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.

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
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.

Research

COVID-19 Information for Penn State Researchers

With the rapidly evolving circumstances regarding COVID-19 and our focus on social distancing and the health and well-being of the community, the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research, in consultation with the Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Medicine, has issued these revised standards related to laboratory research. Specifically, Principal Investigators should immediately begin preparing for all on-campus research to be reduced to essential research-related activities by March 24.

Please review the complete guidance for reducting research activities in Penn State labs

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

Phone: 814-865-6391
Email: psuehs@psu.edu
Visit the EHS COVID-19 website for resources on the below topics:
- Research Continuity Guide - Guidance provided to aid Deans, Department Chairs, Safety Officers, and Principal Investigators (PIs) in considering the additional steps that should be taken to protect laboratory personnel and the valuable research being conducted at Penn State during a temporary campus shutdown.
- Laboratory Ramp Down Checklist - Tool to guide researchers during the ramp down and interim closure of their laboratory.
- Cleaning Guidance - Laboratory - Guidance provided to laboratories and research facilities to help identify approved COVID-19 disinfection methods researchers can follow for their high touch work areas and equipment.
- Lab Suspension Sign - Signage to post on entrances to laboratories and research facilities closed during COVID-19 pandemic. Provides emergency contact information for space if needed.

Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate students who are doing research for credit may not continue to work in labs and other areas on campus to complete their work. 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.

EMS Library

All library locations are closed - read press release>>

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.)

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.

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

To give University employees appropriate time to complete their 2019-20 performance management cycle, Penn State Human Resources is extending the time needed to complete the final step of the process (end-of-year review) to Friday, May 1, through Friday, July 31.

Previously, this step was to begin on Wednesday, April 1, with completion by Sunday, May 31. However, due to the current coronavirus pandemic, Human Resources, in agreement with University leadership, believed it was in the best interest of our employees to extend the time frame.

The third and final step of the PM cycle, end of year reviews, will run from Friday, May 1 through Friday, July 31.

For employees who are still in the process of completed Step 1: Setting Goals, they will not receive an end-of-year review task in Workday and, therefore, will not be able to receive a rating on their 2019-2020 performance. If an employee’s goals are entered and approved by their manager by Thursday, April 30, the employee will skip Step 2: Mid-Year Check-In and move directly to their Step 3: End-of-Year Review on Friday, May 1.

For employees who have set goals but do have not yet completed Step 2: Mid-Year Check-In by Thursday, April 30, a request will need to be submitted by the manager or employee to HR Services via WorkLion to be moved into Step 3: End-of-Year Review.

To prepare for end of year reviews, which will run from Friday, May 1 through Friday, July 31, Zoom training sessions are open for registration:

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.

EMS Buildings and services

Mail

Now that buildings are locked, mail service has been modified. All Mail and packages are being delivered to and held at Mail Services.
As of Monday, March 30^th, mail services will be distributing mail (*NOT* delivering to buildings) from 12:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. everyday.
*Pick up* will be held behind the Hostetter Building (Business Services) @ the Dock Door
Each Department/Admin Area should designate one representative to pick up mail - Only one person can enter the building at a time. Reminder – depending on the needs of your unit, you may not need to pick up mail every day. They are asking that one person to pick up everything for that area.
You will be asked to provide your Penn State ID and Building Address, they will provide you with your department’s mail at that time.
Please limit ordering to only items needed for essential research or business.
Please feel free to contact Diane Ault (865-7659 or dla17@psu.edu) if questions come up.

Building Lock/Unlock Schedules

In response to the Governor’s order to close non-life-sustaining physical locations to the public, the University will be keeping all buildings locked until further notice. While people still have 24/7 access to the buildings (for which you normally have key or swipe-card access), everyone is highly encouraged to continue to work remotely (stay at home) as much as possible.
People teaching classes now also have temporary access to any building that has a general purpose classroom. This is to ensure that those who are teaching have access to the resources within a GPC and further enable online teaching throughout the rest of this semester.

Janitorial Services

Janitorial personnel are considered essential staff by OPP and are also working on a modified schedule. They are focusing their cleaning efforts on the public areas and in areas where essential work is being done.
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 is working closely with Environmental Health and Safety on cleaning procedures for any cases of people who are suspected of being infected and have been on campus.

OPP Area Services

OPP technicians are considered essential staff and are still responding to requests. Requests are being prioritized by importance to essential efforts.

Renovations

Construction for renovation projects has been suspended by the state and will continue when the suspension is lifted. Planning is continuing through regularly scheduled meetings through Zoom. Frank Driscoll will serve as contact for these projects. New timelines will be established as construction starts up again.

Shared Gas Tank Area (Hosler Loading Dock for Hosler, Deike, and Steidle)

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.

Safety

It is important that our technical support staff remain accessible and continue to provide onsite lab support and safety oversight. It is possible this can be done in somewhat reduced hours, but the decision on what is appropriate should be worked out between the technical support staff and their supervisor. Safety levels must not be compromised.

Adherence to normal safety practices and policies does not change. In fact, we need to be more vigilant. EH&S has guidance already in place for insuring safety when there are less people around: See page 39 of Laboratory and Research Safety Plan.

7.4.2 Procedures for Working Alone
No one should work alone in a laboratory. More specifically, this means that someone else should be in close proximity (down the hall) and check in periodically on the individual. When it is not possible to have someone close by, the individual should arrange to call someone every half hour to provide updates on their status. Likewise, new lab work that presents hazards should never be done alone.

If faced with a situation where you feel it is necessary to work alone in a laboratory:

Reconsider the need. Is the work really that critical?
Reconsider the timing and setup of the work. Can the task be accomplished another time when others will be present?
If the timing of the task cannot be changed and you still feel it must be accomplished is there any other person trained in laboratory procedures who can accompany you?
If not, is there anyone else within the building who could act as a “buddy” to check on you periodically during the time that you feel you must work alone?
If no one can accompany you and you cannot find a “buddy,” do not proceed with the work. Speak to your PI/supervisor to make arrangements to complete the work in a safe manner.

7.4.3 Supervision Requirement

Everyone needs to have a supervisor, or someone acting in that capacity, at all times in order to ensure that the supervisory responsibilities listed in Section 3.0 and in SY01 are followed. If a faculty member or supervisor will be out of town, especially long term, someone else must be clearly assigned to take on those responsibilities and be familiar with the activities the individual is doing, including the potential hazards of the work.

Faculty Searches

See HR Coronovirus website for information

Parking

Beginning Thursday, March 19) and continuing until further notice, all faculty and staff with a valid daytime-access parking permit and all students with a valid Commuter parking permit may park throughout the day at the following parking areas:
- East Deck
- Eisenhower Dec
- Nittany Deck
- Red A
To enter and exit the East and Nittany decks, permit holders must scan their permit's barcode at one of the in-lane machines.
All other campus parking regulations remain in effect, to include no student parking at campus decks between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., seven days a week.
This temporary allowance is being implemented to provide central campus parking options for additional users while parking demand in these areas is diminished due to remote learning and teleworking and while CATA operates on a reduced service schedule. Transportation Services will continue to monitor parking usage and any updates or further changes will be communicated to permit holders via email.
If there are any questions, please email parking@psu.edu or call 865-1436.
RIDEpass participants and evening/weekend permit holders may park throughout the day at the Commuter lots (Jordan East, Stadium West, Porter North). We will continue to monitor parking usage and if any additional adjustments are appropriate, we will notify permit holders by email.

CATA Bus Service

To protect its employees and the community, starting Thursday March 19, CATA will not collect fares on any of its services and are encouraging passengers on fixed route service who are able to, to board the bus from the rear door. Any passenger using a mobility device would still board the bus through the front door.

At this time, due to the nature of this crisis, this will continue until further notice.

The frequency of the K (Cato Park) Route will be reduced from every 30 minutes to every 60 minutes throughout the day. The frequency of service on the N (Martin St./Aaron Drive), R (Waupelani Drive), and V (Vairo Blvd.) Routes will be reduced from every 20 minutes during peak operating times to every 40 minutes. Complete revised schedules may be found for these routes below.

Complete revised schedules may be found for these routes can be found below. **Please note that trips highlighted in yellow will NOT operate.**

Effective Monday, March 23, 2020

Effective Monday, March 23, all CATABUS fixed route service will cease operations at 8:00 p.m. daily. Specific details for final trips will be available by Thursday, March 19 at catabus.com. CATAGO! microtransit service will cease operation at 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 7:00 p.m. Saturday, as the service does not run on Sunday. CATA asks that those working second and third shifts who will be adversely affected by these changes please contact CATA's Customer Service Center at (814) 238-CATA (2282) during regular business hours to share their feedback on this change.

CATA will not operate the following routes: The A (Park Forest Village), B (Boalsburg), C (Houserville), F (Pine Grove), G (Gray's Woods), and S (Science Park) routes. We will notify the community when we are able to return these routes to service.
The XB (Bellefonte) and XG (Pleasant Gap) routes will also be discontinued, however CATAGO! microtransit service will be expanded to provide service to Pleasant Gap during this time. CATARIDE services will continue in the 3/4 mile zone around the XB and XG routes.
The changes in frequency to the K (Cato Park), N (Martin St./Aaron Dr.), R (Waupelani Dr.), and V (Vairo Blvd.) Routes scheduled to start on Thursday, March 19 will remain in effect.
CATA is working with Penn State to determine the impact of today's announcement on the Blue Loop and Red Link service so no changes are being made at this time.
CATARIDE service will now end at 11 p.m. each day except for Bellefonte /Pleasant Gap where service will end at 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. In addition, call in hours for reservations for next day trips will now be Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.