Spring Work Mode Update for Staff
A message from Dr. Renée T. White, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs; and Tokumbo Shobowale, Executive Vice President for Business and Operations
Dear Colleagues,
As the fall semester draws to a close, we want to acknowledge how challenging and complex our return to campus has been, how much we as a community have faced in experimenting with new “hybrid” ways of working and coming together, and how extraordinary New School staff have been. Some of you have been on campus, some have been working remotely in different ways—with varying success, as we have been learning in various forums and informal conversations, as well as from surveys of our community. Many thanks for your willingness to try out new approaches, as well as to share your thoughts on what has and hasn’t been working well.
We know how important in-person interactions are for our students’ educational experience, and we know we have much farther to go to rebuild the full vibrancy of our community in these challenging times. Based on what we have been learning from you, and with the goal of making spring 2022 as successful as possible for everyone, we are offering some further guidance and resources on our hybrid work plans for the spring semester.
Hybrid Work To Continue Through Spring 2022
We expect your schedules to remain relatively unchanged for the spring semester. In the coming weeks, we will continue to evaluate and evolve our approach to work by having more deliberate conversations —starting first with the Executive Deans and other senior team leaders to ensure they are well equipped to engage their teams in creative and constructive reflection guided by these principles. These discussions will include the potential for increasing in-person scheduling for a number of student-facing offices. All staff, regardless of your assigned work mode, are encouraged to make use of our Admin Hubs, which include collaboration areas, individual workstations, and meeting rooms. Please visit the hub website to learn about available amenities, view floorplans, and to download the reservation application Engage.
We also want to ensure you have the tools and training you need to succeed. A new Hybrid Work Guide includes suggested ‘ground rules’ for teams as well as some tips and tricks to help you better manage meetings, projects, and time commitments. We will also be providing training for managers in the spring and will share more information soon.
Ongoing Masking and Testing
Our masking and testing protocols as outlined in the university’s COVID-19 Community Guide will remain unchanged for now as we enter the winter and spring semesters. These protocols have been very effective at keeping infection rates very low, even as we returned to campus at the height of the Delta variant. Please note that all members of the university community—regardless of their vaccination status—will be required to take a PCR COVID-19 test and provide a negative test result within seven days before coming back to campus for the winter and spring semesters.
End of Year Get Togethers
The end of the calendar year is an opportunity for all of us to reflect on the year that has passed, to celebrate our accomplishments, and to express gratitude for our colleagues who have helped us throughout the year. We encourage all teams to make time to connect, foster camaraderie, and maintain our sense of community. In the coming days, Human Resources will share a list of ideas for activities to help managers with planning a virtual gathering.
Thank you for all that you do to make The New School a dynamic and thriving community. We deeply appreciate you and your dedication to this university. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.