A soft open for Stanford Earth in summer
We are making remarkable progress toward our goal of returning to work thanks to low infection rates and strong vaccination rates in the county. We encourage you to continue working from home until September 1, but we expect to begin a soft open in July for those who need to come in. Please stay abreast of the latest updates below, which are changing frequently.
As we move toward the September return to campus, please keep in mind that many in our community, including those who are vaccinated, may choose to continue wearing face coverings. Some may be taking extra precautions for family members, and others may simply wish to adjust gradually. We should expect and respect these sorts of decisions.
Changes in COVID-19 campus protocols
Updated June 26
- Masks are no longer required in offices for fully vaccinated employees. However, masks are still required for everyone in classrooms, healthcare facilities, and in carts or vehicles.
- Density and physical distancing are no longer required for administrative, academic and research facilities
- Per Santa Clara County and Cal/OSHA, employers must record employee vaccination status. Staff, faculty and postdocs must record their status, including vaccination date and type, in HealthCheck. For the time being, vaccinated individuals must continue to do the daily HealthCheck.
- Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated staff, faculty and postdocs must wear masks in all venues and complete the daily HealthCheck. It is recommended that individuals test weekly until fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 testing update
(updated June 25)
Graduate and professional Students
Required routine surveillance testing will be reduced from twice per week to once per week for students living on campus or coming to campus.
Undergraduate students
Required testing will continue twice per week. (Coterms who have been testing with Verily will continue at twice per week; coterms who have been testing with Color will reduce to once per week.)
Faculty, staff and postdocs
Required testing for those coming to campus will become voluntary. However: (1) We recommend you continue to test weekly until you are fully vaccinated, and then following travel, if you have symptoms or if you believe you may have been exposed to COVID-19. (2) Postdoctoral scholars living on campus will still be required to test weekly, as is the case for graduate students who are in similar housing.
Step 1 | Request lab or office access approval
Only faculty can submit requests for lab access for themselves or members of their research group. Everyone can submit requests for office access for themselves.
Step 2 | Schedule your time 24 hours ahead
Only when approved, schedule your time in an office here or in a lab here at least 24 hours in advance so building density can be managed. Schedules in shared offices may need to be staggered. This step is necessary, but will no longer be required as of July 12.
Step 3 | Complete the daily health check
Complete the daily health check each day you plan to work in our buildings. The health check should be done before coming to campus.
Latest Stanford Earth COVID-19 announcements and information
- June 29 | Soft Opening - Senior Associate Dean Amy Balsom
- April 16 | Workspace access updates - Senior Associate Dean Amy Balsom
- January 20, 2021 | Testing and Health Check reminder - Vice Provost Student Affairs
- December 9 | Winter closure reminders: testing protocols and compliance- Dean Steve Graham
- November 7 | Limited Office Access - Senior Associate Dean Amy Balsom
- October 20 | Increasing lab density - Senior Associate Dean Amy Balsom
- August 25 | WIldfires, compact, grad student updates - Assistant Dean, Student Services Alyssa Ferree
- August 14 | Fall quarter curriculum planning memo for faculty and academic staff - Associate Dean Robyn Dunbar.
- August 13 | Fall quarter decision - Dean Steve Graham & President Marc Tessier-Lavigne
- July 29 | University workforce reductions - Dean Steve Graham & President Marc Tessier-Lavigne
- July 22 | University-sponsored travel restricted until at least September 1 - Health Alerts
- July 2 | Key academic dates for AY 20-21 announced - Faculty Senate Steering Committee
- June 23 | Protocols for Stage 2 Restart - Dean Steve Graham
See archive of earlier messages
Note: To help limit the spread of COVID-19, visitors to the Stanford Educational Farm will be restricted to only those with a Stanford ID until further notice.
Be aware that older announcements may be superseded by later announcements.
What you need to know - by group
For the most up to date information from university leadership, check the Stanford Health Alerts page.
Here are just a few of the FAQs available at Health Alerts:
- What if you are sick or exposed?
- For undergraduates
- For all students and postdocs
- For faculty and researchers
- For staff
Sign up at Stanford Health Alerts for automated email when new items are posted.
Teaching resources
The most comprehensive source for teaching guidance is Stanford's Teach Anywhere site. Please consult it regularly for new updates. Resources below are added suggestions from our Stanford Earth Educational Affairs team.
- Latest | Online Teaching Workshops available now.
- March 30 | Crowdsourced teaching resources for geosciences | VPTL/suggested by Robyn Dunbar, Associate Dean Educational Affairs
- March 16 | University providing online workshops for remote teaching | Suggested by Robyn Dunbar, Associate Dean Educational Affairs
- March 12 - Jumpstart your online classroom | This useful post from the Tomorrow's Professor newsletter edited by Rick Reis, a VPGE consultant, is worth reading. | Suggested by Robyn Dunbar, Associate Dean Educational Affairs
- March 12 - Zoom tips for virtual lectures | These quick, useful insights come from assistant professor Jenny Suckale in Geophysics.
Technology resources
Email updates
- April 23 | Zoom Meeting Recommendations - CIO John Freshwaters. Watch the step-by-step VIDEO made by our own Clare Swan
- April 23 | How to keep Crashplan from disrupting your home network - CIO John Freshwaters/UIT.
- March 27 | Tips to improve network bandwidth, CIO John Freshwaters
- March 24 | Zoom Warning - CIO John Freshwaters
- March 18 | How to conduct effective Zoom meetings - UIT videos
Technology platforms
This is a recap of IT resources. Most can also be found on the Stanford Health Alerts site under Teach Anywhere, Work Anywhere, and Learn Remotely links.
Organizations across campus (including Stanford Earth) will be actively using the following technologies:
- Zoom (for video-conferencing and multi-party meetings with remote participants. WebEx is a backup alternative)
- Slack (group and person-to-person chat and person-to-person conferencing)
- Jabber (Chat, person-to-person conferencing and "work anywhere" voice calling)
- Microsoft O365 (email/calendar)
- Google Drive (File Sharing and collaboration tools)
- Canvas and other teach-anywhere resources (learning management and academic collaboration)
- Stanford Network - wired and wireless
IT support contacts
| General Desktop and Laptop Computer Support (CRC) | Desktop Support |
|---|---|
| Research Computing Support | srcc-support@stanford.edu |
| General Information Technology direction | John Freshwaters |
| Academic Systems (e.g. Canvas) | canvashelp@stanford.edu |
More information on COVID-19
Useful resources.
