Penn State Prepping for Return to Campus

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 05/27/20

Pennsylvania State University has acquired 500,000 masks in preparation for resuming work and classes.

During a recent online townhall, Penn State President Eric Barron emphasized that a timeline for bringing back furloughed employees, as a start, was influenced by a number of factors, including federal and state guidelines. For example, as research operations resume, staff are needed to reopen buildings. With the easing of state and county stay-at-home restrictions, landscaping crews can begin working. Currently, employees who don't have work they can perform are being paid 50 percent of their wages through at least June 30.

"We're not making abrupt announcements. We're taking this one step at a time, and we're it doing it as a community," Barron said. "We're also working really hard to be mindful of our role that this university plays in the communities. We live here. We work here. So, we also contemplate what kind of impact we have on our community, our friends and our neighbors."

Currently, three university task groups (the "Public Health and Science Assessment," "Return to Work" and "Return to Campus and Community") and 12 coronavirus "action" groups are working with the university administration to sort out how a return to campus operations and residential instruction would unfold.

Barron added that the university purchased the masks for distribution to its campus community and will also set up 2,500 hand sanitizer stations across all of its locations as part of coronavirus prevention efforts.

A decision about fall in-person classes is expected to be announced by June 15, 2020.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • person signing a bill at a desk with a faint glow around the document. A tablet and laptop are subtly visible in the background, with soft colors and minimal digital elements

    California Governor Signs AI Content Safeguards into Law

    California Governor Gavin Newsom has officially signed off on a series of landmark artificial intelligence bills, signaling the state’s latest efforts to regulate the burgeoning technology, particularly in response to the misuse of sexually explicit deepfakes. The legislation is aimed at mitigating the risks posed by AI-generated content, as concerns grow over the technology's potential to manipulate images, videos, and voices in ways that could cause significant harm.

  • close-up illustration of a hand signing a legislative document

    California Passes AI Safety Legislation, Awaits Governor's Signature

    California lawmakers have overwhelmingly approved a bill that would impose new restrictions on AI technologies, potentially setting a national precedent for regulating the rapidly evolving field. The legislation, known as S.B. 1047, now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom's desk. He has until the end of September to decide whether to sign it into law.

  • illustration of a VPN network with interconnected nodes and lines forming a minimalist network structure

    Report: Increasing Number of Vulnerabilities in OpenVPN

    OpenVPN, a popular open source virtual private network (VPN) system integrated into millions of routers, firmware, PCs, mobile devices and other smart devices, is leaving users open to a growing list of threats, according to a new report from Microsoft.

  • interconnected cubes and circles arranged in a grid-like structure

    Hugging Face Gradio 5 Offers AI-Powered App Creation and Enhanced Security

    Hugging Face has released version 5 of its Gradio open source platform for building machine learning (ML) applications. The update introduces a suite of features focused on expanding access to AI, including a novel AI-powered app creation tool, enhanced web development capabilities, and bolstered security measures.