CLAS Fall 2020 Reopening Planning Updates

Follow this page for updates on CLAS Fall 2020 Reopening Planning.

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All CLAS community members are invited to send ideas, questions, and concerns regarding CLAS Fall 2020 Reopening Planning to clas-strategic-communications@uiowa.edu.

April 30

  • Academic Delivery Committee Meeting Notes: 4/30

  • The Academic Delivery Committee of the CLAS Fall 2020 Reopening Planning process met April 30.

    This committee is working with the understanding that departments and instructors need information quickly, before the end of the current semester.

    In some areas essential to planning for academic delivery, directives and policies are being decided by central UI leadership and teams. This committee is working in tandem with a similar academic-focused team in the Office of the Provost, CLAS Human Resources and UI HR, and several teams focused on the health and safety of our community members. CLAS will inform departments and instructors as decisions by these groups are finalized, and will implement those decisions at the college level. It is critical that the guidelines and policies of the UI, CLAS, and other colleges be in alignment.

    Below are some things we can say with certainty:

  • Instruction modalities in Fall 2020 will primarily be a hybrid of face-to-face and online. These modalities will differ across the college. Every discipline, and every course within that discipline, has different needs, so flexibility is of paramount importance. This committee is working in tandem with an Office of the Provost committee that is considering these same issues.
     
  • Instructors and staff are deeply concerned for their personal safety. Many faculty and staff members have expressed urgent concern about their personal safety in face-to-face teaching. This committee and CLAS leadership share those concerns.
    • We understand that each individual has legitimate and unique needs for performing their jobs, and CLAS is committed to ensuring that our employees have the equipment and support necessary to do their jobs.
    • Central UI leaders and teams are working to develop health and safety guidelines and policies with respect to social-distancing standards; classroom/building maintenance and sanitization; and provision of personal safety and workplace equipment. These UI guidelines and policies will be adopted and implemented by CLAS. This committee will communicate to the UI teams the concerns shared by the CLAS community, and will ensure that UI decisions and CLAS implementation policies are clearly and promptly communicated to faculty and staff.
       
  • Training in online teaching: Instructors have been heroic in quickly moving classes online during the spring 2020 semester. However, many wish to improve their online teaching skills. Accordingly, the Division of Continuing Education is preparing workshops for instructors focused on online instruction techniques and best practices. This committee will ensure that information about the dates of those workshops is distributed to all CLAS instructors as soon as the dates are finalized.
     
  • Access for online teaching and learning: CLAS IT is partnering with central UI ITS to determine what gaps there are in computer and internet access for both students and instructors.
     
  • We urgently need input and ideas from CLAS faculty and staff! Everyone has a unique perspective, and we want to be sure we are not excluding anyone from the opportunity to express their needs and concerns at clas-strategic-communications@uiowa.edu.

April 28

April 27

April 24