IMPORTANT / Preparing for next week

Dear Colleagues,

 

Welcome back from spring break. I am sure it’s not what any of us imagined and that it has been a stressful week for all. Despite all, I hope you find a few moments to collect your thoughts for the weeks ahead. While the challenges are real, it has been an incredible week of coming together - staff, faculty, and students - to plan for the rest of the semester. It’s amazing what we have accomplished. So thanks to all of you —

 

NYU Wagner is open for business!

 

Our classes, events, meetings, and community, while now online, will remain as robust as ever. It is important to acknowledge that there will be bumps along the way. We ask for your patience and understanding with students, and we have asked students to practice the same with you. To get through this, we will all need flexibility and compassion. Understanding when children are being noisy. Understanding when it is taking longer than it usually would to get an assignment back. Understanding when an extension is needed. Understanding when there is a lack of focus.

 

Here are some things you need to know as we move into next week:

 

  • Contact your classes before Monday

    • Before Monday, please go into NYU Classes and send a message to the students enrolled in your class(es) welcoming them back and checking to make sure they can complete the course online. There is a template message you can use here.

  • Zoom Training and Resources

    • Henrie will be offering lots of additional Zoom trainings. You can see the schedule and sign-up here.

    • Remember to refer to our Remote Teaching Guide.

    • This Thursday, Katty will be sending out a survey to collect info on your remote teaching progress and needs. If you have questions or issues that come up this week, continue to contact wagner.facultysupport@nyu.edu for help.

  • Pass / Fail - Along with the rest of the University, Wagner is introducing a Pass/Fail grade option for the Spring 2020 semester. Students will be able to elect to take any of their spring courses (except Capstone) as Pass/Fail until Tuesday, May 12. See more information and Wagner’s Pass/Fail policy here. This is optional for students so you should not change the way you grade in your course -- you will need to keep track of a numerical grade. For all of your students you will continue to enter the standard grade (A through F) in Albert but students who elected Pass/Fail will only see P or F on their record (the grade will be converted automatically, you will not need to convert it).

  • Same Standards - When you welcome your students to this virtual version of your class, please encourage them to participate fully; to take exams and assignments as seriously as they would in-person; and to remind them that the Wagner academic code still applies to remote learning. I will include language to that effect in my message to them.

  • Recording Classes - The University recommends that you record your classes in Zoom and we very strongly urge you to do so, too. This will enhance accessibility for students who may unexpectedly encounter an issue with accessing the internet. See the Remote Teaching Guide for instructions.

  • Live v. Asynchronous Content - You may replace some of your class time with asynchronous content. For more details, see this letter from Clay Shirky, NYU’s Vice Provost for Educational Technologies. 

  • Class start time - Classes must take place during the regularly scheduled meeting time (though it is not required to last the full class period). If your class currently starts at 6:45 pm, you cannot tell students it will now start at 6 pm. This is to avoid the myriad schedule conflicts that would arise.  

 

Continue to take care of yourselves and each other.

 

Sincerely,

Sherry