Undergraduate Students

As we approach our academic mission during this time, students and faculty will see a number of changes this fall that emphasize the health and safety of everyone on our campus. These modifications are aimed at maintaining a robust instruction and learning environment, while keeping all of our community members safe.

The main accreditation criteria for our courses remain the same whether they are taught in person, online or remotely: Our courses must involve regular and substantive instructor interaction with students. With remote and online teaching, instructors are able to:

• Provide regular instruction and interact regularly with their students. 

• Provide full and substantive assessment and regular responses to students’ coursework.

• Be proactive and available in providing information or responding to students’ questions about the content of the course. (Instructors typically begin the semester with a class discussion about the content of the course to make sure that all students understand expectations.)

We are implementing a first-of-its-kind “First-Year Academic Experience” for all first-year students. Those students will be housed and enrolled in classes with small cohort groups. Courses will be offered in a variety of in-person, distance and hybrid formats.

Instructors across campus are thinking carefully about how to interact with students and design teaching practices that promote learning in face-to-face, remote and online modes. The Center for Teaching & Learning has partnered with Continuing Education, the Office of Information Technology and the Provost’s Office of Academic Innovation to offer workshops and provide resources and individual consultations for faculty on effective, evidence-based practices for remote and online teaching.

• The Academic Instruction Implementation Team is working with Housing and Dining Services on the best approach to first-year cohorts; more information will be available later this summer. Cohort design will be variable depending on the academic experience and living environment. Our goal is to have students with common academic interests and common courses share living spaces, such as the floor of a residence hall.
• We anticipate that smaller academic cohorts may vary from 25 to 150 students dependent on academic interests and the courses in which students are enrolled. Smaller cohorts will exist within a larger cohort that, in most cases, will represent the residence hall. 
• Breaking large student networks, in which students take classes across multiple student groups, into smaller student networks taking the same group of courses can reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. Academic cohorting will also help create for our first-year students the natural cohorts that tend to emerge for upperclassmen as they move into upper-division courses specific to their majors.

• The courses first-year students will take will focus on courses that promote their academic progress, including general education requirements and major requirements. They will also have an opportunity to schedule elective courses, primarily as online options, outside of their cohort. 
• The cohort model provides a smaller, residential college experience within a larger university setting and will allow first-year students to start off strong, complete required courses and work toward earning their degrees while staying safe on campus.

As we begin the implementation of our plan for fall, we are working to minimize the potential impacts to  students who have already chosen their course schedules while meeting the health and safety goals that will enable our return to campus. Class meeting times, locations and teaching formats will be automatically adjusted to accommodate increased passing periods and appropriate social distancing. Students will have the opportunity to add, drop or swap classes during the schedule adjustment and open enrollment periods in August. For more information, view the full announcement.

• 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.

Yes. The campus is committed to equitable remote options for vulnerable/at-risk populations and meeting the needs of students whose health or personal circumstances require them to learn remotely. A foundational principle of our Academic Implementation Team is ensuring the campus will offer enough fully remote and/or online options that students who cannot attend courses in person can make progress toward their degrees. However, not every course will be offering remote instruction, and this may require a fully remote student to choose different classes.

• 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 the capacity of a classroom or study space 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 

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

• This diminishes the opportunities for virus spread. In addition, shorter sessions create natural “breakoff points” within a semester if we need to end in-person instruction.

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 model that can pivot to fully online/remote if necessary and can also enable increasing hybrid/in-person instruction, based on a strong mitigation model to isolate and contain COVID-19 spread, in line with recommendations from public health entities.

No. This arrangement was to apply only to the adjustment period of the spring 2020 semester. When fall semester convenes, regular grading practices will be resumed.

• To promote the safest possible conditions on campus, we are continuing 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 custodians continue to clean and disinfect all bathrooms daily. These recommendations 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 faculty within each academic department will work this summer to determine the mix of remote/online and in-person instruction.

The implementation teams recognize the importance of undergraduate learning assistants (LAs) and graduate teaching assistants (TAs) who help faculty teach in person, online and remotely. 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.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued guidance to colleges and universities that enables international students to temporarily participate in additional distance learning credits beyond what is allowed under visa rules if in-person courses are converted to online courses in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Contact International Student and Scholar Services for advice about your particular situation.

Contact the faculty member who is supervising your research and work with them to focus on different aspects that can be completed remotely (e.g., data analysis and conducting tests in virtual environments) if progress on your research project is affected by the campus moving to a “limited” or “remote” operating mode, your own illness, or because you are in quarantine or in self-isolation.

• Most off-campus CU Boulder courses will move to remote teaching at the same time as courses offered on campus. Be in touch with your instructor about their plans for remote teaching. If you are taking a special short-term course that requires students and faculty to travel to a remote location, your instructor will let you know whether the course will take place as planned.

• If you have an internship and cannot go to work because of illness, are in quarantine or self-isolation, or if your workplace is closed, contact your workplace supervisor and find out how contracted hours can be fulfilled. Is it possible to work remotely? Keep a log or other record of where you are on projects, and make sure your supervisor has access to this. Contact the internship coordinator or your faculty internship sponsor in your department to see if changes in your work schedule or work projects will change what coursework you need to submit for review.

• If you studying teacher licensure and cannot go to your school because of illness or because you are in quarantine or self-isolation, contact your teaching supervisor at the school. Students in CU Boulder’s teacher licensure program have more than enough hours in the classroom to allow them to take time off for illness. The School of Education is in touch with the Colorado Department of Education about how teacher licensure programs will be handled should Colorado schools close.

If you have concerns or are unsure about your instructor’s plans for remote teaching, stay in touch and ask questions. You and your instructor know best where you are in the class. It’s best to reach out yourself rather than having someone else do it for you.

Here are a few tips for communicating your concerns with your instructors:

• Before reaching out, check Canvas and other communication from your instructors to see if your question or concern has already been addressed.

• If your instructor has a preferred communication method (such as email), use that channel.

• Students should use their colorado.edu addresses to email their instructors to ensure compliance with student privacy regulations.

• When emailing your instructor, be genuine and detailed. Include the name of the class, your full name and the reason for your email.

• Express your concerns and give context about your situation. If possible, offer solutions.

• Open the door for conversation, and be open to working with your instructor to find other solutions and ideas.

•  Remember that this will be a dialogue. As we work through transitions to remote learning, your questions might not be resolved in one email or message. 

At CU Boulder, all students at all times have the right to lodge a complaint or grievance they deem important without fear of retaliation of any sort or any other adverse consequence. See Student Appeals, Complaints, and Grievances: A Brief Guide for how to make a complaint or lodge a grievance.

• If you are already registered with Disability Services, please consult Student Accommodation Resources for Remote Learning, and contact your access coordinator with specific questions. 

• If you are not registered, you will need to register with Disability Services.

• See also Tips for Excelling in an Online Learning Environment for advice on how to succeed in online courses. 

Yes, you can still order from cubookstore.com. Book store staff can answer questions via live chat on the website and assist@cubookstore.com. The book store is shipping orders as quickly as possible.

Scheduling will be guided by consideration of equity, which includes prioritizing the most pressing needs of students, such as making sure students are able to graduate on time.