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Office of the Provost

Office of the Provost

Spring semester reminders from the Provost’s Office

Dear colleagues,

I hope that the break between semesters provided you the opportunity to rest and recharge. We have challenges ahead of us as we continue to face significant public health impacts of the pandemic and as we process the insurrection that occurred at our nation’s Capitol last week with the potential for future violence leading into the inauguration next week.

Our University community can play an important role in our understanding of both, as we saw in the fall semester with COVID-related projects such as the Pandemic Journaling Project and our research-based wastewater and pooled sampling approaches. We are just beginning to unpack the attack in the Capitol and I encourage you to participate in upcoming events to discuss what happened (see below for event details) and to be prepared for how you will participate in our academic community surrounding these events. Just as we have recently undertaken direct efforts to develop more robust educational efforts in the areas of anti-racism and climate change, so too do we seek to intervene in meaningful, constructive ways in these additional challenges.

As one note of good news, I am pleased to share that the average Student Evaluation of Teaching score for instructors in the past semester was 4.3 compared to 4.2 for the fall one year ago. This is a true indication of the hard work all of you have put in this past semester.

With the spring semester starting in just a few more days, I wanted to reach out with some additional reminders. We have also recently updated our FAQs with more information on the spring semester. Please click here to view our FAQs.

Course modality – first two weeks

  • All courses must be delivered remotely during the first two weeks of the spring semester (Jan. 19-31). This is to allow the residential student quarantine to occur simultaneously with the start of classes, as well as to complete baseline testing for off-campus students who will have in-person components to their schedules.*Please note that this item does not apply to UConn Law and Health programs for which there are different academic calendars and approaches to course modality.

Student move-in

  • Residence halls are again limited to about 50% capacity, as they were in the fall. Students in residential assignments must test for COVID-19 before arrival, and will be tested again upon arrival to campus. Move-in will take place on Jan. 16 and 17. More information is available at https://reopen.uconn.edu/living-on-campus/.

UConn Promise

  • All students, faculty, and staff are expected to continue to uphold the UConn Promise, which includes wearing a mask in public, maintaining a distance of at least six feet from others wherever possible, and regular hand washing. More details are available at https://reopen.uconn.edu/uconn-promise/.

Final assessments and final exam opt-out

  • Modality: With the last two weeks of the semester occurring fully remotely, all final assessments must be delivered remotely, regardless of the modality assigned to a course. Finals are scheduled for May 3 to 8. Instructors have the option to opt-out of a final exam and structure their final assessment in the form of final papers, final individual/group projects or presentations, portfolio reviews, or other forms of cumulative assessment. If you plan to opt out of a final exam, please make sure to notify the registrar by using the form at https://registrar.uconn.edu/final-exam-opt-out/.
  • Reading Days: These are scheduled for April 29 through May 2 in the spring semester. On Reading Days, instructors may not hold regularly scheduled or make-up classes, nor have assignments due or exams scheduled for these days. Fully optional activities including office hours, study sessions, and/or other accommodations may be scheduled during these days.*Finals and Reading Day dates vary for UConn Law and Health programs.

Quarantine accommodations

  • If a student has been placed in medical quarantine, their instructors will receive an email from the Dean of Students office seeking assistance for the student to continue their studies for in-person courses remotely. Faculty and other instructors were incredibly supportive of students in quarantine last semester and we appreciate your efforts to ensure that students are able to keep up while in quarantine this semester. The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning has created a set of FAQs to support instructors working with quarantined students in their class: https://ecampus.uconn.edu/dean-letter-faq/.

Syllabi reminders

COVID testing, reporting and vaccination

  • Testing
    • Faculty and staff: Employee baseline testing for spring 2021 is taking place from Jan. 4 through Jan. 22. Human Resources has shared testing dates, times, and locations with employees on the On-Campus Registry. Information about testing is available on the HR website: https://hr.uconn.edu/employee-covid-testing/.
  • Reporting
    • Faculty and staff employees: Guidance for reports of positive COVID-19 diagnoses for employees and managers is provided through HR at https://hr.uconn.edu/covid-19-hr-faqs/.
      • Graduate student employees should follow the above guidance, as well.
    • Undergraduate and graduate students: Please refer to SHaW’s FAQs:  https://studenthealth.uconn.edu/updates-events/coronavirus/. Students who test through SHaW will have their results automatically updated with the University. Students who test outside of the University can upload their results to the SHaW Patient Portal.
  • Vaccination
    • HR is coordinating vaccine administration for UConn employees. All employees are encouraged to participate in the Town Hall this Friday, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. More information on the Town Hall, as well as current details on vaccination timing, are at https://hr.uconn.edu/employee-covid-vaccine/.
    • Guidance is not yet available for student vaccination, although graduate assistants with on-campus duties will be included in upcoming phases.

Space reservation

  • Students may reserve campus spaces at Storrs and the regional campuses for studying purposes. More information on accessing campus facilities and services is at https://reopen.uconn.edu/campus-services/.

Technology support

GA duties assignment

  • GAs should have a list of duties, signed by GAs themselves as well as the employer, along with their offer/contract before they start their duties.

Political discussions

  • With the insurrection at the Capitol last week and the approach of Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, we start the semester in the thick of politically heated topics that are challenging for many of our community including our students. We encourage our instructors to engage on these topics in their classes to the degree they are comfortable doing so.
  • Relatedly, the Office for Diversity and Inclusion, Human Resources, and the Provost’s Office are partnering to host a community conversation on the siege at the U.S. Capitol. We will host a session Thursday, Jan. 14 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and Friday, Jan. 22 from 12 to 1:30 p.m. Please visit https://diversity.uconn.edu/response-to-current-events/ for more details. Employees need not charge personal time to attend the event. These are among many events being hosted across UConn, including an upcoming panel hosted by our academic deans. Details for these community conversations and others as they develop can be found at https://diversity.uconn.edu/response-to-current-events/.

I am grateful to be in this work with each of you as we strive to provide a supportive and challenging environment that prepares our students to be engaged and productive citizens. Thank you for all you do.

Sincerely,
Carl

Carl Lejuez
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

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