[Agvisors] Fwd: Week 4 Teaching Update

Tue Sep 15 20:10:30 MST 2020

Nancy G. Rodriguez-Lorta, M.Ed.
Senior Director, Advising and Student Services
UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Office of Career & Academic Services
Forbes Room 203 | PO Box 210036 |Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
Phone: (520) 621-3616 | Fax: (520) 621-8662
Website: cals.arizona.edu/students/advising
To schedule an appointment call (520) 621-3616
Reasons reap results – J. Kwik
________________________________
From: uaac-request at list.arizona.edu <uaac-request at list.arizona.edu> on behalf of Catts, Roxie L - (catts) <catts at arizona.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 1:40 PM
To: UAAC list (uaac at list.arizona.edu); adv-rcg at list.arizona.edu
Subject: [uaac] FW: Week 4 Teaching Update

________________________________
From: Elfring, Lisa K - (elfring) <elfring at arizona.edu<mailto:elfring at arizona.edu>>
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 12:58 PM
To: group_3_teachingandlearning at list.arizona.edu<mailto:group_3_teachingandlearning at list.arizona.edu> <group_3_teachingandlearning at list.arizona.edu<mailto:group_3_teachingandlearning at list.arizona.edu>>; and many others [deleted for brevity]
Cc: Folks, Liesl - (liesl) <liesl at arizona.edu<mailto:liesl at arizona.edu>>
Subject: FW: Week 4 Teaching Update

Dear Colleagues,
Earlier today, I sent the message below to a new, improved list of primary and secondary instructors, TAs, and departmental administrators provided by the amazing Cori Cashen in the Registrar's office. Apologies if the message is duplicated.

Take care of yourself while you keep all those plates spinning!
Lisa
-----
Dear Fall 2020 instructors,
Welcome to Week 4 of the semester; we are nearly 25% of the way through if you’re teaching a full-semester course. As per President Robbins’ email last night<https://view.comms.arizona.edu/?qs=b7bd470c090cab39efde5b406375afc797c2ccc2bb88d3a304298810e9888f10c95d99286aecf0cbb213f62d75a1ed1d73b02f055b75b43f5e1c2964fd6f187ed077870dcc721f696b3328bd5d5ad450>, students who live near campus are being asked to shelter in place for the next two weeks, and teaching will remain in Stage 1 (only essential courses meeting in person) until at least 9/28. Periodic updates about the teaching stages can be found here<https://covid19.arizona.edu/updates>.

Many units are collecting information from instructors and students to assess support and unmet needs. Some recent updates include:

  1.  There have been many reports of students logging into class meetings in Zoom while driving so they can get their “participation points” for classes. To be clear, NOBODY should be driving while using Zoom. Please urge students to conduct themselves safely, which includes safety on the road, and be flexible in your attendance policies so students don’t feel like they need to make this kind of a trade-off.
  2.  Some instructors have adopted technology products for which students are paying out-of-pocket. Although this may be unavoidable in some cases, please realize that many students and families are under increased financial pressure due to the pandemic and consider this in making decisions about adoption of technology and other course materials.
  3.  Campus Health and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) are open! Please let your students know that CAPS offers resources, workshops, groups, short-term counseling, psychiatry, and various other specialty services.  Check out their website<https://health.arizona.edu/counseling-psych-services> for details and/or to sign in for a "virtual walk-in" triage session. Campus Health is also providing telemedicine appointments, as well as limited in-person visits.  Check out their website<https://health.arizona.edu/>, or call with any questions. For safety, please call first before walking into CAPS (621-3334) or Campus Health (621-9202).
  4.  Provost Folks sent an update<https://provost.arizona.edu/news/2020/09/faculty-and-administrator-annual-performance-review-process-annual-review-2020> about faculty annual performance reviews last week. Instructors will be able to opt into administration of Student Course Surveys this semester by working with their departmental liaisons. In this time of great upheaval, we urge all instructors to do regular check-ins with students to determine what is working well, and what might be improved, to support their learning. Some recommendations for survey questions can be found in the Instructor Resources section of the fantastic Teaching Models site<https://teachingmodels.arizona.edu/>; you can administer these questions anonymously through D2L surveys<https://help.d2l.arizona.edu/content/instructor-surveys> or other survey tools such as Qualtrics, Google Forms, or Survey Monkey. Just the act of asking shows that you care about students' experiences.
Although your courses have now settled into a routine, please remember that students may be still challenged in many ways: time management, internet access, illness, anxiety, caretaking, work, and others. Be as flexible as you can in helping them to do what they need to do to succeed in your classes, and be cognizant that we are still in crisis mode. And extend that flexibility and grace to yourself. We are all learning how to do our best in this new reality.

With all my best,
Lisa Elfring

[The University of Arizona block 'A' logo.]
Lisa K Elfring, PhD
Associate Vice Provost
Office of Instruction & Assessment<https://www.oia.arizona.edu/>
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

Integrated Learning Center (ILC), 101F
PO Box 210070 | Tucson, AZ 85721
Office: 520-621-1671
elfring at email.arizona.edu<mailto:elfring at email.arizona.edu>
Pronouns: She/her/hers
www.arizona.edu<https://www.arizona.edu>
[Integrety, Compassion, Exploration, Adaptation, Inclusion, Determination]<https://brand.arizona.edu/signature>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.cals.arizona.edu/pipermail/agvisors/attachments/20200916/30b4c0eb/attachment.htm>