TO:
Idaho State Faculty
FROM:
Scott D. Snyder, Interim Vice President for Research
SUBJECT:
COVID-19: Research Guidance
The Office for Research will continue remote operations during Governor Brad Little’s stay-at-home order.
Research laboratories are expected to convert to minimal personnel as needed to maintain minimal essential research lab function. Many labs are not conducting essential research and should be shut down as soon as possible, keeping safety in mind. Please contact
April Robinson
in the Office for Research if you wish to discuss essential vs. non-essential research. Please secure all hazardous material and chemicals. If you have hazardous waste that must be picked up, contact EHS. If you have equipment that must be periodically checked (e.g., refrigerators/freezers) instead of turned off completely, make arrangements with your department chair to have access to your labs. Remember, access to non-essential labs is only for periodic equipment checks and should be done with safety in mind. All fieldwork is cancelled and university sponsored travel halted.
Non-essential animal research is also halted. The animal facility technicians will continue to care for the animals. Please communicate with them as you halt research. Any work that can be done at home, such as data analysis, report writing, surveys conducted via email or phone should be continued.
Research proposals will be submitted as usual. Please contact
Dave Harris
and his staff as soon as possible when you anticipate submitting a proposal or if you have questions. Grants and Contracts accounting will also remain available to help you - contact
Lisa Wood
with any questions. The Human Subjects Committee, Radiation Safety Committee, IACUC, and Institutional Biosafety Committee will continue to review protocols and be available to answer questions, however, approvals of protocols will be limited. Please keep in mind that the stay-at-home order has severely limited the type of research that can be conducted. For instance, face-to-face interviews with human subjects will not be allowed as long as the Governor’s order is in effect. Contact
Deb Easterly
for all compliance issues.
For those of you with deliverables that are due according to deadlines imposed by granting agencies, please work with the Office for Research to see if extensions have been or will be granted. In fact, for any time-sensitive concerns pertaining to Research, please call us for assistance.
All Office for Research staff, as long as they are healthy, will be available to communicate with you by phone or email. If you have any questions about how any of this pertains to research, please don’t hesitate to
contact us
.
