Welcome back livestream for employees on Aug. 26
On Wed., Aug. 26 at 11 a.m. join President and Vice-Chancellor, Tim Rahilly, PhD, and others as they welcome employees to the 2020/21 academic year. The livestream will be available at mru.ca/WelcomeBack2020. We realize this is a busy time of year so if you can not make it a recording will be posted for one week.

Requests from employees to be on campus
There have been many requests submitted by employees wanting to return to campus. While some people would prefer to work from campus, most faculty and staff will continue to work remotely unless essential. If requesting access, discuss with your immediate supervisor first and be specific about the start/end dates and times. In line with what Dr. Deena Hinshaw is saying to Albertans broadly, if at MRU we keep our campus safe by limiting access now we will reach our goal of returning to in-person student learning and services sooner.

Campus hours and access starting Aug. 24
For employees approved to be on campus starting on Aug. 24 campus will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekends, using your OneCard. ED and the second through fourth floors of the Riddell Library and Learning Centre remain closed.

Paid parking at reduced rates resumes on campus Aug. 24
Starting Aug. 24, paid parking will resume and be limited to Lot 2 at the West Gate entrance and the East Gate parkade. Parking is free for the first 30 minutes and then a significantly reduced flat rate of $5 per day will apply. Payment will be contactless using the HotSpot app (fees apply). Learn more.

Higher number of calls to the ITS Help Desk
With call volumes high due to the start of the semester and the pandemic, if you do not have a request that requires immediate assistance instead of calling the Help Desk, email itservicedesk@mtroyal.ca or fill out a ticket on MyMRU / Employee / Resources and Timesheets / Work Tools / Online Service Request. Also go to new, easy to access and understand information on faculty and researcher apps and staff apps. As well, find tutorials here. Thank you for your patience at this time.

Recreation Centre opens to credit students in September
In early September, some Recreation Centre facilities will re-open to credit students who pay a Recreation & Athletics fee as a part of their mandatory student fees. If this first phase of re-opening is successful, access for additional groups will be considered. More details.

Cougars Campus Store now offers contactless pickup
As of Aug. 17, free contactless pickup will be listed as an option when placing orders online through the Cougars Campus Store until Oct. 15. Pickups will take place in Lot 4 starting Aug. 24. Free shipping ends Aug. 23. Learn more.

Archive of all COVID-19 update emails

Wondering if you have missed an email? There is an archive of all email updates related to COVID-19 that can be found online. This includes all updates sent to employees, students and the general campus.

Daily health declaration form and other COVID-19 forms
When many people access the daily health declaration form at the same time, it may not load. While the form will continue to be live to reduce the load on this one form copies of this form were created for each area. Go to mru.ca/employeecheck and bookmark the form for your area. As well, if you have a problem you can clear your cache, fill it out at non-peak times or try a different browser. All employee forms related to the pandemic will be available at mru.ca/employeeforms starting next week.

New tool for remote file access
GlobalProtect and Webfilles are the new tools to upload and download files on the Mount Royal network remotely. They will replace SRAS and Pulse Secure. If you are using these tools, please move over to the new tools as soon as possible because the others will no longer function as of Sept. 7. Learn more.

New cybersecurity awareness training platform launched
All employees are required to do cybersecurity training upon being hired and annually. On Aug. 17 a new training tool from Proofpoint was launched. You can do the training online or in a virtual workshop format. Learn more.

Did you know?
If you're missing MRU merch, the Cougars Campus Store is open for virtual sales. Shop here.