Dear Colleagues,
In accordance with WSU and Voiland College’s directive for employees to immediately transition to telework, I request that all Voiland College faculty, staff, and graduate students complete a telework agreement as soon as possible. If you have already submitted a memo that was approved by your supervisor, completion of this form is not needed.
By filling out this form, you are requesting to telework from home until healthcare authorities determine that COVID-19 is no longer a threat. The end date will be determined and communicated to you as the public health concerns evolve. This agreement may be terminated at any time by your department based on other circumstances.
The form includes information on your expected hours as well as your duties while working remotely. Once completed, the agreement will be reviewed and will become effective upon the approval of your unit leader, director, or department chair.
We are working to provide a web- or app-based tool to which your office phone can be forwarded. This will eliminate the need to use your personal cell phone or landline for this normal, business operations purpose. More details on this soon. For the purpose of this telework form, we ask that you include your cell phone or landline number so that your supervisor may contact you in the event of an emergency.
If you have any questions about completing your telework agreement, please contact your administrative manager or Denise Faerber, VCEA Director of Administrative Services.
Look for updates on WSU’s response efforts at WSU’s COVID-19 website on a regular basis, and you can always send your questions to WSU’s dedicated COVID-19 email.
Thank you, again, for your efforts and consideration during this challenging time as we work to protect the health and safety of our faculty, staff, and students.
Be Safe Cougs!
Mary Rezac (she/her/hers)
Dean, Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture
Washington State University
Email: mary.rezac@wsu.edu
Phone: 509-335-5593
Twitter: @VCEA_Dean
vcea.wsu.edu
Telework Best Practices
- Transfer your office phone to the phone you will be working from, if possible. (quick reference list (PDF)) (Note: cannot be done remotely, must physically be at office phone.) If you wish to forward your phone to another number:
- Press the Fwd ALL button, located just below the phone display screen.
- Enter the target number (5 digits for another WSU number or 7 + 1 + area code + 7 digits). Note: Long Distance may be blocked.
- Look for the arrow icon above your primary number and check the status text near the bottom of the screen to confirm forwarding is active.
- To cancel call forwarding press Fwd ALL.
- Make sure voice mail is setup
- Update your phone and out of office messages.
- Place a sign on your office door with information on how to best reach you.
- Create / edit / update your Outlook Signature with your current information, including email, job title, phone, hours of work. Send your signature to your telework device and apply it when emailing. A lot of old emails are not intuitive and some of our coworkers have the same names as others and there are still a few employee emails like, “DiehardCoug84@wsu.edu.”
- Notify your stakeholders outside of Voiland College of your situation and how they can best reach you.
- Set up and test Zoom, One Drive, Microsoft Teams, Slack, and other work-related apps at home to ensure they work well in that environment.
- Upgrade your telework devices to run Microsoft Windows 10. As a STEM discipline, all VCEA faculty and staff can get Windows 10 on their home machines for free. More information.
- Place commonly used and important files and documents where they can be accessed remotely.
- Leave your computer ON if you plan to access files or programs on your office computer from your telework location (WSU VPN & Remote Desktop or VCEA Guacamole): you cannot access your computer remotely if it is powered off.
- Update your unit’s staff contact list and share within your unit and to your unit’s leader both electronically and in printed format. There should be at least two methods listed by which someone can be reached. Also include contact information of important VCEA members who may need to be contacted outside your unit, such as IT, HR, Facilities, Safety, etc.
- Create and share a Group for your unit in your Outlook Address Book.
- Use WSU HRS teleworking website and tips for assistance.
- Identify a “Second” – the person(s) who people can reach for help if they can’t reach you. Notify your “Second” and Supervisor when there is a change in your work schedule as soon as possible.
- When emailing, code your emails as “URGENT” or “RESPONSE NEEDED by XX” if they require quick response.
- Avoid sending “Reply All” email replies when possible.
- Send “FYI” emails that include many people as BCC to avoid receiving “Reply All” replies.
- When possible, reduce email chains and pick up the phone or email/text directly.
- Unplug the coffee pot, dispose of grinds/pods, and clean the pot.
- Clean items out of the refrigerator.
- Dispose of any opened beverages or food items.
- Dump the garbage and close windows to prevent unwanted pests such as fruit flies, wasps, or mice from vacationing in your office.
- Power down equipment you will not be using, such as space heaters, fans, monitors or printers.
- Make sure sinks faucets in your areas are turned all the way off.
- Lock up items that you want secured (file cabinets, drawers) and share the location of the key(s) with members of your team.
- Verify that you have a building key or Cougar Card access to the building – access is provided by your School/Department.
- If you have office hours posted outside of your door, please update the sign to note office hours are still available but have moved to Blackboard online.
- Please email the VCEA Facility and Safety Director, Dar Neunherz, 509-335-3783 drussell@wsu.edu if you are aware of a facility issue, such as space lacking heat, a room with little air circulation, a leaky faucet or leak in the ceiling, or other building issue.
- For individual offices, please turn the lights off behind you.