-in notifications from Workday.  Check-ins are required on any day an individual intends to visit campus

7. Questions on system mechanics may be directed to Manuel Calimlim (mlc23).

If there is any level of regularity in coming to campus (e.g., once a week to pick up mail), those regular activities should be entered into this system.  For a one-time visit to pick up materials from an office, please work with your department administration for approval.

Please refer questions regarding the reactivation process to your department administrators, associate dean Pat Musa (pm22) and COE-CIS facilities director Tom King (tek39).

Thanks very much for all your help during this time, including in carrying out this plan going forward.

Jon Kleinberg
Interim Dean, Computing and Information Science

Pat Musa
Associate Dean for Administration, Computing and Information Science