Online Classes
All traditional undergraduate courses will be online for the first two weeks of Spring 2021 so that we can do surveillance testing of residential and commuter students before we move into dual mode. In week three, some science labs and some studio arts activities will move to in-person learning. When CUI is permitted, more courses will move to dual mode with some students in the classrooms and others engaging live online. Students who wish to complete their semester online may do so. Those who wish to attend their courses in-person will be welcomed to do that.
The schedule for classes will remain the same online as scheduled to be in-person. That is, a class that currently meets MWF from 8:30-9:20 am will keep that schedule. As is normal before any semester starts, some of the overall course offerings may change due to enrollment levels. If your schedule should be affected, you will be contacted by CUI and assisted in reworking your schedule.
One reason the course meeting schedules will remain the same online as in-person is because class sessions will mostly be synchronous (live virtual meetings) with the professors and students in attendance at the same time. Students and faculty have expressed their desire to be present with each other in real time in order to build relationships and a robust academic community. Lectures, questions, discussions, and group work benefit from live interaction. Students are expected to attend all synchronous sessions. Some class sessions will be asynchronous, meaning that the class does not meet at the scheduled time (e.g., Friday from 8:30-9:20 am), but instead students have an assignment to accomplish on their own or in groups by a set time. In asynchronous sessions, attendance can be taken based on timely completion of the assignment.
Students who live outside the contiguous United States (that is, outside of the 48 adjoining states), may ask their professors about accommodations based on time-zone differences. Professors might, for instance, record lectures, alter how a student engages in class discussion, or change the times when assignments are due. Those accommodations are to be worked out with professors directly as they know what the learning outcomes are for their courses and what modifications can be made to still achieve those outcomes.
Resources for Instructional Continuity