Fall 2020 Ramp-Up

Incoming president Dr. Benjamin Ola. Akande announced on May 27, 2020 that the Champlain College campus will reopen in Fall 2020. The College’s COVID-19 Task Force is developing more detailed plans around housing, teaching, and safety. This fall ramp-up plan is one of many that address different contingencies that may be used if the virus appears on campus. The following are excerpts from President Akande’s email to faculty:

At the pandemic’s onset, the State of Vermont took deliberate and swift action, ensuring an early flattening of the curve in our state. Now, as Vermonters are entering into a phased restart of the state’s economy, we are following suit and planning for a fall opening of our physical campus in Burlington, Vermont. This will include in-person classes, complemented, as needed, by virtual instruction, and on-campus living for Fall 2020. We will send a separate email regarding fall operations at our campuses in Dublin, Ireland and Montreal, Canada in the coming weeks.

Of course, a physical return to campus will require enhanced safeguards to be put in place. We are planning for staff and faculty to begin a gradual return to campus this summer and will adjust our practices to secure your health and safety, including options for continued remote work. We know that returning to the classroom is of particular concern to faculty and the decision to resume in-person instruction will be a personal one. Under returning Provost Laurie Quinn’s leadership, the Academic Affairs team will continue working with faculty on a range of hybrid models and will work with faculty members and Senate leaders to understand needs and perspectives around teaching in the fall.

You can read President Akande’s full May 27 message here.

Update, 7/15/20: guidance from the State of Vermont and constraints on our space resulting from the need for social distancing will affect how many students are attending classes on campus and the capacity of your classroom. More information about the anticipated restrictions on housing is available in President Akande’s July 2 message. Incoming students (first-year and transfer) will have housing priority, and students who live locally off-campus will be able to attend on-campus classes. Please take this into account when you consider what your teaching will be like, especially if you teach second-, third-, or fourth-year classes.

There are many uncertainties with the COVID-19 situation, and with how public health officials, school systems, Vermont authorities, and members of our own community will respond to it in the coming months. Possibilities include:

• Some students or faculty who are particularly at-risk should they be exposed to coronavirus may hesitate to come to campus for in-person instruction
• Social-distanced classroom spaces may not be able to accommodate a full class at one time
• Faculty or students may become ill or need to isolate due to coronavirus exposure
• A resurgence of COVID-19 may lead to activation of one of the contingency plans President Akande refers to
• Changes in the COVID-19 situation may lead you to make changes in how you teach

With these (and other) possibilities in mind, the Provost’s Office, working in consultation with the Deans and the Center for Learning and Teaching, has determined that courses this fall will need to be developed as “flex-hybrid”, meaning they are extensively built in Canvas, can accommodate students and faculty both in the classroom and learning or teaching remotely, and can be shifted quickly to remote delivery if the situation calls for it. Developing courses this way now lessens the possibility of experiencing another sudden and stressful need to adapt mid-semester like we experienced in March and allows us to provide a safer and more equitable experience for all members of our community.

We all recognize that this is a lot of work. The process and resources explained throughout this site are designed to streamline flex-hybrid course development.

Flex-hybrid is a way of designing your course for flexible (can easily accommodate different situations) or hybrid (using both in-person and remote) delivery. As faculty design their Fall 2020 courses, the goal is to create the conditions for sound learning to occur regardless of whether individual students or the faculty member can attend any particular learning experience in-person, and to offer flexible learning that can accommodate individual learner needs. Champlain College defines a flex-hybrid course as:

A course which offers multiple delivery modes of instruction and allows for blended learning (the integration of classroom and online learning), “flipped classrooms,” remote synchronous and asynchronous instruction, intentional community building, one-on-one coaching, and other “value added” options.

To learn more, watch the video above and visit our Approaching Design page. You can find a comprehensive glossary of terms related to the fall ramp-up process here.

In spring 2020, we were all caught unawares by an emergency transition to remote learning. Through truly heroic work by faculty, we adapted as best we could to a rapidly changing situation.

For this fall, we have a little more prep time, and greater understanding of the possible scenarios that could emerge (discussed above). With more time to plan, there are more ways to adapt your course for flex-hybrid delivery (and the possibility of having to return to remote) while honoring your teaching philosophy and goals in ways that were not necessarily possible during the spring transition. You can think about new ways to connect with your students, build virtual community, and adapt projects to meet outcomes and generate a sense of achievement.

Everyone recognizes that this is still a less-than-ideal situation. We are all being asked to do a lot, particularly given the usual rhythms of summer. We continue to be in an emergency management situation, with the stress that entails. Supporting and honoring the extraordinary work of faculty is a major component of this process.

In some ways, yes. Many course requirements, like descriptions, outcomes, and content, will remain the same. The existing syllabus requirements are still in effect, though some additions have been made. Course length will be the same. If you have an existing syllabus, this process will be one of adaptation.

That said, the Fall 2020 Course Standards do include several Canvas-related elements that have not been in effect in the past. This is to ensure that courses across Champlain College provide a consistent student experience through a robust Canvas presence, and are designed from the beginning in ways that enable a quick pivot to remote instruction if necessary. If you typically use Canvas a lot, you may be doing many of these things already. If you do not usually use Canvas beyond posting your syllabus, these requirements may be unfamiliar. Many resources will be available to you throughout this process to help you expand your remote pedagogy and Canvas skills. Peers and the CLT’s Design Team can help you implement your teaching style and priorities through Canvas.

The official standards are available on the Academic Affairs website. You can find a checklist of course standards here.

Another difference from past semesters is that all courses will undergo both a course review with a peer or a member of the CLT-managed Design Team, and a Technical Review to ensure they meet the Course Standards related to Canvas. More information about the review process will be available here.

Check out the full overview of the process, including timelines, here. If you haven’t already, we recommend reading the Course Standards as soon as possible.

Your first step will be to schedule a Kickoff Meeting (more information here). This part of the process lets us work with you to assess your needs and concerns. We will also recommend next steps. A link for sign-ups will be posted here shortly. Kickoff meetings will happen by June 26 for full-time faculty and later for adjunct faculty (after contracts are signed). After that, you’ll move into the design phase of the project, during which you’ll develop all your courses, aiming to have at least half the course built out by the first day of classes. In August, your course will undergo review (which you can learn more about here). The specifics of the process will vary depending on your needs and whether you are working primarily with peers in your division or with the CLT.

If you are developing a Master/Model Course, please see this page.

A master or model course* is a single Canvas shell developed for a course with several sections taught by different instructors that covers the same material in each section. These courses will be copied into separate Canvas shells for each section. Model courses are used in situations where content and texts are very standardized in order to save time in course development and make sure classes are consistent. In situations where sections of the same course focus on different themes based on faculty expertise, model courses will not be used.

Some courses have been identified as good candidates for model courses, and Deans or Program Directors will select faculty to develop them. If you have not been asked to develop a model course, this likely does not affect you. If you have questions, please speak with your PD.

* We have traditionally referred to these courses by the former name, but in recognition that “master” is a deeply fraught term in the history of American slavery and historical and present attacks on Black people, these courses will be referred to as “model courses” moving forward.

When you go through the intake phase, we will help determine the best plan for you and connect you with resources you need. To start out now, please visit the Process Overview page, where you’ll also find self-guided course development materials, and explore the Course Design Principles and Designing Your Course pages. In addition to using those materials, we will connect you with support from peers, the CLT, and other teaching and learning-focused experts on campus.

As you progress, you can get 1-1 support with the CLT’s Design Team. Those appointments will be available soon and can be scheduled through your intake. Additional appointments will be available throughout the summer.

Incoming President Akande’s message to the community on June 12 describes the Flex-Hybrid format, and the academic experience update from June 25 provides more details. Champlain College understands that this is a new experience for both students and faculty! It will be different from both “normal” classroom instruction and the emergency remote instruction you or your student may have had this past spring at Champlain, another college, or high school. Please keep an eye on The View and read future emails from the College for more information. We also encourage enrolled students and their parents to attend the faculty panel on flex-hybrid learning that will be held July 13 at 7pm EDT; more information is available here.

This site is focused on faculty preparation for a truly high-quality fall semester, while The View and College communications provide better information for students, parents, alumni, and the community.