Thank you again for all your hard work pulling together a fall 2020 semester that is off to such a strong start. Your embrace of our All-Modes Ready approach is helping our students succeed and thrive amid the challenges of the pandemic.

Now that the fall 2020 semester is fully underway, we need to accelerate our planning for spring 2021. The Registrar’s Office will soon be re-engaging Chairs and Directors in further development of the spring 2021 course schedule, and this message is intended to share some guidance about how we will approach next semester.

Given our sincere interest in exploring all possibilities for safe and effective in-person instructional options in the coming semester, spring 2021 planning will be guided by the same All-Modes Ready principals that have shaped our thinking for many months now:

We hope—and therefore we will plan—for a mix of in-person and online courses. As before, the modality of courses will be determined by collaboration between instructors and Chairs/Directors based on curricular goals and instructors’ individual needs and comfort levels. In-person courses will be scheduled in classrooms that will allow for appropriate social distancing for all registered students.

All courses must be available to students who choose to participate remotely.

All courses must be ready to transition to a fully online modality should public health circumstances require it. We will consult regularly with Faculty Senate and Staff Council and make sure this decision is finalized in time to provide appropriate notice for students, faculty, and staff to make final preparations.

This All-Modes approach will require a concentrated period of planning over the next handful of weeks, and I want to thank you in advance for your patience and persistence as we collectively navigate through the complexities of preparing for an All-Modes Spring 2021.

Sincerely, 

Jeff Rutenbeck
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs