Pandemic Flu, Instructional Continuity

From: Elliot Hirshman, Provost; Members of the Council of Deans; Professor Tim Topoleski, President, Faculty Senate; Professor Bruce Walz, Chair, APB Committee of the Faculty Senate

The World Health Organization has recently announced a level six flu pandemic due to the H1N1 (swine) virus. Given this announcement, the university must prepare for the possibility of offering remote instruction in the fall semester. Offering remote instruction will allow us to continue instruction if the campus is required to close due to the pandemic flu. Instructional continuity will, in turn, ensure the continuing academic progress of our students and the financial stability of the university.

The Council of Deans has recently considered these issues and, consistent with UMBC’s pandemic flu and emergency response plans, has formulated a plan to ensure instructional continuity. In formulating this plan, the council recognizes that faculty may wish to use different approaches to remote instruction and respects the rights of faculty to pursue any of a range of available approaches. The Council also recognizes that some courses (courses requiring access to specialized equipment or materials) may be impossible or difficult to continue remotely. In these cases, campus closure may necessitate course cancellation.

The goal of our plan is to ensure that all of our faculty members are familiar with the basic technology and processes necessary to carry out remote instruction. This will allow us to continue as many courses as possible in the event of a campus closure or substantial absences due to illness.

Working with the Division of Instructional Technology, we have identified a process and corresponding materials to prepare faculty members to offer remote instruction. It is estimated that this preparation will take 30 minutes to an hour depending on the faculty member’s familiarity with instructional technology. The purpose of the preparation is not to prepare course content for remote instruction but rather to be sure that our faculty members are familiar with basic technology and processes (e.g., uploading files in Blackboard) should it be necessary to use them.

Over the next several weeks, your deans and chairs will be contacting you regarding specific details and procedures of the plan. In this context, we recognize that many of our faculty members are advanced experts in remote instruction. If you are well versed in these techniques, we hope you will agree to assist departmental colleagues. If you are less familiar with remote instruction, we hope you will work with your chairs to take the steps necessary to ensure your preparation should a closure be required.