Office of the Provost

Dear Colleagues,

I’m writing to share more detail on academic operations as they relate to our recent announcement that the first two weeks of classes will be delivered remotely.

A number of you have reached out with questions and suggestions on a variety of academic activities and protocols. I appreciate your sharing these thoughts as they help us in making sure our plans and responses are shaped by community input. We are monitoring this situation closely and will share any updates as quickly as possible.

In this message we provide a link to our now updated COVID-19 FAQs for Academic Operations to address as many questions as we can related to operations through the month of January. Notably, we also have updated FAQs for in-person academic operations that we expect to resume for the rest of the spring semester. You’ll see that these are largely the same as they were for the Fall 2021 semester. You may also want to review the latest communication from the Dean of Students, which shares more information on the need for this temporary switch to remote learning and the requirement for students to receive booster shots.

In addition to the questions answered at the updated FAQ site, we also wanted to use this message to share a few best practices for virtual instruction as recommended by our Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

• Communicate early and often with your students: Please send an initial communication to your students no later than January 13 to let them know how you plan on delivering instruction during the first two weeks of classes, as well as a follow-up communication a day or two before classes begin to catch any late registrants. This will help them plan out and balance their course load. Also, be sure to let students know how best to contact you and consider offering extended office hours in the first two weeks to address any additional student questions, confusion, or concerns.
  • You might also consider providing your course syllabi to students as soon as possible. Consider spending a bit more time than usual going over your course syllabus with students to invite questions and create shared understanding.
  • Instructors can access the class roster, including email addresses, from StudentAdmin. They can either download the email addresses or notify their students directly from StudentAdmin. Please note that you cannot attach a document, such as a syllabus, to a notification sent from StudentAdmin. Instructors can email students directly from their own email accounts.
  • Encourage any student who may be impacted by technological/access issues to reach out to you proactively before the course begins so that accommodations can be considered.
• Hosting course materials online: Wherever possible, post readings and other course materials in digital formats in your HuskyCT course shell. Students may not be able to get physical course materials, such as books, until after move-in weekend, January 29. This step will help make required readings readily accessible to all of your students.
  • ITS has already created the HuskyCT shells for all lecture and discussion courses. For all other types of courses, faculty can request their HuskyCT site through StudentAdmin. For instructors who wish to restore content to their HuskyCT site from a previous semester, ITS is able to assist using their online form. Please note that the default date for HuskyCT course sites to be made available to students is January 18. Instructors can choose to make their course site available to students sooner if they wish.

• Be clear about course delivery: Individual instructors and their department heads should determine course delivery (synchronous vs. asynchronous) during this two-week period of remote instruction. Make sure to communicate the delivery method clearly with your students and incorporate these plans and expectations in your updated syllabus.
  • If you plan on teaching synchronously for the first two weeks, be sure to confirm with your students the class dates, session start and end times, and the link to the platform you plan to use (i.e. WebEx, Blackboard Collaborate, Microsoft Teams, other). If you plan on teaching asynchronously for the first two weeks, be sure to specify required readings, assignments, discussion board activity, etc.

• Help is available: If you need assistance on course preparation or delivery, please reach out to edtech@uconn.edu for help from CETL. For all tech-related questions, please reach out to ITS through techsupport.uconn.edu.
  • CETL continues to host a number of workshops. Upcoming sessions and registration information are available to review on their website.

I cannot thank all of you enough for continuing to adapt through this pandemic. You are incredibly thoughtful colleagues whose commitment to providing a rigorous education and supportive environment to students, while continuing your work amid challenging circumstances is nothing short of extraordinary.

Sincerely,
Carl

Carl Lejuez
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs