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Thank you for the tremendous amount of work you put in fall 2020 to provide continuity to the academic, research and service commitments of our university, all while keeping equitable access and safety as top priorities. Whether you continue to stay at home or choose to travel, I hope that you will find time to rest and take care of yourself after a long and challenging fall semester.
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Fall 2020 taught us that we can keep our campuses safe and provide even more access to classes, research and social experiences for students. We heard from our students that this is exactly what they desire. We also heard that faculty need more support and training to adapt to the changing needs and be flexible in how they teach, conduct research, seek funding opportunities, and engage with internal and external stakeholders. I would like to share with you some more details of our spring 2021 plans for academic offerings and ways in which we will support faculty and faculty development.
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Academic calendar and spring break
Spring 2021 will follow a typical academic calendar with established class time blocks and a traditional spring break from March 8-12.
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Extended withdraw date
We have extended the withdrawal deadline from March 26 to April 26 to allow students flexibility to withdraw from a course in case they face unforeseen difficulty. Please note that the add/drop deadline has not changed. Please remind your students, especially international students, student-athletes and students receiving VA funding, to consult with their advisors before withdrawing from a course as this may impact their financial aid or other eligibility requirements.
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Final exam time blocks
To account for time needed to move between classrooms or adjust to technology, the 2-hour blocks for final exams have been changed to 2.5-hour blocks.
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More in-person and hybrid classes
For the spring semester, 41% of our courses are currently scheduled for face-to-face and 15% for hybrid delivery. In contrast, only about 26% of courses at UAF were face-to-face in fall 2020. Thank you for listening to the students and offering more opportunities for in-person and hybrid classes. You can check out the spring courses and the modality of offerings here.
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IMPORTANT: Permissions and COVID-19 safety measures for in-person and hybrid classes
In fall 2020, each faculty member filled out a separate form for each course that they chose to teach in an in-person or hybrid mode, attesting to the need of this modality. Faculty members also submitted independent COVID-19 safety plans or signed that all COVID-19 safety measures were in place for their classes.
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For spring 2020, we have simplified the process. UAF now has a general COVID-19 mitigation plan for general business and academic operations. If the safety needs of your in-person classes are already met with this mitigation plan, then you are good to proceed with your in-person offering. If your in-person course has activities with special needs, e.g., the mandatory 6-foot distance cannot be met, then a separate approved COVID-19 safety plan will be required. Please work with your dean or director to ensure that an approved safety plan is in place to cover your proposed courses or activities.
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More in-person events and activities
In fall 2020, we safely and successfully hosted several small, in-person events like the Halloween movie night and luncheon with the ASUAF student body. We have also prepared an outdoor ice-skating rink. In the spring, we plan to host more events and build opportunities for safe social interactions.
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Spring enrollments and how you can help
We are glad that a majority of students have registered for classes and that registrations are at about 90% compared to what they were at this time last spring. We know from feedback and national trends that many students were so burned out from the fall semester that they did not want to think about the spring semester. There is more effort needed to reach out to students and to motivate them to register for spring 2021. We are confident that with the healing from the winter break coupled with your outreach to students, we will be able to have a positive impact on the students’ morale and the spring enrollment numbers. Please reach out to the students you know or contact Jessica Skipper at jrskipper@alaska.edu to sign up for the student calling campaign. We know that contacting unenrolled students works — 70% of the students who were called in the fall went on to register.
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As you reach out to the students please let them know that we are offering more in-person activities and classes in spring 2021, courses are filling up, and that this is a good time for them to sign up for the classes they want in the modality (face-to-face, online or hybrid). They can do so through the student services tab on UAOnline. Undergraduate students and new graduate students must speak with an advisor before registering. Students can check here if they are not sure who their advisor is. For questions about eCampus online courses, you can contact eCampus at 907-455-2060 or uaf-ecampus@alaska.edu.
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Faculty Accelerator: Development opportunities
I am excited to share with you that Faculty Accelerator, the central digital platform for faculty development activities, is being continuously updated by our faculty development team and will have a host of faculty development opportunities in spring 2021, including, but not limited to, facilitated training and panel discussions on course design, using Canvas, successful classroom strategies, networking, proposal writing, academic writing, negotiations, data narratives, and engaged outreach. Though targeted for faculty, many of these opportunities are also open for interested staff and students. I hope many of you will take advantage of these and will provide us formative feedback so that we can continue to better meet your professional development needs.
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In concluding, I am grateful to you for being an excellent partner as we together navigated the challenges and celebrated the successes of fall 2020. I wish you a safe, relaxing and happy holiday break, and look forward to starting 2021 on an optimistic note.
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— Anupma Prakash, provost and executive vice chancellor
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