Prepare to Return
Health & Safety Measures
Flexible Options
Detailed Resources
Area-specific guidance regarding COVID-19 and its effect on university operations:
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Road Map to Fall 2020
Frequently Asked Questions
Academic Instruction
- How will the university determine which courses will be offered in person? Will there be a prioritization for classes that need the in-person experience (e.g., labs)?
- Doesn’t requiring remote teaching undermine academic freedom for faculty?
- How will you address reduced density for classes?
- How will classrooms be cleaned and sanitized?
- Will individual faculty have the right to opt out of in-person interaction with undergraduate students based on personal or family health concerns? Do departments have the right to make these decisions on a case-by-case basis?
- What steps are being taken to train instructors who might not be comfortable with online learning tools?
- What support will CU Boulder be providing to help prepare courses to be provided in a variety of formats (in-person, hybrid, remote)?
- What resources are available to help faculty prepare to put their classes online in case of another campus closure, and how can they access those resources?
- How do the 8-week course sessions help minimize the spread of the virus?
- What happens if the campus has to go fully remote again?
- Will there be classes held through the Wednesday of Thanksgiving week?
- Why not come back after Thanksgiving?
- Why not just go remote entirely like the Cal State system or Cambridge?
- Are there enough instructors to cover the increase in small courses?
- What should faculty do if they teach courses, like language courses, that require close, personal interactions?
- What are the differences between the online, remote and hybrid remote/online formats?
- How will I give exams and grades while I am teaching remotely?
- Will more class spaces be equipped with audio/video equipment to facilitate recording and prerecording class materials?
- How is CU Boulder handling reappointment and tenure reviews for tenure-track faculty?
- The Learning Assistant program is critical to academic instruction. Will it continue to be funded?
- Will campus extend the deadline for switching a class to pass/fail? (adjust grading scale)
- Will faculty need to prepare both in-person and online formats for their class?
- If students order from the CU Book Store, are book store staff still shipping orders?
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When determining which courses will be offered in person, we will emphasize in-person delivery of labs and studio courses.
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We will also prioritize other classes for in-person delivery whose academic outcomes are difficult to achieve virtually.
As a principle of academic freedom, course content, curriculum, grading and assignments are within the purview of the faculty. The instructor of record for a course may set policies regarding absences, remote attendance and late or missing assignments. However, in the case of an infectious disease situation, the university has protocols to follow that put student, staff and faculty safety first.
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Planners in our Planning, Design and Construction department are drawing up diagrams for physical distancing in specific CU Boulder buildings, classrooms, study spaces and hallways.
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These diagrams depict classroom and study space capacity given physical distancing and maximum group size guidelines, model seating arrangements, and take into account traffic patterns around classroom spaces.
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Offering classes in a variety of methods
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Moving classes to larger spaces
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Splitting classes into multiple sessions
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Limiting the number of students present in person on a rotating basis
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Extending class scheduling to use the full day from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., thus reducing the number of students on campus at one time
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To promote the safest possible conditions on campus, we continue to provide enhanced cleaning throughout campus with increased attention to frequently touched surfaces.
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This means that, based on recommendations from the CDC, Boulder County Public Health and medical staff, our custodial staff continue to clean and disinfect all bathrooms daily. These recommendations also include routine cleaning of frequently touched surfaces (e.g., doorknobs, light switches, countertops). Additionally, we are increasing use of disinfectant (in addition to our normal multipurpose cleaner) in common areas to ensure that they are disinfected daily.
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To help promote hand hygiene, the university will provide more hand sanitizer in areas of public access in campus buildings.
The campus will follow state guidance regarding vulnerable populations and ensure that faculty and staff who meet the criteria will not be compelled to return to work.
- Our Center for Teaching and Learning has been working with faculty to develop high quality remote learning opportunities.
- A process will be developed to identify and prioritize instructional hardware and software needs, and to work with units to determine prioritization of courses needing software/hardware or instructional design support.
- The fall plan also includes establishing a committee to prepare for the possibility of a fully remote fall semester. This includes creating contingencies for course/instructional implementation.
The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and the Office of Information Technology (OIT) are continuing their intensive work to expand technology supports for all teaching modalities. OIT is creating a website to overview what technologies are available now, and what will be available this fall, along with descriptions of the support available.
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A process will be developed to identify and prioritize instructional hardware and software needs, and to work with units to determine prioritization of courses needing software/hardware or instructional design support.
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The fall plan also includes establishing a committee to prepare for the possibility of a fully remote fall semester. This includes creating contingencies for course/instructional implementation.
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If students are enrolled in fewer courses at one time, they have fewer contacts with other students within the classroom.
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This diminishes the opportunities for virus spread. In addition, shorter sessions create natural “breakoff points” within a semester if the university needs to end in-person instruction.
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Most students will be taking 16-week courses.
A contingency team made up of the leads for each implementation team will prepare a contingency plan for the possibility of a fully remote fall semester.
Yes. Fall break will be shortened to Thursday and Friday only, with classes continuing through the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. After fall break, all classes will be remote (synchronous) or online (asynchronous) through the end of the semester.
This discourages travel during break, and allows students to travel home and remain there until the spring semester, reducing the chances of carrying the virus back and forth between home and campus.
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We are committed to delivering on our mission of educating the next generation, and that is best done in person. We especially considered students who would be most disproportionately affected if we were to be fully remote—first-generation, underrepresented, low-income and rural students.
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We are planning a flexible operational model that can pivot to fully online/remote if necessary and can also enable increasing hybrid/in-person teaching methods, based on a strong mitigation model to isolate and contain COVID-19 spread, in line with recommendations with public health entities.
Developing and deploying instructional resources will be part of the planning process that occurs once the Board of Regents sets budgets in June. We will know more at that time.
When determining which courses will be offered in person, academic units will emphasize in-person delivery of labs and studio courses. For in-person courses, we will practice physical distancing in classrooms and academic technology support. We will provide aggressive cleaning protocols, and we will ask students and all other campus constituents to wear masks and practice strong personal hygiene discipline, particularly when indoors. Students may participate in staggered in-person attendance for some courses, to keep the overall density low in classrooms and to keep everyone as safe as possible.
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Online – Classes offered as “online” in CU Boulder Class Search will be taught in an online delivery mode and are delivered asynchronously, which means students can complete coursework throughout the week when it is convenient for them. There will be no scheduled class meetings.
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Remote – “Remote” classes were originally designed to be taught in person. Similar to the way Spring 2020 in-person classes were modified due to COVID-19, remote course content will be delivered synchronously—during the scheduled days and times—in any of the following ways:
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Zoom
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Canvas
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Lecture capture
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Hybrid remote/online – Classes designated as “hybrid remote/online” will be taught using a combination of online and remote instruction modes. This means that while some coursework may be completed online at a student’s own pace (asynchronously), the class will also meet remotely at designated days/times each week. CU Boulder Class Search will detail the remote meeting schedule for each hybrid remote/online section
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If your course is on Canvas, you can use that platform to give exams remotely and to give students a specific time length to complete them. Students who require exam accommodations can be given extended time to complete exams. Like courses themselves, you can give your online exam at a specific time or make it available for students to take any time within a certain window, such as on a given day. If you are giving exams live, be sure to give them at the regularly scheduled time for your class (for midterm exams) or at the time scheduled by the registrar (for final exams). For further assistance using Canvas for online exams, consult OIT’s Academic Technology Resources for Teaching Continuity guide.
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You may also give your exam in a lower-tech fashion, such as a take-home essay or project that can be submitted on Canvas or emailed to you.
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Academic integrity is often a concern for instructors giving online exams. The ASSETT Program’s guidance for hybrid courses offers valuable advice for encouraging academic honesty. (See “How Do I Assess Learning?”)
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You may use Canvas’ grading system, or you may contact students individually with their assignment grades.
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Instructors who give exams in Canvas may choose to use Proctorio, an online proctoring service, to ensure academic integrity. While there are benefits to using Proctorio as we teach and learn remotely, it is important to consider whether other assessment methods may be appropriate. Visit the Proctorio service page for more information.
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Final examinations must be given in accordance with the campus Final Examination Policy. If the university suspends operations completely, including classes, before the end of the semester, faculty will be asked to assign grades based on work completed to date. Any accommodations or opportunities for students to submit graded work must be extended to all students in a course. If a closure occurs just before or during final exams, the emergency clause of the campus Final Examination Policy will take effect.
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The university will use its usual system and regularly scheduled deadlines for posting students’ course grades
We will develop a process to identify and prioritize instructional hardware and software needs, and to work with units to determine prioritization of courses needing software/hardware or instructional design support. We will ensure that faculty have access wherever feasible to technology options within and across teaching methods. To ensure student access, we will also develop additional virtual resources to support student learning, regardless of teaching method; explore options for making resource-intensive software available to students virtually; and identify IT inequalities along with processes to support.
CU Boulder has implemented an automatic one-year stoppage of the tenure clock for all pretenure faculty. This means that each pretenure faculty member will get one more year before comprehensive review or tenure review. In consultation with their department chair or dean, faculty can choose to opt out of this tenure clock stoppage and go up for reappointment or tenure on their previously "regular" schedule.
The implementation teams recognize the importance of undergraduate learning assistants (LAs) and graduate teaching assistants (TAs) in supporting faculty with the delivery of instruction across multiple teaching methods. TA and LA support can promote undergraduate student success, especially as students and faculty transition to new ways of teaching and learning. Funding levels for learning assistants will be set over the summer.
No. This arrangement was to apply only to the adjustment period of the spring 2020 semester. When fall semester convenes, regular grading protocols will be resumed.
Yes. We need to ensure that courses are offered in both a remote/online format as well as face-to-face. All courses should be prepared to go fully remote/online in case a resurgence of the virus occurs.
Yes, you can still order from cubookstore.com. Book store staff are able to answer questions via live chat on their website and by email at assist@cubookstore.com. Book store staff are shipping orders as quickly as possible.
Campus Experience
- Will rapid testing be available when the fall semester starts?
- Studies suggest a second outbreak is likely. What does CU Boulder have planned in case it becomes a hot spot during a second wave?
- How will CU provide staff with masks and other personal protective equipment to keep them safe?
- If I feel I’m being treated unfairly, discriminated or harassed based on my race or ethnicity, what should I do?
- Will football or other sports be played in the fall?
To ensure a COVID-19-ready campus experience this fall, we will have in place on-campus capability for COVID-19 testing of students, faculty and staff with symptoms, with a goal of increasing capacity to have a robust testing program.
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Our first line of defense is our increased ability to perform COVID tests, rapidly trace contacts, and use dedicated spaces for isolation and quarantine to prevent the spread of infection in the campus community.
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CU Boulder will reduce in-person activities if public health agencies decide that is needed to rapidly address a potential outbreak.
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Planning has begun to create modeling for a fully remote fall semester, so the university can be prepared to ensure the health and safety of the campus community.
Guidance from federal, state, local and university sources will help determine the levels of personal protective equipment required for all faculty, staff, students and visitors.
If you feel you are being treated unfairly, singled out or targeted based on your skin color, race, ethnicity or national origin, please know that there are reporting and support options available on our campus. You can visit Don’t Ignore It to explore these options. Discriminatory and harassing behaviors are against university policy and have no place in our community. Additional information about other health and wellness related support is also available.
- The NCAA and major conferences are having many discussions about what the fall sports season will look like if games are played, and we expect more of those details to take shape later this summer.
- Our Athletic Department will work in parallel with our Road Map to Fall 2020 plan, as well as in accordance with requirements that emanate from the NCAA and Pac-12 Conference on plans for the fall semester and beyond.
Resource Alignment
- What is the plan for contingent faculty (adjunct, lecturers, etc.)?
- How is CU Boulder handling reappointment and tenure reviews for tenure-track faculty?
- How is CU leadership making decisions in concert with local K–12 school districts, given that so many faculty and staff have children in schools?
- What child care resources will be available for parents on campus?
- This new hybrid model will likely introduce new demands to the already difficult process of scheduling. What is being done to mitigate this?
- How will the university consider the differential impact of decisions on various members of our community, including our most vulnerable students, instructors and staff, bearing in mind our shared commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion?
Developing and deploying instructional resources will be part of the planning process that occurs once the Board of Regents sets budgets in June. We will know more at that time.
CU Boulder has implemented an automatic one-year stoppage of the tenure clock for all pre-tenure faculty who are in service as of March 2020. This means that each pre-tenure faculty member will get one more year before comprehensive review or tenure review. In consultation with their department chair/director or dean, faculty can choose to opt out of this tenure clock stoppage and go up for reappointment or tenure on their previously "regular" schedule.
Child-care-related needs and alternatives for all campus community members with children—based on the decisions of surrounding K–12 school districts—will be closely monitored and incorporated into planning, in collaboration with Staff Council and other shared governance groups.
Child-care-related needs and alternatives for all campus community members with children—based on the decisions of surrounding K–12 school districts—will be closely monitored and incorporated into planning, in collaboration with Staff Council and other shared governance groups.
CU Boulder will extend class scheduling to use the entire day—8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday. This is meant to decrease student density on campus and enable in-person instruction.
We know the effects of the pandemic have a disproportionate effect on our first-generation students and members of our community from underrepresented or lower socio-economic status. As we develop our plans for fall, we have considered what might happen to these members of our community if they are unable to return to campus in the coming academic year. While this is not our only consideration, within our primary focus on health and safety, we want to do all we can to support our employees and retain our students to make sure they do not lose the educational and financial investments they have made.