Provost's Messages

July 29, 2020  |  Update on Fall Reopening

Sent to all faculty and Academic Affairs staff on behalf of Provost Winebrake

Dear Colleagues, 

As we finish out the month of July and draw closer to the opening of the Fall 2020 semester, I’d like to update you on the work of the Academic Affairs Fall Implementation Team. I believe we are making solid progress, as demonstrated by our updated activities under my signature below. I invite you to refer to the Best for the Nest website for additional details, and remind you that previous updates are archived HERE. 

Most importantly, thank you all for your efforts in preparing for the fall!  We greatly appreciate your hard work on behalf of the university and our students.

Best regards,
Jamie

Fall Implementation Updates from Academic Affairs 
29 July 2020 

Business/Personnel 

  • Billing modifications have been approved and were communicated to students by email on 7/27/2020. Changes allowed UNCW to minimize any ill-intended effects of changing course delivery modes due to COVID-19. In short, no matter the combination of course delivery modes, main campus students will not pay more than the maximum main campus rates.  Revised bills will be reissued to students on Aug. 5.
  • The Chancellor will continue to approve all travel requests, which must be deemed as essential. AARM is developing a temporary form to help in the communications of these justifications. 

 Course Scheduling and Facilities 

  • We are in the process of finalizing course modalities based on faculty and departmental requests for Fall 2020.  
  • Facilities Management has finished moving furniture to meet social-distancing protocols in 11 academic buildings. We expect all academic buildings to be complete by August 8th. 

 Faculty Policies and Procedures  

  • The next Faculty Forum on Fall Reopening is scheduled for Thursday, July 30 at 10 AM. Katrin Wesner, Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, will be joining the conversation, and will be able to provide greater details on health and safety topics.
  • We developed an ongoing list of FAQs for faculty. These FAQs emerge from discussion and questions asked at the Faculty Forums. We hope to distribute updated FAQs weekly.
  • Relevant policies impacted by COVID-19 and campus closures are under consideration for revision in the UNCW Faculty Handbook. 

High Impact Practices (HIP) 

  • We tagged most courses requiring off-site visits in Banner for student identification.
  • We developed new forms (using the Docusign system) to ensure the health and safety of our students when they are visiting an off-site location.
  • We are considering issues of Liability Insurance where needed in off-site locations. The cost to the student is about $12/semester.
  • The Summer Institute for Applied Learning is scheduled for July 28-30, 2020. 

 Instructional Support  

  • The Instructional Support Team continues to work with faculty and newly hired instructors with online delivery.
  • CTE/CFL will conduct the New Faculty Orientation from August 4-6. The sessions will be virtual. 
  • We reopened the Course Development Fund application process for a second round. These funds are used to support faculty who are converting previously face-to-face courses to an online or hybrid format. The deadline for this round is Friday, July 31. Over 850 course sections were addressed in the first round of applications. 

Randall Library 

  •  Randall Library continues to prepare for reopening with physical modifications of the space, including moving furniture and installing signage.
  • Randall Library staff are receiving training about protocols that will be in place in the fall semester.  

Research  

  • The Office of Research and Innovation distributed a memo on 7/24/2020 to detail the research “ramp up” procedures.
  • Guidance for Human Subjects research is coming soon, as is the Research Continuity Plan.
  • Discussions are now underway about what needs to happen in case of a campus pivot. In this conversation it is important to understand available options, and the many decision points that will be involved. More updates will be forthcoming. 

 Sincerely,

James J. Winebrake, Ph.D.
UNCW Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs
E: winebrake@uncw.edu
Pronouns: he, him, his