NIRSA Ideas in Motion

Risk Management Roundtable

Recorded on Thursday, June 4, 11:00am PT / 2:00pm ET

Facilitated by Erin Wells, presented with Chad Lowe, Drew Loso and Sarah Shea

Chat Transcript

00:30:22Erin Wells

Hey All!!! hope you are having a good week

00:31:11Erin Wells

please feel free to ask questions and leave comments

00:32:10Erin Wells

UT Austin has a reoccupation committee as well, they meet 2-3 times per week

00:33:29Stefani Plummer

University starts folks back June 8 but we are planning to be back sometime in between that and June 29. We have a task force as well; they are looking both globally and specifically (touring actual facilities to see how to reopen)

00:34:56Aaron Brooks

The University of Akron has yet to give anything as far as a model of how we will be returning, when we will be returning, and under what circumstances anything will happen

00:35:37Max - Swarthmore College

Swarthmore College’s Athletics COVID-19 Action Team will begin meeting in the coming weeks. This will include our Director of Athletics, Assistant Athletics Director of Recreation & Wellness, Assistant Athletics Director of Internal Operations, Director of Sports Medicine, Head Athletic Trainer, and Head of Strength & Conditioning and Sports Performance. However, this action group is awaiting guidance from the College’s COVID-19 Action Team.

00:35:52Leslie Dulle

I am curious how departments are handling to moving of any equipment in order to allow for social distancing. i.e. is it your responsibility? facilities responsibility? Hiring outside movers?

00:36:07Erin Wells

@Aaron has your department started to think about facility modifications or different ways of social distancing you can do?

00:36:19Stefani Plummer

@Leslie it will be OUR responsibility but I can bake some muffins like no other so facilities tends to help out willingly! :)

00:36:22kimberly Rottet

@Leslie - We moved it ourselves.

00:36:35Leslie Dulle

Awesome.

00:36:41Kathryn Dunn- Loyola Chicago

@leslie We got our day's workout in by moving it ourselves. We dress down and "Get Stuff Done"

00:36:45Robert Weeks

@Leslie, if we wind up moving equipment, Grounds and Maintenance would help us.

00:36:54Stefani Plummer

@kathryn YES!

00:37:33Erin Wells

We are even going to try it with student empolyees

00:37:45Jason Darby

Southern Miss - We are awaiting confirmation from our executive cabinet but aiming to open our facility June 22nd. We have our custodial staff deep cleaning this week and also have some staff moving equipment this week to prep the facility (some cardio shifting to gym courts). Program team is still working on virtual programming for summer. We are going to use student employees once we open.

00:37:59Ben Burnham

@Leslie, we (Boise State) we plan to contract our local equipment vendor since they have better equipment to move pieces than we do in house. Some staff may assist when we do the move

00:38:00Sarah Shea

@Leslie we are having our student staff and a couple of professional staff come and move things around.

00:38:16Leslie Dulle

Thanks all-

00:38:32Jason Darby

Southern Miss discussed doing the staff split but are no longer moving forward with that plan

00:38:50Aaron Brooks

We have started that. We have decided that we will be using one of our gyms (a 2 court gym) to be able to space out our fitness/cardio equipment. Using one of our courts in our 3-court gym as our new stretching area

00:39:17Leslie Dulle

We have thought about splitting staffs but not positive how we would make that work. We struggle to get all shifts covered when we are "normal" so not sure how to do it. I do not believe we will be splitting our pro staff.

00:39:33Joe Cassidy

Yes, Erin, Wake Forest is not only looking a rotating teams for Campus Rec but also departments in our division

00:39:44Aaron Brooks

We think due to budget cuts we will be having reduced building hours and having our professional staff serve in multiple positions our students used to fill

00:40:14Mike Chadee

Our staff is moving equipment. We have experience moving equipment for cleaning purposes and find that we are more careful with pieces that have many breakable plastic covers, etc. than an outside source may be.

00:40:33Leslie Dulle

We are expecting reduced hours as well and cross training front desk and fitness floor staffs.

00:41:49Stefani Plummer

What is the thought on when someone on the staff "pops hot" as someone called it on a roundtable? has anyone discussed when someone is positive, what might be the process to follow?

00:43:45Leslie Dulle

For the extended break, I am going to recommend that we will have to close as we will not be able to staff the building. If we don't want the students on campus during this time period, then it is contradictory to have them stay and work.

00:44:54Jason Darby

We have touched base on the extended break but are awaiting on word from the division on what the expectation for us will be. We are opening an F45 studio in our facility so we will likely have to operate at least on limited hours to not take time away from those who pay for the memberships to that program.

00:45:42Justin Cato

@Stefani, here's what we were looking to do for anyone that is presumed or confirmed COVID-19

00:46:18Justin Cato

lot of it came from CDC, as well as ideas from a couple of places and what our RM & Safety reopening committee came up with

00:46:45Justin Cato

sorry, the document is above Darby's last message

00:46:52Stefani Plummer

@Justin...thank you!

00:46:55Jillian Dolciato

Are any university changing their membership types to no longer allow external members?

00:47:23Leslie Dulle

Is anyone considering not allowing their external members to return to the facility? (i.e. alumni and community )

00:47:38Bob Gough W&M

W&M is considering suspending community memberships sales for the near future.

00:47:41Erin Wells

In phase one we are only open to current members

00:48:02Aaron Brooks

To start, we will not be allowing guest passes or anyone that is not a member into the building.

00:48:32Stefani Plummer

We don't have guest memberships, but we will not be allowing guests in to watch events (e.g., parents coming in to watch IMs)

00:49:19kimberly Rottet

External members - when we are online at a commuter campus, that situation because a budget concern. UTRGV is keeping those folks, and the revenue is helping offset some other areas.

00:49:40kimberly Rottet

We are not doing guest passes, but focusing on our current members.

00:49:54Leslie Dulle

Ours certainly would not be long term as well. We do have a revenue expectation.

00:49:58Joe Cassidy

If your facility is highlighted on admissions tours, will you be permitting the in the building?

00:50:02Scott Vaculik - Sam Houston State

When we open July 1st... We will not allow any new memberships / guest passes. we will reevaluate come Fall semester.

00:50:09Mike Chadee

We did not offer community memberships but did allow community guests accompanied by student/member. We will not offer that opportunity in re-opening process. Only university faculty/staff will be able to buy guest passes.

00:50:34Jason Darby

@Joe - Ours have currently suspended c campus tours and are doing virtual tours online of other campus programs

00:52:15Stefani Plummer

electrostatic sprayers went from ~$300 to $900!

00:53:14Bob Gough W&M

At William & Mary, all COVID-19 related purchasing must be processed through our university Facility Management office. All departments submit a list to FM and they complete the transaction. We are still a several weeks away from opening and are hopeful that we won't be too far behind with backordered items. The sprayer seems to be the most difficult item to source.

00:53:44Jillian Dolciato

Are you all providing masks for your students or is that an expectation that they provide their own?

00:53:52Joe Cassidy

@Jason - Thanks Jason. Our campus has also suspended in person tours and switched to virtual. We're engaged with Admissions as they begin for eventual return to in person tours.

00:54:06Jason Darby

@Jillian - They are supposed to provide their own but we are going to have some extra just in case.

00:54:07Mike Chadee

Our Office of Safety and Business Continuity is making hand sanitizer and providing it throughout campus. They have had to come up with creative solutions for the stands to secure the bottles, as they were disappearing at first.

00:54:24Marc Iturriaga

Outside of the physical safety measures, what are some institutions doing to facilitate the participant experience, specifically as it relates to the role of staff creating sense of belonging during these scary times rather than coming at it from a point of enforcement and potentially conflict of all the risk management protocols being put in place.

00:54:45Keith Wenrich

At University of Georgia, all students, faculty and staff will be provided 2 masks and instructions on how to clean the masks.

00:54:50Leslie Dulle

Xavier University is in a complete spending freeze which is contradictory to our ability to start ordering some PPE (gloves, etc) considering backlog and lead times.

00:55:08Joe Cassidy

Wake Forest is planning to provide all employees students with two cloth face masks.

00:55:30Stefani Plummer

we will use a weed sprayer if we have to! anything to get us to the point where we can get a sprayer!

00:55:36Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

https://www.chemical-concepts.com/ramsol-rsi-disinfectant-canister-22-liter-kit.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwlN32BRCCARIsADZ-J4uv3ygFKMeQFiLGNLqSFo3el-B1iqh0mOr-yRTMToIHmDlnWc04yNYaAiB7EALw_wcB

00:55:42Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

https://www.grainger.com/product/GUARDAIR-Disinfectant-Compressed-Air-56LG23?searchBar=true&searchQuery=56LG23

00:56:07Deb Howard

Rose-Hulman is providing pro staff with 12 disposable masks and 3 cloth masks

00:56:11Adam Pruett

Is anyone creating reservation schedules for access in order to manage contact tracing?

00:56:32Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

@Adam - Yes

00:57:13Heidi Hurley

It looks like most of you not allowing people in, outside of current membership. Would this include vendor visits? ie: equipment sales, sanitizing sales, etc.?

00:57:22Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

We are fortunate to have an in-house IT team working on it, but we’ve also created a back-up platform if needed:

00:57:23Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

https://www.picktime.com/UTRecSportsGREWeightRoom

00:57:56Leslie Dulle

To my knowledge, Xavier will allow vendors on campus as that is essential to operations.

00:58:38John Brey

it is LifeTime

00:58:38Max - Swarthmore College

Said video… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRYrob02zwg&feature=youtu.be&deliveryName=DM56216

00:59:13Max - Swarthmore College

And Planet Fitness - https://www.planetfitness.com/club-cleanliness

00:59:22Stefani Plummer

@max...thanks!

00:59:22Kathryn Dunn- Loyola Chicago

Loyola is asking the question: Is it Legally Allowable and Medically Advisable (LAMA) on everything. For example should we bring vendors in? Is it LAMA?

00:59:25Erin Wells

Thanks Max

00:59:27Marc Iturriaga

thanks max

00:59:40Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

Max is Johnny on the Spot!

01:02:00Grace Grindstaff

@Marc, at UNCW I’ve been tasked with creating a customer service plan for our beginning of the year training so that students will have a clear understand of the “why” behind what we are doing/changing for our patrons benefit. we also are going to look into the video format for patrons to see from our website about our changes, etc.

01:05:55Marc Iturriaga

Yes @Grace Love to hear it - risk management is about PEOPLE safety but we sometimes forget that there are feelings, emotion, etc behind those people and we are just as responsible for facilitating that experience of belonging too. Thanks!

01:06:27Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

Yes, masonite

01:07:03Robert Weeks

I was about to ask the same thing about what to put down to protect gym floors from cardio or other equipment! I asked a vendor and it was suggested that we put down two 3/4" plywood panels under it. I'm looking into other options.

01:07:23Erik Unger

A long time ago when we needed to move gym equipment, we purchased cattle mats to use to protect gym floring

01:07:32Aaron Brooks

We are turning our multi-purpose floored gym into a new fitness area with 6' spacing around each piece

01:07:34Stefani Plummer

@Ross I need you to help me with ALL my words! thanks :)

01:08:14Mark Ritter

We are thinking about using old yoga mats to protect the floors from being scratched. We don't allow dead lifts etc though

01:08:21Erin Wells

erin.wells@austin.utexas.edu

01:08:21Laura Munroe

UT San Antonio - if we use a court, we will borrow plastic floor squares that connect from Athletics.

01:08:27Ben Burnham

At Boise State we are going to purchase 4' x 6' "extreme mats" for our lighter cardio pieces that will move to our gym floor

01:08:41Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

300-400 lbs per rack, and they moved in something like 15-20 racks!

01:08:54Stefani Plummer

In a pinch you can use attic stock of any flooring you may have (mondo, ecore, etc)

01:09:27Ben Burnham

Local equipment vendors likely have solutions for you since a lot of private gyms are doing the same thing

01:09:34Aaron Brooks

in northeast Ohio it's always raining or snowing so no need for outdoor space haha

01:09:49Jason Darby

USM - We are going to utilize outdoor spaces for some group ex classes for social distance purposes

01:11:16Adam Pruett

We have organized a vendor contract for partitions / sneeze gaurds throughout the building using VGS. https://vgsonline.com/

01:11:31Stefani Plummer

We just heard we are receiving plexiglass for our access desk and equipment checkout; we are single point access so we will one door in/one door out

01:11:50Stefani Plummer

and claustrophobic!

01:12:52Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

Here’s our Sneezeguard models"

01:12:53Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

https://www.sneezeguard.com/index.php?osCsid=5lakkjubdn7crtnira9q73ag81

01:12:57Jason Darby

We have plexiglass at our sales desk and check-in desk now with a card reader on the exterior for patrons to swipe in so we no longer have to physically grab their ID. Our equipment checkout will be closed for now.

01:13:05Mike Chadee

We had originally planned on plexiglass around entire circular front desk, but were advised to only do smaller section and direct all traffic to one single point. Reasons being cost as well as cleaning.

01:14:15Stefani Plummer

we are working to create a message of this is OUR facility...be a part of the process!

01:14:23Staci Snyder

We purchasing from Mity Lite for countertop shields for all customer service/access desks across all our facilities. Some will have tri-fold and some will be single pane ones https://mitylite.com/product-categories/countertop-shields

01:14:23John Brey

I would like to ask a question regarding vendor protocol for everyone. I would like to know what the rec departments have set for appointments or drop ins? I am sorry if it was covered, I had to step away from the call.

01:15:16Rahul Rajan

At Minnesota we are planning to use stanchions throughout the building/ staircase and directions signs to moderate the flow of our patrons

01:15:38Stefani Plummer

@John i don't think we will make any changes...unless it is a capacity issue (too many people in the facility already). Other than that, no change expected

01:15:41Jason Darby

Has anyone found a clever way to shutdown/cover your water fountains that is visually appealing (Ex: not covering with a trash bag). We can’t unplug because we want to still allow the automatic bottle filler to work.

01:17:03Thomas Giles

Same question as Jason

01:18:36Leslie Dulle

At Xavier University, I have recommended that we will not do reservations, but will see how it goes. We are also considering a mid day closing for cleaning.

01:19:00Stephanie Nielsen

Contact the vendor or a user handbook help address this. May be available online, too. We have University Facilities and Operations shutting off our fountains, but keeping the bottle filler option on.

01:19:11Stephanie Nielsen

So there is a way!

01:19:17Leslie Dulle

Put a golf club head cover over the spout

01:19:32Stefani Plummer

@Leslie...great idea!

01:19:37Max - Swarthmore College

@Leslie LOL

01:19:53Aaron Brooks

We are actually allowing the push to fill with having hand sanitizer right next to each fountain

01:19:58Leslie Dulle

It would be funny and hopefully folks would get the message

01:20:57Grace Grindstaff

Someone I know is simply removing the button from the front of the fountains. Obviously not pretty, but it’ll work and they can still use the bottle filling function

01:21:14Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

@CJ…isn’t TAMU using IM Leagues for workout timeblocks?

01:21:42Adam Pruett

How long is everyone’s timeblocks? Are they the same throughout the day?

01:22:15Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

Ours will fluctuate. 50 minutes some days, 75-80 minutes on others for longer sessions

01:23:57Stancheski, CJ

Yes currently TAMU is using IM Leagues for workout timeblocks for strength & conditioning, climbing wall, bouldering wall, lap pool, and outdoor pool. With 50 minute time slots.

01:24:59Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

We are also continuously cleaning the weight room during workouts, then we’ll ask all to leave so we can do some more detailed cleaning between sessions

01:25:26Stefani Plummer

even good ole Dairy Queen (i needed a treat!)

01:25:33Abi Schaefer

For anyone struggling to get hand sanitizer for your facilities/programming there is a company in North Carolina (CCP) that is manufacturing and selling small and large quantities of hand sanitizer. There contact is Larry and you can call them at 252-433-0130 or you can email me at abi.schaefer@duke.edu and I can put you in contact with them. I don't have their email off the top of my head

01:25:44Stancheski, CJ

https://www.imleagues.com/spa/intramural/e51f7ba476064b79bcad286acf5a7794/home

01:26:01Thomas Giles

Airport style PA announcements

01:26:23Bob Gough W&M

@Stefani, I think you are right. They will be with us from this point forward. The next step for the architects will be to make them look as good as possible.

01:26:50Stancheski, CJ

https://recsports.tamu.edu/coronavirus/ on our COVID-19 page on our recsports website we have instructions for patrons for how to sign up

01:26:51Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

“Ya don’t gotta go home, but you can’t stay here!"

01:27:29Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

ANy concerns people will get numb to it?

01:27:37Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

Or what about with their headphones?

01:27:38Stefani Plummer

@Bob yes, that is great. I know some of this is temporary...but I know we will disinfect from this point forward until the end of time because it is valuable covid or not...I just hope the physical distancing isn't something that sticks!

01:27:41Thomas Giles

Absolutely yes

01:27:42Max - Swarthmore College

Just put “Closing Time” on repeat.

01:27:42Jillian Dolciato

has anyone heard from staff that they do not feel comfortable returning to work and/or cleaning?

01:27:54Ross Rodriguez - UT Austin

YES MAX!

01:28:04Thomas Giles

We also raised the concern of people with headphones

01:28:24Thomas Giles

but admin wants consistency in each session

01:28:40Hailey Hester

I have a few trip leaders that don't feel comfortable driving

01:28:42Stefani Plummer

not so far...everyone is itching to get back (and keep getting paid)

01:28:47Leslie Dulle

To that point as well, is anyone considering having student employees sign something indicating that they understand the extra COVID related issues?

01:29:23Stefani Plummer

@Jobey have you had any dissenters?

01:29:30Erin Wells

Do we want another one of these?

01:29:34Erin Wells

If so, when?

01:29:35Max - Swarthmore College

Yes please Erin

01:29:38Thomas Giles

Yes!

01:29:39Rahul Rajan

yes

01:29:40Jason Darby

Yes!

01:29:40Max - Swarthmore College

2 weeks

01:29:42Nick Donahue

Yes please!

01:29:46Aaron Brooks

Please!

01:29:46Jillian Dolciato

yes please!

01:29:55Staci Snyder

yes please

01:29:57Staci Snyder

2 weeks is good

01:30:01Rahul Rajan

2-3 weeks

01:30:01Bob Gough W&M

2 weeks

01:30:06Abi Schaefer

2 weeks!

01:30:06Ben Burnham

2 weeks

01:30:08Deb Howard

2 weeks

01:30:10Adam Pruett

2 weeks sounds good! Programming!

01:30:12Aaron Brooks

2 weeks would be great!

01:30:15John Somers

2 weeks is awesome

01:30:22adrianna del amo

2 weeks pls

01:31:07Adam Pruett

Programming and resumption of services

01:31:18Morgan Munoz

Thank you very much!

01:31:19Jillian Dolciato

thank you Erin and Chad!