1 week Ago
COLUMBIA — The University of South Carolina will require almost all of its employees to work from campus starting July 1, ending remote work in a return to pre-pandemic status for the flagship university. About 730 of the school's 5,496 employees currently have a remote or hybrid work set-up, according to university spokesman Jeff Stensland. The return to campus mandate comes from a "growing recognition" that something is lost by working remotely, he said, and that there is a benefit to daily interactions with coworkers and students.
"Being physically present enhances collaboration, communication and the overall sense of community," the university's human resources division said in its new guidelines , set April 2. Those new guidelines include some exceptions that would allow remote work, such as for faculty in online degree programs, though "the expectation is that USC faculty and staff return to campus." The university closed the Columbia campus in March 2020 as the coronavirus began to spread, but reopened that fall with a mix of online and in-person classes.
It began to return to normal operations in March 2021 following an order from Gov. Henry McMaster, but some staff were given exceptions allowing them to continue working remotely..
