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Division of Research - Wayne State University

Guidance on WSU Research Operations and Services

Mar. 19, 2020

Dear Colleagues –

Following up on my note from March 16th, we are continuing to work to ramp down on-site laboratory research activities (other than research directly focused on addressing the COVID-19 challenge) and move to remote workflow with the recognition of the key essential laboratory operations for safety and welfare across our programs.

Each of you should have already taken action to adjust your laboratory operations accordingly.

To keep our research community informed, we have scheduled a Zoom conference platform for faculty in the Wayne State research ecosystem tomorrow, Friday, March 20 from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. The conference link location will be https://zoom.us/j/469734103. If you have specific questions, please send them in advance of the meeting to Julie O'Connor (Julie.oconnor@wayne.edu), and I will try to answer the questions during the conference call.

A few key points –

  • Please note that access to research facilities on campus will be transitioning to keycard access and/or other controlled access mechanisms by Friday, March 20 at 5:00 p.m.
  • To the extent possible, we strongly urge you to shift your operations and staff engagement to remote based operations. 
  • Staff involved with essential aspects of operations involving safety and welfare should be minimal.
  • The research support offices under the auspices of the Vice President for Research are mobilized to provide continuity of operations through a variety of mechanisms. This includes remote operations and provision of essential personnel as appropriate with guidance provided through each individual office, either through the web link posting or by direct communication with research teams involved with specific steps being taken. 

Guidance for each aspect of Wayne State’s research operations and regulatory offices is provided at https://research.wayne.edu/coronavirus.  Additional specific guidance for research involving animals or human subjects has also been communicated directly by email to Principal Investigators with projects in these areas.

As a community, we have serious issues to address and I cannot overemphasize the challenge we face. I have complete confidence in each of you and the support teams assembled. As always, please contact us directly with thoughts and questions as we go forward to be sure that we have all the bases covered as situations arise.

It is imperative that we take steps to address this challenge and prepare accordingly as indicated in my note of March 16th and as also indicated below in the message from the Dr. Claudio Verani, associate research dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Dr. Verani has offered some excellent tips to faculty that others may find useful.

As always, please contact us directly with thoughts and questions as we go forward to be sure that we have all the bases covered as situations arise.

My appreciation to each of you for your leadership and assistance as we go forward.

Steve 

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From: Claudio Verani
Sent: Monday, March 16, 2020 6:30 PM
Subject: CLAS Research | Recommendation for slow-down/suspension of activity

Dear Chairs,

I ask that you disseminate this information as broadly as possible among your faculty actively involved with research. Please share as you see fit with graduate/undergraduate students and postdocs.

Following recommendation from the OVPR, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences should be ready for an imminent slow-down or even suspension of all research activity.

There’s no need for concern or panic. As a community, we are deciding to act proactively out of an abundance of caution so that we can be back on track to our regular research activities as soon as possible.

If we need to slow-down or suspend research, please follow these recommendations relevant to all departments in the college in order to help with your planning.

For faculty whose research is based on databases, archives, and literature search:

1.          Make sure all your essential written notes, books, chapters, and research information are packed and ready to go.

2.          Make sure you have all your essential documents and papers as electronic files on OneDrive, Dropbox, or a thumb drive.

3.          Make sure you have access to WSU-VPN, but only log on when necessary to avoid broadband overcrowding.

4.          Make sure you have remote access to any database, archives or collections needed for your research.

5.          Consider making your contact information available on the office door, in case Campus Police needs to call during an emergency.

6.          Turn off lights, unplug any space heaters and other appliances, and lock doors when leaving your office.

For faculty/groups whose research is based on field activities, wet, and dry labs:

1.          Make sure all your essential written notes and research data are ready to go, however lab notebooks cannot be removed from the lab because they may be contaminated.

2.          Make sure you have all your essential documents and papers as electronic files on OneDrive, Dropbox, or a thumb drive.

3.          Make sure you have VPN access to WSU, but only log on when necessary to avoid broadband overcrowding.

4.          Make sure your contact information on lab and office doors is up to date, in case Campus Police needs to call during an emergency.

5.          Follow university determinations and best practices on population studies and field research.

6.          Return all animals to proper holding areas to be cared for by DLAR staff.

7.          Return all bacteria & cell cultures, chemicals, and samples to their appropriate storage containers. Pay particular attention to any biohazardous, explosive, pyrophoric or radioactive materials.

8.          Make sure protocols and means (e.g. liquid nitrogen) are available for maintaining bacteria & cell cultures.

9.          Place any solvents and volatiles back to their designated cabinets.

10.      If further space is needed, store volatiles temporarily in a fume hood with the sash closed. Restrict use as compatible with the chemical and physical properties of the stored  chemicals.

11.      Properly segregate acids and bases to their designated cabinets.

12.      Make sure low-temperature freezers are properly connected and functional.

13.      Make sure gloveboxes have enough inert gas to be running over a few weeks.

14.      Make sure fridges are functional, and properly store any material that needs to remain refrigerated.

15.      Make sure any equipment that needs to be connected to a water source is working properly.

16.      Consider carefully if you need to unplug any major equipment such as lasers and microscopes.

17.      Consider if you should turn off and unplug non-essential small equipment such as hot plates, balances, computers, and printers.

18.      Do not leave any unfinished experiment idle in the lab. Complete or abort the experiment and clean up.

19.      Stop any non-essential water flow and make sure all fume hoods have their sashes closed.

20.      Turn off plumbed natural gas, if available.

21.      Make sure compressed gas cylinders not in use have their valve closed, regulator removed, and valve caps tightly secured.

22.      Make sure all waste containers are labeled and closed and have functional secondary containers.

23.      Turn off lights, unplug any space heaters and other appliances, and lock doors when leaving your offices/labs.

In the event that we stop the research activity on campus temporarily, research groups should designate a group of essential people to alternate coming to labs once or twice a week to make sure everything is well. You may also consider holding one-on-one meetings and group meetings with your graduate students remotely either by Skype or Microsoft Teams (the same as Skype with a few extra features).

If further help is needed with laboratory safety and occupational health, the OVPR contacts are as follows:

Robert Moon, Director, Office of Environmental Health and Safety:  313-993-7679

Richard Harrison, Compliance Officer:  313-993-7678

Maha Srinivasan, Radiation Safety Officer: 313-577-0019

Richard Pearson, Biosafety Officer:  313-993-7597

Sandamali Ekanayaka, Chemical Hygiene Officer:  313-993-6614

Jeannie Liu, Food/Pool Safety: 313-577-1373

Beth Olson, Water Safety Officer:  586-909-8047

Thank you and stay safe!