Return-to-Campus Guidance

• Effective: Jan. 24, 2022
• Applies to: Classified and University Staff, College of Engineering and Applied Science
• Guidance contact: Alisha Bennett Stewart, CEAS Director of Human Resources

Table of Contents

Introduction

The College of Engineering and Applied Science encourages a culture that enhances the student experience, increases engagement and retention, supports the health and wellness of our community, builds trust and productivity, and maintains responsible stewardship of resources.

Given the changing demographics of the workforce and the increased competition for qualified employees, it has become increasingly important to the college to continue to find alternative ways to compete in today’s labor market. Alternate schedules and work-at-home arrangements can enhance the existing salary and benefit package, fulfill business needs, assist with recruitment and retention, improve productivity and creativity, and accommodate a changing workforce.

The College of Engineering and Applied Science is redefining our working arrangement options to ensure optimization of role-specific duties, while also meeting the needs of employees and units.

College of Engineering & Applied Science Guiding Principles

The CEAS return-to-campus plan has been shaped by the following principles, which we believe will help the entire engineering community enjoy continued success when in-person learning and work resume in January.

• Support the college’s mission to generate new knowledge in engineering and related fields, and to equip students from diverse backgrounds to become leaders and citizens responsible for the betterment of individuals and society.
• Maintain and elevate a positive work culture of collaboration, creative problem-solving, inclusion and community.
• Support and encourage an ideal balance between an employee’s working life and private life. Embed flexibility and the opportunity for remote work into our culture and habits to achieve the highest level of productivity.
• Ensure all employees can successfully achieve goals and objectives associated with their positions.

Hybrid Work Guidelines

There are many individual variables that may dictate each staff member’s work situation. The following are guidelines to set reasonable expectations and help employees, supervisors and CEAS HR find workable solutions for staff.

The majority of our staff live in the state of Colorado and will be eligible to work remotely up to 24 hours, or three days, per week (prorated for part-time appointments). Please work with your supervisors to develop and/or update appropriate remote work plans.

Scheduling must take into account that offices need to be staffed Monday through Friday with an adequate number of professionals on site.

As we formally adopt a hybrid work model, it is important that we continue to promote a sense of community within CEAS. In-person student interactions are requisite to our success. Employees in student facing positions will conduct in-person business with students. In addition to these guidelines, unit supervisors should strive to have all their staff on site together at least one day per week for collaboration, teamwork, and engagement.

We recognize that some staff may have special requests with respect to working arrangements and we will do our best to accommodate those requests. To ensure equity, all health-related requests must go through ADA/FMLA. If any employee needs further information about submitting an ADA/FMLA request, please connect with the CEAS HR team.

An employee’s hybrid work arrangement cannot adversely affect the ability of other staff to perform their jobs.

Staff members may be required to come into the office for an unforeseen business circumstance, within reason and with advanced notice.

College Hybrid Work Policy  Hybrid Work Policy FAQ

Guidance for Supervisors and Unit Leadership

• Continue conversations with employees interested in alternate work arrangements. Supervisors will need to complete the “Work Schedules” spreadsheet in consultation with your unit leadership. This will be sent to unit leaders.
• Supervisors may ask their staff to return to campus. All staff whose duties are vital to student move-in and student success will be expected to return on site.
• Use Spring 2022 as a transitional semester, keeping in mind that there are still many variables at play (i.e., vaccinations, variants, family circumstances, flexible re-entry).
• Experiment, iterate (i.e., student workers for front desk, rotate customer service work), assess and revise as appropriate.
• Prioritize continuity of student experience-format and places students find resources, and services are clear and are consistent (mitigate change throughout semester).
• Attend to unit cohesion — equity and consistency.
• Staff should be on site at CU Boulder at least two days a week, or 40% of their time (prorated for part-time appointments).
• Supervisor will continue to monitor, assess and manage modality, coverage and performance.
• In the event of inclement weather or parking closures during the Spring 2022 semester, please work with your employee/s directly and/or follow campus communication.
• The college will conduct a survey seeking feedback on the transitional semester. This data will aid in future work arrangement planning.

Equipment Provided

CEAS may provide all staff with one set of the following IT equipment based on role. These items may be taken home on remote workdays:

• Laptop
• Docking station (as needed)
• Monitor/s
• Keyboard (ergonomic options available)
• Mouse (ergonomic options available)
• Headset (as needed)
• Webcam (as needed)

Furniture will only be provided for your CU on-campus workstation. Download a list of available home office furniture selections from Canter that can be purchased independently. To place an order, please contact Brie Gill at bgill@ccanter.com. 

Supplies such as pens and paper will be available in your individual units.

Requests for Fully Remote Work and/or Out-of-State Work

Fully remote work arrangements for university staff may be requested and must be approved by the immediate supervisor, the unit lead, CEAS human resources and the dean. Classified staff are required by Colorado’s Constitution to reside in the state of Colorado but may work remotely from other states temporarily. To request a fully remote work arrangement please email a justification of how your role can meet the guiding principles of the campus and college while maintaining engagement and meeting the unit business need, to the CEAS HR Director (approval must have already been given by the immediate supervisor and the unit lead). Each request will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and should only be made when there is a significant business reason for an individual to perform services fully remotely or outside of Colorado.

Work Space

Space allocation across the Boulder campus is governed by campus space guidelines. The guiding principles for space allocation are the following:

• Success: The success of our students, faculty, and staff is paramount. Wise stewardship and thoughtful design of our spatial resources directly and indirectly impact this success.
• Community: Our spatial resources should foster and enhance the sense of community throughout the university.
• Valuable Resource: Space is a valuable, finite resource that will be surveyed, managed, and allocated similar to budgets or personnel. It will be leveraged to achieve university goals and objectives.
• Space Ownership: Space is university property. It is allocated to departments, users and programs for the sole purpose of advancing the university mission.
• Efficient Utilization: Space will be efficiently used. It will be used for its intended function and to its appropriate time utilization. Periodic reviews of space will be made and inefficient space will be considered for possible reallocation.
• Monitored/Managed: All space allocations or reallocations will be either monitored or managed. All space allocations will be entered and monitored through the official space management software. Space allocation proposals across organizational units shall be managed by university approved procedures.

To abide by these principles and to operate within the campus space guidelines, CEAS allocated space will be tied to remote work schedules. Currently, the majority of staff share offices, per the Campus Space Guidelines. Going forward, staff who choose to work more than 20% remotely (more than one day per week at an off-site location) may be subject to sharing or hoteling, based on college space needs and availability. For employees who have been approved to work fully remote, they will be allocated a hoteling space, or a shared workstation in a shared office, when working on-site. Further guidance around space allocation and its connection to remote work may be given by the Campus Space Office, at which point CEAS will update our policy to abide by campus standards.

Parking

Please visit the Parking and Transportation website for information about activating a parking permit, purchasing day passes, alternate means of transportation, permit costs and more. 

Related Policies, Procedures, Forms, Guidelines and other Resources

• Employee Relations Office Campus HR Remote Working and Alternate Work Schedule Manager Guidance 
• Americans with Disability Compliance
• Family Medical Leave webpage and FMLA Employee Toolkit

Definitions

• Alternate work schedule: An alternate work schedule refers to any one of a variety of work arrangements different from traditional schedules. For example, different from Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., on-site work.
• On-campus work: Job functions that must be completed or are most effectively completed at an on-campus location. Employees have an assigned workspace at an on-campus site.
• Hybrid: For the purpose of these guidelines, is any employee who has access to a campus workspace and works from a hybrid of home and campus offices.
• Remote: for the purpose of these guidelines is defined as an employee working full-time from a location other than UCB.
• Local: For the purpose of these guidelines, defined as within driving distance.
• Standard work hours: CU Boulder standard hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. during the academic year (August-May) and 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. during the summer (June-July).

Concerns/Grievance Process

If you would like to discuss any concerns related to hybrid work, please email CEASHR@colorado.edu. Based on the information provided, the HR director will schedule a meeting with you to understand the concerns. This conversation will guide next steps as appropriate.

Questions

If you have any questions or concerns regarding CEAS guidelines, please follow up with your supervisor or with HR at CEASHR@colorado.edu. Additionally, CEASFutureofWork@colorado.edu has been set up to collect your feedback and input. We will be seeking feedback through a survey as well, but please reach out at any time to supply feedback.

Visit the Campus HR website for more information about CU Boulder’s Spring 2022 transition policies.