Well, good afternoon, everyone. Welcome on this beautiful spring day. I'm Lisa Sterns. I'm the Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications with the Institute of Agriculture.
And we are here with Dr. Tim Cross for our third week of Fireside Chats. We're really happy to have you here to talk about issues of this week related to the COVID pandemic. So a couple of housekeeping items.
Remember that your audio is automatically muted. If you would keep it that way, we'd appreciate it. Also, you can use the chat function to ask any questions. Go ahead and put those in the chat.
If you'd like to send me the question privately, it's Lisa Sterns. So just you can send that to me that way. And we'll get it to Dr. Cross.
And just for those that cannot join us today, remember that we are recording this session. And it will be posted to the coronavirus website on the UTIA homepage. So with that said, we're going to jump right in. So Tim, first question is, the governor obviously issued a stay at home mandate yesterday.
So how can or how would you assess the Institute's reaction thus far to really enacting social distancing? Great. I suspect everyone saw the news yesterday, afternoon, yesterday evening about the increased restrictions that Governor Lee has really encouraged all of us to follow. And in fact, required is now the order to be used in the executive order.
So basically, the order says effective last night, we were required to stay at home unless we're conducting essential activities or providing essential services. And the good news is that's what we've been doing really for the past two to three weeks. Higher education is one of those services that is being essential. So what we have done already is to really trim back the on-site work that's required.
We've encouraged everyone to work from home that possibly can. And really everybody's done a phenomenal job of that. We've really made a huge impact in terms of the numbers of folks working on-site or in their offices. And that's a good thing.
That means we're doing our part to help reduce or prevent the spread of coronavirus. So by and large, the announcement last night, not going to say it had no impact. What we're going to do is continue to encourage everyone who possible can to work from home, to be in alignment with Governor Lee's order. But other than that, we won't see any major or drastic changes beyond what we've already done.
Because again, I think the good news is we've already taken the steps that really we're going to be required in order to comply with an order like this. And this far, you said we've only had one confirmed case? Yeah, so that's the really good news. Sometimes when you're sitting at home, I don't wonder, am I really doing anything to help this situation?
You are, and we all are. Because to date, we have still only had one positive case throughout the Institute of Agriculture, at least that's been reported. And that's certainly good news. We certainly hope that that's exactly the way that number stays.
And by doing our part to have proper social distancing and to stay apart, I'm confident that we'll continue to be successful in that regard. So really, really good news that we have not seen a lot of outbreak throughout the Institute. So we also saw the announcement that summer classes would be going online. How long in your estimation do you think online instruction will continue?
Well, you may have seen the announcement just earlier this week, that summer classes are all going to be offered only online. So there will be no resident participation on campus with regard to summer courses. And really, the idea of that is to give the campus the time to completely clean out, if you will. There are still students who have longings in the dorms who have been unable to come and retrieve them.
So the dorms really haven't been put back in a good state of sanitation yet at this point. So by moving to online delivery for the summer, that will provide a chance for the campus, at least, to really take care of business, make sure everything is clean and sanitized, and be in the best possible position to hopefully welcome back students this fall. Now, the next question then is, OK, well, what about other events that may be going on? I expect very soon to hear an announcement that public events sponsored by the university will likely be postponed or canceled through the summer term as well to go inside with the online delivery of courses.
So at this point, I would anticipate that's a strong possibility. Now, again, that's campus. And we can determine what makes the most sense for our off-campus facilities. But if the dorms are closed here on campus, that certainly has a major direct impact on some of our campus-oriented programs or activities that would have normally occurred this summer.
I know Dr. Loveday, Dr. Burns are looking at some of those with regard to youth development activities, and we'll need to be considering what to do with regard to all of those kinds of programs. And I believe at this point, what we hope to do is make some firm decisions, if you will, by no later than May 1st about public events that would be university sponsored for the summer.
It's really hard to have a good crystal ball right now. None of us want to miss out on those great events and activities that we do starting about this time of year, and that really, really reach a peak, probably in the summertime, from field days to summer camping to on-farm demonstrations. You know, that there's a lot that happens. And then, of course, the on-campus activities that normally are conducted.
We're going to have to take a good large part of it. Look at all of those. I'd remind everybody about our priorities. And our number one priority was protecting health and safety.
Employees, students, and those that we serve. So I think we start from that perspective. And with what we know today, it's really hard to see anything getting substantially better in the next several weeks. But let's hope we're pleasantly surprised.
Let's hope we really move out of this as quickly as we seem to move into it. And we can always reassess. So it is possible to consider decisions as we go. It's also though pretty difficult to plan something with only one or two weeks' notice.
And so it's a challenge to make the decision at the right time, not too soon, not too late, in order to be effective in how we go forward. I probably talked all around that question. But at this point, I think we're still obviously committed to having no public events through the end of April. And then we'll reconsider what we do going forward for both May, June and July.
So those are decisions that we haven't made yet. But we'll really be hard pressed to put those off much longer. Tim, I'm getting a number of emails that people are having trouble logging in. And so if you are with a worker who or can communicate with somebody, the domain name does need to be Tennessee.
I think it defaults to UTIA and it needs to say Tennessee. So if you can share that with your coworkers, that would be great. And I'm just touching on that for just a second too. There's been some troubles throughout the nation, actually, with Zoom bombing.
Maybe some of our IT folks who are on with us today can describe that a little more. But people who just jumped into a Zoom session, who are not a part of it, who are not even affiliated with the organization, and then make very disruptive statements or actually take over the screen, dominate the chats, and so forth. I didn't want our experience to be negatively impacted in that way. So we turned on the security required option for this session today.
And for those of you doing your own sessions, that maybe involve any more than just a handful of people. I would recommend you give that serious consideration for the future too. No need for that kind of major disruption. Right.
So you were talking about advance. I thought you might want to mention that some are already starting to think a little bit outside of the box. You might mention the plans for my online field day. Yeah, obviously one of the things we do, again, starting in the spring and all the way through the fall is field days that are 10 research and education centers.
And I know that there are thoughts about maybe converting some of those to a virtual or online format. And I think that's wise to be thinking about that. Again, having a perfect crystal of all is almost impossible. So what we don't want to do is be caught without any plans, thoughts, or ideas at all, which we think about what we're trying to achieve.
And then think about can we do it in some different way? That's probably the thought process to follow it rather than being totally locked into doing things exactly as we've always done. And then simply saying, OK, we can't do it. We're throwing up our hands.
I've seen great examples of that throughout the Institute already. And granted, the experiences might not be the same in some different venue or delivery format. But can we achieve the educational objectives? Can we achieve the engagement objectives that we have in doing some of those events if we do them in a different way?
So I think that's really how these are being looked at. And we can gain some experiences that, again, position us better for the future to enable to do some things in a different way. So one change that also happened this week is that there are some new federal rules in place for those with specific issues due to COVID. Can you address those new rules?
Yeah, that was a presidential order or federal rules that were published about a week ago, I believe. And there's a lot of complexity around that. But basically, established leave for employees who had a positive case of COVID-19 or who were providing care for such a person or who were unable to work at home or work remotely from their worksite. There's a whole lot more guidance associated.
But those are generally the rules that were put forth for that federal leave. And my sincere approach would be to say, look, first and foremost, we're doing everything I can to help everyone to be able to work remotely. Let's take that route first. If that's not possible, then you need to talk with your supervisor to explore if you're prevented from work due to COVID-19 directly.
And let's think then as to whether there might be a need or an opportunity to use that federal leave. But otherwise, really, we're still emphasizing working remotely from home so that we are not utilizing leave and we are continuing to be operational and continuing to serve our education extension and research mission at the same time. OK. Did Bonner want to say a few words on that?
Or is this? Yeah, I think it'd be really helpful. This is really an HR issue. And Doug Bonner leading our Institute Human Resources functions may want to make a few comments.
Doug's having trouble apparently getting in. We've had quite a few people apparently are having issues trying to get into the session today. So obviously our recording will be available to everybody on our site. So we did get a question that does relate to some of the things you talked about.
We got this early on. And that was, if faculty member was asking, if they have field work that they can do by keeping a distance, is that still permitted? And if so, do they need some sort of documentation to show that if they were to be stopped or questioned by someone with any documentation? So there's really two major elements of that question.
The first question is, should field work continue, I believe? And again, it's not a blanket yes or no answer. It's an answer that basically is it depends. And it depends on whether it can be done safely, whether it can be done under the approval of your supervisor.
And if those two answers are yes, then I believe it can continue. But we're also, again, encouraging everyone to the extent possible not to be out and about. And think about that. Again, the purpose of the governor's order, it's to keep people from roaming around the state and from spreading this virus.
So to the extent possible, we want to manage or minimize the amount of contacts that we're having. But if it's essential research, and if we don't start it or initiate it or continue it right now, it's really detrimental to our research mission, then can we do it in such a way that we have social distancing and have good safety and protections. It's going to happen at the research and education centers. We certainly need to involve the directors in making those decisions.
And again, make sure it's consistent with what your supervisor suggests as well. The second part of that question was, will do we need paper that illustrates that we're university employees and that we're doing essential work. This morning, we were on a call with Commissioner Hatcher. And towards the end of that call, he actually got a text from the governor because I believe that question had been put forth to the governor's office.
And the answer was, there is not a need for documentation. And the governor at the state level has not mandated nor indicated a requirement for any kind of documentation. I would think anybody that has a university ID, that would certainly be evidence of university one. And as we talked about a little earlier, higher education is deemed an essential service.
So I think it is certainly possible to illustrate that you're an employee and you are carrying out essential functions. In local jurisdictions, there may be more stringent guidelines in place, but remember too, that the executive order allows for essential activities. And those activities include going to the grocery store and purchasing fuel for your automobile and things like that. So I really would be surprised if there's a lot of massive roadblocks or traffic stops stopping each and every person, but it's certainly possible.
And if anyone has asked for such documentation again, I'd suggest they contact their supervisor, load that information up so that we can respond. We can certainly provide a letter that provides evidence of employment. And if we need to, we can perhaps go a little further than that. But this time, we've been told that's really not necessary.
So someone has asked for clarification. The university is considered essential, is that correct? Higher education is considered essential. And it really says, if you read the Act, it's not executive order 23.
I think you have to go back to executive order 17. It defines higher ed and essential services as being those that serve students that provide critical ongoing research and contribute to facilities and community services. So it's not a blanket statement that everything continues, as usual. It's really, it's essential from the standpoint of doing those functions.
So that's why, again, we've encouraged everyone possible to work from home. And then those that really are doing things that cannot possibly be done from home, we are defining those as essential services for higher education that do need to continue. I hope that provides a little bit more guidance on that. And again, if you feel like you're not being told that a clear, consistent message, please make sure, again, those questions get expressed to your supervisor and not up to our administrative offices so that we can provide as clear a message as possible.
So we have not closed down offices. We have not closed down campus. We have asked everyone possible to work from home. And we are still providing as much of that education, research, and service as we possibly can from home.
But if it's critical tasks that have to be done in person, those can still continue. So someone is asking, or several people actually are asking about clarification on travel. And the question is, is an exception needed for essential travel? Some felt that they were told on the front end that you needed to receive some sort of an exception in order to be allowed to do domestic travel.
Yeah, so there is still a ban on travel, if you will. And that is going to remain in place indefinitely, obviously. If we don't want people traveling even within their community, we certainly don't want to encourage it across state lines or across national borders either. However, if there's a really critical travel-related need, related to employment, that can still be requested as an exception.
I would say it can go to the email that's addressed that's shown there in the chat, or again, could be sent to your supervisor who in turn can forward that to the appropriate Dean's office for reviewing consideration. I'll also say that there have been very few exceptions granted on the last several weeks. So again, thinking back to our priorities, what are our priorities, protecting health and safety. We're trying to do everything we can to ensure that.
And Tim, I believe that Doug was able to get on the Zoom call by phone. So Doug, did you want to say a few words about the new federal rules? Maybe he's on. It looks like he has to be unmuted.
Mike Stanley, can you, Doug, we might need to know what your phone number is. It's not Friday the 13th. Yeah, I find you what his phone number was. I could unmute him.
Let me see. Doug, you might be able to type it into the chat, or I can maybe pull it up here. In the meantime, ask for a six to unmute. Here he says.
Hi, I just got an unmuted message. There we go. Welcome, Mr. Bonner.
Thanks for joining us. Sorry you had trouble. Thank you. No worries.
My only concern is I finally got in by phone just in time to hear you say, I believe Doug Bonner is on the call, and I welcome him to add anything. So unfortunately, I'm not sure what you did say. I'm not sure where to pick up and add any value, but I'd be happy to say unmuted and respond any questions there might be. Doug, let me get a quick synopsis.
And basically we were talking about the federal leave. And when I summarized and did a very complete job, I was saying that the federal leave was really designed for those who had a health issue with regard to COVID-19, were caring for someone with a COVID-19 issue, or were prevented from work in any way, shape or form. And then I indicated we were really encouraging folks to really not go that route, to do everything they could to be engaged at work, but that if they were under those circumstances, they could contact the supervisor, and clearly they could contact you or any of our HR team as well. Yeah, absolutely.
I think you hit all the high points with that. The intent is not to encourage people to necessarily take this offering unless there's a critical need for it. And I say that only because as an organization, we really do want to keep people fully engaged in work, even if that does mean that they're working in a remote location. The other thing to keep in mind is that although these offerings are paid, the only one that offers full pay is if someone is experiencing COVID-related symptoms or are diagnosed as a positive themselves.
The other offerings are a reduced rate. So my hope, as you said, is that we can keep everyone fully working to every extent possible so that this is not a path that they would need to pursue. But it is important that everyone knows that it's available in the chance or on the chance that they do need it. And to your point, I would ask anyone to certainly reach out to their supervisor, but then partner with whoever their HR unit person is as well and we'd be happy to help.
Great. Thanks. That helped me anyway, Doug. And again, it's a complex set of rules, but we want to make sure since it was announced publicly that we told you that we're aware of these options as well.
Exactly. Yeah, thank you. So it does not look like we have any more questions from our audience. So Tim, one thing is you give some final thoughts.
Can you share any ideas on ways that all of us can help during this crisis? Yeah, good. So I'll address that and also just make a few wrap up remarks. And also, I noted Dr.
English said there's not much of a fire here today to warm for it. When I did the first of these a couple of weeks ago, I thought that would be the first of one. So I'm going to start continuing. Bert, I'm going to have to figure out some way to get a fire in here, I guess, and be more authentic.
In the meantime, though, I have had a number of folks say, gosh, how can we help? And not help from the standpoint of doing their job. I know you're all doing that. But how can we help others on a more personal basis?
I've got a couple of ideas and there may be more thoughts developed over the next couple of weeks. One, you probably seen some about there's a fun, been established called Vols Helping Balls. It's really a fun being developed to support our students. Think about it.
They're not going through a very good experience right now. Many of them are unable to continue their jobs in spite of the efforts we put forth to keep them employed. They're at home. They're taking courses from their bedroom.
It wasn't the experience they signed up for. So they've got a number of different challenges. A fund has been developed for those individuals that want to contribute to supporting those students and their financial needs. It's really gained a lot of momentum.
So one option for helping is supporting our students. Second option, I just became aware of yesterday. And that was College of very medicine. They remain operational from the standpoint of providing urgent and emergency care.
Animals continue to have serious health issues even during coronavirus. And our vet school is still taking the most critical and emergency cases that may come about. They're running short on personal protective equipment and particular masks. And so they've asked if anybody has homemade masks or other masks that they might be able to use, they would appreciate receiving those.
So two ideas that have come forth so far. I know we've got some various groups around the state making homemade masks and I'm sure not going to tell them what to do with them. But if they're looking for a home for some of those masks, we might be able to help out. And so you might have some ideas on ways to help others.
Please don't hesitate to share those ideas. I know everybody's probably feels like they're doing as much as they possibly can already, but there may be a little bit of other things we could do on the margin to really make a difference for some of our communities. So I see that Christy Kiel-Blackman just shared a link about making masks and I'd encourage anybody who has those skills, which would not be me, to take that up. Great for-age youth development opportunity, I suspect.
The E-Grips are probably in many cases excited about those. So good ideas there. Let me also just say from a personal sort of point of view after working at home for two weeks, I think I mentioned the Maytag Repairman last week. Well, I'm feeling much more lonely than the Maytag Repairman this week.
It's really been a transition for me having spent my whole life really, my whole career traveling, going from office to office, event to event, interacting with hundreds of people every week. And all of a sudden it's just me. It really feels a little odd and the longer this goes on, the more odd it feels. I thought I might get adjusted.
I don't know if any of you are feeling that way or not, but the other thing that I started to experience is when your office is your home, you can't ever leave work because it's always there, right? And I have to really sort of force myself to close email. And that to me is sort of like clocking out. But darn it, if I don't find myself walking by the computer and jump back on just to see what's happened in the last 30 minutes.
And you know, that takes a toll too. If you can never get away from work, it's really challenging. So my challenge to you, which is also a challenge to me, is to find some ways to get away, appreciate all that you're doing and want that to continue. But it doesn't have to continue 24 hours a day.
We have to take care of ourselves. This is going to be a long term situation, not an overnight deal. We can't go our way through this. We've got to be really practical about this, pace ourselves, take care of our families, take care of ourselves, and be around for the long term in order to serve those that we're serving.
So I hope each of you will take advantage of what looks to be a nice warm, sunny day later this evening and throughout the weekend, have some opportunities to enjoy yourselves, get some fresh air outdoors, six feet away from everybody, and enjoy your weekend, enjoy your family. And we'll help to not have too many more of these fireside chats, but as long as this goes on, it really helps me to connect with you. And I hope you feel the same. Well, thank you again for all that you're doing and tell you that our leadership team continues to work hard and thinking about what's best, about what's good for those we serve as well as for our workforce.
They're doing a great job. And it's thanks to the work that you're doing that they're able to focus on those things. So I wish everybody the best, have a great weekend, and take care. Thanks, Tim.