Weekly Briefing: How One College Is Debating Hybrid Work

Parking, cybersecurity, and job retention are some of the issues colleges are weighing for remote work and the fall semester. ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( [logo] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Please sign up to receive your own copy.]( You’ll support our journalism and ensure that you continue to receive our emails. [Read this newsletter on the web](. When college workers go remote, what happens to campus parking? [image] Illustration by The Chronicle Last month, we told you that some colleges [were considering]( to what extent staff and faculty members could keep working from home once the risk of Covid-19 abates. Transforming colleges into hybrid workplaces raises issues like cybersecurity, worker retention, and, of course, parking. The University of Utah is in a special position to find solutions to those concerns by July 1, thanks to an executive order by Gov. Spencer J. Cox, a Republican. The order requires state agencies to create remote jobs to expand employment in rural parts of Utah. This summer, university administrators will evaluate every position to determine whether it can be done remotely. The process will jump-start a two-year pilot for the institution's new telecommuting plan. Other colleges may reference the guidelines when crafting their own remote-work policies. Before starting the pilot, supervisors and employees will [sign a]( about remote work, and the new policies will be fully in place by the fall semester. Our Lindsay Ellis spoke with Utah administrators who manage human resources, technology, finance, and operations about what's on their minds during this transition. Here's a summary: Human resources - Jeff Herring, chief human-resources officer, said the university's managers would have some say in their direct reports' remote-work capacities. - Every department will look different. Herring said he expected that some workers who can't telecommute would leave for other positions. Managers who may be slow to allow remote work could be frustrated by the shift. Technology - During the pandemic, infrastructure and cybersecurity have gotten investment, said Steve Hess, chief information officer. - The Cares Act gave the university the funds to strengthen Wi-Fi and add cameras to classrooms and conference rooms. That is key because virtual meetings show no signs of stopping. - There's room for improvement in [IT security]( Hess told a campus town hall in May. The university has urged employees at home to work on secure Wi-Fi networks or virtual networks. Finance - The university could save money with more remote workers, but it's not clear how the numbers add up, said Cathy Anderson, chief financial officer. - If enough people mostly worked from home, Utah could save on parking and leased office space. That money could go to teaching, research, and community outreach, Anderson said. - But if employees adopted a hybrid model and expensed their at-home offices, university costs could go up quickly. Operations - Before the pandemic, the university had about 14,000 parking spaces and a few hundred empty spaces on campus. At the time, some employees were encouraged to work from home once a week to improve the parking situation. - Gordon Wilson, associate vice president for administrative services, said he's familiar with the plea for more parking. Telecommuting could mean 500 to 1,000 fewer cars on campus every day. - The university will sell a range of parking passes, including passes for partial workweeks and workdays. But staff members didn't quit buying passes en masse, Wilson said. The biggest drop-off came from students. [Read Lindsay's]( here](. I want to hear from you. What's on your mind about remote or hybrid-remote work for the fall semester? What do you want your university to resolve? If you're an administrator, what issues arise for you with remote work? Write me, and your answer may be featured in a future Briefing: fernanda@chronicle.com. Paid for and Created by Lamar University [Lamar University implements virtual solutions during remarkable times]( Expanding their recruitment reach into the virtual realm, Lamar University’s Enrollment Services team launched virtual events and text campaigns to target tech-savvy students, showcasing the institution as a place where they can attain their life goals. ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( Subscribe to The Chronicle The Chronicle’s award-winning journalism challenges conventional wisdom, holds academic leaders accountable, and empowers you to do your job better — and it’s your support that makes our work possible. [Subscribe Today]( Lagniappe. - Learn. If you're crawling out of lockdown, [you may feel like this](. (Vice) - Read. I don't usually recommend stories like this. [Just go with it](. (The New York Times) - Listen. Here's a podcast about a private religious order, and [what happens]( when vows are broken. (Apple Podcasts) - Watch. My family is in town, and I haven't turned on the TV in about a week. Cheers, —Fernanda This Week‘s Top Reads THE PANDEMIC [Spring Enrollment’s Final Count Is In. Colleges Lost 600,000 Students.]( By Audrey Williams June [image] The decline is seven times worse than that of the year before, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( THE REVIEW [Positive Psychology Goes to War]( By Jesse Singal [image] How the Army adopted an untested, evidence-free approach to fighting PTSD. ADVICE [Faculty Evaluation After the Pandemic]( By Kevin Gannon [image] In our post-Covid personnel landscape, one-size-fits-all tenure and promotion policies are destined to fall short. 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