[Faculty] New instructional information regarding UA COVID-19 mitigation efforts

Tue Mar 17 22:26:52 MST 2020

Many thanks David!

Remember, we're working together to provide the best examples we can to "flatten the curve" so our healthcare system is not overwhelmed. If we do everthing right, "nothing will happen" - and that is the whole point.

[E5742DFE]
Shane C. Burgess
Vice President for Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative Extension Charles-Sander Dean of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

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P.O. Box 210036 | Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
Office: 520-621-7621
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The University of Arizona is located statewide on the ancestral homelands of indigenous peoples.

From: Faculty <faculty-bounces at list.cals.arizona.edu> On Behalf Of Galbraith, David W - (galbrait)
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2020 9:57 PM
To: Staten, Michael E - (statenm) <statenm at arizona.edu>; faculty at list.cals.arizona.edu
Subject: Re: [Faculty] New instructional information regarding UA COVID-19 mitigation efforts

This website may be helpful to people using Zoom:  https://downdetector.com/

David

From: Faculty <faculty-bounces at list.cals.arizona.edu<mailto:faculty-bounces at list.cals.arizona.edu>> On Behalf Of Staten, Michael E - (statenm)
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2020 7:25 PM
To: faculty at list.cals.arizona.edu<mailto:faculty at list.cals.arizona.edu>
Subject: [Faculty] New instructional information regarding UA COVID-19 mitigation efforts

CALS faculty colleagues,

As we embark on the first day of fully online delivery I want to share with you some additional information about resources and facility arrangements intended to ease your burden.

First, the Provost communicated late this afternoon the following message:

"Centrally scheduled classrooms will be locked to deter students from congregating in them. BUT, faculty will be able to access them to deliver their online classes or record their lessons.  A process for reserving centrally scheduled classrooms through room and course scheduling will be communicated to instructors, who are actively teaching, today. For departmentally scheduled classrooms, these too should be locked but made available by reservation to teaching faculty."

I believe this process of providing faculty access to classrooms came about for at least two reasons:  1) some faculty felt more comfortable delivering their lectures in familiar space with familiar (and trusted) technology, and 2) some faculty do not trust their internet connectivity at home to be adequate for streaming their classes.  I can certainly understand the rationale.

I have not seen an example of the promised communication to faculty about the reservation process. I would appreciate someone sharing this with me when you receive it so that my office is better positioned to help if there are issues.

Second, I want to draw your attention again to the message I sent out mid-day today with advice from Lisa Elfring in the Office of Instruction/Assessment.   Bottom line:  as soon as you can manage it, please consider moving away from streaming your lectures synchronously (i.e., in real-time during your assigned class time) and using Panopto to record your lectures for posting and subsequent 24/7 download.  This will ease the burden on campus-wide Zoom capabilities (of which we are uncertain at this moment, given that many classes on campus will simultaneously attempt to Zoom for the first time tomorrow) and it will create a friendlier environment for students, many of whom will surely be grappling with internet and equipment challenges at home, distractions from others in the household, and quite possibly the pressures of part-time employment.  We heard today from Lisa, Jim Hunt and Melody Buckner on this (all of them experienced online pros), who recommend splitting your lectures into segments of 5-15 minutes each, for posting.

You do not need to do this immediately if you aren't comfortable yet with the technology. But I strongly suggest that you try this in the coming weeks (and as soon as you feel comfortable).  You may find this to be a great advantage for your future in-person classes, too, in addition to preparing yourself for the possibility of delivering a totally online course in the future.  In communications over the last two days (and especially earlier today) we distributed some great resources.  In addition, you should check out the UA Office of Digital Learning (http://digitallearning.arizona.edu), a treasure trove of tips, webinars, etc.  Check out the "Rapid Online Deployment" tab.   And, as always, my office and especially Assistant Dean Jim Hunt are here to help.

Lastly, a new website information page was launched today (http://student.it.arizona.edu) with supports for student WIFI and computer access.  We've been asked to share this widely with both faculty and students.   If you have information that could be added to this page please contact Darcy Van Patten, Executive Director, Digital Transformation and Student and Academic Technologies.

Good luck tomorrow!

Mike

Michael Staten | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Bart Cardon Associate Dean for Career and Academic Services
Professor, Agricultural and Resource Economics
The University of Arizona
Forbes Hall, Room 211
The University of Arizona
PO Box 210036
Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
PHONE: 520.621.1932
statenm at email.arizona.edu<mailto:statenm at email.arizona.edu>
www.mikestaten.com<http://www.mikestaten.com>

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