August 20, 2020
Dear Colleagues,
Thank you for all that you have done this past spring and summer to prepare for the fall semester. It’s terrific for our community to be "back"—whether virtually or in person—and I’m confident that the preparations undertaken with guidance from our Medical Response Team will ensure that our campuses are safe havens for research, teaching and learning. As you gear up to welcome students next week, here are a few reminders:
- Many students, particularly first year students, are worried about being a college student during a pandemic. Consider creating a brief video to introduce yourself and to clarify any details about meeting times, books that are needed and other course expectations, even if your syllabus is still a work in progress. Students are longing to make connections with their professors and will greatly appreciate a warm welcome!
- If you are teaching in a classroom, please use a seating chart to assign seats. This will help students to know exactly where to sit on day(s) that they attend and can potentially help to support contact tracing. Remember that classroom capacities have been reduced to support physical distancing and that students in hybrid courses may need to be scheduled to attend only on certain days. Do not move chairs into classrooms to expand seating capacity.
- All students will have completed the Student Commitment Form prior to your classes beginning and will have received two cloth masks. Schools have been provided with extra disposable masks that faculty can give to students who simply forget to bring a mask. A statement regarding mask expectations and consequences for not wearing a mask has been added to every fall course Canvas site: click here for the text.
Flexibility is a guiding principle, given the unprecedented nature of the pandemic and the random testing of students, faculty, and staff that will commence next week. Students have been asked to stay home if they are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, and they may be instructed to quarantine by contact tracers. Thus, at just about any point, a student may need to shift to remote learning, which can wreak havoc on plans for in-person assessments or assignment due dates.
Helping students to know what to do should they be unable to participate in class is important, but it also can be complicated and depends on the nature and modality of the course. Dr. Kathy Marrs (Biology) has developed some excellent language that she has graciously agreed to share. I recommend adapting a version of this for your syllabus or a course announcement in Canvas during the first week or two of classes.
Coronavirus considerations: Going to college during a global pandemic brings some uncertainties, but our main goal for the semester is to start and end healthy while learning a lot in between! While every effort will be made to follow the order of the assignments as listed, a change of plans may be necessary for some or all of us, depending on how the semester goes. Here are some considerations to follow for the health and safety of all:
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The flood of information coming at all of us can be overwhelming, but the pace should taper down as classes commence and we settle into some semblance of a new routine. We are curating a collection of faculty-focused resources on the Academic Affairs website to help, and of course, I welcome your feedback or additional questions at any time. It’s not going to be easy, but we will get through this academic year. I’m so incredibly grateful for your hard work and your dedication to our students.
Stay well and safe,
Kathy E. Johnson, Ph.D.
Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer
Professor of Psychology
