EMS Coronavirus Information

Information for Students

Remote Learning
Website serves as the hub of information for Penn State students who have questions about how the outbreak will affect continued studies. Resources on transitioning from the classroom to remote learning.
COVID 19 Updates for Graduate Students
Graduate students enrolled in resident courses should plan on participating remotely, and not coming to campus specifically for face-to-face instruction. Graduate students involved in the instructional mission, research, and/or who are on assistantships with activities other than the instructional mission and research, should refer to the information on the COVID 19 Updates for Graduate Students webpage.
Adjusting Your Study Habits During COVID-19
Your study habits may need to change. Guide has resources to help
Student Care and Advocacy
Funds available to students in financial need across the commonwealth who apply for emergency assistance
Mental health resources for battling pandemic and its accompanying effects
Penn State to cover all employee and student worker salaries through April 30

Tools for Online Teaching and Meetings

Resources to Support Teaching and Learning

John A. Dutton e-Institute’s Remote Teaching Resources
- To schedule a consultation, contact Stevie Rocco at stevier@psu.edu or at 814-863-1560.
  Open office hours with members of the Dutton Institute learning design team are available, as well, for drop-in assistance! These are held via Zoom at https://psu.zoom.us/j/732482498.
  Open Office Hours can be used for Zoom tips, assessment strategies discussion, help with Canvas or Kaltura, or even a discussion of options for delivering your final exam remotely.
  - J ohn A. Dutton e-Education Institute Faculty Development - Resources to help instructors plan, develop, teach and assess your students, and evaluate online courses.
  - Zoom Settings for Remote Classroom Use: https://facdev.e-education.psu.edu/node/461
  - Creating a Zoom Meeting that uses PSU Authentication: https://facdev.e-education.psu.edu/node/462
John A. Dutton e-Education Institute Faculty Development
Resources to help instructors plan, develop, teach and assess your students, and evaluate online courses. To schedule a consultation, contact Stevie Rocco at stevier@psu.edu or at 814-863-1560.
- Open office hours with members of the Dutton Institute learning design team are available, as well, for drop-in assistance! These are held via Zoom at https://psu.zoom.us/j/732482498. Open Office Hours can be used for Zoom tips, assessment strategies discussion, help with Canvas or Kaltura, or even a discussion of options for delivering your final exam remotely.
- Zoom Settings for Remote Classroom Use: https://facdev.e-education.psu.edu/node/461
- Creating a Zoom Meeting that uses PSU Authentication: https://facdev.e-education.psu.edu/node/462
Remote Teaching
Transitioning from the classroom to remote teaching: resources to help Penn State faculty be prepared to offer courses remotely in case teaching on campus is not an option.
- Synchronous learning FAQ
TLT: Continuity of Instruction
Resources to help Penn State faculty to be ready to take their courses online in case teaching on campus is not an option.
Contingency Planning for Undergraduate Education
Suggestions for how to handle various teaching challenges.
Managing disruptions in remote classrooms
Please be aware that some faculty have experienced online classroom “raiding” by participants who are not enrolled in the course, nor at Penn State. These are individuals who have managed to obtain Zoom class information and have chosen to participate for the purposes of disruption. Currently, we do not have the technical mechanisms to block such participants. Website contains recommendations to help instructors manage and prevent this type of disruption as proactively, quietly, and as swiftly, as possible.
Conferencing and Media Management
Penn State has adopted Zoom and Kaltura to work together to provide the University with an optimal conferencing and media-management service.

Adapting Assessment to an Online Environment

Penn State’s Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence
Institute has put together information that can instructors decide what they can/should do about planned assessments like quizzes, exams, presentations, etc. while moving to remote instruction.

Canvas Resources

John A. Dutton e-Education Institute Canvas Resources
Website contains helpful sites and to training materials that will assist you as you work in Canvas, the University's Learning Management System.
Penn State Canvas
Website offers help and support, training, news and tips, and how to get started resources.
Penn State Canvas Learning Center
The Canvas Learning Center is a gateway for all Penn State faculty and support staff to learn how to get the most out of using Canvas for teaching and learning.

Zoom Resources

Can I record a Zoom meeting?
Yes. While Zoom gives the option to record a meeting, users must comply with all applicable laws and Penn State policies. Specifically, everyone on the Zoom meeting must be told if the meeting is being recorded and give their consent to be recorded. Also, discussion of High-risk or Restricted data (as defined in AD95) is not permitted while recording.

You also will need to securely store the recordings and destroy them at the end of the semester. If you intend to use the recordings after the end of the semester, any type of identifying information must be removed. In addition, you must inform students that they are being recorded by sharing the following language with them: “Video and audio recordings of class lectures will be part of the classroom activity. The video and audio recording is used for educational use/purposes and may only be made available to students presently enrolled in the class. For purposes where the recordings will be used in future class session/lectures, any type of identifying information will be adequately removed.”

Watch video on how to record a Zoom meeting >>

Penn State Zoom
Penn State’s license allows for 500 simultaneous participants per “room.” There is also the option to create a Zoom “webinar” instead of a meeting. Penn State’s license for webinars also has a limit of 500 simultaneous participants.

Microsoft Teams

IT Learning and Development: Share and Collaborate with Microsoft Teams
For class sizes over 500 where synchronous communication is desired, Microsoft Teams Live can handle up to 15,000.

COVID-19 Travel Exception requests

All travel needs to be pre-approved either by the budget executive for domestic or Provost/SVP for Research/Dean of the College for international travel.

Please download and complete the form (pdf) below and return to your unit's administrative assistant (AA) for processing and approval. The AAs will email to safety@ems.psu.edu for ADGER to approve.

Request for Domestic COVID-19 travel >>
Request for International COVID-19 travel: Faculty and Staff >>
Request for International COVID-19 travel: Graduate Students >>
Note: Remember to send your proposed travel itinerary with expected dates of travel and country or countries to be visited along with this form.

Please email completed form to your unit's AA:

Dutton: Tina Vancas (tqs5@psu.edu)
Earth and Environmental Systems Institute: Tam Rankin (tjr5956@psu.edu)
Energy Insitute: Kelly Rhoades (kji1@psu.edu)
Energy and Mineral Engineering: Abbey Rickert (abr5739@psu.edu)
Geography: Denise Kloehr (dak28@psu.edu)
Geosciences: Amy Homan (aqs3@psu.edu)
Department of Materials Science and Engineering: Katina Posney (iyb7@psu.edu)
Meteorology and Atmospheric Science: Lynn Persing (lak6@psu.edu)

Note: Employees wishing to travel internationally must receive approval prior to purchasing airline tickets, hotel accommodations, etc. Once approved, all international travel must be registered with the Travel Safety Network. All travel arrangements MUST be made through Penn State’s travel provider, Anthony Travel.

Penn State Travel Guidelines >>

Working in Research Labs on Campus

Penn State Resources

For Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) related questions, contact EHS

Phone: 814-865-6391
Email: psuehs@psu.edu
Visit the EHS COVID-19 website for resources on the below topics:

Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate students who need to use department laboratories are doing research for credit must obtain permission from the department to be approved to work on campus. The department must in turn obtain permission from the EMS ADGER office, by sending the request to safety@ems.psu.edu.

Faculty are asked to identify alternative ways of achieving the learning outcomes for the experience. If a student is completing a research thesis, faculty will work to navigate best practices for completing the thesis. If an undergraduate student taking research for credit is essential to the research mission, an academic unit executive must approve an exception for the student to continue research and ensure safe social distancing in the lab. Undergraduate students who are employees performing essential work may choose to continue work on campus if good social distance practices can be maintained.

Working in Offices on Campus

Status

We are currently waiting for the Return to Work program to start. Use of offices is not allowed unless special permission has been granted.

Who is allowed to be working in offices

No one is allowed to work in offices unless one of the following apply::

You are listed as an essential employee
Accommodations have been made by HR
The Provost’s office has granted you explicit permission.

COVID-19 Safety Protocols in Place

Stay home if sick, and report any Covid-19 related symptoms. The Symptom Checker function on the PENN State GO app should be used for this.
Wear a mask
Sanitize your work area at the beginning and end of each day.
Adhere to the schedule approved for times to be in your office

Visit the EHS COVID-19 website for resources on the below topics

Working on Campus - Employee health and safety guidance for individuals working on campus.
Cloth Mask - General guidance on the use and care of cloth masks.
Cleaning Guidelines - OPP Cleaning Standards in Response to Coronavirus - Overview of the Office of Physical Plant cleaning standards and practices in response to coronavirus including disinfecting products and procedures, cleaning frequencies, and personal protective requirements.
Cleaning Guidelines - Computer and Related Products - Guidance provided for the personal care and disinfecting of sensitive electronics, computers, and related products.

reporting suspected COVID-19 cases

If you are experiencing any symptoms related to Covid-19, please do the following:

Stay home
Consult your health care provider
Report it to your supervisor

If you observe someone else working on campus with symptoms, please report it to your supervisor or send an email to safety@ems.psu.edu.

Additional Resources:

Instructions for Supervisors:

Supervisors must report suspected Covid-19 cases using the instructions below, and also report the to the College of EMS by sending an email to: safety@ems.psu.edu.

COVID-19 Supervisors Instructions for Assessment and Reporting
These instructions have been posted on the Environmental Health & Safety website to provide guidance to supervisors to assess the impacts of a suspected COVID-19 case in their unit as it pertains to closing work areas and identifying additional employees that may need to self-quarantine and/or self-monitor.

Additional Resources:

HR COVID-19 web page
The flow chart found on this page provide an outline of what individuals need to do based upon certain situations involving COVID-19. The information provided empowers the individuals to take specific actions based on their current situation. Please note, individuals should always reach out to their health care providers for further guidance.
Exposure Decision Chart
Guidance on Home Isolation or Quarantine and Returning to Work After COVID-19 Exposure
EMS Coronavirus Notification Checklist - Download checklist

EMS Buildings and services

Building Lock/Unlock Schedules

As of August 10^th, most buildings on campus are now back to being open during the normal business hours. If classes go beyond 5pm in a particular building, it will remain open until classes are finished for the day.
If the campus has to suspend classes, buildings will likely go be locked, but still accessible to those occupants that already have card-swipe access.

Janitorial Services

Janitorial personnel are at normal capacity and are working in our buildings as usual.
Janitorial Services has modified their cleaning schedule and are cleaning high-use areas more often. Please see the OPP Custodial Modified Service webpage
OPP has changed cleaning products to a disinfectant that is even more effective in killing this virus and are being very thorough in cleaning the restrooms and public areas. There is a difference in the residue left by this new cleaner, which might be noticed as a little bit stickier than the previous cleaner.
Janitorial services are working closely with Environmental Health and Safety and University Health Services and have special cleaning procedures for any cases of people who are suspected of being infected that have been on campus
Cleaning Guidelines - OPP Cleaning Standards in Response to Coronavirus

OPP Area Services

OPP technicians are responding to maintenance requests as usual. Please contact your department or institute’s facilities coordinator about any issues in your area, and they can request service.

Mail

Mail service is proceeding normally right now.
Please limit ordering to only items needed for essential research or business.
If virus cases rise and classes are switched to all remote instruction again, the buildings may be locked and mail services will switch to a limited delivery schedule.
Please feel free to contact Diane Ault (865-7659 or dla17@psu.edu) if questions come up.

Gas tank Deliveries for Research

Gas bottle delivery service is proceeding normally right now.

Shared Gas Tank Area for Hosler, Deike, and Steidle in the Hosler Loading Dock:

Due to the reduction in research and the limited staff availability right now, this gas bottle storage area is locked, and researchers should plan ahead for their needs. If gas bottles are required for essential research, the lab support staff in Hosler, Deike, and Steidle have a key for access, and will work with you for access.
If new or replacement gas bottles need to be ordered, please include your contact information on the order, and plan to be available meet the delivery person to accept the new gas bottles.

Waste Chemical Pick-up and EH&S services

Waste chemical pick-up service is proceeding normally right now.
Environmental Health and Safety offices are fully staffed and responding to requests and issues.

Renovations

Renovation projects are continuing after a brief shutdown. There have been some supply chain issues in obtaining certain parts and supplies, but existing projects are progressing and new projects are starting.

Telecommuting

The University remains open for business during the remote-learning period. In the interest of the health and safety of the community, University leadership is allowing telecommuting on a temporary basis as an option to increase social distancing, while recognizing that each unit has unique circumstances.

NOTE: Faculty and staff may only come to their offices or labs to perform essential tasks that cannot be performed at home. Time while in the building should be kept at a minimum. Social distancing should still be practiced, as well as other preventive measures to avoid exposure.

HR Remote Work
Resources and Information for Remote Work

Guidance:

All departmental, institute, and college offices are asked to remain closed with signs posted with contact information. (Please copy and use sign template below.)
Contacts listed need to be responsive to requests (phone or email).
Faculty and staff should be continuously monitoring their email accounts during working hours.
Telecommuting Agreements (HRG02) have been waived for the remote-learning period. Managers will be responsible for tracking the teleworking schedules and arrangements of their reports. Managers need to send an email detailing the telecommuting agreement to EMS HR (John Barlett and Sara Lobb) for approval.
The Penn State Human Resources (HR) webpage contains guidelines and FAQs regarding COVID-19 (Coronavirus) for faculty and staff. They will be updating the page on a regular basis.

Signage Template

Department/Unit Name | College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

Based upon the March 11, 2020 message from President Barron, our office staff are telecommuting until at least April 6, 2020. Please see below for specific contact information.

For routine questions, please contact XXXX at (814) XXX-XXXX and/or XXXXXX@psu.edu.

For (specific questions, i.e. Advising), please contact XXXX at (814) XXX-XXXX and/or XXXXXX@psu.edu.

We apologize for any inconvenience but hope you can understand this unique and emerging situation.

Thank you!

Telephone forwarding

Faculty and staff may use the Jabber software telephone to make and receive phone calls using a computer. To sign up and for installation instructions, please see KB0011544 . Elevated privileges are required to install on Windows or Mac OS X computers.

E-books and open educational resources

Because students may have left their textbooks in their dorm room when they left for Spring Break, access to text may be limited. Faculty should explore alternatives which may include:

VitalSource and Publishers to Provide Free Access to eTextbooks to Students Affected by COVID-19 Campus Closures
Students will be able to access their class materials through VitalSource’s Bookshelf app at no cost; View VitalCourse Help page; Notes about VitalSource:
- Students are restricted to 7 books in total. Therefore, if they have any textbooks that are being offered directly from the publisher (like Cengage, Elsevier, or Wiley), they should use that option first to not use up one of their allowed books (if they don’t know the publisher, remind them to check the syllabus).
- They do NOT get access to any supplementary information that they would have gotten with the access codes.
- Encourage them to check the syllabus for the correct ISBN for their text. There are multiple versions of texts in VitalSource and books are “non-returnable” so if they choose the wrong one they have used up one of their 7 books (tell them to click on the “I” to get information on the book such as the edition and year published).
- This is TEMPORARY. Access ends May 25.
- They MUST create an account at https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/user/registration using their PSU email (it must be a .edu email to gain access).
- Printing is limited to 2 pages at a time.
Remote Resources for Penn State Library Users
Temporary and Expanded Access to Vendor and Publisher Resources
GeoscienceWorld (access available to selected ebooks through June 30, 2020)
E-books available from Penn State Libraries
Open Educational Resources

Faculty may want to point to comparable online resources that are available as OER or in other formats, giving students a choice of readings. Finally, an additional option may be having material scanned and uploaded, either through Penn State Library Electronic Reserves or through department staff. Be flexible and creative in working with students to identify reading assignments.

EMS Library

EMS Library Hours

The EMS Library will be open from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Monday - Friday beginning Monday, August 24, 2020. Due to quarantine requirements, all collections will be closed to the public but can be retrieved via submission of an I WANT IT request in the catalog. Requests for article and chapter scans can be submitted using ILLiad, the interlibrary loan client. Other University Park libraries will also re-open on August 24 with varying hours as described in this press release. Selected services will not be available immediately including group study room reservations and bookings of the VR studio. Individuals with special needs or concerns should contact us via email at EMSL@psu.edu.

https://news.psu.edu/story/628204/2020/08/12/research/pattee-library-and-paterno-library-reopen-aug-24-limited-hours

Course Reserves:

Due to the requirement that print materials be quarantined for 4 days after each use, course reserves will be primarily electronic. Where ebooks are not available for purchase, the Libraries will provide access via document delivery (using ILLiad) and the HathiTrust Emergency Temporary Access Service (ETAS).

The HathiTrust Emergency Temporary Access Service (ETAS) makes it possible for PSU students, faculty, and staff to obtain lawful access to specific digital materials in HathiTrust that correspond to physical books held by their own library. ETAS enables many HathiTrust member libraries, such as the Pennsylvania State University Libraries, to continue supporting the teaching, learning, and research mission of their institutions during this disruption in service. Physical copies of books available via the HathiTrust Emergency Temporary Access Service must remain unavailable in order to maintain access to the electronic version in ETAS.

For Instructors:

If any of your students are trying to complete their senior thesis, honors thesis, or other papers please encourage them to reach out to the EMS librarians for assistance. Linda Musser and Elise Gowen are available for consultations (via Zoom or phone) to assist students with their background research and can aid them in accessing print resources if needed.

As a reminder, the Credo Information Literacy modules are available for use in your courses. There are videos, tutorials and quizzes on library topics from searching techniques to bias to citations.

Linda Musser (lrm4@psu.edu) - contact for engineering classes (EME, MATSE, etc.) and non-College of EMS courses
Elise Gowen (edg16@psu.edu) - contact for earth science classes (GEOG, GEOSC, METEO, etc.)

Laptop/Internet Information & IT Support

If an employee chooses to telecommute, they need to have access to the internet, computers/laptops, and phones needed to perform their duties. EMS IT can assist with laptop needs, but internet and phone access and associated costs are the responsibility of the employee. If an employee isn’t able to perform their duties from home, they will need to work in the office or take vacation time.

Laptop Loans

IT has about 50 laptops available for loan. For staff who will be working remotely and do not have a suitable work laptop or home computer to perform their work, please contact helpdesk@ems.psu.edu to arrange for a laptop. Note: this is a short-term loan, not a for long-term use.
As desktop computers are scheduled for replacement, IT encourages replacement with laptops to enable staff to work remotely in future situations.

Minimum computer requirements for telecommuting

For home computers, a modern version of Microsoft Windows is needed (10 preferred; version 8 may work) or Mac OS X (10.14 Mojave or better). Other operating systems and computers may be workable but could pose security risks if out-of-date or may not provide a stable environment.

Remote desktop
Remote desktop capability is needed to work with mainframe applications and a few others. This requires authorization; please email helpdesk@ems.psu.edu to request this access. You will connect to your desktop so will need to know the computer's network name. IT can help you find this information (just ask). Instructions for remote desktop can be found here: https://it.ems.psu.edu/node/734. Note there are two cases:

If your computer is on the EMSWIN (college) domain, follow the first set of instructions in "Windows Remote Desktop Connection Instructions."
If your computer has been migrated to the new Enterprise Active Directory (EAD) follow the second set of instructions in "EAD Windows Remote Desktop Connection Instructions.”

If you aren't sure which case applies, just ask.
Employees will need high-speed Internet access at home to take advantage of either of these options. Cellular modems or a cellphone operating as a hotspot may be a good alternative for the next few weeks. Note: It is the employee's responsibility to provide Internet.

IT Support

On-site staffing throughout the college will be by appointment.
Staff will continue to provide remote support. Calls to 814-865-1800 and emails to helpdesk@ems.psu.edu will be answered Monday - Friday 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Cleaning Guidelines - Computer and Related Products

Guidance provided for the personal care and disinfecting of sensitive electronics, computers, and related products.

Please consider regular cleaning of workstation surfaces, especially keyboards and mice. High-concentration alcohol is best if you have it, otherwise bleach or other anti-viral cleaners are good. When cleaning mice and keyboards consider first unplugging the device and avoid using an excessive amount of fluid. You might clean at the end of each day and allow the device to dry overnight before reconnecting in the morning.

Firewalls

As a reminder, the college operates a network firewall between computers in the college and the rest of the University networks. While some computer resources are available through this firewall, others require the use of the college's VPN service. Information about the EMS VPN service can be found at https://it.ems.psu.edu/node/357 .
Duo two-factor authentication is required to use the VPN service. Be sure to have a device enrolled in Duo that you will have with you when connecting remotely. Duo enrollments are managed from https://accounts.psu.edu .

If you regularly use the resources below in your teaching, research, or administrative duties please verify you are able to connect to the VPN service from an off-campus location and are able to access the needed resources. Note the list is not exclusive so it would be good to test your typical workflows. Contact helpdesk@ems.psu.edu if you have any trouble with the test connection, or vpn@ems.psu.edu if you find a needed resource isn't available without the VPN.

The VPN service uses a shared pool of addresses. While this pool is large, it isn't infinite. In the event that we have a University-wide need to telecommute, please be sure to disconnect from the VPN when you are not actively using the service.

Resources which require the EMS VPN

Remote Desktop
MATLAB and other license servers
Network drives

Resources which do not require the EMS VPN

Canvas
Zoom
Office 365 suite (Outlook, OneDrive, Teams, etc.)
Google suite
FTP Secure Shell (SSH) to login hosts such as laurasia.ems.psu.edu and idocrase.geosc.psu.edu
Printing

Staff Performance Evaluation

The final step of the 2019-2020 performance management cycle, the End-of-Year review, will evaluate performance from April 1, 2019 - April 30, 2020. The due dates listed below provides employees and supervisors with an extended period of time to complete the end of year review as well as enables employees to capture some of the work they accomplished during this COVID-19 work from home period.

On Friday, 8 May, employees should see the action in their Workday inbox to complete their self-assessment for the End-of-Year appraisal. Our full timeline is below:

For EMS, here is our timeline:

8 May – 22 May – EMS Employees will complete their self-assessment within Workday

25 May – 5 June – EMS Supervisors/Managers will complete their assessment of their EMS staff employees

6 June – 19 June – EMS Calibration reviews will take place (REMEMBER – no discussion of ratings may take place until after calibration is complete and EMS HR has sent a message to all managers)

22 June – 3 July – EMS Supervisors/Managers provide the final evaluations to their employees and employees acknowledge the evaluations

Anyone with questions should reach out to Sara (sdl14@psu.edu) or John Barlette (jvb102@psu.edu).

To learn how to complete the end-of-year review in Workday, watch this tutorial.

Note: In order to access the links above, you may be prompted to authenticate in WebAccess first.

CATA Bus Service

For current bus schedules visti: https://catabus.com/

Under operational plans announced by the Centre Area Transportation Authority for fall 2020, there will be no Blue Loop or White Loop campus transit service beginning Aug. 22 and through the end of the semester. CATA will continue to operate the Red Link and Green Link campus routes, with additional service to be added to the Green Link. Read press release >>