Dear Faculty,

It has been an active week that included several important announcements. Students returned from spring break with low COVID positivity rates and are hard at work preparing for a successful conclusion to the academic year, and for some, graduation. It’s been two years since our COVID pivot in response to the emerging pandemic. During this difficult time, the resilience and commitment to the health of our students, staff, faculty and administrators prevailed, and will continue to do so as we move forward.

With the announcement of the mask-optional policy, we have new waters to navigate. We will do so with diligence, respect and a willingness to adjust if the need should arise. Our decisions are made with care and full consideration of all the available data, and in consultation with the health department, our public health and infectious disease experts, and after discussion with our governance groups. I understand some faculty may feel uncomfortable without masks; some students may feel the same. You can share with your students your personal decision to wear a mask and indicate that your classroom is mask-friendly. I talked with my own class Wednesday evening and said I am happy to wear a mask or not wear a mask and want them to be comfortable about the choice they had. Ultimately, we can best protect ourselves by being fully vaccinated and boosted, and if you wish you can wear a KN95 mask for added protection. That is a message we can share with students as we move into this new stage of our pandemic experience.

I know that some of you have questions about office hours. It is reasonable to share with a student that you prefer they wear a mask when you meet with them one-on-one in your office. If they prefer not to wear a mask, you can offer them the option of a Teams meeting as an alternative. Similarly, if a student asks you to wear a mask, I hope that you will respect this request. I ask that we be kind, reasonable and understanding that people have different levels of comfort with protocol changes related to COVID. I also ask that you not put students in a position that makes them feel uncomfortable about their own choices under the mask-optional policy, especially given your position of power. I know that you will handle such situations with intelligence and empathy.

Now onto some exciting things—Commencement!  It is just two months away and yesterday President Garimella announced our graduation speaker, Erik Weihenmayer. I have had the privilege of meeting Erik and hearing him speak. You will not be disappointed, and our students will share in his message of how we address the barriers we encounter in life, overcome our fears and live the life we imagined. He is inspirational and his message is certainly timely.

So, now onto some additional information below that should prove useful to you in the next few weeks.

Teaching and Advising

  • Student Accessibility Services requests that faculty utilizing Blackboard exams provide additional information to help them support students with accommodations. Please visit this page to learn more about how to help SAS provide students using the Exam Proctoring Center the best access to your Blackboard exam.

  • Course registration is the week of April 11.  Now is the time to set up a Navigate campaign for your advisees so they can easily schedule their advising appointments with you in the Navigate app.  Detailed instructions and information on support for using Navigate are available here.

  • The deadline to enter Expanded Section Descriptions is Monday, March 28th. The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) Article 16.19 (page 73) stipulates that faculty members must provide ESDs or a link to a recent syllabus for all of their course sections in the upcoming semester.  ESDs help students understand the nature of a course, its learning objectives, pedagogy, and methods of evaluation. Detailed information on entering an ESD, or copying forward an ESD from a previous semester is available here.

  • Academic alerts allow you to communicate with both a student and their advisors when the student’s academic performance in your course places them at risk of failing. The academic alert system allows you to customize the message a student receives. You can encourage them to reach out to you for guidance, note areas for improvement, or recommend that a student consider withdrawing from your course. It is important to provide this feedback to students and their advisors prior to the withdraw deadline of April 4, which will support informed decision-making.

  • UVM Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) is pleased to announce the 2nd annual Prelock Online Teaching Awards, recognizing and rewarding superior online synchronous and asynchronous teaching, providing models of excellence, and encouraging all to develop their online teaching skills. All full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty who have taught a fully-online, asynchronous course or synchronous course are eligible. Submit a nomination at: https://learn.uvm.edu/online-teaching/online-teaching-awards/. Self-nominations are also accepted.

Professional Development

  • Registration for the March 28 – April 1 Inclusive Excellence Symposium (IES) is live. An evolution of Blackboard Jungle, IES supports faculty, staff, and all others seeking to develop skills, knowledge, and a deeper understanding of DEI in teaching, service, and research. This year’s theme is At the Intersection of DEI and Sustainability and offers a mix of in-person and virtual programming in collaboration with the Office of Sustainability. Registration information is available on the IES website.

  • As part of IES, the Faculty Development Series “Equity, Social Justice and the Sustainability Imperative" will be hosting a panel with members of the Vermont Climate Council (VCC) Just Transition Subcommittee. The panel will discuss their work creating the VT Climate Action Plan Guiding Principles for a Just Transition and will be facilitated by UVM Professor, Vermont State Climatologist, and VCC member, Dr. Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux.

  • CTL is hosting a variety of workshops throughout the rest of the month, including Radical Self Care, Promoting Equity and Inclusion Through Writing Assignment Design and Feedback Practices and other topics. Check out the CTL Events page for a complete list.

  • Join us for Promoting a Healthy Academic Community. This three-part series is a collaboration with UVM Integrative Health, the Center for Health and Wellbeing, and Campus Recreation. These short sessions provide bite-sized ways to integrate wellness into your teaching, information about campus resources to share with your students to encourage healthy behaviors, and ways to recognize and respond to students’ mental health needs. Learn more and register here.

  • The departments of Political Science and German and Russian have co-organized a panel about the war in Ukraine featuring guest speakers from UVM, Wesleyan University and Fordham University with expertise in politics of the region.  The event will take place Wednesday, March 23 at 4:00 pm in Waterman 427. 

Reminders and Recent Communications

Just a reminder to encourage your staff and faculty colleagues to participate in our upcoming Inclusive Excellence Symposium—the line-up of speakers to foster discussion around the intersection of DEI and sustainability is impressive. Also, March is Women's History Month and I thought the theme for 2022, “Providing Healing, Promoting Hope,” is timely. Take a moment to recognize the amazing work of caregivers and frontline workers throughout the pandemic and the numerous ways women of all cultures have provided healing and hope to communities around the world.

Warmly,
Patty