[Agvisors] FW: Guidance about vaccine requirement for graduate student employees

Fri Nov 5 15:38:18 MST 2021

Greetings Agvisors team,

Happy homecoming Friday, hope this email finds you all well. Campus has been much busier today with many festivities in place. Let's all continue to do our part in practicing safety protocols to remain safe and do our best to protect others as well.  Along the topic, below is an email Associate Dean Mike Staten requested be forwarded to Agvisors for reference and to distribute accordingly. Thank you all in advance.

Best,
Nancy

Nancy G. Rodriguez-Lorta, M.Ed. | Senior Director, Advising and Student Services
UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences | Office of Career & Academic Services
Pronouns: She/Her/Ella
Positivity/Learner/Relator/Arranger/Input

Forbes Room 203 | PO Box 210036 |Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
Phone: (520) 621-3611 | Fax: (520) 621-8662
Website: https://cals.arizona.edu/students/advising
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Advising drop-ins and appointments may be scheduled by phone or online at:
https://student.esms.arizona.edu/

Student Announcements - CALS E-Newsletter archive: https://cals.arizona.edu/content/cals-e-newsletter-archive

The University of Arizona
Arizona's Land-Grant University

From: Staten, Michael E - (statenm) <statenm at arizona.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, November 3, 2021 10:03 AM
To: Rodriguez Lorta, Nancy G - (nancyr) <nancyr at arizona.edu>
Cc: Sykes-Casavant, Gabrielle - (gms) <gms at arizona.edu>; Hunt, James E - (jeh) <JHunt at ag.arizona.edu>; Flink, Danielle - (danielleflink) <danielleflink at arizona.edu>; Valle, Serena Sidra - (ssvalle) <ssvalle at arizona.edu>
Subject: Fw: Guidance about vaccine requirement for graduate student employees

Nancy and all,

I thought the message below from Associate Dean Maggie Pitts in the Grad College, and her attachments, were a very useful summary of the university's position and requirements regarding vaccination.  The requirement to upload vaccination documents by December 8 applies to graduate student employees (anyone on an RAship or TAship) just as it does to all other UA employees.  This is probably good information for our advisors across the college as they may interact with grad students or take questions.

Would you mind forwarding this to the advisor listserve?

Thanks.

Mike

Michael Staten | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Bart Cardon Associate Dean for Career and Academic Services
Professor, Agricultural and Resource Economics
The University of Arizona
Forbes Hall, Room 211
The University of Arizona
PO Box 210036
Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
PHONE: 520.621.1932
statenm at email.arizona.edu<mailto:statenm at email.arizona.edu>
www.mikestaten.com<http://www.mikestaten.com>

________________________________
From: directors-of-graduate-studies-request at list.arizona.edu<mailto:directors-of-graduate-studies-request at list.arizona.edu> <directors-of-graduate-studies-request at list.arizona.edu<mailto:directors-of-graduate-studies-request at list.arizona.edu>> on behalf of Pitts, Margaret J - (mjpitts) <mjpitts at arizona.edu<mailto:mjpitts at arizona.edu>>
Sent: Wednesday, November 3, 2021 9:01 AM
To: directors-of-graduate-studies at list.arizona.edu<mailto:directors-of-graduate-studies at list.arizona.edu> <directors-of-graduate-studies at list.arizona.edu<mailto:directors-of-graduate-studies at list.arizona.edu>>
Subject: [Directors of Graduate Studies] Guidance about vaccine requirement for graduate student employees

Dear Directors of Graduate Studies and Graduate Program Coordinators,

You asked for guidance about what to share with graduate student employees regarding the University of Arizona Vaccine Requirement<https://hr.arizona.edu/content/employee-covid-19-vaccine-requirement>. Recently, the Division of Human Resources offered the following regarding your role in the vaccine requirement (pasted below). As always, the University of Arizona Covid-19 page is a first source of information: https://covid19.arizona.edu/updates.

Your role in the vaccine requirement

We have discussed the Employee COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement in two recent supervisors meetings (Oct. 19 and Oct. 28). You can view the recordings on our On-Demand Meeting Recordings<https://click.comms.arizona.edu/?qs=8dfbb64177d4712cef680ff35e4661d6b7b5933d43e5aa6cf4e8716f9611dc2f22682d6ea67f3d5129bbacf3a7458565465c0c23abbfdbec> page. Please also review the Q&A document we shared with you in an Oct. 28 email<https://click.comms.arizona.edu/?qs=8dfbb64177d4712c6354f03cf8af94dc3cbc86c8e9d3318ad55bff937435f45181f7f27edb0cb2245addd8c2d9ed3b46ed69915ebb454e97>.

Remember:

Supervisors are not responsible for monitoring vaccination compliance, but they can encourage employees to meet the compliance requirement. These are our suggestions for what you should do:

*         Direct employees to HR's Employee COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement<https://click.comms.arizona.edu/?qs=8dfbb64177d4712c45ee97b5fdf980ed576c6c503b8a888e0aebbdb4940146f7fe49b812c59c4005ddeee4f5e2a18a5cae9840c9f0a54789> page.

*         Help educate employees about the options for compliance (upload vaccine documentation as soon as possible OR request a religious or disability/medical accommodation).

*         Listen to employees' concerns and feedback and email HR<mailto:HR-COVID19-Questions at email.arizona.edu?subject=> if there are obstacles to compliance you'd like to discuss.

*         Support employees who need time off or flexibility in scheduling to become fully vaccinated by Dec. 8

I especially encourage you to support graduate students by listening to their concerns, directing them to resources (CAPS<https://caps.arizona.edu/>, campus health<https://health.arizona.edu/>, HR, <mailto:HR-COVID19-Questions at email.arizona.edu> and/or DRC<https://drc.arizona.edu/covid/employees-vaccine-accommodation>), and meeting their needs so that they can schedule their vaccine and have a time period for recovery in needed.

I have also drafted an email (see attached) that you can share with your graduate student employees. Dec 8th is rapidly approaching, so encouraging them to upload their vaccination documents or apply for an accommodation as soon as possible is a good idea. The Q and A document we generated at the last DGS and GPC meeting might also be a helpful resource to share. I have attached that to this email, as well. Note, the attached QnA document has a small update to bullet point #2.

Thank you,

Maggie

Margaret "Maggie" Pitts, PhD

Associate Dean of the Graduate College

Associate Professor of Communication

Department of Communication

University of Arizona

mjpitts at email.arizona.edu<mailto:mjpitts at email.arizona.edu>

520-621-7080

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