March 22, 2020
Dear DePaul faculty and staff,
While many of you are busy adapting your work and personal lives to this new normal, we hope you found some moments of peace this weekend and are staying healthy. As we promised in our
message to you on Friday, we are writing with an update on what Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s “stay at home” order will mean for DePaul.
The order began on Saturday at 5 p.m. and will continue through at least April 7. Its goal is to limit personal interactions and, hopefully, slow or prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Because DePaul has already implemented many proactive measures, we are well prepared to comply with the Governor’s order. The order allows essential businesses and operations to continue, including universities “for purposes of facilitating distance learning, performing critical research, or performing essential functions, provided that social distancing of six-feet per person is maintained to the greatest extent possible.”
We expect faculty will continue preparing their courses to be delivered remotely for Spring Quarter and all employees, wherever possible, will continue to work remotely. As Human Resources
communicated on March 16, the university has pledged to pay all faculty, staff and student workers in accordance with their regular payroll schedule, regardless of hours worked, through at least May 1.
Work from home extended through April 7
All DePaul employees (with the exception of public safety, some operations and animal care personnel among select others) should work at home for the duration of the Governor’s “stay at home” order. As April 7 approaches, DePaul will review the need to extend our work-from-home measures and will communicate any changes to the university at that time. If you need to come to campus for an essential reason, please be aware that access to many buildings will be restricted.
Payroll
The Governor’s order allows payroll to continue as usual. However, there may come a time when staff are restricted from preparing and mailing physical checks to those who do not utilize direct deposit.
If you are a DePaul employee who does not utilize direct deposit, you may not receive paychecks in a timely manner or at all if campus operations or U.S. Postal Service operations are further disrupted. Employees who have not already done so are highly, highly encouraged to switch to direct deposit immediately, both to ensure continuity of ongoing payment activity and to help safeguard the health of payroll, treasury, mailroom and other employees involved in the manual production of printed checks. Please follow
these instructions from Financial Affairs to sign up. (Login required to view)
Access to DePaul buildings
As DePaul communicated to faculty, staff and students on Friday, with few exceptions, almost all buildings on both campuses are now locked down. The most up-to-date information on building closures and restrictions can be found on the
COVID-19 Updates and Guidance website.
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Exceptions in Lincoln Park: 1150 W. Fullerton Ave. will be accessible to allow AMITA Sage Medical Group to continue operating.
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Exceptions in the Loop: DePaul Center (1 E. Jackson Blvd.), Daley Building (14 E. Jackson Blvd.) and the DePaul floors at 55 E. Jackson Blvd. will be accessible with DePaul ID and sign in. These exceptions were made to accommodate non-DePaul tenants.
Any faculty or staff requiring access to other buildings to secure items to bring home, or to prepare remote teaching materials, should make prior arrangements with their respective campus Public Safety office:
- Lincoln Park Campus: 773-325-7777
- Loop Campus: 312-362-8400
For the purposes of facilitating contact tracing, should a localized outbreak occur, we strongly suggest that all academic and operating departments retain records (via a date/time sign-in sheet, calendar or other mechanism) of all personnel accessing office spaces during this period.
University mail services
Mail and package deliveries to DePaul departments and units are discontinued until further notice; pick up at the mailrooms is available only for Admissions, Advancement and Financial Affairs during designated days and times that have been communicated to those areas.
Thank you again for everything you are doing for DePaul and our students during this very challenging time. Your tremendous efforts to modify courses to remote delivery, move several thousand students out of our residence halls on very little notice and completely change your plans and methods of operating have been an inspiration. In service to our students, a group of people has continued working on campus because they have positions that are essential to the university’s operations. The sacrifices everyone is making for DePaul are not unnoticed. The pride you take in your work shows.
We will communicate again later this week with additional information for Spring Quarter. Please check your email, visit the
COVID-19 Updates and Guidance website and read Newsline Daily for updates.
Sincerely,
A. Gabriel Esteban, President
Salma Ghanem, Interim Provost
Jeff Bethke, Executive Vice President