Information for faculty about training for remote teaching – March 10, 2020

Dear Faculty,

As you probably know, the university has been engaged in intensive planning for how to respond to the ever-changing COVID-19 situation in which we currently find ourselves. A primary area for planning is how to provide academic continuity for our students. Please be assured that our campus has no plans to close at present. Nonetheless, we want to ensure that students are able to complete their courses this semester, should they need to participate remotely due to quarantine or other public health measures.

We recognize that, for faculty, the challenge will be how to provide continuity of student learning, if a remote education option is required in order to meet student needs. To prepare for that possibility, ITS-ETO is planning to offer workshops to support any need to provide classes remotely, recognizing that there are various teaching approaches and teaching preferences. These trainings will take place on Thursday and Friday of this week (March 12 & 13) to offer ample opportunity for all faculty to participate. The same trainings will be offered on both days to accommodate differing faculty schedules.

In order to facilitate faculty participation, we are authorizing all faculty to attend these trainings in lieu of meeting face-to-face classes that are scheduled at the times the trainings meet. A schedule of times and places for these trainings will be provided by ITS-ETO, as well as the topics each of them will address. You may choose to attend all of the trainings or those you feel would be of most benefit to you.

Your cooperation and assistance with these efforts will be immensely helpful as we proceed through this public health emergency. Whether this includes self-quarantine, social distancing or even potential suspension of on-ground classes, we want the campus community to be as prepared as possible to continue the excellent work we do with and for our students.

Please feel free to contact me or the Academic Deans with any questions you may have.

All the best,
Ellen

Ellen Zimmerman, Ph.D.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs