*Published Feb. 27, 2020*
Dear Faculty and Staff,
As you are well aware, the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak requires Northeastern University to be prepared and resilient to ensure learning and business continuity in the event that students, faculty and staff may not be able to come to campus or attend classes in person. The time to prepare is now.
For Faculty and Staff. As soon as possible, and from an off-campus location you would most likely work from, please take the survey from Information Technology Services (ITS) to help us assess your internet connectivity and computer hardware capabilities to support online instruction and business operations. Depending on the results of the survey, ITS is prepared to provide additional support and resources to ensure that you can remain connected to the campus and to our students.
For Faculty. In the event that campus-based teaching is not possible, we want to ensure that all spring 2020 course sections have an activated learning management system presence (Blackboard). We are asking that you get your courses ready to be taught online by following the instructions at the ITS Resiliency website.
For information on activating the Blackboard shell, uploading course materials into the system, and interacting with your students, faculty should refer to the ITS Resiliency website for step-by-step instructions.This will make your course online-ready for course content availability, communication with students, and assessment of student performance. If all of your spring 2020 classes are being taught online, you do not need to do anything.
Resources
We expect that you may have questions as you transition your courses to an online format. The following resources are available:
Call 617-373-HELP(4357) – HELP desk associates are ready to answer your questions regarding this transition.
Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning through Research: Call 617-373-3157 or visitCATLR’s Digital Learning Resilience page for more in-depth materials on how to teach using an online format.
Deb Franko, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs (d.franko@northeastern.edu) or 617-373-5454.