Dear Colleagues,
In all walks of life, we, as faculty, have had to become more flexible to adjust to our uncertain times. Our plans within an institution of higher education—just like the plans of fellow colleagues within any other college or university—have been subject to change, relative to government health directives focused on the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Nonetheless, our core principle in the College of Arts and Science has never wavered: namely, of academically preparing our students for a fast-changing and increasingly complex world. Our collective hard work has not diminished in ensuring that all of our students are in the best position to succeed during and after they graduate from New York University.
I am pleased to say that we have been making steady progress in CAS toward completing our curricular planning for the Fall 2020 semester. I have been in regular communication with Chairs, Directors of Undergraduate Studies, and other faculty leaders of academic departments as well as of various disciplinary strata within the CAS curriculum, ranging from language acquisition courses to laboratory science courses. Separately, I likewise am proactively communicating with CAS students and their families to update them on Fall 2020.
While building on past communications of mine and the University, my message below seeks to clarify or resolve issues that arose during recent faculty conversations with me and with Dean Armanda Lewis in the CAS Office of Academic Affairs. To do so, I confirmed curricular details with the Provost’s Office, the University Registrar, and the Faculty of Arts and Science Office of the Dean. As ever, you should continue to consult the updates to our Fall 2020 CAS Curricular Planning Guide.
The main topics of my message below are the following:
- Mounting the Full Curriculum
- Technical Definitions of Instructional Delivery
- Toward a More Holistic View of the In-Person Component of Blended Courses
- Our Need to Accommodate Remote Students
- Educational Technology and Recording Classes
Please note that these topics do not deal with, and are separate from, the specific concerns related to faculty requests for accommodations or modifications during the Fall 2020 semester as a result of COVID-19; for questions or concerns, please contact the NYU Office of Equal Opportunity, the Office of Dean of FAS Antonio Merlo, or your Department Chair.
- Mounting the Full Curriculum
As I have stated more than once before, one of our fundamental professional responsibilities as faculty is to mount a full undergraduate curriculum in the College. Toward that end, we must certify the instructional delivery of undergraduate education with proper institutional and legal compliance. We must improve the instructional efficiency and intellectual enrichment of the curriculum. We must confirm that students, regardless of their location in the University or the world, can access and navigate the curriculum properly. And we must confirm that the requirements of all accredited academic concentrations can be completed by students in a timely fashion, so that they can earn their baccalaureate degrees. The flexibility required in mounting the full CAS curriculum should be mutually exhibited by both you and your students to mitigate the disruption that could be caused by health risks and travel restrictions, among other major concerns.
- Technical Definitions of Instructional Delivery
In Albert/SIS, the instructional delivery of our CAS courses has been categorized, among other things, as either “in person,” “blended,” or “online.” Technically, a course is deemed “in person” if it is meeting 100% of the time in person; standard courses with an enrollment cap of 15 or fewer students have this designation. A course is defined as “remote” if it is meeting 100% of the time remotely; courses with a cap of 31 students or higher fit this category. And a course is called “blended” if it is neither 100% in person nor 100% remote—that is, it has a combination of these two modalities, regardless of proportion—and normally it is a course whose enrollment ranges from 16 to 30 students. The Albert interface thus displays the following:
- IN PERSON: -UA courses offered in person, with access to physical classroom space for all scheduled sessions, with required physical distancing measures in place.
- BLENDED: -UA courses that will need some access to physical classroom space—the course will be partially in-person and partially online.
- ONLINE: -UA courses that will be offered entirely online, and may be offered in real time for all sessions, or a combination of real time and offline work.
- INDEPENDENT STUDY: the same as usual.
In accordance with New York State health guidelines, the University has stated that all Fall 2020 courses with in-person components must adhere to physical distancing rules. In some cases, an entire class may have to meet in a room larger than usual so that all participants can meet regularly in person but remain physically distanced. In others, a mix of in-person and remote interactions could exist. Any classroom assigned to a course with in-person components should allow for safe physical distancing and other safety precautions.
- Toward a More Holistic View of the In-Person Component of Blended Courses
From a technical standpoint, a “blended” course pertains to the distinction between remote and in-person interactions within the specific context of classroom instruction. But instruction within an assigned classroom is not the only index of describing a blended class. A blended course could also refer to the broader realm of educational engagement and experience that students enjoy outside of the classroom.
Indeed, it is important not to define too narrowly the content and context of a blended course. “Blended learning refers to delivering some portion of course content online, meaning a mixture of in-person and offline interactions,” according to the FAS Office of Educational Technology. Furthermore, according to a report referenced at this site, in a blended course, “[s]ubstantial proportion of the content is delivered online, typically uses online discussions, and typically has some face-to-face meetings.”
The content of a course, of course, includes the curriculum delivered during its scheduled instructional time in a classroom. But this content can also include “co-curricular” opportunities for faculty-student engagements and experiences, ranging from small groups and tutorials to office hours, excursions, and events. In their totality, these curricular and co-curricular activities could still operate within a course per se. Instructors have wide discretion to specify how extramural activities with students pertain to specific academic assignments within courses. As long as you seek to have any set of substantive or meaningful in-person educational experiences for students within a course, “blended” remains the appropriate category for it.
You should use the “Notes” section of Albert—a free, open textual space—to explain the pedagogical and interactive nuances intrinsic to courses. For now, students entering Albert seeking to register for classes will encounter a “pop up” window saying that the details of the course have not yet been finalized. By mid July this restriction will be lifted so that students could reconfirm their registration preferences. During this period, changes to the Registrar’s system of courses will be managed closely. You also should lean on your wide discretion and wisdom as instructors, as stipulated in your course syllabi and your setting of course expectations at the outset of the semester, to explain the nature of a blended course to enrolled students and the degree to which the course will establish in-person opportunities in practice.
- Our Need to Accommodate Remote Students
You must accommodate any student attending a Fall 2020 course remotely. Some students continuing their studies will face travel restrictions or other difficulties. Many of them, participating in the Go Local initiative, may have to confront time zone complications. Even courses with meetings in person must make sure that remote students have access to lectures and materials, receive regular feedback and assessment, and are able to interact with their classes in some way. So that you could plan for multiple scenarios, over the next two months we will share with academic departments the available course data on the estimated remote-versus-in-person student enrollment breakdown. In the meantime, I strongly encourage all of you to prepare for having to deliver curricular materials to students who may be remote, including those who also may be residing in different time zones.
- Educational Technology and Recording Classes
NYU Zoom is the main software platform for real-time remote interactions between faculty and students, and should be the minimum technology used for all CAS courses. NYU Instructional Technology (NYU IT) has confirmed that all sites of NYU Classes will have NYU Zoom (web conferencing) and NYU Stream (platform for recording, storing, and sharing video) enabled for the Fall 2020 semester. We continue to work with NYU IT and the FAS Office of Educational Technology on specific strategies to support in-person courses that may have remote participants. Soon we will offer a First-Year Seminar-specific event over the summer on instructional strategies.
You should record your classes if you have any students attending remotely. Recording classes ensures that all students, especially those requiring increased temporal flexibility and personal accommodation, have at least asynchronous access to the lesson material according to the way in which you delivered it. Please be assured that, for security purposes, the recordings are exclusively linked to NYU Classes and require your own manual authorization for any broad dissemination. Despite the potential drawbacks of technical glitches as well as the loss of synchronous, or simultaneous, interaction, we need to assure our students during these uncertain times that your instruction will be readily and consistently retrievable. Your cooperation here is greatly appreciated.
Do not hesitate to reach out to cas-academic-continuity@nyu.edu if you want to discuss ideas or have any questions. I thank you for your patience in reading this long, detailed message.
Best,
GJ
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Gene Jarrett
Seryl Kushner Dean of the College of Arts and Science
Professor of English
New York University