Office of the Provost

Dear Colleagues,

As the semester forges on, I want to bring to your attention a few new resources for instruction, as well as remind you of a few other critical items at this early point in the spring.

• Difficult dialogues: CETL has created a guide online with strategies to prepare for and manage difficult dialogues in your courses. These steps can be useful in managing challenging topics you plan to address in your courses, as well as intervening when difficult dialogues spontaneously develop.
• Tech Check: ITS partnered with CETL to develop “Tech Check” to help address at-home challenges that impede instructors’ interactions with students. Through this support service, instructors can schedule virtual one-on-one meetings with ITS staff who will assess workstations, audiovisual equipment, network speeds, and other aspects of home IT infrastructure and will make recommendations to improve performance.  More information is available on the IT Knowledge Base.
• PPE and masks: As the overall logistics situation has improved over the last six months, PPE has become more available. Review these resources for obtaining various types of PPE and masks.
  • Surgical-type paper procedure masks can be obtained from the UConn Warehouse utilizing a request form at https://warehouse.uconn.edu/face-mask-requests/.
  • Clear face shield and microphone covers can be obtained from CETL, by emailing cetl@uconn.edu.
  • PPE necessary for laboratories, research programs, and facility operations can be obtained through the normal procurement process through HuskyBuy: https://ubs.uconn.edu/
  • If you have needs beyond these types of PPE, please reach out to Amy Allen, Associate Director Supply Chain Management, at amy.allen@uconn.edu, to discuss options.
• Final exam opt-out: 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 their online form.
• Student authentication: We shared earlier this semester that just one method of student authentication is required, rather than two. Please consult our memo online for more detail on authentication methods and guidance.

As you’ve seen throughout this past year, we continue to develop new resources and guidance as we all learn how to best deliver instruction in the midst of a pandemic. If you have suggestions about other guidance or resources that would be helpful, please share your feedback.

Sincerely,
Carl

Carl Lejuez
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Questions? Email at carl.lejuez@uconn.edu, join me in my online office hours at provost.uconn.edu, or view our Provost’s Office FAQs at s.uconn.edu/ProvostFAQs.