Communications plan

The Office of University Communications has developed a coordinated communications plan to provide information about our restart and recovery efforts to the University of Rochester community, including students and their families, staff, faculty, and the City of Rochester. This includes a series of leadership messages from the University President, Provost, the Associate Vice President for Human Resources, chairs of the Coronavirus University Restart Team, and deans and senior administrators. A key channel for information is the University’s COVID-19 website, which includes a section on Restart and Recovery. The University’s communications will be clear, transparent, and consistent across the institution.

They will take the form of written emails, video messages, articles on the University Newscenter, blog postings on the COVID-19 site, podcasts, and infographics, as appropriate. All content will either live on the Restart and Recovery webpage, which will be regularly updated, or will be pointed to from that site to the appropriate host location.

We will also share information through a series of newsletters and on the University’s social media channels. In addition, University Communications will tag and track communications so that we can measure how effective they are at reaching audiences and adjust or amplify as needed.

All University students, faculty, and staff will be required to complete mandatory COVID-19 training prior to returning to campus. Individuals who fail to complete the training should be restricted from campus. This training has been developed by Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) and will be available online in MyPath (faculty & staff) and Blackboard (students). It includes modules on the following topics: Introduction; What is COVID-19; Hierarchy of Controls; UR Requirements; Reporting Requirements; How to Wear a Mask.

The University will help maintain occupancy and avoid congregation by adding appropriate signage throughout campus. Managers, researchers, and supervisory staff will work with University Facilities in identifying locations for visual cues. Strategies may include placing visual cues such as floor decals, colored tape, or signs to indicate to individuals where to sit and stand and placing one-way directional signage for large open workspaces with multiple through-ways to increase distance between individuals moving through the space. In addition to physical distancing reminders, signage has been created to encourage handwashing and the wearing of masks.