Faculty & Staff

• When determining which courses will be offered in person, we will emphasize in-person delivery of labs and studio courses.

• 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.

• 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.

  • 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.

• Offering classes in a variety of methods

• Moving classes to larger spaces

• Splitting classes into multiple sessions

• Limiting the number of students present in person on a rotating basis

• 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 

• To promote the safest possible conditions on campus, we continue to provide enhanced cleaning throughout campus with increased attention to frequently touched surfaces.

  • 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.

• 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.

• 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. 

• If students are enrolled in fewer courses at one time, they have fewer contacts with other students within the classroom. 

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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:

  • Zoom

  • Canvas

  • Lecture capture

• 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

• 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.

• 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.

• 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?”)

• You may use Canvas’ grading system, or you may contact students individually with their assignment grades.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

No. Faculty teaching in-person classes are not required to prepare to teach each of their courses as simultaneously in-person and remote. However, all those teaching in-person classes should be prepared to accommodate students who need to work remotely for a shorter period of time because of medical circumstances.

Faculty teaching in-person classes should be mindful that public health guidance may require the entire campus to pivot to entirely remote/online teaching on short notice and should consider options that they might need to put in place to restructure their in-person teaching.

If a student requests a remote/online option for an in-person class and a faculty member is unable to support the request, they should refer the student to their academic advisor to choose another class.

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.