SSU Reentry Frequently Asked Questions

Work with your supervisor to determine if there are opportunities for you to take leave or telework if you live with a family member who is at risk for serious illness from COVID-19.

Your supervisor, in consultation with Human Resources, will be able to advise you of options available if you are not comfortable returning to the workplace and interacting with others.

The university reserves the right to conduct screening of employees and others who come to campus. If screenings are used, appropriate notification will be provided.

Outside vendors and visitors will be allowed on campus and encouraged to practice protocols necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

While teleworking is an option and encouraged for many employees who have the capability to work from home, not all positions allow for this flexibility. Your supervisor will be able to advise you regarding whether teleworking or flextime may be options for you.

The university will allow and encourage flexible work times for employees. However, supervisors will work with employees to determine if this is an option for them.

Yes. Your supervisor will be able to assist you with securing cleaning and disinfecting supplies for your department.

Faculty, staff, students, and visitors must wear a face covering while inside campus facilities/buildings where six feet social distancing may not always be possible.

Stay safe while interacting with others by practicing social distancing, wearing personal protective equipment such as facemasks/face coverings and gloves, covering coughs and sneezes, washing your hands often, and cleaning and disinfecting workspaces.

Faculty, staff, students, and visitors must wear a face covering while inside campus facilities/buildings where six feet social distancing may not always be possible. Wearing of facemasks/face coverings protects people around you if you are infected but do not have COVID-19 symptoms. The use of N95 respirators should be reserved for healthcare personnel and other medical first responders.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advises washing your hands often and avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

Encourage social distancing, regular hand washing and cleaning and disinfecting of workspaces. If employees display symptoms of COVID-19, they should leave the workplace immediately and report the symptoms to a supervisor and/or hr@savannahstate.edu.

Social distancing, also called “physical distancing,” means keeping space between yourself and other people outside of your home. To practice social or physical distancing: 1) Stay at least 6 feet (about two arms’ length) from other people; 2) Do not gather in groups; and 3) Stay out of crowded places and avoid mass gatherings.

According to the CDC, in order for an employee who has recovered from COVID-19 to return to work, the employee should provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test result or should be without a fever above 100.4 for a period of 72 hours without the aid of fever-reducing medications and have no additional symptoms. The university will follow CDC and Georgia Department of Public Health  guidelines in allowing employees to return to work.

If meetings and conferences, on campus, can be conducted virtually (e.g., Webex, Skype or Zoom), or through effective social distancing, an employee can proceed with the meeting or conference. Since non-essential travel is prohibited at this time, attendance at in-person meetings and conferences should be cancelled, if they cannot be provided in a virtual environment. A vice president must approve essential travel to meetings and conferences in advance. For your safety, the meeting/conference planners should ensure social distancing and other safety protocols before you commit to attend.

Some of the social distancing practices SSU will implement are as follows:

• Stagger work shifts
• Designate specific stairways for up or down traffic if building space allows
• Encourage single occupancy in work rooms
• Place Plexiglas or other barriers in high-visited areas such as reception/administrative
• assistant desks and check-in points
• Remove chairs in conference rooms and place signage indicating maximum occupancy
• Limit use of restrooms based on size to ensure at least 6 feet distance between individuals
• Limit use of elevators to one person per elevator ride. Signage will be placed at elevators to communicate one person per ride. Employees should ensure this protocol is followed.

If childcare has been impacted as a result of COVID-19, the employee should contact their supervisor and Human Resources for further options. It is encouraged that employees who are asked to return to support on-campus operations talk with their childcare provider to look at options that may be available. If childcare has been impacted for other reasons not related to COVID-19 during this COVID-19 response time, the employee should contact their supervisor. Supervisors are encouraged to provide accommodations through continued telework when work is available, create opportunities to support rotating schedules, or extend hours of work where possible.

Employees are not required to disclose if they are in a high-risk category based upon preexisting medical condition. If an employee considers him or herself to be high-risk for COVID-19 based on the CDC guidelines and have concerns regarding returning to on-campus work, the employee may voluntarily discuss with his or her supervisor or may request an accommodation from SSU HR. If an employee voluntarily discloses, this information will be kept confidential in accordance with SSU personnel policies.

Supervisors, in coordination with HR, will work with employees who are requesting

accommodations to care for self or a family member with high-risk conditions. Supervisors should discuss options that support a healthy and safe work environment while determining ways to complete position responsibilities. Some employees may be permitted to continue with telework arrangements through extended phases of return to campus with periodic reviews of return to campus dates for individual positions.

Employees should bring their concerns to their supervisor and discuss options available to support the work needing to be done while supporting health and safety of our employees. HR can also provide support in facilitating conversations with supervisors and employees to determine needs and accommodations available to meet those needs. Possible accommodations may range from continuing telework arrangements to office restructuring, to possible schedule rotations. Any request for accommodation for a disability should comply with Americans with Disability Act.

At this time, COVID-19 testing is free for everyone. The Department of Public Health is

providing COVID-19 testing.

The university has developed a cleaning schedule. Please see below.

Clean

• Use a lint-free cloth, such as a screen wipe or a cloth made from microfiber.
• Avoid excessive wiping and submerging item in cleanser to avoid damage.
• Unplug all external power sources and cables.
• Do not use aerosol sprays, bleach or abrasive cleaners.
• Ensure moisture does not get into any openings.
• Never spray cleaner directly on an item.

Disinfect

• Using an EPA registered disinfectant wipe or a wipe containing 70% alcohol, gently and carefully wipe the hard, nonporous surface of the item. This includes the display, keyboard, mouse and the exterior surface of the item.

Clean

• Wear disposable gloves to clean and disinfect.
• Clean surfaces using soap and water, then use disinfectant.
• Cleaning with soap and water reduces number of germs, dirt and impurities on the surface.

Disinfecting kills germs on surfaces.

• Practice routine cleaning of frequently touched surfaces.
• More frequent cleaning and disinfection may be required based on level of use.
• Surfaces and objects in public places, such as shopping carts and point of sale keypads
• should be cleaned and disinfected before each use.
• High touch surfaces include: Tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, sinks, etc.

Disinfect

• Recommend use of EPA-registered household disinfectant external iconFollow the

instructions on the label to ensure safe and effective use of the product.

Many products recommend:

• Keeping surface wet for a period of time (see product label).
• Precautions such as wearing gloves and making sure you have good ventilation during use of the product.
• Always read and follow the directions on the label to ensure safe and effective use.
• Wear skin protection and consider eye protection for potential splash hazards
• Ensure adequate ventilation
• Use no more than the amount recommended on the label
• Use water at room temperature for dilution (unless stated otherwise on the label)
• Avoid mixing chemical products
• Label diluted cleaning solutions
• Store and use chemicals out of the reach of children and pets

You should never eat, drink, breathe or inject these products into your body or apply directly to your skin as they can cause serious harm. Do not wipe or bathe pets with these products or any other products that are not approved for animal use.

See EPA’s 6 steps for Safe and Effective Disinfectant Use.

In addition to cleaning and disinfecting, employees are expected to practice social distancing, wear facemasks/face coverings, avoid sharing workstations (spaces) and stay home if you have COVID-19 symptoms.

No, the central air systems in offices should not be turned off.

All dining services on campus will be closed until further notice.

To avoid transmission of COVID-19 between employees, break rooms and lobbies will not be available for lunch and/or breaks until further notice. Employees are encouraged to bring refrigerated lunchboxes or coolers for food and beverage storage and use outdoor seating areas and social distancing for lunches and breaks.

Employees who suspect an employee is ill should encourage the employee to go home as soon as possible and ask them to notify their supervisor. Employees should not assume a diagnosis of any sort but merely inform one another of safe practices in "staying home" when not feeling well. Any concerns should be reported directly to your supervisor even if the employee is not in your department. Your supervisor should contact HR if the employee reports outside of their department or if within the same department request the employee to go home until confirmation from a medical provider is obtained that a return to work is possible. Employees may be asked to follow the potential exposure protocol for COVID-19, which is staying home until they are without symptoms, including fever free for at least 72 hours without fever-reducing medication before returning to work.

Employees should notify ssucovid-19@savannahstate.edu and their supervisor if they believe they have been exposed to someone who has tested positive or is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Should any employee start to experience symptoms of fever and/or upper respiratory illness, he or she should seek medical treatment and notify his or her supervisor and ssucovid-19@savannahstate.edu. An employee should stay home in a non-work status in order to support full recovery. Faculty and staff who have potential exposure to COVID-19 but are not experiencing symptoms should follow CDC guidelines and self-quarantine for 14 days. During the period of self-quarantine,

employees continue to telework unless they are otherwise on leave. Employees should follow CDC guidelines to determine the appropriate time to return to work, while SSU asks returning employees to be symptom free and fever-free for at least 72 hours without fever-reducing medication before returning to work.

Employees are entitled to protections against discrimination based upon age, disability, and a number of other protected categories. Others should not presume to determine if someone is in a high-risk category. Each individual should assess him or herself with the CDC guidance and/or their health care provider to determine if she or he believes it is safe to come to work. If a coworker learns of a high-risk factor, they must maintain confidentiality of that information, only reporting it with HR or a supervisor, or sharing it with permission of the individual with the risk factor.

Faculty and staff who have potential exposure to COVID-19 but are not experiencing symptoms should follow CDC guidelines and self-quarantine for 14 days. During the period of self-quarantine, employees continue to telework unless they are otherwise on leave.

The supervisor will determine which employees had contact or interaction with the ill employee and advise them of the situation. The supervisor will not identify the ill employee by name unless the employee grants permission. Employees who had close contact with the ill employee should go home, isolate themselves and monitor for symptoms.

SSU will always work to protect the privacy of all employees as well as the health and safety of the campus community. SSU asks all employees to self-monitor daily before coming to work and requires employees to stay home when not well and to follow return to work protocol of being symptom and fever-free for at least 72 hours without fever-reducing medication before returning to work. SSU will work to isolate the area(s) of exposure and follow CDC guidelines to clean and disinfect areas used by ill employees.

At this time, all SSU employees, students and university guests (including contractors and vendors) are expected to wear facemasks/face coverings and social distance while on campus. Employees may seek assistance from their supervisors should other employees fail to comply.