Phased Return to Research Operations

May 3, 2020

Last Friday, Governor Holcomb announced a data-driven, five-stage plan for Indiana to come back from COVID-19 over the next two months.  Stage 2 of the Reopen Indiana Plan begins on Monday, May 4, 2020.  This allows us to begin our phased process to return Purdue’s research enterprise to safe operation between May 4 and June 30, 2020.  Even after this process concludes, our research community should expect campus buildings, labs, and field sites to function very differently than before COVID-19.  Modified operations are likely to continue until a vaccine is widely available.

Two weeks ago, we established a Research Ramp-Up Task Force to work in concert with the President’s Safe Campus Task Force to translate report recommendations into research operation-specific decisions and actions.  Here we share initial information on the major goals of our Phase 1 effort, which will begin on May 4 and continue through May 15, 2020.

In Phase 1, we will implement and test a set of campus-wide COVID-19 mitigation measures that can be scaled for safe operation in 150+ major buildings and 4000+ research labs and service rooms on the West Lafayette campus and at our locations across the state.  Only Purdue research programs and personnel that are included in an existing critical on-campus research continuity plan will be eligible to participate in Phase 1.  In addition to research labs, this work will include enhancing critical research support functions and harmonizing building-wide mitigation measures to ensure safe access and operation of public areas outside of labs.

Research group leaders with a critical on-campus research continuity plan will be contacted by e-mail with details on next steps for Phase 1 by Tuesday, May 5, 2020.  Other researchers should continue to work remotely whenever possible.

In Phase 1, we will also distribute a simple on-campus research questionnaire to collect program data from Purdue research group leaders requiring access to campus laboratories or field sites.  The data will inform subsequent phases of our safe return to research operation plan.  During all phases, only approved research will be granted increased access to campus labs, facilities, and field sites.

We want to thank you for your ongoing support, cooperation, and patience during this difficult time.  Similar to Indiana’s plan, the increase in research capacity and the duration of each phase will depend on our ability to maintain safe operations across campus.  Therefore, it is essential that everyone in our research community contributes to our success in minimizing virus transmission and the consequences of transmission.

Sincerely,

Theresa S. Mayer
Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships

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Research Task Team

• Theresa Mayer, Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships
• Chris Agnew, Associate Vice President for Research, College of Health and Human Sciences
• Carrie Berger, Associate Dean for Research, Purdue Polytechnic Institute
• Bernie Engel, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education, College of Agriculture
• Tim Filley, Director, Center for the Environment, College of Science
• Jessica Huber, Associate Dean for Research, College of Health and Human Sciences
• Trent Klingerman, Deputy Counsel*
• Linda Mason, Dean, Graduate School
• Arvind Raman, Senior Associate Dean, College of Engineering*
• Willie Reed, Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine, Co-Chair Safe Campus Task Force*
• Jeff Rhoads, Director, Ray W. Herrick Laboratories, College of Engineering
• Rams Subramanian, Director of Bindley Bioscience Center, College of Science
• Carol Shelby, Senior Director of Environmental Health and Public Safety*

* Member of Safe Campus Task Force