Preparing for Spring
Q: Where can faculty go to find the most up-to-date information on SU’s COVID-19 efforts?
A: Updated information is maintained on the SU COVID-19 webpages, including Informed Faculty, Informed Staff and Informed Students. All full-time faculty, adjunct faculty and academic staff also should have access to the Faculty Senate COVID-19 Instruction and Town Hall Canvas site. Please see the Communication Flow statement and other important documents there.
Q: Is there a Faculty Readiness Checklist that academic areas can use to gauge readiness?
A: There are several readiness resources. The SU Technology Support Center Knowledgebase has useful information to search by keywords. On the Faculty Senate COVID-19 Instruction and Town Hall Canvas site, please use the Modules “Useful SU Links” and “External Teaching Resources,” and “External COVID-19 Higher Education Resources,” with documents such as Johns Hopkins’ “Open Smart.” For students, SU’s Center for Student Achievement created a video to support students transitioning to online learning. Additionally, Instructional Design and Delivery has MyClasses support for faculty and students on successful online learning.
Q: How do we address attendance language for syllabi?
A: Faculty need to be reasonable in their attendance expectations due to COVID-19 and technical challenges. Policies will vary faculty to faculty and for different programs.
Q: Will Supplemental Instructors still provide course support during COVID-19 operations?
A: Yes. As indicated in the “Coding Classes for Fall” document, GullNet class notes should include whether the class is supported by Supplemental Instruction. Please contact Heather Holmes for more details.
Teaching Modalities and Quality
Q: How will students know how courses will be taught?
A: All SU courses are coded to correctly reflect our usual coding system, with additional instruction notes added, where needed:
- Face-to-face section numbers: 001-410
- Hybrid section numbers: 601-699
- Online course section numbers: 701 – 749
- Remote course section numbers: 750-799
Q: Can we require students who choose to stay online to have access to a printer/scanner? Can we make sure that students on campus, including those in self-isolation have such access?
A: It is better to help distance students leverage digital services (e.g. DocuSign, Scannable App, etc.). See for example, the Adobe Scan app to use phones as scanners. On-campus, students can access Student Printing Services at Guerrieri Academic Commons. The SU Bookstore is exploring e-text options for all required texts. They anticipate a no-cost shipping option for remote/online students for course materials. We recommend establishing a centralized printing service through the GAC for remote and online students to email as files to be printed with a pick-up location.
F2F and Hybrid Classroom Management and Safety
Q: Are there any guidelines for teaching hybrid classes in which half of the students are in the classroom and half attending virtually?
A: How faculty use their class space and time is entirely up to them. The only thing that is inviolable is staying below COVID-19 classroom capacity. Some hybrid faculty are planning to live stream or record within the classroom for distance students.
ID&D is creating resources for best practices for classroom management in person and virtually. The Fulton Remote Teaching Specialists are designing a model to identify one faculty member in each department to learn more about these types of pedagogy challenges in order to share best practices and support colleagues; please see the Faculty COVID-19 Canvas for more information.
Some faculty plan to use mobile technologies that allow for FaceTime, Skype or Hangouts to bring online students into the classroom. The Teaching with Technology Subcommittee is available to address additional technology needs within classrooms. Please contact Robin Hoffman through Knowledgebase if you have specific needs that are not already included in the technology setup.
Q: Are faculty required to record and post F2F classes?
A: All hybrid courses (combination of F2F and synchronous sessions) should be live streamed. Recordings of sessions/portions of courses are with the purview of faculty. If faculty have concerns about live streaming sensitive discussions, asynchronous activities could be offered to students who are remote while each team engages in a private discussion. Be sure to include plans for this in your syllabi and/or prominently on your MyClasses site. Feel free to discuss with your dean or chair. Please refer to document on “Safe and Effective Learning Environments.”
Q: What technology will be available in the classroom to facilitate hybrid instruction?
A: The Teaching with Technology Subcommittee is available to address additional technology needs within classrooms. Contact Robin Hoffman through Knowledgebase if you have specific needs that are not already included in the technology setup. Please note: You may not have access to the building you are scheduled to teach in if it is different from the location of your faculty office. You will need to request access.
Remote and Online Teaching
Q: Is there a copyright statement that can be added to classroom recordings stating they are provided for student use during this semester only, and any permanent copying, posting or sharing of these materials is strictly forbidden and a violation of both University policy and copyright law?
A: ID&D and COVID-19 Task Force teams have designed Canvas and syllabi statements that faculty can add to their courses. Here is one potential statement on recording:
Lectures are recorded or delivered from written notes and electronic files to guarantee they are protected under Federal Copyright law. You are permitted to take notes of lectures and to use course materials for your use while enrolled this course. You may not record or take photos of lecture material without the instructor’s express consent, and you may not publicly distribute or display - or allow anyone else to publicly display or distribute - course materials, notes or recordings from class in any form without obtaining prior written permission from the instructor. By taking this course you agree to abide by all course policies.
Q: Is there a policy regarding the recording of lectures or discussions that contain potentially sensitive material or a disclaimer about technological errors that can be added to syllabi?
A: ID&D and COVID-19 Task Force teams have designed Canvas and syllabi statements that faculty can add to their courses. Faculty can include statements about sensitivity of topics and video- or audio-only instruction.
Campus Health Issues
Q: What is the plan if a faculty member becomes seriously ill and cannot teach?
A: Faculty need to work closely with chairs, directors, deans and administrative staff to ensure that at least one other colleague has access to their Canvas site, syllabus, and course materials in case of an emergency. Department administrative assistants can be added to Canvas courses as teaching assistants to send messaging to students if an emergency arises.
Faculty should arrange colleagues now who can serve as potential designated substitutes for courses, and add them to the Canvas before the semester begins. Chairs should have emergency plans in place to hire potential adjuncts, if necessary. Please see the July 17 Human Resources Sick Leave document on the Faculty Canvas site.