Teaching & Learning

Teaching & Learning Icon
Letter to students, faculty and staff
Dear Campus Community,

We are a vaccinated community and most of our campus is wearing their face coverings indoors appropriately and practicing social distance if needed. As we end the fourth week of the semester, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for following our reopening guidelines to help prevent the spread of the virus on our campus.

Thanks to our extremely high vaccination rate of 95%, we are well-protected against serious illness from the COVID-19 virus, including the delta variant. We must stay vigilant as this virus will be present for the foreseeable future. Our collective goal is to find ways to continue to live, teach, learn and work in our in-person environment. With that in mind, we want to remind everyone of our health measures and ask for patience as we face these challenges.

We recognize that the uncertainties attached to the virus create concern and anxiety. While there’s often an understandable desire to seek out campus testing services just to quell those anxieties, we want to assure our campus that the protocols below are in response to medical guidance, and also to be responsible stewards of the limited supply of antigen tests available nationwide.

Surveillance Testing for Unvaccinated Individuals

  • If you are unvaccinated, you are required to get an antigen test twice per week, at least 48 hours apart. We have added three more days of COVID-19 surveillance testing at the Wellness Center. We will now offer testing on Mondays and Fridays, 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.– 5 p.m.; on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.; and on Wednesdays, 8 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. – 2 p.m.

Individuals With No Symptoms

  • If you are fully vaccinated, have had close contact with someone who has COVID-19 and do not have symptoms, you may continue with your daily activities, follow the mask mandates on campus, and assess your health. If you develop symptoms you should get tested.
  • If you are not vaccinated and have had close contact with someone who has COVID-19, you must quarantine and be tested. If you are a student please contact the Wellness Center at 240-895-4289 to discuss your risk and how to safely quarantine.
  • The CDC definition of a “close contact” through proximity and duration of exposure is someone who was less than 6 feet away from an infected person (laboratory-confirmed or a clinical diagnosis) for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period.

Individuals With Symptoms

  • If you have symptoms of COVID-19, regardless of your vaccination status, consider getting assessed to see if you need a COVID-19 test or other assessments. Students may make an appointment with the nurse practitioner at the Wellness Center for an assessment and testing, if appropriate. Students and employees can go off campus to be tested at local Urgent Care Centers or the hospital. We recommend you contact the St. Mary’s County Health Department at smchd.org to pre-register for one of their testing locations. NOTE: Wellness Center will begin on-demand PCR testing starting week of October 25, 2021.

Reporting a Positive COVID Test/Illness

  • It is very important to the health and safety of our community to report any positive COVID-19 results. Students, faculty and staff are asked to complete this self-report Reporting a Positive COVID-19 Test form. You can also use this form to alert the Wellness Center staff to a concern about a roommate/friend/classmate who may be sick.

Wearing Masks Effectively

  • In addition to vaccinations, wearing a mask is our most effective defense against COVID-19. All members of our campus community are required to wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status. The CDC recently updated its recommendations around mask use by the general public. According to the CDC, a KN95 mask provides better protection than other types of masks (except for N95), as you are less likely to develop COVID-19 after close contact with someone who tested positive when wearing a KN95 mask. If you are interested in obtaining a KN95 mask, the College has a supply that can be obtained through the Building Facility Coordinators (BFC) in all the academic buildings and Residence Life for distribution to students.
Every member of our campus community has been doing their part to keep our community safe. The health of every member is important to us. We will continue to monitor updated guidance from CDC, local health department and community positivity rates and will update you regularly as new changes are warranted.

Stay safe and informed,

Katie Gantz, PhD
Interim Dean of Faculty

Jerri Howland, PhD
Vice President for Student Affairs
  • For all full-time faculty, spring 2022 courses will be delivered through in-person instruction. Under very limited circumstances, a fully remote class may be offered by a full- or part-time instructor when the mode of instruction or instructor necessity dictates; this decision will require prior approval via the Office of the Provost.
  • Faculty members are strongly encouraged to only use remote technologies to supplement classroom instruction, such as for guest speakers, supplemental office hours, event live streaming, etc.
  • Faculty will provide students with in-person advising and office hours. Remote technology may be used when desired by both the student and the faculty member.
  • Faculty must be prepared to transition to fully remote teaching and learning should the CDC, St. Mary’s County Health Department, or the College alter guidelines for COVID mitigation.
  • Study Abroad may open to destinations that meet CDC, State Department, and destination country risk and safety guidelines.
  • Students who may be eligible for accommodations due to long term COVID-19 health-related issues should work with the Office of Accessibility Services (OAS) to ensure that they have the necessary resources to participate in college life as safely as possible.
  • Faculty are encouraged to include the following compliance language on all course syllabi:
For the health and safety of our community, face coverings must be worn indoors in campus classrooms, laboratories and studio spaces. Face coverings must be KN95 or N95 tightly-fitted masks.

Guidelines about using remote technologies for continuity of learning

Faculty are encouraged to include statements in syllabi that explain the various meeting tools students can use to contact instructors, whether for general inquiries or office hours, and to intentionally facilitate peer-to-peer communication within the course (e.g. provide in-class time for students to set up a group communication tool and negotiate its use among themselves). CITL has prepared a shared document with info for faculty and possible language for syllabi; faculty are invited to review the newest section on COVID concerns for ideas about how to talk with your students about your own classroom policies, expectations, and larger institution-wide responsibilities.

In the case of COVID-related illness or the need to quarantine…

  • Regarding the INSTRUCTOR: instructors may utilize online/remote modalities on select days when the planned curriculum supports such a modality, the instructor is well enough to teach, and can access the appropriate infrastructure to conduct remote teaching. Those quarantining should follow guidance of the Wellness Center to determine an appropriate return to classes.
    • If an instructor misses less than a week of class, it is the instructor’s responsibility to determine how to mitigate the impact of their absence on students. Beyond that, the instructor must confer with their chair as to how meeting times are covered.
  • Regarding the STUDENT: As is the case when students experience other emergencies or illnesses that significantly disrupt their coursework, faculty will receive official notification from the Office of Student Support Services (OS3) when a student is determined by the Wellness Center to be unable to attend classes (note that this may be due to Covid-related illness, the need to quarantine,or other non-COVID related issues; the reason will not be indicated on the notification).
    • Faculty are asked to respond with empathy to student efforts to remain engaged in classwork while recovering from COVID-19, and to provide some access to in-class content (e.g., record part of lecture, put a camera on showing the class, etc). There is no expectation that the instructor will resort to a full hybrid learning situation in this case. Work expectations for the student while recovering from COVID-19 should follow medical advice.
    • Students will receive written confirmation from either the Health Department or Wellness Center when they’re cleared to return to class. The student will be asked to share this with the Wellness Center for their records, and professors will again receive official confirmation when students are cleared to return. While students do automatically get 2 excused absences per class, illnesses documented by OS3/Wellness Center have not been automatically excused absences, and that will continue to be the case. We do ask, however, that you work with students who have documented extended absences due to illness or other circumstances in order to minimize the impact of their absence on their learning, and when appropriate, their grade.
      • If students tell professors they have COVID/ill or have been exposed, they should be told to contact the Wellness Center immediately. The Wellness Center will follow up, and the professor can expect a notification from OS3 if the student will miss class. No notification would indicate the student hasn’t let the Wellness Center know they are positive, if their results aren’t COVID positive, or if the student is not in quarantine.
      • Students may not expect special arrangements based on “self-diagnosis” or by independently determining quarantining status. Students must be in conversation with the Wellness Center, which will in turn decide whether OS3 will send official confirmation of the student’s absence to the course professors. Likewise, instructors who do not receive confirmation from OS3 about the student’s clearance to return should direct the student to the Wellness Center before allowing the student back to the classroom.

Remote instruction should not be utilized under circumstances when the College is officially closed (e.g. natural disasters, emergency weather situations) and when widespread digital access may be compromised (e.g. power outages). Doing so, even as a voluntary gesture, creates inequalities of access.

For some students, remote access to a course could be a reasonable accommodation; students should be referred to the Office of Accessibility Services (OAS) to explore this as a potential accommodation. As with other accommodations, there needs to be some sort of review to verify that remote access to a course does not represent a fundamental alteration or create an undue burden for the institution. To reiterate, remote access for the student does not equate to hybrid instruction on the part of the faculty member.

Outside of emergency campus operations (e.g., another pandemic), students enrolled in an in-person course cannot expect to attend class remotely, nor can the instructor be expected to provide remote access to the class beyond those approved as specific accommodations for students.

Instructors should adopt processes for students to access content/learning from ‘missed classes’ or to review materials from previous classes that they attended, as may be appropriate for the course. For example, this could include posting some key slides from a presentation, or encouraging a shared note-taking document within the class. We do not expect/encourage this to be a full recording of the class meeting.

  1. All Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 courses will be delivered through in-person instruction.  Faculty members are strongly encouraged to only use remote technologies to supplement classroom instruction, such as for guest speakers, supplemental office hours, event live streaming, etc.
  2. Faculty will provide students with in-person advising and office hours.  Remote technology may be used when desired by both the student and the faculty member.
  3. Faculty must be prepared to transition to fully remote teaching and learning should the CDC, St. Mary’s County Health Department, or the College alter guidelines for COVID mitigation.
  4. Classroom capacities and concomitant furnishings will be restored before the start of fall semester.  Orientations will occur per public health guidelines.
  5. All Summer 2021 and Winterim 2021/2 courses will be fully remote unless approved by the Office of the Provost & Dean of Faculty.
  6. Study Abroad may open to destinations that meet CDC, State Department, and destination country risk and safety guidelines.
  7. Students who may be eligible for accommodations due to long term COVID-19 health-related issues should work with the Office of Accessibility Services (OAS) to ensure that they have the necessary resources to participate in college life as safely as possible.
  8. The prohibition on use of state vehicles for official College business/purpose has been lifted effective May 10, 2021.

Academic Calendar

  • Regularly scheduled spring classes will conclude on April 23, 2021.
  • There will be no Spring Break, however, no classes will be held on March 5 (Mental Health), March 23 (Advising Day), April 2 (Mental Health), and April 5 (Mental Health).
  • Final exams will be taken between April 29, 2021 and May 4, 2021.
  • Grades will be due by noon on May 10, 2021.

Important Dates

Changes to the Teaching & Learning Experience

What are the key factors that would determine St. Mary’s College’s transition to a fully remote teaching and learning experience?

  • St. Mary’s College will monitor several key COVID-19 indicators that may impact the College environment. They will inform our decision-making regarding, if necessary, the College’s transition to a fully remote teaching and learning experience. These indicators include the College community’s positivity rate within a single day for four consecutive days and overall for two consecutive weeks, absentee rates among the on-campus College community, College quarantine/isolation capacity, and county and state health data and conditions.

Syllabi

  • Faculty will be encouraged to include the following compliance language on all course syllabi.
  • For the health and safety of our community, within all campus buildings, including classrooms and laboratories, all students are required to wear face coverings over the nose and mouth and comply with social distancing guidelines to the extent possible.
    Students who are unable or unwilling to wear a face covering are required to enroll in the remote option of this course.

Regular Course Format

  • All regular courses will be available through face-to-face and synchronous remote instruction.
  • Face-to-face and remote students will participate in class sessions using Zoom.
  • Students may elect to attend class sessions either face-to-face or remotely according to their own learning and personal safety preferences.
  • Students electing to attend a class session remotely should inform the instructor 24-hours prior to the class session. Likewise, to the extent practical, faculty needing to teach a class session remotely must inform the students 24-hours prior to the class session.

Face-to-face Classroom Rotation Schedules

  • Physical classroom capacities will be set based on CDC guidance.
  • When necessary to comply with CDC guidelines, residential students will rotate between face-to-face and synchronous remote instruction according to a schedule established by the course instructor.
  • Students may choose to attend class remotely, even if they are assigned within a specific rotation group. Students should inform their faculty of this choice.
  • Instructors will create distinct rotating student groups which remain the same throughout the semester. Instructors are encouraged to consider student housing assignments or commuting status when grouping students to minimize in-person contacts with the College community. This information will be provided by the Office of Residence Life upon request.
  • Instructors may rotate students through the class in a manner that best suits their instructional needs. For example, rotations may be assigned for a full class period, or (when appropriate), groups of students may rotate through within the same class period. If multiple groups within the same class time are utilized, measures (and time) to sanitize surfaces and safely dismiss groups to prevent the spread of COVID-19 between rotations should be utilized.

Laboratory/Studio/Performance Course Format

  • Laboratory, studio, and performance courses will be available through face-to-face and remote instruction.
  • Student groups, once established, will be used for the entire semester.

Faculty/Student Collaborative Scholarly/Creative Activity (Outside Classes)

  • Out-of-class faculty/student collaborative scholarly/creative activity that requires physical interactions (i.e., laboratories, studios, etc.) will be permitted but no student will be required to participate during the 2020-2021 academic year. Students for whom such a requirement is a condition of graduation will be given alternative learning experiences or will have the requirement waived.
  • Faculty will develop written protocols for the use of shared faculty/student collaborative spaces that adhere to CDC social distancing guidelines to the extent practicable. Such protocols will include:
    • scheduling of shared facilities to reduce the number of individuals present in the facility at one time;
    • cleaning of shared equipment and materials between uses;
    • use of protective gloves and face masks.

Grading

  • The “P/D/F” grading option first introduced during the 2020 spring semester will be available during the 2020-2021 academic year.
  • Students should speak with their advisor about how P/D/F grades may impact transcripts or graduate school.

Shared Learning Spaces

  • In consultation with instructors, furniture will be limited or partitioned off to ensure appropriate social distance between learning stations and between those stations and the teaching station.
  • Instructors will be able to rearrange furniture to meet pedagogical needs as long as appropriate social distancing is maintained.
  • Learning spaces will receive a deep cleaning twice per day according to a schedule developed by the Director of Facilities.
  • Learning spaces will be equipped with hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes.
  • Students may be asked to wipe down their individual learning station prior to and after use. Some departments may have additional expectations for student cleaning. Instructors from those departments will communicate expectations to enrolled students.
  • Faculty will be required to wipe down their teaching station prior to and after use.

Outdoor Classrooms

  • Faculty may investigate possible outdoor spaces for synchronous remote/face-to-face teaching, but should be cognizant of likely bandwidth limitations when students are present.
  • At any given class period, faculty who have all enrolled students physically present may teach their class session outdoors. However, class sessions with any remote students must be accessible through synchronous remote technology.

Experiential Learning

  • All College-affiliated international programs (study abroad, study tours, etc.) are canceled through spring 2021. Summer 2021 Study Tours are still open for applications and a decision will be made by spring and communicated to all applicants then.
  • Domestic experiential learning opportunities (field trips, internships, etc.) will be permitted but no student will be required to participate during the 2020-2021 academic year. Students for whom such a requirement is a condition of graduation may request/will be provided alternatives.
  • Faculty will ensure that remote partner locations have protocols in place that adhere to SMCM social distancing guidelines to the extent practicable.
  • Faculty conducting domestic experiential learning opportunities will develop written protocols for the travel to/from the experiential location that adhere to SMCM social distancing guidelines to the extent practicable. Such protocols should include:
    • cleaning of shared vehicles, equipment, and materials between uses;
    • use of protective gloves and face masks while in transit.

Mission-Centric Events

  • Events that are central to the College’s academic mission will ensure that audiences, when allowed, adhere to appropriate social distancing guidelines.
  • Event spaces will receive a deep cleaning in between uses, to the extent practicable.
  • Student physical attendance at such events will not be required. Programs for which such events are a requirement will provide students with a means for remote attendance.
  • Student participation in such events will adhere to the guidelines under Laboratory/Studio/Performance Courses Format. Student participation in off-campus events will adhere to the guidelines under Experiential Learning.

Academic Advising

  • Face-to-face advising sessions, if provided, will adhere to appropriate social distancing guidelines.
  • Students will be provided with a remote advising option.

Technology Needs

  • To the extent practicable, the College will provide faculty and students with access to technology, including high-speed Internet, sufficient to engage in learning experiences.

Class Attendance Policies

  • The College’s attendance policy will remain in effect for the academic year.
  • Students will be expected to attend each class meeting, either face-to-face or remotely.
  • Students who experience extended illness that reasonably prevents them from completing the course objectives may use the College’s course withdrawal policy.
  • Waivers are not required for voluntary activities that may not comply with COVID-19 social distancing guidelines. However, instructors should make students aware of potential risks before these activities occur so that students may decide where to participate in-person or remotely. Students will not be penalized for choosing a synchronous remote option under these circumstances. A single conversation at the beginning of the semester will suffice; an instructor need not provide language before every similar activity within the course.

Office Hours

  • Faculty may conduct face-to-face office hours in such a manner as to be compliant with appropriate social distancing guidelines including any time in which students are waiting in line to see the faculty member.
  • Faculty will provide remote access to office hour support
  • Faculty offices will be equipped with hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes.

Classroom Management

  • Student work will be submitted and returned using remote technology.
  • Class handouts will be distributed using remote technology.
  • Students will comply with appropriate College guidelines when entering, exiting, and using classrooms. Students who are non-compliant with the College guidelines will be required to leave their class and the incident reported to Public Safety. If a student is unwilling to leave, faculty will notify Public Safety to have the student removed from class. Faculty may cancel the class session if they are uncomfortable with calling Public Safety or they believe that the circumstances may escalate beyond their control. Faculty will immediately report the incident to Public Safety.
  • Face-to-face class sessions may be assigned a “technology teaching assistant” to facilitate classroom management. Funding for such teaching assistants will be provided by the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty. Instructors may, at their discretion, provide classroom assistant credit for such teaching assistants.
  • Remote examinations will be proctored or recorded to ensure integrity.
  • Class waiting lists will be maintained by individual instructors or departments and will be reported centrally to the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty.
  • Students participating in face-to-face learning experiences who do not feel safe from COVID-19 exposure may report their concern to the instructor. Instructors may attempt to change the experience to make the student feel safe. If no acceptable change can be made, the instructor will dismiss the student from the face-to-face learning experience without a course penalty. The student, however, will bear the responsibility for completing the learning experience on their own and for submitting any assigned work related to the experience.
  • Faculty will dismiss students in an ordered manner so as to support compliance with all social distancing and COVID-19 College guidelines.

Remote Teaching

  • Faculty who meet eligibility requirements (see Human Resources website) will be allowed to teach remotely with prior written permission.
  • Faculty who request and accept remote teaching assignments will not be allowed on campus during the semester without express written permission from the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty.
  • Faculty who have not requested or accepted remote teaching assignments but who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or are otherwise temporarily unable to teach face-to-face may teach remotely for the affected class periods without prior approval but must inform the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty.
Teaching & Learning Icon

The College has opened for residential face-to-face instruction that affords students the opportunity to be actively engaged in the instructional process either on-campus face-to-face, remote on-campus, or remote off-campus as personal and public health concerns dictate. Some classes may be offered in remote format only.

Fall 2020 Academic Calendar

August 17, 2020
Regularly scheduled fall classes will begin.
September 7, 2020
Labor Day - No classes will be held.
October 12, 2020
Columbus Day - Classes will be held.
October 20, 2020
Advising Day - No classes will be held.
November 11, 2020
Veteran’s Day – Classes will be held.
November 20, 2020
Regularly scheduled fall classes conclude.
November 30, 2020 through December 4, 2020
Final exams will be taken remotely.

Guidelines for Teaching & Learning during the 2020-2021 Academic Year

Updated: September 23, 2020

Academic Calendar

  • Regularly scheduled fall classes will conclude on November 20, 2020.
  • No classes will be held on October 20 (Advising Day).
  • Final exams will be taken remotely between November 30, 2020 and December 4, 2020.
  • Grades will be due by noon on December 10, 2020.

Syllabi

  • Faculty will be encouraged to include the following compliance language on all course syllabi.
  • For the health and safety of our community, within all campus buildings, including classrooms and laboratories, all students are required to wear face coverings over the nose and mouth and comply with social distancing guidelines to the extent possible.
    Students who are unable or unwilling to wear a face covering are required to enroll in the remote option of this course.

Regular Course Format

  • All regular courses will be available through face-to-face and synchronous remote instruction.
  • Face-to-face and remote students will participate in class sessions using Zoom.
  • Students may elect to attend class sessions either face-to-face or remotely according to their own learning and personal safety preferences.
  • Students electing to attend a class session remotely should inform the instructor 24-hours prior to the class session. Likewise, to the extent practical, faculty needing to teach a class session remotely must inform the students 24-hours prior to the class session.

Face-to-face Classroom Rotation Schedules

  • Physical classroom capacities will be set based on CDC guidance.
  • When necessary to comply with CDC guidelines, residential students will rotate between face-to-face and synchronous remote instruction according to a schedule established by the course instructor.
  • Students may choose to attend class remotely, even if they are assigned within a specific rotation group. Students should inform their faculty of this choice.
  • Instructors will create distinct rotating student groups which remain the same throughout the semester. Instructors are encouraged to consider student housing assignments or commuting status when grouping students to minimize in-person contacts with the College community. This information will be provided by the Office of Residence Life upon request.
  • Instructors may rotate students through the class in a manner that best suits their instructional needs. For example, rotations may be assigned for a full class period, or (when appropriate), groups of students may rotate through within the same class period. If multiple groups within the same class time are utilized, measures (and time) to sanitize surfaces and safely dismiss groups to prevent the spread of COVID-19 between rotations should be utilized.

Laboratory/Studio/Performance Course Format

  • Laboratory, studio, and performance courses will be available through face-to-face and remote instruction.
  • Student groups, once established, will be used for the entire semester.

Class Period Lengths

  • To ensure appropriate social distancing in hallways, class sessions will occasionally start a few minutes later than regularly scheduled and/or end a few minutes earlier than regularly scheduled to ease crowding in hallways.
  • The Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty will determine the altered start/stop times based on building capacities.

Course Locations

  • Physical classrooms will be assigned by the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty, in consultation with instructors, to best match COVID-19 room capacities with enrollment.
  • Course-to-classroom assignments will be shared with students and faculty prior to the start of the term.
  • Specialized classroom facilities (i.e., film rooms, dance studios, etc.) will be preferentially assigned to courses that regularly require use of the specialized facilities.

Faculty/Student Collaborative Scholarly/Creative Activity (Outside Classes)

  • Out-of-class faculty/student collaborative scholarly/creative activity that requires physical interactions (i.e., laboratories, studios, etc.) will be permitted but no student will be required to participate during the 2020-2021 academic year. Students for whom such a requirement is a condition of graduation will be given alternative learning experiences or will have the requirement waived.
  • Faculty will develop written protocols for the use of shared faculty/student collaborative spaces that adhere to CDC social distancing guidelines to the extent practicable. Such protocols will include…
    • scheduling of shared facilities to reduce the number of individuals present in the facility at one time;
    • cleaning of shared equipment and materials between uses;
    • use of protective gloves and face masks.
  • Students must sign a written waiver to participate in faculty/student collaborative scholarly/creative activity that cannot adhere to CDC recommendations due to the nature of the work to be conducted.

Grading

  • The “P/D/F” grading option first introduced during the 2020 Spring semester will be available during the 2020-2021 academic year.
  • Students should speak with their advisor about how P/D/F grades may impact transcripts or graduate school.

Shared Learning Spaces

  • In consultation with instructors, furniture will be limited or partitioned off to ensure appropriate social distance between learning stations and between those stations and the teaching station.
  • Instructors will be able to rearrange furniture to meet pedagogical needs as long as appropriate social distancing is maintained.
  • Learning spaces will receive a deep cleaning twice per day according to a schedule developed by the Director of Facilities.
  • Learning spaces will be equipped with hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes.
  • Students may be asked to wipe down their individual learning station prior to and after use. Some departments may have additional expectations for student cleaning. Instructors from those departments will communicate expectations to enrolled students.
  • Faculty will be required to wipe down their teaching station prior to and after use.

Outdoor Classrooms

  • Faculty may investigate possible outdoor spaces for synchronous remote/face-to-face teaching, but should be cognizant of likely bandwidth limitations when students are present.
  • At any given class period, faculty who have all enrolled students physically present may teach their class session outdoors. However, class sessions with any remote students must be accessible through synchronous remote technology.

Experiential Learning

  • All College-affiliated international programs (study abroad, study tours, etc.) are canceled through spring 2021. Summer 2021 Study Tours are still open for applications and a decision will be made by winter/spring and communicated to all applicants then.
  • Domestic experiential learning opportunities (field trips, internships, etc.) will be permitted but no student will be required to participate during the 2020-2021 academic year. Students for whom such a requirement is a condition of graduation may request/will be provided alternatives.
  • Faculty will ensure that remote partner locations have protocols in place that adhere to SMCM social distancing guidelines to the extent practicable.
  • Faculty conducting domestic experiential learning opportunities will develop written protocols for the travel to/from the experiential location that adhere to SMCM social distancing guidelines to the extent practicable. Such protocols should include…
    • cleaning of shared vehicles, equipment, and materials between uses;
    • use of protective gloves and face masks while in transit.

Mission-Centric Events

  • Events that are central to the College’s academic mission will ensure that audiences, when allowed, adhere to appropriate social distancing guidelines.
  • Event spaces will receive a deep cleaning in between uses, to the extent practicable.
  • Student physical attendance at such events will not be required. Programs for which such events are a requirement will provide students with a means for remote attendance.
  • Student participation in such events will adhere to the guidelines under Laboratory/Studio/Performance Courses Format. Student participation in off-campus events will adhere to the guidelines under Experiential Learning.

Academic Advising

  • Face-to-face advising sessions will adhere to appropriate social distancing guidelines.
  • Students will be provided with a remote advising option.

Technology Needs

  • To the extent practicable, the College will provide faculty and students with access to technology, including high-speed Internet, sufficient to engage in learning experiences.

Class Attendance Policies

  • Faculty will modify class attendance policies to allow for ad hoc or term-long remote attendance consistent with the guidelines provided herein.

Class Attendance Policies

  • The College’s attendance policy will remain in effect for the academic year.
  • Students will be expected to attend each class meeting, either face-to-face or remotely.
  • Students who experience extended illness that reasonably prevents them from completing the course objectives may use the College’s course withdrawal policy.
  • Waivers are not required for voluntary activities that may not comply with COVID-19 social distancing guidelines. However, instructors should make students aware of potential risks before these activities occur so that students may decide where to participate in-person or remotely. Students will not be penalized for choosing a synchronous remote option under these circumstances. A single conversation at the beginning of the semester will suffice; an instructor need not provide language before every similar activity within the course.

Office Hours

  • Faculty may conduct face-to-face office hours in such a manner as to be compliant with appropriate social distancing guidelines including any time in which students are waiting in line to see the faculty member.
  • Faculty will provide remote access to office hour support.
  • Faculty offices will be equipped with hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes.

Classroom Management

  • Student work will be submitted and returned using remote technology.
  • Class handouts will be distributed using remote technology.
  • Students will comply with appropriate College guidelines when entering, exiting, and using classrooms. Students who are non-compliant with the College guidelines will be required to leave their class and the incident reported to Public Safety. If a student is unwilling to leave, faculty will notify Public Safety to have the student removed from class. Faculty may cancel the class session if they are uncomfortable with calling Public Safety or they believe that the circumstances may escalate beyond their control. Faculty will immediately report the incident to Public Safety.
  • Face-to-face class sessions may be assigned a “technology teaching assistant” to facilitate classroom management. Funding for such teaching assistants will be provided by the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty. Instructors may, at their discretion, provide classroom assistant credit for such teaching assistants.
  • Remote examinations will be proctored or recorded to ensure integrity.
  • Class waiting lists will be maintained by individual instructors or departments and will be reported centrally to the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty.
  • Students participating in FACE-TO-FACE learning experiences who do not feel safe from COVID-19 exposure may report their concern to the instructor. Instructors may attempt to change the experience to make the student feel safe. If no acceptable change can be made, the instructor will dismiss the student from the face-to-face learning experience without a course penalty. The student, however, will bear the responsibility for completing the learning experience on their own and for submitting any assigned work related to the experience.
  • Faculty will dismiss students in an ordered manner so as to support compliance with all social distancing and COVID-19 College guidelines.

Remote Teaching

  • Faculty who meet eligibility requirements (see Human Resources website) will be allowed to teach remotely with prior written permission.
  • Faculty who request and accept remote teaching assignments will not be allowed on campus during the semester without express written permission from the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty.
  • Faculty who have not requested or accepted remote teaching assignments but who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or are otherwise temporarily unable to teach face-to-face may teach remotely for the affected class periods without prior approval but must inform the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty