Spring semester update and looking ahead

Dear Twin Cities faculty, instructors, and academic staff,

I hope the first part of the spring semester has been going well so far, and that your spirits have been buoyed by the warmer temperatures and the continued progress with vaccinations. As we near the one-year mark of the pandemic turning our lives upside down, I know you are fatigued and may even be fighting burnout. Your extraordinary efforts have both advanced our mission and strengthened our community. I, together with all our academic leaders throughout the University, am deeply appreciative of your efforts, and fully committed to supporting you as we move into the future.

I write with some updates about the remainder of the spring semester, plans for the summer and fall, and an invitation to consider lessons learned as we start to think about the future. These topics were presented at last week’s University Senate meeting.

Face Coverings While Teaching

In response to questions we have received about face covering expectations when teaching or lecturing, we are updating the University’s face covering protocol to provide clear guidance. When teaching or lecturing in-person in a University course (during which physical distancing of at least 6 feet from others must be maintained at all times), instructors may substitute a University issued or approved face shield for a face covering if a face covering would unduly hamper classroom instruction. Face coverings remain required for instructors at all other times. For example, face coverings remain required while moving to and from the classroom.

Vaccinations

As the spring semester progresses, we anticipate more of our University community members will become eligible for vaccinations. Doses are scarce, and appointments are tightly scheduled. I want to clarify that an appointment to receive a vaccination (first or second dose) should be counted as a legitimate absence for students. We have updated the FAQ surrounding this policy.

Post-Spring Break Modalities

As you will remember, we delayed Spring Break to April 5-9 to allow for a pivot to fully distanced instruction if necessary. As described in the President’s message of February 16, we are expecting that classes will continue after Spring Break in the modality with which they began the semester. Similarly, final exams will be implemented as originally planned. Of course, we will continue to monitor outbreaks on campus and in our local area, and will be responsive to changes in public health guidance.

Proctoring Services

As instructors consider how best to assess student learning, we encourage you to consider if e-proctoring would facilitate or hamper your pedagogical goals. As you know, universities across the nation have recently experienced both an increase in academic dishonesty cases, and concerns about privacy protections and inequities in the use of digital proctoring services. We ask that you consider the strengths and drawbacks of using online assessment tools, such as Proctorio, by reviewing this guidance for online assessment and e-proctoring.

For students who wish to find spaces on campus where they can take an e-proctored exam, you can direct them to general purpose classrooms available through roomsearch.umn.edu to use whenever a class is not in session. The libraries will also allow students to reserve spaces. For students who need a desktop, they can view available computers in the public computer labs: Coffman Memorial Union, Walter Library, or Coffey Hall 50.

Commencement

As described in the President’s message of February 25, we have begun to share guidance for planning commencement activities this spring. While last year’s abrupt pivot necessitated a centrally planned, remote commencement ceremony, this year we are empowering each college (and campus) to plan their own commencement, which may be fully virtual, or may include some in-person component consistent with state guidance for gatherings. Recommendations will be forthcoming from the Commencement, Summer Orientation and Summer Camp Planning Minnesota Department of Health work group, which will likely provide state guidance in this area.

A unique Commencement Sunrise form has been developed and distributed to each unit. Submissions are due in mid-March, and each program will share details about commencement activities to their relevant communities as the plans take shape.

Summer modalities and grading

Registration for summer courses opened on February 25, 2021. Faculty will retain autonomy in the choice of class modality, and the revised S/N grading scheme approved for fall 2020 and spring 2021 will continue to apply. Planning for summer includes the continuation of 6-feet physical distancing and mask requirements. Because we offer many fewer summer classes, instructors who wish to teach in person should be assured that we have many large rooms available that can accommodate physical distancing.

Fall Planning

Based on discussions with MDH, the Scenarios Group continues to plan for three scenarios in Fall 2021; 6-feet and 3-feet physical distancing, and no physical distancing in classrooms, labs, and public spaces. Given the uncertainty about which scenario we will be in, we have delayed the dates by which the class schedule is due to the registrar. Course registration is scheduled to begin on April 12.

With progress in vaccinations and continued declines in cases, programs can use the schedule that was offered in Fall 2019 as the starting place for Fall 2021 course planning. If instructors intend to teach in a modality not traditionally used for the course, proposals should follow existing policies and practices for course approval on each campus, college, and unit. We cannot offer all classes in all modalities, but we continue to prioritize pedagogical innovation and to respond to student demand when pedagogically appropriate.

While we expect to announce more about Fall plans in the coming weeks, we note that, as has been necessary throughout the pandemic, we will all need to be prepared to pivot should public health guidance change.

Lessons Learned

As we look ahead, we want to make sure that when we are able to schedule more in-person activities, we take the opportunity to do more than simply return to campus, and instead identify how we might move our University forward.

At President Gabel’s request, I have convened a small group to collect input on lessons learned from this pandemic experience that we would consider incorporating into our permanent practice. A short, qualitative survey will be sent in April to faculty, staff, students, and parents soliciting ideas and perspectives. We hope to hear from you!

Until then, please feel free to reach out to my office at [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns. I thank you again for the many ways you continue to support your students and each other, and hope you feel pride in how successful your efforts have been and continue to be.

Sincerely yours,

Rachel T.A. Croson
Executive Vice President and Provost

email sent to all Twin Cities faculty, all instructors scheduled to teach on the Twin Cities campus during spring semester 2021, academic advisors, and librarians on March 3, 2021