Message from Provost Hannigan
Clarkson Faculty,
This message is intended for faculty members. It is operative until further notice. Another announcement on this matter has been distributed to all Clarkson undergraduate and graduate students. (See below for undergraduate students. Others will be posted to announcements and http://www.clarkson.edu/coronavirus)
The Clarkson University leadership has met and devised a plan for continuity of the academic term. We have the following priorities:
· Promoting the academic success of our students.
· Maintaining the health and safety of the CU community.
· Keeping our campus functioning as smoothly as possible.
To accomplish this:
- The campus is open and operational.
- Online instruction will begin as scheduled on March 23 and continue until further notice. Faculty who need additional time to be ready to begin online instruction on this date may contact their Dean for further guidance.
- Students will have the option to stay on campus during spring break or return to campus after spring break if needed.
- These requests will be evaluated by the Dean of Students.
- Faculty will communicate with students on changes to the course format and how to access their coursework, by Friday, March 20.
- Changes to the syllabus, including changes in the format of assessment and substantive changes in project work, should be made and communicated expeditiously to students. Modified syllabi should be distributed to students as soon as possible and archived with the department.
- Be sensitive that some students may require accommodations due to the change in course format. Online learning may require continued accommodations and/or new accommodations. Please contact the Office of Accessibility for support.
- Synchronous course delivery must remain on the classes currently assigned schedule, or courses may be delivered asynchronously.
- The Teaching & Learning Corner has a variety of materials available to help faculty transition courses to this mode of instruction, and a great many of your fellow faculty are experienced online teachers. Please avail yourself of all available community resources.
- Graduate Teaching Assistants will continue to support teaching and learning under the continued direction of their faculty supervisor.
- Faculty members will assign grades as normal but undergraduate students may choose to convert to P/NC (with the minimum passing grade being a C) at the end of the semester. If you have questions about this, please contact your Dean.
- Faculty members are expected to conduct virtual office hours during their regularly scheduled time.
- Faculty are expected to regularly monitor campus communications including e-mail, phone messages, announcements, etc.
- Faculty are expected to continue their research programs, as appropriate.
- No nonessential gatherings and meetings on campus should be scheduled. We will send out more information on those events which are already on the calendar.
- There will be no further nonessential university-funded travel both international or domestic for faculty and staff. Consult with the Provost Office, Athletic Directors, the VP for Enrollment Management and Student Advancement, and the Chief Human Resources Officer to assess requests for travel until further notice.
- All faculty and staff are expected to report to campus unless they have made the request for an alternative plan outlined in the earlier communication.
Robyn Hannigan
Provost
