COVID-19

Families First Coronavirus Response Act: The Families First Coronavirus Response Act became effective on April 1.

Public Health Emergency Leave (PHEL): Employees are now eligible for up to 160 hours of PHEL. For more information, please contact your supervisor.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP): For those employees who are having a difficult time with this situation, or may be concerned about coming to work, EAP counselors are available to full time employees that participate in one of our state offered health plans. More information is available through the Department of Human Resource Management.

Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act): On March 27, 2020 the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was signed into law. The Act is designed to bring financial relief for individuals and families affected by the Coronavirus. The CARES Act includes the following:

Distributions:

• The Act waives the 10% early withdrawal penalty and 20% withholding for coronavirus related distributions of up to $100,000 across all qualified retirement plans (if your plan allows)
• Distributions will be subject to taxation and you will have the option to pay taxes due over a three-year period.
• The Act also allows you to recontribute within three years regardless of that year’s contribution limit. This will make it easier for you to replace the amount of your distribution in your retirement
• Participants can self-certify their eligibility

Loans:

• If you qualify based on coronavirus-related eligibility, maximum loan limits are increased from $50,000 or 50% of vested account balances to $100,000 or all of the vested account balance made within 180 days of enactment.
• Repayment of the loan due between the date of the CARES enactment and year-end delayed 1 year
• Participants can self-certify their eligibility

Stimulus Recovery Payment and Student Loan Deferral Programs:

• Qualified taxpayers will receive direct stimulus recovery payments of up to $1,200 for individuals or $2,400 for married couples filing a joint return, with amounts increasing by $500 for every child. These amounts begin phasing out when individuals have $75,000 in adjusted gross income or couples filing jointly earn $150,000. The direct payments are not available for individuals and couples filing jointly who have adjusted gross incomes of $99,000 and $198,000, respectively.
• Borrowers through the federal student loan program may suspend monthly student loan payments without penalty through September 30, 2020. Students may retain Pell grants if they must leave school due to coronavirus closures.
• Allows for extended tax filing and IRA contribution deadlines. The deadline for filing a 2019 tax return—and any corresponding 2019 IRA contributions—has been extended to July 15, 2020

Retirees

• CARES Act allows you to cancel 2020 required minimum distributions (RMDs) for distributions from 401(a), 401(k), 403(a), 403(b) and governmental 457(b) retirement plans and IRAs.

VRS is working with ICMA-RC to develop a process that will allow members and retirees to receive coronavirus related distributions from certain defined contribution plans. More information can be found at www.vartire.org.

Christopher Newport University will be allowing employees to withdraw funds or take loans from their 403(b) for Coronavirus related reasons.

Please contact your vendors for required paperwork.

TIAA - John Kuchta
Phone: (434) 964–2624
Email: john.kuchta@tiaa.org

Lincoln Financial Group - Sharon Ryan
Phone: (757) 873–3331
Email: sharon.ryan@lfg.com

Metlife - Brooke Larson
Phone: (757) 493–4354
Email: brookelarsen@financialguide.com

AIG Valic - Cheri Coleman
Phone: (757) 646–2314
Email: cheri.coleman@valic.com

Please contact the Office of Human Resources Benefits Team with any questions at hr@cnu.edu.

The University has adopted an emergency telework policy. Telework is extended until further notice. No additional paperwork is required from employees for the telework extension. Please refer questions to your supervisor.

IT Services has provided information on how to set up remote access to your work computer and phone as well as collaborative services supported by the university.

All faculty/staff mail from outside of campus will be collected and held in the mailroom. Please call (757) 594–7935 to pick up and/or drop off mail, which will occur in 30 Commonwealth Hall. Please share interoffice mail electronically as much as possible.

The campus will remain closed to the public until further notice. Entry to all buildings will remain card access only. The Stay at Home order will continue until June 10, unless amended or rescinded by the Governor.

Employees will need to use their CNU ID card to enter the building in which they work.

The Trible Library is closed.

David Student Union doors will remain unlocked from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Regattas is serving meals 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. every day. The Commons and all retail dining operations are closed.

Until further notice, all out-of-state university-funded travel is prohibited. In-state travel should be avoided and is prohibited for gatherings that will exceed 50 persons. Internal university meetings should be limited in the number of participants and avoided if possible. Options for virtual meetings will be provided by IT.

Employees who obtained approved travel priors and booked airline or rail tickets, conference registration fees or hotel accommodations should first pursue obtaining a full refund from the vendors. If only a partial refund can be obtained documentation must be submitted to substantiate the initial cost and the reduced refund received in order to be reimbursed for the difference.

In the instance of airfare or rail tickets where the vendor supplies a voucher to be used by the traveler at a later date, the original documentation of cost and a copy of the voucher must be submitted to the Business Office in order to obtain full reimbursement. The original voucher must be given to your departmental admin so that it may be used for future business travel.

Please contact Andrea Moore at (757) 594–7214 or Erin Gray at (757) 594–7293 with questions.

Commencement has been rescheduled for October 9–11, 2020. Full details and schedule updates can be found at cnu.edu/commencement.

The Alumni Society is asking that we make a special effort to congratulate our graduates from a distance on what would have been their commencement day:

On May 9, 2020, we invite all members of the Christopher Newport family to post on social media in support of this extraordinary class. Post words of encouragement, tell your stories, and take pictures using the hashtag #CNU2020. To make it more special, please consider purchasing an “I Support” the Class of 2020 t-shirt. This is a modified version of the actual senior class shirt. Wear it or any Christopher Newport gear in your posts in honor and celebration of these incredible Captains! It will be a day to own social media, show compassion for CNU seniors and welcome them into the proud family of Captains for Life!

Given Gov. Northam's "stay-at-home" directive, we have suspended the move-out process effective immediately (March 30, 2020). At this time, students may not return to campus to retrieve their belongings. The "stay-at-home" directive is in place through June 10. We will reassess the move-out process as that date approaches.

Students should remain vigilant in checking your campus email regarding important updates during this period.