August 14, 2020
Hello All,
As I’ve said many times, our School continues to impressively respond to uncertainty and the attendant ongoing challenges. We certainly seem to have recognized that we face things together and that we must support one another now and into the future. I’m writing herein to update faculty and staff on a few things that will add useful perspective. As always, much of what I am saying below is based on “today’s information.” That is, as the situation changes, our constraints, responses, and directives from above may also change.
With regard to returning to campus: UCI has procedures in place for units (academic departments, campus business units, etc.) to develop and implement plans for having faculty/staff/TAs safely return to campus buildings and we are in the process of doing just that. Campus learned from our research restart that it is important to limit density in buildings (elevators, bathrooms, common areas, etc.) and allow for appropriate cleaning to minimize opportunities for transmission of COVID-19. Until conditions permit a full resumption, we have been strongly encourage to continue supporting those of you who can work effectively from home through at least the end of the calendar year. For this group…which is most of the School, if you’ve not yet moved your comfortable office chair home, you may want to consider doing so. We recognize, however, that some faculty/staff /TAs need to use campus space for teaching, and occasionally as focused research or work space. As mentioned elsewhere, please follow the return-to-campus protocol to insure your safety and that of others. The online training is required to visit campus and takes about 20 minutes. I encourage everyone to complete the training even if you don’t plan to head to the office anytime soon; having completed it now, an unforeseen visit to campus won’t be breaching policy.
Preparing for Fall classes
Live vs. asynchronous delivery: As fall approaches, the university recommends including some level of synchronous contact for UG classes, whether that is office hours or class, or both. Giving students a chance to participate in many ways (e.g., online discussion board or live discussion, commenting on peer work, etc.) will be important to our collective success (students and the School). The Merage School is working with faculty and facilities to provide some FTF and synchronous opportunities for our masters programs. Such accommodations are critical to many of our students being allowed to study in the US. All courses, however, must be simultaneously available remotely…such preparation will allow us to pivot immediately to 100% remote should an outbreak occur during the quarter (or allow adjustments should a student or faculty member become ill in isolation).
Office hours: Faculty should hold as many office hours as they typically would have (e.g., if 2 hours was their personal norm in FTF classes, then 2 hours should still be made available), and consider allowing groups to come in together, so they are all solving a problem/equation or talking about a case together. Of course faculty should adjust based on their particular class, e.g. whether they have TAs, whether the class is geared toward first year students (consider more at first) and plan to offer more in midterms or before the end of term. FTF office hour locations: We are working on creating safe outdoor spaces to hold face-to-face office hour sessions. More to come on this plan.