Teaching Assistant (TA) appointments
Under conditions of the UAW Academic Student Employee (ASE) contract, students with TA appointment letters will be honored. TA duties may change, but no student can be required to work more than 20 hours/week.

Research Assistant (RA) appointments
Under conditions of the UAW Academic Student Employee (ASE) Contract, students with RA appointment letters will be honored. The College of the Environment is working with all units to mitigate impacts on scholarly and research work, including RAs paid from grants and contracts. If you believe that there are circumstances which might threaten your RA appoint, please contact your supervisor immediately to discuss the situation so that a new set of duties and deadlines can be agreed upon.

Hourly appointments
Hourly employees should have a conversation with their supervisor regarding changes to their duties and compensation. Hourly employees are not covered under the UAW Contract.

International student employees
The College of the Environment does not have unique policies pertaining to international graduate students. The International Student Services (ISS) office has prepared information for F1 and J1 Students.

Extending you graduate program
Have a conversation with your faculty advisor, if you think you need to extend your timeline, to come up with a specific plan. Please see the “Research and scholarly work” section below for guidance on how to navigate these conversations.

Family leave as a TA or RA
The UAW Academic Student Employee (ASE) contract allows for “the period of paid sick leave [for the purpose of family care] shall generally be no more than seven (4-hour) days per year for an ASE whose appointment is 50% FTE for the academic year or longer.” As the need arises, please talk to your supervisor to accommodate these types of requests.

Emergency loans
Short-term loans are available through the Office of Student Financial Aid. These funds provide up to $3,200 for UW graduate students and repayment is due by the next quarter (or with a one-time extension, the following quarter).

University fees
Fees linked to buildings and services students have and will be using in future will not be cancelled (e.g., technology fee, IMA bond fee, building fee).  Some use fees (e.g., UPass) and course fees have been cancelled.

Returning to campus

For approval:

• Receive “critical employee” status from your PI to perform named critical functions as part of an approved health and safety plan
• Take the COVID-19 Safety Training

For each visit or set of recurring visits:

• Obtain approval from supervisor and building coordinator
• Fill out the COVID-19 employee symptom attestation in Workday
• Follow unit-specific and building-specific visitor log protocols
• Wear an approved face mask, as required under UW COVID-19 Face Covering Policy
• Check in with supervisor and building coordinator before/after visit

Cleaning protocols
Approved health and safety plans include applicable elements of the EH&S Enhanced Cleaning and Disinfection Protocol.

Status of field stations
For the status of other field stations, refer to their websites:

• Botanic Gardens
• Friday Harbor Laboratories
• Olympic Natural Resources Center
• Pack Forest

Communication with your PI/advisor
Here is a strategy for effective communication with your PI/advisor

• Write down the main points you wish to cover, and to make, before you meet.
• At the meeting, create an agreed-upon agenda. Start the conversation saying you have points you want to cover and asking whether there are additional issues.
• Use this agenda during your meeting, and check off each item once it has been covered.
• Write notes during your conversation to capture the main points.
• Circle back during the conversation to reflect on what you have heard and understood. Say: “This is what I heard. Is this correct?”
• Send your notes, and the decisions you would like to make based on them, to your advisor for confirmation. It is important that you both come to an understanding about what can/can’t be done, even if you personally do not like the decision.
• If you are shy, practice with a colleague.

As an example, here is a blog about this interaction co-written by a graduate student and their advisor.

Conflict resolution
To facilitate telework, have a conversation with your faculty advisor immediately (see above) to work out a plan of action. If you feel this conversation does not go well, you should contact the Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC), or the Chair/Director of your unit.

Field work
Talk with your faculty advisor now about field work plans, and how changes may impact your thesis or dissertation. Use that conversation to co-create a list of the work products that are still possible given the disruption from COVID-19.

Travel
International travel has been suspended by the federal government. If you are flying domestically, a fully-refundable flight is required for federal grants. Review the Mitigating Impacts to Research Activities due to COVID-19 site for information on local travel, travel to field sites, and conferences.

Resources for TAing a lab or field course online 
Join the “College of the Environment Online Teaching Resources” Canvas page (click the button on the top right “+Join this Course”). Consider joining the Online Labs Community of Practice listserv.

Teaching to students in different time zones
The College has a resources for undergrads page for information on how undergraduates can obtain technology and WiFi access at reduced or no charge. From the Spring 2020 survey of College of the Environment majors, almost all of our students have a laptop and are in the Pacific time zone, but many lack access to a “calm, quiet workspace.”

If you are concerned about your students, please talk with your instructional supervisor about how to adjust course delivery: consider moving to asynchronous delivery, encouraging group work, and increasing the quantity and diversity of assessments. Check out the Resources for Instructors page and join the “College of the Environment Online Teaching Resources” Canvas page for additional resources.

Recording students in Zoom
After you join the “College of the Environment Online Teaching Resources” refer to section 6.1.a for an example syllabus statement.

Cancelled courses
All units in the College of the Environment with course-based graduate programs are working to ensure that no graduate student will face a delay of graduation due to a lack of course requirements. If you have questions or concerns about coursework, please talk to your departmental Graduate Program Advisor (GPA) or the Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC).

Committee meetings & defenses
The Graduate School encourages, and provides guidance on the use of online platforms to remotely host committee meetings and defenses. All members of your graduate committee and your GSR may participate remotely via Zoom. Please follow the latest guidelines for video conferencing in doctoral examinations provided by the Graduate School. A Zoom link to your presentation should be sent out in advance to public attendees.

Updates from the Graduate School
Visit the Graduate School COVID-19 Information site for updates. If you still have an unanswered questions, please contact GEMS at gemshelp@uw.edu

Return to campus
From the Back-to-the-Workplace Task Force website, “employees (RAs, TAs, hourly student workers) who can telework will continue to do so throughout the autumn quarter.”

Telework form
The UW requires prior approval before commencing telework. It is best practice and an expectation in the College that all teleworking employees – including RAs and TAs as ASEs – will have a written telework agreement in place. Work with your supervisor (instructor, faculty advisor) to fill in the UW HR Telework Agreement form. Revisit and modify this form on a quarterly basis. Retain a copy and forward a copy to your unit Administrator and supervisor.

Relocating UW equipment to home
Clear equipment relocation with your instructional supervisor, advisor or PI, then list this in your Telework Agreement form and inform your unit’s administrator about the change in location of the equipment. The College encourages PIs to insure equipment, and the Dean’s Office will pay half of the deductible of insured equipment in the event of a claim.

Resources for remote teaching
If you require additional resources as part of your teaching duties, reach out to your instructional supervisor to let them know. Your unit may have some flexibility in purchasing/lending additional technology to fulfill your teaching responsibilities.

Resources for remote research
Reach out to your faculty advisor/PI to let them know you do not have resources to perform the research tasks you have both agreed need to be accomplished this quarter under your telework agreement. There may be some flexibility on the grant/contract that would allow for additional resources to be purchased.

Technology resources for students
The UW Student Tech Loan Program (STLP) has equipment available for loan, often for the entire quarter, including laptops, tablets, and digital cameras.