March 15, 2020 UPDATE

To the Dartmouth community,

Just as a reminder, in an effort to facilitate social distancing, the College is asking all employees whose jobs enable them to work from home, and who have the necessary technology to do so, to begin working remotely as of Monday, March 16. This move to have colleagues work remotely should make social distancing easier for those who have jobs that must be performed on campus.

For those whose roles are suited to remote work but who lack the technology, we encourage you to discuss those needs with your manager to determine how to enable working from home over the next several days. Divisional supervisors are reaching out to employees whose jobs cannot be performed remotely to provide specific information regarding their work on campus and related social-distancing protocols and protections.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu today ordered all public K-12 schools in the state to shut down immediately and transition to temporary remote instruction for a period of at least three weeks. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has also announced a plan for the shutting down of all schools and cancellation of all school-related activities no later than Wednesday, March 18, until at least April 6. Daycare centers in both states are also closing.

We understand that many staff and faculty will be challenged by the immediate lack of childcare and limited notice. Others will be working from home while trying to balance family needs throughout the workday. If you are affected by this decision, please reach out to your manager with any questions or concerns about this issue. It is Dartmouth's intention to be as flexible and supportive as possible during this unprecedented situation.

For more information about working remotely and related policies, please visit the Dartmouth COVID-19 website at https://news.dartmouth.edu/covid-19/workplace-policies. The Office of Human Resources is hosting a daily virtual supervisor roundtable at noon via Zoom from Monday through Friday to answer any additional questions that might arise.

These are very challenging times, but we will get through them together.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lisa Adams
Joshua Keniston
Co-Chairs, Dartmouth COVID-19 Task Force