Academic Affairs Updates
September 8, 2021 Fall Guidance for Faculty and Instructors: Reminders and updates:
(2) positive COVID-19 case management protocols have changed from last year – notification no longer done to entire class. Instead, students who test positive or have been notified they were a close contact should contact their instructors directly.
(3) Additional details about testing protocol will be sent through MOD and added to the COVID-19 website by week’s end.
(4) Please encourage students to consider getting the vaccine, to seek science-based information, to upload their vaccination record, and to be eligible for incentive prizes. More information is on the UWSP COVID webpage
Individual meetings with Assistant Deans, Directors, and Deans – it’s been impressive to learn how well the new school alignments are functioning and to hear about the great work happening on our campus.
August 3, 2021 Fall 2021 and COVID updates: Seems likely the rapid spread of Delta variant will impact our campus and community. The CDC recently updated guidance for masking to include vaccinated individuals living in areas of substantial or high transmission. Current campus policy continues to require only unvaccinated individuals to wear a face covering around others. This may be updated in coming days/weeks. Stay tuned.
Guidance regarding how to manage COVID-related classroom issues this fall: Regardless of our campus masking policy, we need to prepare for potential disruptions that may again be caused by the pandemic, including absences caused by student illness or the need to quarantine and isolate. Unlike last year, we have not asked instructors to prepare asynchronous online alternatives for each in-person learning experience. Instead, we will rely on existing campus policy, which requires instructors to provide “a reasonable amount of help in making up the work” that students miss due to excused absences. What constitutes “reasonable” in this context, however, is not explicitly defined and may vary with respect to course, learning objective, assignment, and type of assessment employed. For a first draft of expectations, please see the August 3, 2021 Academic Affairs update, which includes a video created by Sean Ruppert, CITL, last year to explain how to set up the Roll Call and Seating Chart tools. Note that taking attendance is less important for contact tracing than simply utilizing a seating chart, especially in larger classes where daily attendance may be time-consuming.
I realize these issues are complicated, and that the guidelines above will likely need revising. I also know there are questions related to many other issues this fall. Next week, I’ll be meeting to discuss the fall semester with directors, chairs, and deans in Academic Affairs, so if you have suggestions or other concerns, please share them either with me or your supervisor. Finally, as noted above, Chancellor Gibson will also be evaluating campus policies in the coming weeks as we finalize our preparations for the fall semester.
Thanks very much. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week and the remaining days of summer.
May 4, 2021 Request for Feedback on Academic Plan: We’ve begun work this semester on crafting an Academic Plan. Chancellor Gibson has requested a five-year strategic plan that develops specific outcomes and strategies from the Purpose Made Possible goals. Our divisional strategic plan will comprise outcomes & strategies we will pursue within Academic Affairs to contribute to the goals. I’m asking for your input on the outcomes we might seek to achieve. In the spirit of continuous improvement, as we consider our strategic outcomes for the next five years, it makes sense to prioritize actions that most directly address gaps between academic programs, experiences, and support we offer and what we wish we could do for our students.
Here is a draft of our
proposed Academic Affairs outcomes and strategies.
By Friday, May 7, I ask that you
use this brief survey to provide feedback. The chancellor has requested that we prioritize our efforts this spring on devising actions for Year 1 of the plan, which begins next fall. In the draft, these outcomes and strategies are highlighted in yellow. We will have additional time early in the fall semester to refine longer-term planning. As a result, the survey seeks input on both the Year 1 outcomes and strategies and those that are longer term.
April 23, 2021 (1) Multifactor authentication: All faculty and staff need to enroll in multifactor authentication (MFA) by June 1, 2021. You are encouraged you to sign up as soon as possible, and well before the June 1 deadline - especially faculty and staff members on nine-month contracts. Complete information and instructions on the MFA webpage; (2) Steering committee: has made good progress drafting outcomes & strategies for Academic Plan. Next week, Early draft will be shared with key stakeholders next week. Hope is to circulate revised draft broadly to division during first week of May; (3) Academic Plan: will include strategies that respond to the call in Purpose Made Possible to provide greater transparency in budget issues. People with budgetary questions encouraged to ask Katie Jore or Greg Summers by email. Reminder that Provost Summers holds weekly office hour via Zoom and is happy to answer questions, on budget or any issue (4) Returning to Campus: Draft guidelines are in preparation. We should be able to share these for review, hopefully in next two weeks. Please stay tuned; (5) Ramadan: ends May 12, 2021 - at the end of the semester. Students facing high-stakes final exams & projects may struggle to be at their best if they’re fasting. Please bear this in mind if students ask for flexibility or accommodations.
April 2, 2021 Reminder to continue the good work you’ve been doing during past year to stay safe, and to get vaccinated ASAP. Important in next few months to maintain our vigilance even as we gradually prepare for a return to in-person teaching and learning next fall. Chancellor Gibson, our Human Resources office, and UW System will soon share milestones, guidelines, and polices to shape our return to campus. However, these hopeful steps tempered with caution in near term. Many of you likely saw the heartfelt warning from Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC Director, earlier this week. The virus is surging globally again, driven by variants that are more contagious, including among children in schools and younger adults. The same dynamic is now unfolding here in the U.S. despite impressive vaccination efforts. For a good description of the mixture of hope and concern that characterize this moment, I would again recommend the weekly podcast from Dr. Michael Osterholm of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. See especially his most recent episode.
March 19, 2021 (1) Soon after spring break, we'll be sharing guidelines for rolling back remote work and restoring in-person staffing and operations; (2) Today was the deadline for deans and directors to submit budgets for next fiscal year. As noted earlier, we'e reducing spending by $2.6M. We have good reason to believe we can navigate these issues successfully; (3) After spring break an update on the creation of an academic plan for the division of Academic Affairs will be shared.
March 5, 2021 (1) Fall 2021 Classes: will return to near-normal levels of in-person teaching. Faculty won't be required to provide virtual options to students unless as a formal accommodation from DATC (unlikely the first option DATC pursues as they work with students). Face covering mandates may continue, but physical distancing will unlikely be required. (2) Employee vaccinations: Please be patient. Student Health Services is doing their best to obtain and distribute vaccinations. Reminder: We need to redouble our efforts to treat each other with kindness and respect. Please do not call Student Health Services as their small staff cannot modify vaccination schedules or dosing they receive and are already working tirelessly. Remember there are other locations in which educators can be vaccinated throughout the state. More information is available at the Portage County Health Vaccination website, the State of Wisconsin Get Vaccinated website, and this Provider Map. (3) Reminder to take time off and utilize paid vacation and personal leave carryover before the July 1, 2021 deadline for faculty and academic staff (December 31, 2021 for university staff)
February 26, 2021 (1) University to receive first shipment of vaccines next week and will begin vaccinating students/employees. Please be patient in the weeks ahead as we wait for adequate supplies. Follow the directions outlined in the campus announcement. (2) We are working to finalize the Fall schedule of classes. For the fall semester we are likely to pilot an approach to allow instructors to split course sections into two: one as "in-person" and one as "virtual classroom" or "online." The goal is to have additional sections in place when the Fall schedule is published on March 5, 2021.
February 12, 2021 (1) Strategic Plan: VC Summers will be bringing a small team together to start creating academic plan to guide strategy for our division. This will help realize the goals in the university's Purpose Made Possible strategic action plan. (2) University budget update from VC Gandhi received 2/9/21: Academic Affairs is planning a roughly $2.6M budget reduction for next fiscal year between the main and branch campuses with a further $1.6M to follow. Every available strategy will be used to avoid layoffs or unwanted impacts on curriculum. This includes a voluntary separation incentive to tenured faculty members in areas where enrollment allows a reduction in FTE. VC Summers will collaborate with leadership in the division and Common Council regarding next steps and process. Drafts will be shared, and there will be many opportunities for input. Share your thoughts with VC Summers in the weeks ahead.
February 5, 2021 (Enrollment: Applications, admits, student confirmations, etc., are all up substantially for Fall 2021, but there is far more uncertainty due to: 1) Board of Regents elimination of application fee at most UW institutions, including UWSP. This means more students are applying to more than one institution, so it's more difficult to project enrollment; 2) the pandemic: Those of us working at universities are listed on the Wisconsin DHS site among the next groups to be eligible for the vaccine, but how quickly we can receive vaccinations so we can return to normal teaching and learning next fall remains uncertain. Finally, here is an article written by Nathan Grawe, professor of economics at Carleton College and leading scholar on the impact of demographic change on enrollment in higher education titled How to Survive the Enrollment Bust).
January 22, 2021 (Reminder to report furlough days in addition to initially requesting those days. Please see instructions here; COVID-19 UW System employee testing requirement is for employees on campus at least once a week)
December 11, 2020 (Recent analyses are beginning to make clear just how disruptive the pandemic has been to student enrollment in higher education. See the attached article from this week's Chronicle of Higher Education as an example)
For asynchronous online classes that may be scheduling exams, please be careful to provide enough flexibility in scheduling that assignments/due dates don't conflict with scheduled in-person exams.
Today, UW System issued this press release regarding an expanded COVID testing regime during the spring semester. Further information will be shared in the days ahead.
Finally, regarding next spring, I encourage instructors to reach out to students who have signed up for your classes to clarify questions about course modalities. If you do, this table might be helpful to share, and to remind students the best place to start is what's listed in the timetable)
December 4, 2020 (Faculty/Student Workgroup Report with recommendations for improvement endorsed by Common Council and Student Government Association; Email sent to students letting them know if they're scheduled for in-person or virtual classroom, they'll be expected to participate in these modalities at scheduled times, with reassurance that whenever possible, faculty and instructors will still provide flexibility in how they participate in these classes).
November 20, 2020 (Dean Stock's 11/12 Town Hall presentation (survey results); Beginning to plan for Fall 2021 based on hope for minimal physical distancing in classrooms; Need to steel our resolve for navigating the coming weeks and months)
November 13, 2020 (COVID19 Updates: COVID-19 surges across the country, including in Wisconsin; Most UWs have made shift to teach remotely after Thanksgiving; Teaching and learning this fall has been remarkably successful under the circumstances - please know how grateful I am for your efforts; Health care workers struggling under increasingly difficult circumstances as described in this sobering article; PLEASE NOTE: the most important thing we can do to help is to minimize our risks of becoming infected, a reminder especially important as we approach the coming holidays)
November 6, 2020 (COVID-19 Updates: Rapid result testing available - looking for employees to help staff this testing operation; Reminder: Please Respond: Survey: re: your experience teaching and serving students this fall)
October 30, 2020 (PLEASE RESPOND: Survey re: your experience teaching and serving students this fall)
October 23, 2020 (Policy Reminders (due to COVID-19): 1) Faculty may extend Tenure & Promotion clocks for one year, one time only; 2) Faculty may suspend Post-Tenure Review clock for one year, one time only; and 3) Amended Pass/Fail proposal (student deadline extended to Nov. 20); REMINDER: Nov. 4 (suspension of regular teaching activities ) is NOT a day off but rather a day to catch-up on work)
October 16, 2020 (Additional guidance for discussions with students during Covid Check-in week (10/19 - 10/23), including a Mid-Term Course Feedback Survey)
October 15, 2020 (Changes to Fall Semester Schedule: October 19-23 will be COVID Check-In Week, Wednesday, November 4 will be a No-Class Day)
October 9, 2020 (Virtual environment causing stress, anxiety, exhaustion, and disconnect for students, facutly, and staff; Student Retention: Week 5 Survey and at-risk students; Budget Planning: Activity-based budget allocation model, making budget decisions as academic community)
October 2, 2020 (COVID-19 update; Enrollment updates: 1) First-year class grew by 25% this fall with 15% from underrepresented populations; 2) first-to-second year retention climbed to 79%; SGA's Get-Out-the-Vote initiatives: to promote these efforts with your students, see this PowerPoint slide).
September 25, 2020 (COVID-19 update; a more detailed COVID dashboard; budget update; Academic Affairs GPR/Tuition budgets for FY21)
September 18, 2020 (REMINDER: Be kind and flexible; COVID-19 update: 1) 71 new cases to date, 2) statewide and local trends, 3) work with county to staff contact tracing positions; Budget update; UWSP hosting flu-shot clinics (sign up))
September 11, 2020 (COVID-19 cases on campus update; REMINDERS: 1) Cleaning kits available; 2) Weekly check-in meetings with deans/chairs/directors resume beginning Sept. 14 @ 3 PM; 3) Weekly office hours continue Wednesdays at 9 AM)
September 4, 2020 (Fall Enrollment Update; Dashboard to track virus on campus)
August 28, 2020 (Updated Coronavirus (COVID-19) Website; Student Concerns about Course Scheduling; Progress on Issues Related to Diversity and Inclusion within Academic Affairs: 1. Academic Affairs Strategic Plan for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, 2. Related Timeline, 3. Lindsay Bernhagen to serve as Diversity Officer for Academic Affairs)
August 21, 2020 ( Reminders: Connecting with Your Students; Introduce Students to Canvas; Cohort Scheduling; Contact Tracing; COVID Hotlines for Faculty/Staff)
August 14, 2020 (Engaging with Students Online Checklist; De-escalating Face Covering Confrontations; Notification Process for communicating positive COVID cases on our campuses)
August 7, 2020 (COVID on Campus, COVID Tests for Campus)
July 31, 2020 (Representative John Lewis's Essay; Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; Grading Attendance, and Roll Call and Seating Chart Tools Video; Office Hours; Scheduling Exams for Asynchronous Courses; Text Rental Check Out; COVID-19 Awareness Video)
July 24, 2020 (Budget News, Fall Semester Planning, Virtual Town Hall Meeting 7/30/2020 from 1-2 PM)
July 17, 2020 (Cleaning Instructional Spaces Between Classes, In-person Operation of Department and Unit Offices)
July 10, 2020 (Surveillance Testing, Face Coverings and Physical Distancing in Classrooms, Health-related Questions and Contacts)
July 3, 2020 (Minimizing Risk in a COVID Environment)
June 26, 2020 (Fall Planning and Adjustments to Timetable)
June 25,2020 (Academic Affiars Budget/Financial Challenges)
June 11, 2020 (Fall Course Planning)
June 5, 2020 (Inclusive Campus, Fall Planning, UW System President Search)
May 29, 2020 (Check emails frequently over the summer, Fall Semester Plan)
May 15, 2020 (Fall Planning: In-person Teaching)
May 8, 2020 (Blueprint, Fall Planning: EOC Planning Group)
May 7, 2020 (Statement Regarding the Proposal from President Cross)
May 1, 2020 (Work Groups and contacts, Furloughs, Budget Lapse)
April 24, 2020 (Fall Planning)
April 24, 2020 (Furloughs)
April 17, 2020 (Financial Consequences of COVID-19)
April 3, 2020 (Student Circumstances, Summer Session, Staying at Home)
March 27, 2020 (Notes Regarding Teaching, Evaluation of Instruction, Suspending Tenure Clock/Post-Tenure Review, Summer and Fall, Longer Term)
March 20, 2020 (Reflecting on the Challenges Ahead)
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