Human Resources Updates on Vaccinations, Return to Work, Furloughs

Please note that the following is archived content. As of May 2023, COVID vaccinations are no longer required for students, staff, or faculty. You can read the updated policy here. For up-to-date information, please refer to the A-Z Index

04.12.21

Dear Colleagues, 

As President Snyder announced in his March 9 letter to the community, LMU plans to welcome our students back in the fall for in-person instruction, co-curricular programs, support services, and campus housing at full capacity. We are working diligently to ensure compliance with regulatory agencies, adopt proactive measures, and create a safe work environment. As you know, this process is dynamic and open to continuous improvement. We ask that community members remain flexible and actively seek the information they need to return to campus. In consultation with the Faculty Senate President, Dorothea Herreiner, Staff Senate President Katherine Brown, Associate Deans Jonathan Rothchild and Suzanne Larson, academic leadership, Student Affairs, Campus Safety and Human Resources, the following outlines what to anticipate at this time. Human Resources will continue to share updates in the coming weeks via Community Advisories.

Vaccinations
Vaccinations are essential to protecting our community and facilitating a safe return to campus life. We strongly encourage all community members who are not limited by underlying medical conditions to get vaccinated. The LMU Vaccination Center is now open to LMU students, faculty, and staff (including contractors), offering vaccinations by appointment only. To date, the Vaccination Center has administered 600 first dose inoculations to the LMU community and 400 first doses to local Catholic schools’ faculty and staff through a partnership with the L.A. Archdiocese.

Learn more about LMU’s vaccination process here and to register for an on-campus vaccine appointment, please sign up here using your LMU or Lion email address. (Contractors or contract employees should utilize the email address at which they received the invitation.)

Off-campus vaccination appointments may be made via the L.A. County Department of Public Health or through your primary care physician.

Documentation of Vaccination
Faculty and Staff are encouraged to provide the university with documentation showing they have been vaccinated. This is voluntary and will be collected by human resources and COVID Support Team (CST) staff ONLY and will be maintained with the strictest confidentiality pursuant to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements. Access is restricted to these groups of staff. No supervisory staff or managerial personnel will have access to vaccination records, nor will a faculty or staff member’s vaccination status be disclosed. Human Resources will soon be announcing a process to submit proof of vaccination via a secure portal.  

Why is it important to document vaccination? 

  • Managing COVID exposure is important. Consistent with federal, state and local guidance, being fully vaccinated impacts the requirement to quarantine when exposed to COVID. CST needs access to vaccination records to assess accurately and effectively what protocol to follow when a faculty or staff member is exposed.
  • Providing documentation of vaccination is voluntary. If you elect to not share documentation of your vaccination, the CST will assume you have not been vaccinated. If exposed to COVID, or in some instances if you travel, you will be required to quarantine for the requisite period.
  • Testing standards may change for those fully vaccinated who are in LMU’s mandatory surveillance testing program.
  • Knowledge of vaccination allows evaluation of our community’s herd immunity status. Herd immunity is when a large enough portion of a community is immune to the virus so that the virus can no longer spread easily from person to person.
  • A dashboard reflecting the total number of students, faculty, and staff that are fully vaccinated will be launched to increase confidence about returning to campus.

Return to Work
All faculty and staff should prepare to begin a phased return to campus this summer, for some starting in June and continuing through August. Your supervisor will communicate directly with you about your expected date of return to campus. We hope that providing this notice in advance allows time to prepare for this coming transition. We are also cognizant that, for many, this will be a challenge, and to this end we are working on ways to ease the transition while also meeting the university’s operational needs.

  • Due to capacity restrictions we will not bring everyone back to campus full-time but will employ a phased approach. Human Resources is working to develop strategies to ease the requirement to come to campus five days per week. Each division will be responsible for identifying in-person needs and working with faculty and staff to ensure appropriate staffing levels are met. Hybrid work schedules (combination of on-campus and remote work) may be used to assist in the transition back to campus. Faculty should discuss scheduling with their department chair and staff should discuss scheduling with their supervisor.
  • The reasonable accommodation process is available for faculty and staff who need assistance to perform the essential functions of their position due to a medical condition. This process, facilitated by Human Resources, is confidential. To initiate the process, interested faculty should contact Janet Lindsay at janet.lindsay@lmu.edu and staff should contact Wendy Maximo at wendy.maximo@lmu.edu
  • We understand many in our community face challenges and demands in caring for family members or limitations on returning to campus related to the health condition of others living in your home. Human Resources is implementing a confidential request process for faculty and staff who wish to be excused from returning to campus. Faculty should contact Janet Lindsay at janet.lindsay@lmu.edu and staff should contact Wendy Maximo at wendy.maximo@lmu.edu to initiate a request to be excused from reporting to campus. 
  • In some instances faculty and staff who are required to work on campus may not be able to return this fall. Please remember that you may be eligible for a Family Medical Leave. Eligible faculty and staff Family Medical Leaves provide leave time for you to attend to your own serious health condition or to care for a seriously ill family member. Human resources can assist in navigating your options. To learn more about Family Medical Leaves contact hr@lmu.edu.
  • COVID surveillance testing will remain in place on-site at no cost to members of our community. This allows the university to identify asymptomatic COVID positive individuals, take appropriate measure to protect others, and mitigate transmission. The number of days a community member is on campus each week will determine the frequency of testing. More information to follow.
  • Extensive safety protocols have been put in place, including: university provided Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as face masks; signage used to guide social distancing; multiple hand sanitizing stations; on-site COVID testing; modified work areas that ensure appropriate physical distancing; increased cleaning in all common use areas; improved building ventilation (HVAC); comprehensive training for faculty and staff; a highly trained CST; implementation of a campus access health screen application (Lion Health Check); workplace assessments; frequent community communications; and more.

Furloughs
We are pleased to announce, beginning in mid-April, some areas will begin recalling staff from furlough with schedules to be determined by each unit’s operating needs. LMU Children’s Center (LMUCC) staff are returning now for a phased reopening of the Center beginning in May, and all furloughed Facilities Management staff will be returned by mid-May. LMUCC admission inquiries may be submitted here.

Please continue to check LMU.edu/together for the latest information.    

We appreciate your patience and understanding during this transitionary period. Some uncertainties remain and are beyond the direct control of the university. We will work as a team to be prepared to serve our students while supporting each other as we return to on-campus life.

General questions may be submitted to hr@lmu.edu.

 

Stay safe and healthy,

LMU Human Resources