Dear Colleagues,
We continue to monitor the latest developments related to coronavirus COVID-19, with the health and wellbeing of our university community foremost on our minds. As we track this rapidly evolving situation, we have been carefully planning for both current and future possible interruptions to USF operations, including instructional delivery. You may recall that in a message sent last week, I asked you to consider alternatives to face-to-face instruction should students and faculty need to be away from class for a prolonged period of time. You may have read that the University of Washington, Stanford University, Columbia University and other institutions have ended all face-to-face classroom delivery, beginning today.
I am happy to report that over the last couple of weeks, we have made tremendous strides in developing the tools, technologies, training and support essential to minimizing disruption to teaching and learning and to continue student, faculty and staff support remotely. We know that some ßÙßÇÂþ» students and faculty have already self-isolated or elected to practice social distancing due to health conditions or other reasons and, therefore, are unable to attend scheduled face-to-face classes. Due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus, I ask that you each take deliberate steps now in preparing for remote instructional delivery of your assigned classes.
Under the leadership of Dr. Cindy DeLuca, AVP for Innovative Education, a team of professionals from across all USF campuses has created a USF Toolkit for Instructional Continuity to provide you with the guidance, strategies and resources needed to make a swift transition from face-to-face instruction through leveraging our learning management tool, Canvas. This Toolkit considers the simplest way to deliver digital content while meeting student learning outcomes and aligning with your syllabus. It is important to point out that no one is being asked to convert face-to-face classes to a fully interactive online course delivery platform at this time.
The USF Toolkit for Instructional Continuity provides you with the information necessary to move content from your face-to-face course to remote delivery, includes training and support, a planning checklist, frequently asked questions, technical assistance and more. This Toolkit will be updated periodically so please be sure to revisit it in the weeks to come. Importantly, USF will only support those technologies, tools and platforms specified in this Toolkit (which will meet ADA compliance and align with SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation). USF instructors are discouraged from adopting their own solutions (beyond those supported by USF), which could place both students’ learning in jeopardy and challenge their instructional responsibilities. Should you have questions about the USF Toolkit for Instructional Continuity please reach out directly to Dr. DeLuca at deluca@usf.edu
Questions related to content delivery or academic policies should be addressed to your department chair, school director or college dean who, where appropriate, will seek guidance from university leadership and/or specialized accrediting agencies. Finally, for SACSCOC related issues or if any classes, including those currently delivered at off-campus locations, need to be relocated, please immediately contact USF’s SACSCOC Liaison Michael Wrona at mwrona@usf.edu.
I ask that you please access the USF Toolkit for Instructional Continuity and begin exploring how you can best utilize these resources. I recognize that this will require an extraordinary adjustment in your life, and while you are not being asked to change your instructional assignment, I am asking that you work to ensure that, sooner rather than later, you will be able to continue instructional delivery to your students remotely. I thank you in anticipation of your dedication and commitment to USF’s core mission and please let me know if I can assist you in any way.
Best regards,
Ralph C. Wilcox
Provost and Executive Vice President