Dear Faculty and Instructors,
Last month we communicated our plans for fall instruction. We stated the default expectation is that courses would be taught in the manner they were taught prior to COVID-19. Specifically, courses normally taught online would be taught online and courses typically taught face to face will be taught face to face.
While this is still our intent, there are continuing challenges related to travel and the ability of some students to obtain visas. For example, about 600 of our new and continuing international students will most likely not be able to enter the United States by the fall. U.S. consulates in China, Brazil and many other countries are currently closed. Some are not scheduled to open until September or later, which will most likely be after the university’s Sept. 3 add/drop deadline. After that date, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) has not approved entry dates for international students until the spring 2022 semester begins.
We expect this to impact all schools at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Therefore, it is imperative we all find ways to accommodate as many of our students as possible, including those who cannot be on campus. Those who can be on campus are expected to attend class in person. For those who cannot due to travel or visa issues, we expect instructors to accommodate them while continuing to provide an in-person experience for students on campus. Below are possible ways of providing this required accommodation.
We understand that instructors of some courses (labs, field studies, studios and musical performance classes) are not able to accommodate remote students. Instructors of these courses should petition the provost to be exempt from this requirement. Schools and departments will have more autonomy in accommodating graduate students. Since these students most frequently take courses from faculty in their own program, departments should be well-positioned to formulate a plan that adjusts to visa constraints. Additional information on this will be forthcoming from your dean.
The Tech TA program will continue in the fall and faculty will be able to request technology teaching assistants for their classes. The survey to request these assistants will be distributed prior to the beginning of the semester. If you have any questions or would like any assistance with teaching technologies please email teaching@rice.edu.
Dual delivery
Dual delivery was the default mode for most courses during the 2020-2021 academic year. Most faculty now have experience with teaching classes in this mode. Therefore, continuing this mode of instruction through the fall will help students who cannot arrive on campus in time for the first day of class. The requirements that were in place this past year for accommodating remote students who were more than four time zones away still apply for students who cannot come to campus. We recognize many instructors found a critical mass of students last academic year decided not to attend the face-to-face portion of dual delivery courses, which significantly detracted from the experience. For fall 2021, instructors may require face-to-face attendance for all students other than those who are unable to get to campus due to travel or visa restrictions. Such requirements should be clearly stated in your course syllabus.
Creating asynchronous content
Prior to fall classes beginning, there is sufficient time to develop high-quality, fully asynchronous content for a portion or the entirety of your course. This content can be used in subsequent semesters to enable flipped and hybrid courses and has the potential to support innovation, particularly in high-enrollment courses. As a result, we encourage those departments and faculty who want to develop asynchronous content to contact Rice Online Learning (riceonline@rice.edu) as soon as possible for details on the available support. If you have recorded class material from this semester, ROL can work with you to support its use in future classes. During the fall 2021 semester, asynchronous material can support in-person flipped instruction for students on campus, dual delivery for students who cannot return to the United States, or fully online, separate sections of courses for students who are unable to make it to Houston. Financial and staff resources are available for the development and implementation of courses that have relevant dean and department approval.
Recording classes
As was the case this past academic year, a simple way to meet dual delivery requirements was for instructors to record their classes and make them available for asynchronous viewing by remote students. For fall 2021, this is a satisfactory means and a minimum requirement of accommodating students who are not able to get to campus by the start of classes due to visa or travel restrictions. While viewing recorded material will suffice for instructional delivery, instructors will need to accommodate the difference in time zones for quizzes, midterms and exams for students who are not able to travel to Rice and are more than four time zones away. Again, instructors may choose to require face-to-face attendance for all students other than those who are unable to travel to Rice for the fall semester. This requirement should be clearly stated in your class syllabus.
We thank you for your willingness to accommodate our international students. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.
Respectfully,
Reginald DesRoches, Provost
Chris Johns-Krull, Faculty Senate Speaker