DER Weekly Newsletter, May 14th, 2021


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May 14, 2021

Past DER Weekly Newsletters

Weekly In Progress Report

DER Welcomes Marcy Bishop Kates as New Assistant Director

Marcy Bishop Kates was hired as a research administrator in the Office of Sponsored Programs in 2015, bringing along many years of grant-funded program support experience. Previously she was a small-business owner, assisting more than 70 other entrepreneurs to launch their small food endeavors; served as a Michigan’s AmeriCorps program officer; directed a statewide team of AmeriCorps members addressing health disparities; and helped low-income, first generation students like herself work toward college enrollment, as Assistant Director of SWOSU Upward Bound.

Marcy earned an M.Ed. degree in Community Counseling from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and is a proud Spartan alum with a B.A. from the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. She was recently recognized with an OSP Quality FIRST awards for her work on MSU’s Proposal Team 1, and has also served on a variety of workgroups and employee search committees. After 5 ½ years in OSP, she looks forward to assisting faculty and the DER team more closely while expanding her research administration skills from the departmental side.

DER is extremely excited to have Marcy join the team and enable her to continue to develop her relationships with the EGR faculty and further strengthen research within the College of Engineering. You can reach Marcy via email at bishop23@msu.edu.

Notification from Office of Provost:

May 14, 2021

Travel During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Effective May 14, 2021, MSU-sponsored domestic travel authorization will return to the processes used prior to the pandemic.

Employees, students, and approved guests seeking to engage in university-sponsored international travel, must submit a waiver for review at least 3 weeks prior to departure. Prior to submitting the waiver, you will be required to obtain documentation from your unit administrator and, for students, from the cognizant advisor, college administrator or program director, affirming that the travel is essential in the context of both programmatic priorities and financial considerations, particularly if travel is occurring on MSU general funds. Note: The health and safety context for travel is currently very fluid, rapidly evolving by location and significantly impacted by frequent issuances of local, national, and international policies.

For MSU faculty and staff who reside internationally, MSU’s international travel review process applies for any travel taking place from the country of residence to another country (except the United States). MSU’s domestic travel authorization process applies for any travel taking place within the country of residence. In both cases, the most stringent health and safety requirements (MSU and U.S. versus country of residence and country of destination) will prevail. For any travel to campus, MSU’s inbound health protocols apply.

Links to waiver request forms, protocols for travelers to campus, and travel health and safety resources are below.

As of January 26, 2021, anyone traveling by plane to the United States from an international location must present proof of a negative viral COVID test (NAAT or antigen) from within 72 hours of departure to the U.S. Anyone without evidence of a negative test will be denied boarding. This requirement applies to everyone including citizens and permanent residents. It’s also required even if the traveler has been fully vaccinated against COVID. Please review detailed guidance from the CDC.

To learn more visit https://globalsafety.isp.msu.edu/travel-during-covid-19-pandemic.

Engineering Research Reactivation SharePoint

The Engineering Research Reactivation all-inclusive SharePoint page has helpful reopening resources, important processes, and documents that need to be completed and approved to "return to research". Please request access if prompted.

Important Announcement:

Where is my "LABORATORY PLAN FOR A SAFE RETURN" in the approval process?

You can see what step of the approval process your plan is on by looking under the “Engineering Research Reactivation” folders on the SharePoint site.

If the plan has been approved by the Department Chair, you can see if it has been sent to VPRI by clicking on “EGR ADR Review” > “At VPRI for Review”. If the plan is in the “At VPRI for Review” folder then it is currently being reviewed by VPRI.
To check to see if your plan has been completely approved by all required departments (DC, EGR Dean's Office, and VPRI), you can click on the “VPRI Final Approved Plans” folder. If your plan is in the “VPRI Final Approved Plans” folder then you approved to return to research. Monique Blackmer (monique@msu.edu) will reach out to you.