Process for employees returning to main campus after the holiday break:
To maintain a healthy environment and ensure a positive on-campus experience for the entire Florida Poly community, personal responsibility will continue to be key. Our employees did a remarkable job this fall following all COVID-19 protocols and working to create a healthy workplace. For that, we are all to be commended.
For the Spring 2021 semester, an updated Blueprint for Returning to Campus was created. Please take time to review the document. Included in this is a requirement that all employees working on the main campus get COVID tested between Jan. 4 and Jan. 8. A test result must be submitted to HR before Monday, Jan. 11.
We understand you will have questions regarding the reasoning for testing at this time. The President’s cabinet made this decision in an effort to ensure a clean start to the spring semester. For the Fall 2020 semester, we did not require testing and also did not require students to attend in-person classes. For many reasons, including to ensure student engagement and participation, that has changed for the spring semester. Students will now have an attendance requirement and are strongly encouraged to increase their participation on campus. As such, we need to establish as healthy an environment as possible at the beginning of the semester to protect both the students and our employees.
Because employees at Florida Poly South and FIPR do not have interactions on campus, employees whose main office is at Florida Poly South or FIPR will only need to provide a negative test result for COVID-19 if they will be working on the main campus at any time between Jan. 8 and Jan. 25.
A list of test centers where employees can be tested for free will be provided. To encourage the use of the free test centers, employees may take up to four hours of work time to be tested between Jan. 4 and Jan. 7. This release time must be coordinated with the employee’s immediate supervisor.
For those employees unable to make it to a testing site between Jan. 4 and Jan. 7, the BayCare mobile screening bus will be on campus for student COVID-19 testing on Jan. 8. Employees may be tested at the BayCare bus that day. The University will be covering this cost for employees (*this does not include student-employees*).
All test results will remain strictly confidential and should be sent to COVID-HR@floridapoly.edu. The Human Resources Department will monitor whether employees have submitted their results and communicate directly with managers and supervisors on Thursday, Jan. 7, to notify them of any employees who have not submitted a test result.
Managers and supervisors should then work with their employees to ensure they are able to utilize the BayCare bus on main campus for testing on Friday, Jan. 8.
If, for any reason, an employee is not able to secure a test on or before Jan. 8, they should contact the Department of Human Resources.
Should an employee receive a positive test result, they should follow the same process that has been in place for reporting a COVID-19 case by completing the Florida Poly COVID-19 notification form.
Thank you again for your commitment to keeping our campus environment as healthy as possible. Please feel free to reach out to the Department of Human Resources if you have any questions or concerns.
Stay well,
Department of Human Resources