Dear Faculty,
As we are sure you’re aware, the Governor has issued an executive order (“New York State on PAUSE”) directing that all non-essential businesses statewide close in–person personnel functions effective March 22 at 8pm.
Clarkson University faculty have already planned for transitioning courses to distance-learning with the majority of you instructing from home. However, we originally allowed for faculty and graduate students to come to campus to teach. This will no longer be possible under the PAUSE directive. We understand that the shift in expectations for your teaching is disruptive, but we must comply with the directives from NYS. If you find that this change necessitates a delay in delivery of your course by a day or two please let your students know by tomorrow evening.
Our Office of Information Technology stands ready to help you transition from on-campus distance teaching to teaching from home. Exercising social distancing guidelines, you may return to campus prior to 8pm tomorrow to retrieve books and other essential teaching and personal materials. IT and Facilities staff are not available to assist with the retrieval of materials.
If you need assistance transitioning away from in-classroom lecture capture, on-campus recording or live streaming, if you need a computer because you don’t have one at home, and/or if you do not have internet access at home and need to be connected, I am asking that you immediately contact helpdesk@clarkson.edu or 315-268-HELP for assistance. Those who need computers in order to work from home may pick up a loaner laptop from the IT HelpDesk on Saturday between 3-6pm or Sunday between 10am-2pm. Our IT team will do all we can to ensure that you’re able to transition to working from home and can successfully re-launch your courses. Please recognize that we will be unable to meet face-to-face after Sunday at 8pm.
For some of you who had planned to teach from campus, we recognize that this will cause even more turmoil in what is already a challenging set of circumstances for all employees, students and their families as we navigate this national emergency together. Our ability to adapt and remain fluid will help our greater Clarkson communities persevere.
If you are a faculty member with extensive online teaching experience, we encourage you to join the ‘Faculty and Friends Network.’ This is a discussion-based Moodle course that is being used as a resource for faculty to help their colleagues across campus. This and other resources for transitioning to teaching online are available on the TLC website.
We want to thank our faculty and staff for all of your cooperation during this challenging time. The University will continue to share as much information as we can, as soon as we can, to keep you updated and apprised of any developments.
Please note that the rapidly evolving nature of this situation necessitates frequent evaluation and modification of our policies and plans, which are fluid and subject to change at any time. To ensure that you have the most up-to-date guidance, directives and resources, please check back frequently with clarkson.edu/coronavirus.
Robyn Hannigan
Provost
Joshua Fiske
Chief Information Officer and Emergency Response Coordinator
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