Academic Updates

This message was sent to all faculty at IUPUI, IUPUC, and IUFW (except School of Medicine)

Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer

Dear Colleagues,

I’m sure that many faculty are feeling a bit anxious about the next six weeks, particularly those of us who have never taught students outside of the familiar confines of a “real” classroom. Fortunately, there are many colleagues with expertise in online education among us who I’m certain will welcome the chance to coach others as we settle into this surreal new normal.

I write at this time to provide you with some academic updates. Again, I will do my best to keep this brief as I am mindful of the daily blizzard of emails from various sources that you are weathering.

Summer Classes and Programs:
We have decided that it is in the best interest of everyone to continue our current online teaching during the summer sessions. Summer credits often include clinical placements, internships, and other forms of experiential learning. In general, student engagement will continue to be determined by the host site unless there is a more stringent ban on travel within our state. Please consult with your chair or dean for additional guidance on how to approach those credit-bearing experiences. In addition, summer events and programs (including Student Orientation) are being shifted to online, when possible. Again, please work with your academic units on those events.

Shared Governance:
I am incredibly grateful for the leadership and dedication of the IUPUI Faculty Council Executive Committee (IFC-EC) especially Faculty Council President, Dr. John Watson, who has participated in daily briefings of campus leaders. I relied heavily on the IFC-EC in considering exceptions to academic polices or processes that are intended to ease the burden on our students and faculty.

Teaching and Learning:
The keepteaching.iu.edu site continues to be updated with really helpful information. Above all, I know that many of our students are feeling very anxious about the future, or may be helping to support their families by working or caring for others who may be sick. It would be incredibly helpful if you recorded a short video or wrote a brief note to your students, emphasizing that you care about them and are standing ready to support them in their learning. A parallel keeplearning.iu.edu site has been created recently and has been shared with students in a separate email. It also includes helpful information for students who may need support with technology or access to the internet.

Please avoid synchronous class meetings, if possible, due to students needing to work or students residing in different time zones. Record your class sessions, whenever possible, and add closed-captioning through the Kaltura tool to support students who may need captions to learn. If you must come to campus to deliver instruction, please adhere to social distancing practices. If at all possible, work remotely from home.

A one-time exception to the policies below may be granted in order to provide a broad safety net for our students during the spring 2020 semester. These policy exceptions were unanimously approved by the IFC Executive Committee on March 26, 2020. Policies apply to students enrolled in all undergraduate programs at IUPUI, IUPUC, and IU Fort Wayne. In certain limited cases, some policies may be extended to professional programs (e.g., Law) with support from deans.  

Faculty Affairs:
As communicated previously, all faculty on the tenure-track can opt into a one-year extension due to the disruption caused by the current pandemic. Please refer to the Office of Academic Affairs website for details.

Student Evaluations of Teaching:
The IFC-EC voted unanimously on March 26, 2020, to administer student evaluations of teaching as we normally do. However, faculty may choose to opt into using them for merit and/or promotion and tenure review. Otherwise, deans and chairs should NOT use teaching evaluation data from spring 2020 when evaluating teaching performance, due to the extenuating circumstances unfolding this semester.

Research:
The vice president for research has issued research hibernation guidance. Please contact Dr. Janice Blum, vice chancellor for research and graduate education, with questions.  

Gratitude for All You Do:  
I have been a faculty member at IUPUI since 1993, and one of the things I’ve most loved about our community is our willingness to innovate. We also are adept at balancing a strong commitment to excellence in research and scholarship alongside a deep dedication to student success and the eradication of equity-based achievement gaps. The situation that we are in is unprecedented and scary, but I am confident that we can get through this. You are the key to helping our current students succeed, and I thank you profoundly for all that you have done in the past two weeks to prepare for the rest of the semester.

Sincerely,

Kathy E. Johnson, Ph.D.
Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer
Professor of Psychology

[1] Students, faculty, and advisors are cautioned that while a grade of S or P achieved during the spring 2020 semester will satisfy all academic requirements at IUPUI, IUPUC, and IU Fort Wayne, such grades may not be accepted as transfer credit by other institutions or graduate programs.