August 6, 2020 Update: COVID-19
Faculty & Academic Staff Briefing #42
Dear Faculty and Academic Staff:
To review previous Academic updates you can review this archived folder or the View.
This brief includes:
- Add/Drop Extension for Fall 2020
- Fall Ramp-Up Design Process Reminders
- Faculty Meetings
- Remote Student Section Rosters
- Health Panel Meeting With Vermont’s Commissioner Of Health, Dr. Levine: Tonight, August 6, 5:30pm
- Faculty Technology Updates
- Zoom Site License
- Faculty Technology Orders
- Adjunct Computers
- Faculty Hardware Loans
- Personal Technology Purchase
- Internet Connectivity
- Flex Capacitor
ADD/DROP EXTENSION FOR FALL 2020
Traditionally, students have the option to add or drop classes without penalty throughout the first week of the semester. This semester we are extending that opportunity to allow students more time to experience their courses before having to decide if they want to add a course or drop a course. For Fall 2020 students will be able to add courses up until the Wednesday of the second week of classes, September 9, and drop a course without penalty by Friday, September 11.
FALL RAMP-UP: DESIGN PROCESS REMINDERS
Most faculty are now well into designing their fall courses and building them in Canvas. If you have not had your Design Check-In yet, please make sure you do so as soon as possible. If you are working with peers, reach out to your collaborator(s) or your Team Lead. If you are working with the CLT-led Design Team, sign up for an appointment here.
The next steps in the ramp-up are the Course Review meeting and the Technical Review (not a meeting). Learn more about the Review Phase, including how you can prepare for review, here. Please aim to complete your Course Review meeting (and notify your Team Lead if you’re in the peer process) by August 17 for full-time faculty or August 21 for part-time faculty. For continuity and ease, we recommend that Faculty who have been part of the Design Team-led process schedule a course review meeting with the consultant they’ve been working with.
FACULTY MEETINGS
The faculty meeting calendar has been completed. You should see calendar invitations soon. Please note, with the new schedule, our Community gatherings such as, Faculty Senate, VPAA Forum, Curriculum Committee, etc. will be on Wednesdays at 10:00 AM during the fall Semester.
REMOTE STUDENT SECTION ROSTERS
We are continuously collecting data from students on their intentions to learn 100% remotely. We are developing a process by which each faculty member will get an email once/week with their section(s) roster indicating the students that intend to learn 100% remote. Look for the first of these emails on Monday, August 10.
HEALTH PANEL MEETING WITH VERMONT’S COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH, DR.
LEVINE: TONIGHT, AUGUST 6, 5:30 PM
President Akande has invited Faculty and Staff to a discussion with Dr. Mark Levine, Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health and Dr. Tim Wilens, Champlain parent and a physician at Mass General Hospital and Professor at Harvard Medical School. This event will focus on medical experts’ perspectives on the state of the pandemic here in Vermont, the epidemiology that informed the College Restart Plan, and key considerations for returning to work. The event is on tonight, August 6 at 5:30 PM, and the event information is in your calendar.
FACULTY TECHNOLOGY UPDATES
Zoom Site License: Google Meet has not yet added the features that many faculty members have requested such as breakout rooms, Q&A, etc. and we’ve had sufficient numbers of folks express interest to validate a campus Zoom site license. We will have Zoom available for all faculty and staff before the start of semester and are in the midst of procuring that license and getting things set up behind the scenes. More details to come soon!
Faculty Technology Orders: Faculty that requested technology during the fall ramp-up kickoff meetings received an email yesterday confirming the request and a form to schedule a time to pick-up their order on campus (contactless pick-up) starting August 10. This applies to both full-time and part-time faculty. If faculty live more than 90 minutes away from campus or have a medical issue, they can request for the order to be shipped to them. PLEASE NOTE: Document cameras will not be available for pickup until the end of August. We will reach out to you again once document cameras have arrived.
For faculty with upcoming kick-off meetings any technology requests will be fulfilled on a rolling basis, with the goal of getting faculty the technology they need as soon as possible.
Adjunct Computers: A few adjunct faculty have expressed a need for a computer for the fall semester. While this is not something Champlain has usually offered, these are not usual times. Please email Champ Support (champsupport@champlain.edu) with requests for adjunct faculty computers, and as soon as we have fulfilled all student requests for hardware we will prioritize assisting adjunct faculty with computer hardware in coordination with their Program Directors and Deans.
Faculty Hardware Loans: This summer we’ve offered A/V and other hardware to faculty (full-time and adjuncts) to support their content creation for their Flex Hybrid courses. We’ve had some questions around the return of that equipment, timing, etc.
Simply stated: this is College equipment and we will request that it be returned at some point in the future. Faculty are welcome to retain this equipment as long as it serves their needs, until we return to “normal” (whatever that may be), or until separated from the College.
Personal Technology Purchases: As a byproduct of our incoming student leased laptop loan program we have partnered with Lenovo, Apple, and Connection to create a technology personal purchase portal (govconnection.com/champlain). Through this portal students, faculty, and staff may make personal purchases of the same equipment we are providing to students at the same discounted prices. This portal also includes other technology, peripherals, and items which may be of interest.
We have also created a Champ Support wiki article on Technology Purchasing with a list of suggested peripherals and links to purchase. Please note that Champ Support does not support personally owned equipment (even if purchased through the portal or links above). The College does not profit from sales through this portal or these links. These are provided strictly as a service to our community though our vendor partners.
Internet connectivity: If you are considering adding or upgrading your internet service you can find information on local broadband internet service providers here: https://broadbandnow.com/. You can search by Zip Code for both Residential (wired) and Mobile (wireless) options.
FLEX CAPACITOR
The Flex Capacitor is a growing library of 30+ original micro-tutorial videos, about 1-2 mins each on topics related to technology tips as we embrace more virtual teaching and learning. The videos are made by Champlain College students, staff or alumni. A few videos of note: What Students Wish Faculty Knew About Working Remotely, Dear Faculty…, Color Syncing Your Google Drive and Canvas and more. Check out the YouTube Channel Flex-Hybrid Capacitor for more videos.
IMPORTANT RESOURCES
Course Planning:
CLT: Fall Flex Hybrid Ramp-Up Guide
Flex-Hybrid Design Team Meeting Sign-up
CLT Team Meeting Sign-up
Faculty Canvas Mentor List
The “BLURB form“
Campus Reopening:
State of Vermont Mandatory Guidance for College and University Campus Learning
The View: Updates on the Coronavirus
The View: Academic Updates
Faculty Daily Briefing Email Archive
Student Resources:
Access to Coaching and Tutoring Support
Fall schedule info for students
Student scheduling “how to” video 1 and video 2.
