3/12/2020 12:45 PM
TO: Employees
SUBJECT: President’s Announcement – Session 4 Start Delay for Face-to-Face Classes
Dear Faculty and Staff,
The purpose of this email is to inform you of changes to UIU’s Session 4 courses for face-to-face learning on the Fayette campus and domestic centers. Please note that this message is focused primarily on academic matters. Additional information about other University decisions and actions regarding COVID-19 (Coronavirus), can be found on UIU’s website: https://uiu.edu/coronavirus/.
After receiving a recommendation from the President’s Council, the decision has been made to delay the beginning of Session 4 for all face-to-face classes by one week. Session 4 will now be a 7-week Session with a start date of March 23, and an end date of May 7.
This extra one-week timeframe should be used by faculty members and support staff to prepare for the possibility that courses may need to be offered exclusively online at some point during Session 4. Should faculty have concerns about the ability to meet course objectives exclusively online, the faculty member should communicate these concerns immediately to their respective department chair. Please remember that in transitioning to a 7-week session it is still necessary to fulfill required instructional time during this shortened time period. This can be done by developing an online component to your course or by adding additional instructional time.
Please communicate with your department chair as to how you will be fulfilling the required instructional time. Contact your chair with needs and questions. Instructional designers and online tutorials (https://uiu.edu/online/resources/facultyuiulearn.html) are available to you should you need support in preparing for the shortened session and the possibility of courses being migrated to fully online in Session 4.
On Thursday, March 19, UIU will communicate any changes to the current status for Session 4. It’s important to know this is a rapidly evolving situation and we will continue to work with local public health officials to ensure actions we are taking are in the best interest of our entire University community.
If you advise or are in contact with a Fayette student who is registered for an online course in Session 4, please note that their online course(s) are still scheduled to begin Monday, March 16.
Please communicate with your Dean immediately if you advise a student who is currently participating in international internships.
Thank you all again for taking these steps to support our students’ academic success in the face of the challenges posed by COVID-19.
Bill
William R. Duffy II, Ed.D., Ed.S.
President
Upper Iowa University
