Covid-19: A message to all SFPE Members

Dear SFPE Members,

I want to send you an update from SFPE during what we know are challenging times for all of us globally.

First and most importantly, our team at SFPE is healthy and safe, for which we are grateful. I hope the same is true for you, your families, and staff.

Like many of you, yesterday we instituted a mandatory telework policy for all of our staff to help prevent the further spread of the coronavirus. Fortunately, SFPE has invested heavily in our remote capabilities over the past year to ensure that we can serve our members from virtually any location. So, the need to immediately transition to mandatory telework has been a rather smooth one and, so far, a fairly seamless transition for our team -- making us 100 percent operational. Similarly, all staff travel has been suspended until further notice and our face-to-face educational events (Symposium in Rome and professional development seminars) have been postponed to a future date.

With this in mind, we do not anticipate any unsurmountable challenges fulfilling our responsibilities to the membership to advance our mission in the weeks and months ahead. However, we realize that the current environment is extraordinarily challenging for many of our members and colleagues, and that in order to successfully navigate each day, we may need to adjust timing of certain committee elements and deliverables, in particular continuing professional development courses which were scheduled over the next few months. The staff is meeting daily and we are working with our committees to adapt schedules and transform work plans as needed. As most of you know, much can be done through remote meetings, and we will continue to utilize and enhance our delivery through this medium.

As we get past the immediate crisis, we anticipate that the needs of the profession will change over the rest of this year, significantly in some cases. We will be developing new products and ways of delivering content to help us all come out stronger at the other end of this. We would also ask that our chapters take similar steps to ensure the safety and health of their members and communities. I’ll close with my best wishes for safety and health for you, your families, and your colleagues, as we pull together as a global community to address this challenge.

Sincerely,

Nicole Boston, CAE
CEO
SFPE