School of Pharmacy COVID-19 Updates

The health of our community is our most important priority. As part of a larger proactive UW–Madison campus plan to minimize COVID-19 community spread, the School of Pharmacy (SoP) is following campus guidance in all actions.

With the expiration of the local order by Public Health Madison and Dane County on May 26, there is no effect on campus or SoP operations. UW–Madison continues to maintain essential university operations. All essential employees who are required to be on campus to perform work functions deemed essential should still come to work. All other employees are telecommuting or taking leave.

If you develop any symptoms or feel ill, please stay home for the safety of others. We encourage you to take care of your own health by following the CDC’s guidance on: hand washing, covering your cough, avoiding touching your face, avoiding close contact, and staying home if you are sick.

As a reminder, viruses do not discriminate, and this outbreak is not specific to any ethnicity or race. Racist behaviors or stereotyping is unacceptable at SoP. If you experience harassment or discrimination, students are encouraged to file a bias incident report. Employees may file a complaint with the Office of Compliance.

Key Contacts

• HR: HRSupport@pharmacy.wisc.edu
• Business Travel Reimbursement: julie.steinle@wisc.edu
• Experiential Learning: mara.kieser@wisc.edu
• Instructional Technology: michael.pitterle@wisc.edu
• Media Inquiries: alyson.kim@wisc.edu

UW–Madison will be open this fall, offering a full suite of educational programming to ensure that our 45,000+ students are able to continue their education. This includes the School of Pharmacy.

We don’t yet know the mix of in-person versus online instruction that we will be able to offer. We will likely be offering some hybrid mix of educational offerings.  Larger lectures will almost surely be offered remotely, but we hope to offer face-to-face section meetings for students who can attend.  We need to make a substantial share of the curriculum available remotely.  At the same time, we want to try to give as many students a small class/discussion experience as possible, whether in-person or online, to foster the learning and connections that small groups are so well-suited to provide.

Smaller classes would likely need to be held in larger rooms that allow greater physical distancing, which in turn may require scheduling changes. Other events, gatherings, and activities may need to be modified or reduced in size to mitigate transmission risk.

We have targeted a date no later than the end of July to make a final decision on how many in-person classes we can run, in consultation with UW System and state and local health officials.

Read more from Chancellor Rebecca Blank on Planning for a Safe Return to Campus.

For Instructors

Course coordinators can access the SoP Instructional Continuity Plan on the SoP Intranet.

Instructors and course coordinators can find guidance and resources to support your teaching, including virtual support sessions and webinars, on the Instructional Continuity website. In addition, the UW Instructional Continuity Support team is developing a set of weekly “Quick Tip Guides” and will release new guides for remote teaching weekly.

For pedagogical questions around instructional support, please contact: instructionalcontinuity@provost.wisc.edu

For information for currently enrolled School of Pharmacy students, including Experiential Learning, please check the SoP Students COVID-19 page for current students.

Campus-wide Furloughs

Our current situation requires that we implement short-term, cost-saving measures to address the fiscal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. These measures include a campus-wide furlough requirement, position-specific furloughs, and reassignments (see Furlough Guidelines).

See SoP HR’s special presentation on the furlough implementation:

• Recorded presentation
• Slide deck

How to Take Furlough Leave

Furlough leave is reported differently by different employee groups. Please refer to the presentations below on how you should report your furlough time:

• Group 1 ( Instructional Academic Staff, Faculty): Slide deck
• Group 2 ( University Staff Non-Exempt [hourly], Academic Staff Non-Exempt [hourly]): Slide deck
• Group 3 (Associate or Assistant Deans [Limited Employees], Non-Instructional Academic Staff:
  • Recorded presentation
  • Slide deck

Information on the furlough policy, benefits overviews, and FAQs is available on OHR’s web page at hr.wisc.edu/covid19/furlough.

With regard to how the campus-wide furloughs will affect our research enterprise, please see RSP’s Furlough page.

Paid Leave Programs

UW–Madison employees who are affected by COVID-19 may qualify for paid leave under the federal program called the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The federal FFCRA leave provisions are available through December 31, 2020.

There are two different federal programs providing paid leave under the FFCRA: Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and Emergency Family & Medical Leave Expansion (EFMLEA). See descriptions and eligibility on pages 3-4 here.

• Please watch the School of Pharmacy HR presentation on these leave programs.
• Access the presentation slides here.

If you have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic for any of the following reasons, please complete this Emergency Leave Request form and email to SoP-DDR Jenni Regan (jenni.regan@wisc.edu) to request leave:

• Unable to work because of: (through December 31, 2020)
  • Self-quarantine
  • Self-isolation
  • Illness or serious health condition
  • Disability
  • Care for immediate family member for reasons of quarantine, isolation, illness or serious health condition, or disability
  • Care of their child under 18 years of age whose school or daycare facility is closed or whose childcare provider is unavailable
  • Care of an immediate family member with disabilities or who is elderly and care facility is closed

Please email SoP HR at HRSupport@pharmacy.wisc.edu with any questions. For confidentiality, please be sure to email Jenni Regan (jenni.regan@wisc.edu) with your leave request form.

Read more information and FAQs about emergency leave.

Illness

If you develop symptoms, stay at home. Please do not come to work. Faculty and staff are advised to use leave and contact your supervisor. If you have questions about using leave, please email SoP HR at HRSupport@pharmacy.wisc.edu.

If you or a family member has tested positive for COVID-19 or believe you’ve come in contact with someone that has, please email SoP’s Jenni Regan at jenni.regan@wisc.edu.

Telecommuting

UW–Madison is requiring telecommuting for employees who do not need to be physically present to perform job responsibilities. All School of Pharmacy faculty, staff, postdocs, and students with paid appointments who are able to work remotely need to telecommute effective immediately (see telecommuting policy).

Please contact your supervisor if you need to take leave and cannot report to work. If you have questions about using leave, please email SoP HR at HRSupport@pharmacy.wisc.edu.

If you have HR questions related to compensation and leave for any SoP employees, please email HRSupport@pharmacy.wisc.edu

For more guidance and FAQs, please see OHR’s COVID-19 Information for Employees.

Working From Home

While campus is now preparing for a phased reopening over the summer and making decisions for the fall semester, we are still faced with the uncertainty of when we’ll return to the building on a regular basis. With the prospect that some of us will be telecommuting for some time, it’s important that we all have the materials we need to work effectively at home. Please see the instructions below on how to secure supplies or equipment from your office or to purchase.

• Before submitting any requests or purchases for supplies and/or equipment, please confirm your supervisor’s approval and get the appropriate funding if needed.
• If you plan to pick up items from your office, please plan to arrive alone as guests are not permitted in the building at this time.

Equipment Needs

Computer/IT needs – For faculty and staff who need to acquire or pick up computers, monitors and other associated tools or who have an IT-related question, please submit a Help Desk ticket here.

Chairs – Many staff have requested the use of their office chairs while they are working from home. In light of the fact that many faculty and staff will need to telecommute for some time, SoP now supports this request without the need to provide documentation. To schedule a pickup of your office chair, please contact Josh Cutler at josh.cutler@wisc.edu.

Supply Needs

To pick up supplies or files from your office, please contact Josh Cutler at josh.cutler@wisc.edu to schedule a time to be let in the building.

If you need to purchase supply items, such as paper, stamps, pens, etc., you can:

1. Ask a P-card holder to order the supplies and have them shipped to your house. If you don’t know of any P-card holders in your area, please contact Shelley Calhoun at smcalhoun@wisc.edu.
   • You will need to provide the card holder a clear business purpose for why you need the supplies since they are being shipped to your house and not to a UW business address.
   • Also please have the P-card holder note that these are being ordered because you are working from home.
2. Order the supplies yourself and file an e-reimbursement claim
   • Remember the UW does not reimburse for sales tax. Please take the tax-exempt certificate with you when making a purchase. It is available here.

If you have any questions, please contact Shelley Calhoun, and she will be happy to help you.

Rennebohm Hall

Rennebohm Hall will be locked at all times until further notice. The building will be open but accessible by Wiscard only for faculty and essential employees, including employees designated as critical by their PI or supervisor.

Due to health and safety issues, faculty will not be able to use the classrooms in Rennebohm Hall for lecture capture and will need to deliver lecture-based classes with a different distance learning application.

For faculty and essential employees who will continue to work in the building, hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes have been distributed in work areas to clean your work space, devices, and phone. The SoP stockroom will have face masks and hand sanitizer available.

Face Masks

Non-clinical employees are not required to wear cloth face coverings unless your job conditions make it difficult to maintain proper physical distancing. However, you may wear one if you prefer to do so. Please see more on “Campus Guidance on the Use of Cloth Face Coverings“.

Please note that use of a cloth face covering does not allow employees to come to work if they are having symptoms or have a documented exposure risk. In fact, doing so would increase the chances of spreading illness in the workplace.

The cloth face covering is not meant to replace more effective means of preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus like those we have already implemented including:

• Maintaining physical distancing practices at work and in the community (maintaining a distance of 6 feet or more from others);
• Practicing good respiratory hygiene and frequent handwashing;
• Monitoring for symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, cough and shortness of breath; and
• Staying home and isolating if symptoms are present.

Physical distancing and good hygiene remain the most effective measures to use in the workplace. The CDC recommendation for cloth face masks is based on the potential for a marginal reduction in droplet spread among those who may be infected, but do not yet have symptoms, by wearing a cloth face covering in public when physical distancing is not possible or practical.

Parking

For essential employees who must report to work in person, campus has lifted permit control on most campus surface lots. Most lots on campus are now open to essential employees needing to park, and do not require a permit. See Essential Employee Parking Map (PDF – updated 5/8/20).

However, there are still restricted lots:

• Specific lot permit required for Lot 11, 13, 22, 23, 38, 51, 54, 56, 74, 81, 82, and 85.
• Lot 63 – Open to AFCH and UW Hospital patients and visitors only.
• Starting 5/11, Lot 75 is open to Lot 75 permit holders, AFCH and UW Hospital patients and visitors only.

For those with permits, you can park in your respective assigned lots. Check all lot locations and hours by designation on the Parking Lot Locations and Hours page.

For safety reasons, vehicles must be properly parked inside the lines for marked stalls and cannot park in restricted areas (ex. access aisle, fire lane, blocking someone in, etc.) or reserved stalls. Reserved stalls are specially signed and include department reserved, service/vendor, and UW Disabled stalls. A state DOT Disabled permit or plate is required for use of UW Disabled stalls.

Other HR

New recruitment for non-essential positions is suspended until further notice. Searches already underway may continue.

The TTC Project is suspended for at least three months, and the timeline will be extended for employee-manager conversations to finalize individual position descriptions.

Sponsored Programs

Check here for updates regarding how COVID-19 is affecting sponsored programs at UW–Madison. The OVCRGE COVID-19 Updates for Sponsored Programs also includes FAQs for research and award management issues.

With regard to how the campus-wide furloughs will affect our research enterprise, please see RSP’s Furlough page.

Only Critical Research Activities until June 1

In conjunction with other campus operations, the Office of the VCRGE is now planning a limited expansion of on-site non-essential research with a target date of June 1.

In the meantime, the UW–Madison campus and the School of Pharmacy is maintaining critical functions during this current phase of the pandemic (see Campus Research Activities update). This means:

1. Do not initiate new experiments.
2. Research activities that can be paused and resumed later should be suspended.
3. If the on-campus work can be suspended without losing critical results, then please suspend it.
4. Equipment that can safely be shut down into a no-maintenance state without compromising functionality should be shut down.

Only critical research activities may continue. Examples of critical functions include:

• Upkeep of equipment that cannot be safely shut down into a no-maintenance state without compromising functionality
• Activities needed for animal subject health and welfare
• Activities needed to maintain lines of animals, cells, or other organisms that cannot be frozen down and later brought back
• Continuation of ongoing experiments that cannot be paused and resumed later such as long-term animal studies

The dean must approve all on-site research activities that continue, and only critical research will be approved after a review of safety protocols. Research that can be done remotely should continue to be conducted remotely.

Research in Rennebohm Hall may be permitted if there are pressing deadlines and/or work that would otherwise be lost if the research doesn’t continue. If you are uncertain whether some research activities should be deemed critical/essential, please consult with the Associate Dean for Research Paul Marker at marker@wisc.edu.

For safety concerns, research work must be conducted during normal business hours. Please ensure all safety contact information for your lab is current. The PI or lab manager should be aware of who is working in the lab and be reachable for urgent issues.

Sandro Mecozzi, chair of the SoP Safety Committee, and Josh Cutler, facilities director, will provide guidance for any deficiency found in the review of safety protocols and will work with PIs to help them provide the safest possible environment for their critical personnel.

Human Subjects Research

The Office of the Vice Chancellor of Research and Graduate Education has required a temporary hiatus from all in-person interactions on research studies except those that are related to therapeutics or are deemed critical to participants’ safety and well-being until June 30, 2020 (see Campus Human Subjects guidance).

• Research teams should limit in-person contact to only those activities related to treatment of patients (e.g., Oncology treatment trials) and activities that are critical to the health and safety of the participant.
• In-person enrollment activities for non-treatment trials should be temporarily suspended. This would include in-person enrollments for observational studies, biomarker collections outside of treatment protocols, survey studies, etc. This temporary suspension of enrollment activities will not require an IRB modification but may require us to notify sponsors/funders.
• For follow-up visits or other activities for patients already enrolled in research, please consider using alternative methods (phone, telehealth, etc.) or delaying these visits when possible. Please remember that these changes to established protocols require IRB approval and possibly exemption requests from sponsors.
• Many industry sponsors are international and are having difficulty getting supplies and lab processing for FDA-regulated studies in the US. If you have patients on treatment studies and sponsors reach out to you for possible alternatives for lab processing etc., please reach out to ICTR so they may assist you.

Monitoring, Site Selection, Site Initiation Visits

In consideration of CDC guidance related to COVID-19, and in an effort to slow its spread and protect our community, our caregivers, and our patients, UW Health is cancelling all community events, including meetings with vendors, consultants and external guests at our facilities until further notice. In compliance with this action, the UW Health and SMPH are cancelling all existing in person monitoring visits, site selection visits and site initiation visits from any agent external to the UW System.

Virtual meetings are highly recommended for purposes of performing site initiation visits and site selection visits, however remote monitoring is not fully possible at this time  We can work with sponsors for alternative monitoring if it is deemed critical to the research study.

Other Research Guidance

For other research and sponsored program guidance, including NIH, NSF, Health Sciences IRB, etc., please check the OVCRGE Update page.

Read more on campus updates on research.

As we have seen nationally, in our local communities, and on the UW–Madison campus, fears of the coronavirus has led to increases in racist and xenophobic comments and behaviors. Chinese people are not responsible for the virus simply because the first cases were reported in China. But that has not stopped people from using stereotypes to make jokes, verbally harass, and in some cases, physically assault Asian, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders. Remember that the virus — not people with COVID-19 or affected by COVID-19 — is the enemy.

Our SoP community needs us to stand up and intervene when they see or hear biases and microaggressions.  In essence, asking members of our community to become an ally and support our students, faculty/staff colleagues, and others who identify as Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islanders.

Here are several resources that offer techniques you can practice to become more comfortable speaking up for all vulnerable individuals and communities:

LifeLabs Learning — How to practice allyship as individuals and as an organization

1. Build empathy through education — Learn more about the current experiences of Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islanders.
2. Make impact visible — Give timely feedback.  When you hear a comment or see an action that you perceive to be biased or discriminatory, give quick, private, and non-judgmental feedback to help the individual understand the impact of their words or actions.
3. Elevate identity — See yourself as an ally, advocate, or role model.

Teaching Tolerance offers allyship training and recommends a four-step process for speaking up against racism: interrupt, question, education, and echo.

1. Interrupt — Interrupting a person verbalizing racism or biases means taking a time out. It demonstrates that what they have said is important enough to pause the conversation to address it.
2. Question — “Questions” can be used as a warning (an effective technique used by parents around the world: “What did you just say to me?”). However, the goal of questioning someone in the context of allyship is to better understand why this individual said what they did.
3. Educate — Educating means continuing the conversation with the goal of providing facts to the other person. Explain why their racist words need rethinking.  Someone may not understand that their coronavirus joke is considered racist. Share that WHO has purposely established guidelines to avoid naming diseases after its place of origin and the name of COVID-19 was carefully chosen to avoid associating this disease with specific groups of people.
4. Echo — It takes effort to speak up against racist ideas and language.  So, it is important that we support each other by echoing those who speak up. Emphasize or amplify their message any way you can.  Thank them for speaking up. Echoing can be done while physically distancing.  Share anti-racist messages in online chats or social media platforms. Respond positively to others who respond by offering agreement and support.

If we all commit to fighting racist and xenophobic words and actions, we can start making our campus and communities safer for everyone.

Reporting Bias or Discrimination

If you experience harassment or discrimination, please report the incident so we can take the appropriate action.

• Students are encouraged to file a bias incident report.
• Employees may file a complaint with the Office of Compliance.

Support is also available by reaching out to Lisa Imhoff, Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives, who is here to listen and help you with your concerns at the School of Pharmacy.

The university has extended the cancellation of non-essential in-person campus events and meetings through June 30. Main Commencement ceremonies are postponed, and campus is planning a virtual event.

The School of Pharmacy is canceling all large events and non-essential events through June 30. The event calendar has been updated to reflect the status of events.

Some events may be held virtually. The PharmD Interview Days will be done online.

We recommend that student organizations cancel future meetings and outreach activities with the public. Please seek alternative formats for events and meetings.

Meetings to hold

For the School of Pharmacy, essential meetings are those needed to carry out our academic mission. These meetings can be related to teaching and learning, enrollment, active research projects, and other academic and research areas. Non-essential meetings would be public outreach activities and other service. Please check with your supervisor or unit leader if you are unclear as to whether your meeting is considered to be essential.

Essential meetings — defined as gatherings related to the health, safety, and well-being of the institution or that are necessary to the academic mission — may continue but should be held in alternative formats, such as conference calls and WebEx. Please send an email to helpdesk@pharmacy.wisc.edu if you need assistance with alternative meeting formats.

Any in-person essential meetings should involve as few people as possible, and appropriate safety precautions should be followed.

Essential in-person events require approval by a dean or vice chancellor and must be limited to attendance of less than 10 people. Essential events are those directly related to advancing the mission of the university and/or those promoting the health and safety of campus.

All UW–Madison sponsored travel is cancelled through June 30. The measure was extended to the end of June to help keep employees safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Please cancel all travel during this period that has not been submitted for an exemption. This should be done either through Concur or by calling Fox World Travel at 866-230-8787.

Domestic travel plans July 1 and beyond may need to be canceled either due to additional public health or campus travel guidance or financial exigency. At this time, we advise not making reservations for international travel until after June 30.

Limited Travel Exceptions

Essential travel is defined as activities that support, further, or execute research or clinical operations specific to human health and medical outcomes, cannot be rescheduled, and must be done in person. If you need an exception:

1. Download and complete the Essential Travel Exemption Form
2. Obtain approval from Dean Steve Swanson with a copy of the request to Julie Steinle (julie.steinle@wisc.edu)
3. Send to Dan Langer for final approval at dan.langer@wisc.edu.

Reimbursement

The School will reimburse airfare, registration lodging deposit costs, and cancellation fees paid personally by staff for travel prior to June 30, 2020. Please work with Julie Steinle (julie.steinle@wisc.edu) to get reimbursed for these costs. Business Services is also currently working on canceling these same expenses that were charged directly to School funding and will be contacting individual travelers.

Non-Essential Personal Travel

Everyone is strongly advised to reconsider non-essential personal travel. All campus community members should be aware that if you travel, you may be required to self-isolate for 14 days depending on where you’re traveling to and from, even if you do not exhibit symptoms.

Self-quarantine and Self-monitoring

On international or domestic travel taken for any reason, you are prohibited from returning to the workplace and must self-quarantine for 14 days, even if you do not exhibit symptoms, if you are:

• returning from a Level 2 or Level 3 country or
• traveling to U.S. states with sustained community transmission.

See areas of community spread in the US here. For information about re-entry into the US from international travel, check the US Department of State site.

All people returning from Spring Break outside of Madison are required to self-monitor (for fever, cough and difficulty breathing) for 14 days.

You may face a higher risk of infection, significant delays returning, and/or the requirement to self-isolate upon your return, all of which could significantly impact your professional and personal obligations at great individual expense.

With the building restrictions in place, visitors are not allowed at Rennebohm Hall until further notice.

If you receive any inquiries from the news media, please forward these to Associate Dean Alyson Kim (alyson.kim@wisc.edu). She will work with campus partners to respond to media inquiries appropriately.

As you know, this is a constantly evolving situation. Please watch for updates from campus and the School of Pharmacy as things can rapidly change.