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