Mansfield students walking through the snow

Winter Telecommuting

  1. Offices and Departments
  2. Human Resources
  3. Winter Telecommuting

Winter Telecommuting Request Form Winter Telecommuting Presentation

December 6, 2024 — Winter Break Telecommuting Pilot


Commonwealth University Faculty and Staff,

In response to requests from employees, we are pleased to announce a pilot program to reduce certain in-person office operations on all campuses during the winter break from Thursday, December 19 through Friday, January 3. This initiative is designed to assess potential cost savings with the goal of informing decisions about future reduced operations during low-activity periods.

Key Details
  • University Operations: The University will remain open and online winter session classes and in-person events will continue as scheduled. Certain student-facing operations, such as Residential Life, the Student Health Center, Food Services, the Recreation Center, and some Student Union services, will continue to support students remaining on campus, however, hours or available services may be reduced due to the low number of students on campus.
    • Athletics will maintain a regular schedule for all events and activities.
  • Telecommuting Opportunity: Employees who are eligible may telecommute during this period, provided they are approved for telecommuting and have a telecommuting agreement in place or obtain one.
    • Employees who do not currently have telecommuting arrangements may request a telecommuting agreement through DocuSign. For employees who currently have a telecommuting agreement on file, an additional agreement will not be needed for the winter break period.
  • Telecommuting Expectations and Availability: Telecommuting employees are expected to actively perform their job duties and remain fully engaged in their work during regular work hours, except during approved leave or designated break times. Additionally, all telecommuting employees may be required to report to an on-campus work location at any time, as needed to support university operations.
  • Essential Employees: Essential staff, including police and most facilities employees, are required to report to work as usual.
  • Support and Access: Employees who cannot telecommute should coordinate with their supervisor and confirm building access with Stacy Wagner (570-389-2478), Chief Facilities & Safety Officer. The Facilities Management team on each campus will remain available for support. Employees may submit requests for assistance or work orders through the eMaint system.
Information for Telecommuting Staff
  • Equipment and Connectivity: Work with your supervisor to address any additional equipment needs. Employees using university equipment must use a VPN connection to access University systems. If you need to use the SAP client application (as opposed to the web-based version available through ESS) to do your work, please coordinate with your supervisor to ensure appropriate security protections are in place.
    • Virtual Desktop Interfaces (VDI) - If individuals need to use a personal computer or tablet for University resources, they must be accessed through a VDI environment. Instructions for VDI access are available on the CU IT Website for those who do not currently have a VM setup. Employees should use OneDrive or SharePoint and refrain from saving files directly to their personal devices. Any files saved in a VDI environment may not appropriately save to personal devices as the VDI environment is non-persistent, meaning the virtual desktop does not retain changes, files or configurations after the user logs out.

We look forward to assessing how this pilot enhances efficiency while ensuring that essential operations continue seamlessly. Please direct any questions to your supervisor or divisional Vice President.

Thank you for your cooperation as we explore this opportunity!

Office of the President