May 27, 2020  |   

This blog post is outdated and no training is currently required (2022)

Return to Research Instructions

Everyone who needs to return to research in person — whether on CU Boulder campus, the DSRC, or in the field — must fill out a CU Boulder request form (“Requesting Approval for Return to Campus…”). Everyone returning to in-person work must also complete a Skillsoft-based safety training. Requests will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and for NOAA-based CIRES personnel, this will be only the first step: you will also need NOAA approval to be on the DSRC campus, and you will need to have completed NOAA’s safety training course.

Details are below, including guidance for filling out the form and directions to the training module. 

If you are NOAA-based:

ALL CI employees MUST take the NOAA COVID Safety training by September 30, 2020, even if you do not plan to return to the office at all. Those with access to the Commerce Learning Center (CLC) can access the course directly from this link; for those without CLC access, you can access the course here. We strongly encourage those working on-site or returning to on-site work to complete it as soon as possible, but regardless of your on-site work status please complete this Safety Orientation no later than September 30, 2020

To return to regular research in person, you must:

  1. Get approval from your CIRES supervisor.
  2. Get approval from the leadership of your NOAA lab or center.
  3. Take the CU Boulder COVID training and send a copy of the completion certificate to Lornay at: lornay.hansen@colorado.edu
    1. To access this Skillsoft training, visit mycuinfo.colorado.edu, click on Skillsoft, then CU Boulder. Then search for “CU: COVID-19 Safety and Awareness—CU Boulder​.”.
  4. Fill in the the CU Boulder Request to Return to Research form. If and when you are approved, you will be notified by email. You may not return to research without this approval. 
  5. When you are approved to go in:
    1. You may only go in on your approved days/times.
    2. You must take the daily health questionnaire for CU Boulder every day prior to going in to the office.
    3. Your CIRES supervisor will get a copy of your form via email each time you fill it out.
    4. You must follow the reporting requirements specific to your NOAA lab or center (to report when and where you were).

If you are CU Boulder-based:

To return to regular research in person, you must:

  1. Get permission from your CIRES supervisor.
  2. Take the CU Boulder COVID training and send a copy of the completion certificate to Lornay at: lornay.hansen@colorado.edu
    1. To access this Skillsoft training, visit mycuinfo.colorado.edu, click on Skillsoft, then CU Boulder. Then search for “CU: COVID-19 Safety and Awareness—CU Boulder​.”
  3. Fill in the CU Boulder Request to Return to Research form once you have supervisor approval and have taken the training. 
    1. If and when you are approved, you will be notified by email. You may not return to research without this approval. 
  4. When you are approved to go in:
    1. You may only go in on your approved days/times.
    2. You must take the daily health questionnaire for CU Boulder every day prior to going in to the office.
    3. Your CIRES supervisor will get a copy of your daily health form via email each time you fill it out.

Guidance for filling out the online “Requesting approval to return to campus” form

  1. Read guidance and instruction from CU Boulder leadership here.
  2. Only CIRES people may fill out requests, NOAA federal staff may not. 
  3. You may fill out a request just for yourself or for a group of up to 15 people (if you need to request on behalf of more than 15 people, you will need to submit multiple requests). 
  4. View and begin filling out the “Request to return form.” Most of the fields are self-explanatory, but some of these are not, especially for NOAA-based CIRES employees:  
    1. Under Department/College/Institute: Keep scrolling down to find Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences 
    2. Under Title, most of you should choose: “Researcher” (exceptions: tenured or tenure-track faculty, graduate students…) 
    3. Building: for DSRC, choose “Other” 
    4. Under Group/Unit: 
      1. NOAA-based people, please type CSL, GML, GSL, PSL, ESRL, NCEI, SWPC or NWS 
      2. Campus-based people, please indicate a laboratory or research group
    5. For Supervisor/Supervisor/Dept Chair/Institute Director: type “Waleed Abdalati”
      1. If you already submitted with a different supervisor, do not worry about making a correction; it will get to the right place. Please do not submit a new request.
    6. Take care with the section that asks you to describe “the consequences of not resuming this work at the time and location requested for each individual.” This is critical information. 
      1. NOAA-based people already deemed essential or critical may write: “NOAA leadership has designated my position essential in-person” 
      2. People previously approved as critical may use the same justification used on the original request, unless something has changed.


Questions: Please contact Christine Wiedinmyer.