Dear Colleagues,
We want to thank you for your exceptional effort in pivoting this past spring to alternative modes of work and engagement with our students. We know that for many of you, this summer is unlike past summers and not what we had planned. Above all, we hope you, your family, and those close to you are healthy, well, and safe during these extraordinarily challenging times.
Our goal with this message is to follow up on President Gabel’s message of earlier today, to offer some advance notice on our thinking for Fall 2020 and offer resources that will ensure that we can be more planful in our development and delivery of instruction. In consultation with the Minnesota Department of Health, guidance from our own public health experts, and with input from the university community received via an online survey, the Fall Scenarios Advisory Team is recommending to the President and the Board of Regents a plan for residential instruction this Fall.
You will be able to see a more complete description of that recommendation in the Board’s docket materials, including a summary of implications for housing and dining, outreach and engagement, and other domains.
In the educational space, that recommendation includes:
We want to thank you for your exceptional effort in pivoting this past spring to alternative modes of work and engagement with our students. We know that for many of you, this summer is unlike past summers and not what we had planned. Above all, we hope you, your family, and those close to you are healthy, well, and safe during these extraordinarily challenging times.
Our goal with this message is to follow up on President Gabel’s message of earlier today, to offer some advance notice on our thinking for Fall 2020 and offer resources that will ensure that we can be more planful in our development and delivery of instruction. In consultation with the Minnesota Department of Health, guidance from our own public health experts, and with input from the university community received via an online survey, the Fall Scenarios Advisory Team is recommending to the President and the Board of Regents a plan for residential instruction this Fall.
You will be able to see a more complete description of that recommendation in the Board’s docket materials, including a summary of implications for housing and dining, outreach and engagement, and other domains.
In the educational space, that recommendation includes:
- Physical distancing in classrooms, which will reduce capacity and availability.
- An enhanced classroom cleaning schedule, which may further reduce availability.
- Extended classroom hours (8am - 10pm), and on some campuses possibly increased Saturday classes.
- Use of masks and other barriers (e.g. plexiglass), in a manner consistent with public health guidance at the time.
As always, our final implementation will be subject to Board of Regents approval.
As we look toward the fall we are urging our faculty and instructors to consider the learning outcomes of their course, and identify what they feel must be delivered in-person and what can be delivered remotely. We will also look to flexibility with policies that would allow instructors to elect or switch to alternative modes of delivery as they see fit. We encourage them to explore creative alternative and hybrid strategies, and remind all that accommodations may be necessary if students, faculty, or staff need to be isolated/quarantined or if public health guidance requires another pivot.
We are further considering possible changes to the Fall academic calendar. Our goal is to reduce the travel of students between campus and their family homes. While this may look different on each system campus, at UMD this could involve a normal start with in-person instruction concluding before Thanksgiving break, staying with the traditional calendar and planning to deliver the last three weeks of the semester via a distanced modality, or ending the period of in-person instruction early but “intensifying” contact hours each week. This would also likely necessitate eliminating the fall break.
We understand that academic calendar governance, contract dates, and other HR changes will need to be considered in evaluating and implementing these scenarios. If needed, these processes will begin after the Board of Regents’ meeting next week.
We are taking one step at a time and at this time we do not have all of the answers to how this will affect units that offer student services and co-curricular activities. There are related questions about what this means for staff returning to campus to work. Please remember that those employees who are able to work from home, should continue to do so at this time. The systemwide Sunrise Plan will continue to evolve and we anticipate that the answers to return to work questions will be answered through that process. We have asked our unit leaders to work with their teams in developing scenarios to help us plan and prepare as we learn more.
The public health situation continues to evolve, and we may need to pivot from or refine this plan, either before the semester begins or possibly in the middle of the semester if an outbreak occurs. Thank you in advance for your flexibility and resilience, as we together seek to deliver on our academic mission while enhancing safety and health.
Sincerely,
Fernando Delgado
Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Lisa Erwin
Vice Chancellor for Student Life and Dean of Students
Sue Bosell
Interim Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations
As we look toward the fall we are urging our faculty and instructors to consider the learning outcomes of their course, and identify what they feel must be delivered in-person and what can be delivered remotely. We will also look to flexibility with policies that would allow instructors to elect or switch to alternative modes of delivery as they see fit. We encourage them to explore creative alternative and hybrid strategies, and remind all that accommodations may be necessary if students, faculty, or staff need to be isolated/quarantined or if public health guidance requires another pivot.
We are further considering possible changes to the Fall academic calendar. Our goal is to reduce the travel of students between campus and their family homes. While this may look different on each system campus, at UMD this could involve a normal start with in-person instruction concluding before Thanksgiving break, staying with the traditional calendar and planning to deliver the last three weeks of the semester via a distanced modality, or ending the period of in-person instruction early but “intensifying” contact hours each week. This would also likely necessitate eliminating the fall break.
We understand that academic calendar governance, contract dates, and other HR changes will need to be considered in evaluating and implementing these scenarios. If needed, these processes will begin after the Board of Regents’ meeting next week.
We are taking one step at a time and at this time we do not have all of the answers to how this will affect units that offer student services and co-curricular activities. There are related questions about what this means for staff returning to campus to work. Please remember that those employees who are able to work from home, should continue to do so at this time. The systemwide Sunrise Plan will continue to evolve and we anticipate that the answers to return to work questions will be answered through that process. We have asked our unit leaders to work with their teams in developing scenarios to help us plan and prepare as we learn more.
The public health situation continues to evolve, and we may need to pivot from or refine this plan, either before the semester begins or possibly in the middle of the semester if an outbreak occurs. Thank you in advance for your flexibility and resilience, as we together seek to deliver on our academic mission while enhancing safety and health.
Sincerely,
Fernando Delgado
Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Lisa Erwin
Vice Chancellor for Student Life and Dean of Students
Sue Bosell
Interim Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations
