Finals Week Teaching Update

Colleagues,

We know you are responding to urgent calls for empathy and flexibility toward students as the world mourns George Floyd and many demand the remaking of institutions that devalue black lives. Academic Council issued new guidance Thursday to indicate specific ways you can modify course expectations in support of students. If you elect to make a Canvas-based exam optional or make gradebook allowances, ideas and support are available here.

Strategies for how to acknowledge and address these wrenching events with students are here. This is a stressful time in so many ways, and the Counseling Center has resources to support you and your students. Please contact them if you need support or share this information with a student or colleague who might benefit from these resources. 

We are available to act as a sounding board, field questions, and support your end-of-term teaching efforts in any way we can.  

The Office of the Provost Faculty and GE Support Group 


Finals Week Checklist

  • Final Exam Policy: “Live” finals will occur, as usual, in two-hour windows and according to the normal Registrar’s Exam Schedule. If you have a “take-home” or longer-window examination, it should be due no earlier than the scheduled final exam time. You are free to extend the window for a take-home final or other final coursework until the end of the final exam period (10:30 p.m. Friday, June 12).

  • UO Online offers advice for how to use Canvas to grade and moderate exams, finalize grades, and move grades into DuckWeb. 


Summer Planning

Policy update 
Some summer remote courses were scheduled without meeting times before Academic Council set its expectation for live engagement. They can proceed asynchronously because students can’t be required to be present at a time they didn’t sign up for. Academic Council does expect these instructors to find ways to engage students directly through, for example, discussion boards, office hours, or optional drop-in meeting times. This applies only to courses listed as REMOTE and without times on the summer class schedule.

Remote Course Builder 
TEP and UO Online offer this streamlined resource to learn the “building blocks” of a UO remote course.

Workshop: Orientation to Remote Summer Teaching
Wednesday, June 10, 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Click here to join us via Zoom
Meeting ID: 948 1127 1843 

Are you teaching this summer and looking for a time-saving introduction to the UO policies that govern, teaching practices that elevate, and resources that support remote teaching and learning? TEP, UO Online, and Information Services will help you get started.

During this workshop we’ll share the latest Academic Council expectations and highlight strategies for teaching in Canvas and Zoom, developing synchronous class sessions, engaging your students, and assessing their learning.


Colleague to Colleague: Spotlights and Awards

Our spring Spotlight series featured 40 UO faculty and GEs sharing their approaches to fostering connection to students, demonstrating care, assessing student learning, and other creative approaches to remote teaching. A compilation of the entire Spotlight series is availalble here.

The Williams Council has announced that Dan Tichenor, Philip H. Knight Chair of social science, is the 2020 Williams Fellow. The Council has also funded eight exciting instructional proposals.

The Accessible Education Center seeks nominations for the Faculty Excellence in Universal Design Award. Recipients of this $1,000 award will have developed flexible curricula and instruction to ensure equity and access for all learners. Learn more and submit a nomination (due June 14).

Faculty who are interested in enhancing the explicit ties between the curriculum and students’ growing career readiness skills are invited to submit a short letter of interest in a small, stipended learning and leadership community that will meet remotely once this summer and throughout the next academic year. 


Let Us Support You

From ergonomics advice to teaching consultations and hardware loans, resources are available to help support you in the incredible work you’re doing.