Updates for the U of A community, week ending July 23

Posted: July 23, 2:40 p.m.

Mask Reminder and Update

Faculty, staff, and students who individually choose to wear non-medical face masks are encouraged to do so. Non-medical face masks are a welcome choice, but are currently optional in most areas at the U of A — exceptions are based on current provincial requirements (i.e. when two or more people are in a commercial motor vehicle). For more information about masking on our campuses, visit the COVID-19 Campus Safety page.

Part-time Parking Options on Campus

As employees and students prepare to transition to spending more time on campus, we recognize that there are some individuals whose Fall work and study schedules might require the need for our regular full-time parking permits, as they may still want or need to drive to our campuses. To help make parking easier, faculty, staff, and students may want to consider the “Share a permit” program from Parking Services. To learn more about this and other part-time parking options, visit the Parking Services website.

Principles for Planning Campus Events this Fall

Fall is often a time for the U of A community to connect, celebrate, and get involved through a number of events - and while we intend to do so cautiously in 2021, this will remain true this year. The Public Health Response Team has prepared the following principles to help guide the planning processes for campus events this year. They include:

• Indoor and outdoor events involving staff, students and the general public are encouraged at the U of A into the Fall Term and beyond.
• Units organizing events will follow the same processes required prior to COVID-19.
• For larger events or those involving alcohol service where hazard assessments were undertaken, that will continue, including any public health measures required under provincial or municipal legislation and regulation.
• Where the university leases space for events, the university will fulfill its role as the owner of the space and expect external organizers to align with any public health measures required under provincial and municipal legislation and regulation. 
• Approvals for events will follow the normal approval processes established in the Faculty/Portfolio. Any questions regarding COVID-19 public health measures can be directed to phrtinfo@ualberta.ca
• All student related events will follow the normal approval processes through the Dean of Students.

Pre-pandemic, safety was a top priority for all official U of A events and that will remain the case going forward.

Thank You for Your Feedback

In June, we shared a return-to-campus fall readiness survey with faculty and staff. Thank you to everyone who responded.

We heard in the survey that you’re most interested in timelines for going to campus, remote work program information, safety information and parking options. Each unit and department's timeline for returning to campus is different; you will be notified in advance by your supervisor when the time comes for you to return. We are in the process of developing a Work from Home program, and will share details later this summer. Safety information, including information about ventilation, is available on the Safety Measures General Directives page. In last week's COVID-19 Update, we shared an update on parking services.

After the survey was shared, we published information for faculty and staff about returning to campus that included much of the details you were looking for. We’re also using the results to inform upcoming communications and build on our existing resources.

General inquiries: U of A Public Health Response Team, phrtinfo@ualberta.ca

COVID-19 Rapid Response support for on-campus supervisors, instructors and activity coordinators: U of A Rapid Response Triage Team, phrt.triage@ualberta.ca