IU South Bend wants to keep everyone healthy on campus and for students to receive exceptional educational experiences, be successful, and earn an IU degree. Learn about how we’re keeping you safe on campus this year. Check back often for updates.
COVID Campus Updates
For Staff
From July 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020, if employees need to be away from work due to qualifying COVID-19 reasons and cannot work remotely, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) makes several options available to all employees.
For absences not related to COVID-19, or for staff who do not qualify for FFCRA, with supervisor approval, staff may use accrued vacation/PTO without it counting toward annual limits or be absent without pay. Staff may also use income protection/ PTO Sick leave consistent with the applicable policy.
Please discuss plans with your supervisor and see the Guide to Time Off and Leaves for more details.
To ensure the needs of the entire university are met, individual departments should no longer try to order certain types of items using traditional procurement methods such as BUY.IU or P-Card.
There is now a new process for ordering. Visit Purchasing's online COVID-19 Resource Center for all the details on how to order.
Please visit COVID-19 Related Leaves for information about COVD-19 related leaves available to IU employees for certain COVID-19 related absences, including the Keep IU Healthy Leave (KIH) and the IU COVID-19 Child Care Leave (SCCL).
For Faculty
Keep Teaching IU and the University Center for Excellence in Teaching offer resources for preparing to teach.
Yes. Masks are required to be worn while on campus, including while teaching and interacting with others.
For Students
Titans, we’ve got your back. Get the information you need to persevere and excel this academic year.
For those of you planning to take online courses, be sure to check out Keep Learning IU. It is important that you have the technology you need to access your courses and a stable internet connection. Familiarize yourself with Canvas and Zoom, and make sure you can access these resources on your devices—preferably a laptop, tablet, or desktop computer. If you are concerned that you may not have the technology or internet access you need we have resources to support you. We want to ensure you have what you need to be successful!
The Student Counseling Center offers confidential, free counseling services for a variety of personal and emotional issues. Whether you are an existing client, or new to the counseling process, please call 574-520-4125 to schedule a Zoom telecounseling appointment. If you or someone else is experiencing a mental health emergency after hours please contact one of the following community resources:
- Contact 911
- Call Memorial Epworth Center at (574) 647-8400
- Go to Memorial Epworth Center at 420 N. Niles Ave., South Bend, IN
- Or go directly to the nearest Hospital Emergency Room
24-Hr National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255. http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ (please note this service is not affiliated with Indiana University)
Disability Support Services is available to assist students with accommodation requests. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call DSS at 574-520-4460 or email the office at sbdss@iusb.edu.
Due to COVID-19, all New Student Orientation activities, will be delivered virtually. You can learn more about New Student Orientation activities here.
Keeping Campus Safe
The fall 2021 semester on all IU campuses will be in person and we expect a return to mostly typical operations. We expect some of our current health and safety guidelines will stay in place, so it may not look exactly like fall 2019 but we are optimistic that the coming fall semester will be much more typical than fall 2020. We know the importance and desire for that traditional college experience and we're doing all we can to provide that as well as provide a safe environment for all of our students, faculty and staff.
A variety of measures are being put in place to help ensure your health and safety when returning to campus. Among these are providing and requiring cloth face coverings for all students, faculty, staff, and visitors, enacting rigorous cleaning procedures, and reducing the number of people on campus at one time. Signage will inform about public health guidance and any restrictions in place. Additionally, all IU students, faculty and staff will have access to a virtual symptom checker, virtual screening, and COVID-19 testing if needed.
All faculty, staff, students, contractors, suppliers, vendors, and visitors are required to wear cloth face masks in all hallways, elevators, public spaces, and common areas, and when entering all IU South Bend buildings. Cloth face masks must also be worn in office spaces and outdoor spaces where physical distancing is difficult to maintain.
Wearing your face mask is an essential component of our plans to keep everyone safe. It is important that your mask completely covers BOTH your mouth and your nose. You are required to have a mask on at all times with the exception of below:
- In enclosed spaces when you are alone AND the door is completely closed. Please note that doors cannot be partially open or ajar if you are taking off your mask.
- During eating or drinking as long you are able to maintain adequate physical distance from others. When you are done eating, please put your mask back on if you are in the Grill or other public space.
- During university-sanctioned artistic performances, such as when playing wind and brass instruments, acting, singing, etc.
Everyone is required to wear a mask inside our buildings, even if you are the only one around. If you have not yet received your IU face masks in the mail please visit the Gateway Information Center.
Disposable face masks are stocked at many locations around campus. Please visit a location below to pick one up:
Admin/University Center - Admin Gateway
Fine Arts - Printmaking Faculty Office 107
Education & Arts - WERC & Office 2200
Schurz Library - Circulation Desk
Purdue Tech - Facilities Office
Northside Hall - Deans Office 101
SAC - Student Check Out Desk
Wiekamp Hall - Deans Office 3300
Dwyer Hall - Reception Desk & Office 157
River Crossing Housing - Community Building Office
Sculpture Building - Classroom
Civil Rights Heritage Center - Faculty Office
Elkhart Center - Security Office
Custodial staff will be cleaning common spaces daily. Cleaning supplies such as sanitizing wipes will be provided from a central supply to building occupants for frequent self-cleaning of individual work stations. Cleaning products will be available so students and faculty can wipe down desks, chairs, and other high-touch items upon entering or leaving a classroom. Hand sanitizer stations will be installed in high-traffic areas and safety signage will be placed across campus with reminders about handwashing, face masks, social distancing, and cleaning protocols.
Everyone will play a role in cleaning and disinfecting IU spaces. While facilities and cleaning teams will be out in force working to clean common areas and frequently touched surfaces throughout the day using disinfectants approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, all students, faculty and staff will also be expected to help clean and sanitize the areas they use. IU's cleaning procedures and guidelines are in line with current recommendations and have been reviewed and approved by the university's Environmental Health and Safety experts.
Everyone
Everyone on campus is expected to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer on a regular basis. Hand sanitizer stations will be installed inside building entrances and in high-traffic areas.
Students
All students are expected to clean their desk space before and after each in-person class using the cleaning supplies provided in all classrooms.
Faculty & Staff
All faculty and staff should proactively disinfect and clean personal workstations and shared areas/items before and after use. This includes wiping down commonly touched surfaces and objects with the provided cleaning supplies.
Departments
All departments/offices should remove high-touch, shared items such as magazines, common pens, etc. Departments operating in a clinical or childcare setting should, in addition, follow the cleaning and disinfection procedures recommended by their regulatory, licensing, or professional agency. Where conflicts in procedures exist, adhere to the one that is most protective and restrictive.
Classroom and office furniture will be reconfigured as needed and as possible to accommodate physical distancing. Smaller classrooms can expect reductions to about one-third of seating, while larger classrooms can expect reductions to about one-sixth of seating. Plexiglas barriers may be used for high-volume point-of-contact spaces. We are also testing a virtual portal for contactless reception and help services.
IU’s guidance for visitors can be found here.
Members of the IU South Bend community can report violations of the university’s COVID-19 health and safety directives using this form. It’s important for us to kindly remind each other of these requirements and to report violations so we can be sure that our compliance levels are high.
You’ll find red dots all around campus to help you know where to stand and sit. It is important that you do not move chairs or tables to other locations.
Operations
Until otherwise noted, only essential travel will be permitted for those conducting IU South Bend business. Essential means necessary to perform core IU responsibilities or necessary for core functions of the university at this point in time. There must also be no effective alternative to travel. While travel to other IU campuses is permitted, other means of conducting IU business, such as teleconferencing, are strongly encouraged.
Essential travel must be approved by your supervisor using the Travel Approval Form. All travelers must follow local restrictions and CDC travel guidance and if approved, travel arrangements must be made through Travel Management Services designated agencies. You can read more about current travel policies here.
For all in-person events must be approved in a multi-step process. Contact Maureen Muldoon (mmuldoon@iusb.edu), Special Events Coordinator, to request and discuss space and to obtain a copy of the “IU South Bend Event Request Form”.
FIRST, this form must be completed and submitted to the Special Events Office.
SECOND, an IU South Bend Review Committee must approve your event. If your event is for fewer than 25 people, then this is the final step.
THIRD, if the event is for 25 or more people, the IU-wide “Event & Conference Request Form” must be completed and will be sent to a university-wide committee for approval.
FOURTH, if approved, the request will then be sent back to IU South Bend for chancellor approval. If the event is for 25 or more people, the entire approval process may take up to 20 days. Be sure to give yourself enough lead time to advertise your event AFTER it has been approved.
NOTE: For the purposes of this process, an event is any non-credit bearing planned gathering whether public or private, indoor or outdoor, on- or off-campus, with a specific location, date, or time.
The health and safety of attendees and event staff will drive all in-person event decisions. In-person events (both indoor and outdoor) should be minimized whenever possible. Outdoor events are strongly encouraged over indoor events if a virtual event is not feasible. Only mission-critical events will be approved and public health precautions for both indoor and outdoor events must be followed. Additionally, events hosted by external organizations will generally not be permitted on campus.
Update to date dining information can be found here.
Please visit IU’s policy for students and IU’s policy for faculty and staff for more information on noncompliance.
