Dear Mandel School faculty,
In response to the Provost’s decision to suspend in-person instruction for the rest of the semester, the Mandel School, working with [U]Tech, has created a set of simple instructions for providing remote instruction that will meet basic expectations for most courses and situations. We have organized these into the primary modalities of teaching:
- Distributing course materials, such as syllabi, and communications with classes
- Small group interactions within a class
- Synchronous classes (lecture and entire class discussion)
- Office hours/advising meetings
[U]Tech has a broader suite of options for remote teaching. Some of you may have sufficient experience using online learning management systems, other than the basic approaches, that you are prepared to implement and teach your students with. For more information about using remote teaching tools, [U]Tech is holding webinars. You can also contact the [U]Tech Service Desk at 368.HELP for specific advice on the use of these various teaching resources. Please keep in mind that "remote" does not have to mean "high-tech." The university is prepared for faculty to rely on email and phone, if that is what works best for you and your students.
We urge you to reach out to your students by Monday evening (March 16), to outline how you will adjust your class to remote teaching. We recommend that, to the degree possible, and in cases in which synchronous class participation and engagement continue to be expected, class meetings adhere to their regular class schedules in order to avoid conflicts with other courses and student commitments. Faculty of students who have an approved accommodation will learn more from the Office of Accommodations and Testing in the days ahead.
The weeks of remote instruction also coincide with spring advising season. We urge you to reach out to your graduate advisees who might need your advice and consultation in response to mid-semester grades. All students preparing for summer registration, which begins March 17, or fall registration, which begins March 31, should receive individual advising attention as they would during normal campus operations. Email and Zoom consultations can serve as good alternatives to in-person advising meetings.
Even though in-person instruction is suspended for the rest of the semester, at this time, the campus remains open. You can use your office or classroom to teach and advise remotely. You can also teach and advise remotely from home or elsewhere; internet bandwidth and teaching technology is likely to be better on campus, but you should be prepared to teach remotely from home or elsewhere should the campus close completely.
Questions for the dean’s office on these changes in field and remote education operations due to COVID-19 can be found on the Mandel School’s website.
The School understands that these are extraordinary requests to make of faculty. We appreciate the difficult work that this is entailing. Thank you, as always, for all of your work toward creating educationally-meaningful experiences for our students.
Sincerely,
Grover C. Gilmore, PhD
Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Dean in Applied Social Sciences
Sharon Milligan, PhD, MSW, MPH
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs