Provost's Update
Posted May 19, 2020
May 19, 2020
Dear Colleagues, I have been receiving questions about whether faculty members can require synchronous activities in their online classes this Summer.
Unlike Spring (and this coming Fall), I think requiring synchronous meetings in Summer is particularly difficult. With the exception of approximately 11 courses, my understanding is that they were registering in online sections from the beginning. From the student perspective, we didn't actually convert face-to-face courses to online for Summer because made the decision early to move online. With that in mind, I don't think there is anyway that we can guarantee students' availability at a specific time and ensure they won't have conflicts. In July, we are hoping to pilot 11 or so on-ground or hybrid courses that might inform our planning efforts for Fall. In general, I would encourage you to avoid synchronous sessions for online summer courses. Courses in the Fall, with posted required meeting times, could include synchronous meetings, even if they are hybrid. It's important that students know our expectations up front. Please let me know if you have further questions.
Thanks to all.
Denise
