Dear Colleagues:
Due to the current situation of COVID-19, which forces us to be isolated particularly during these Summer months, the Senate leadership team and members of the Senate Agenda Committee felt the need to provide another venue for information dissemination to our Ball State community. The number and the pace of necessary changes in University life have felt overwhelming at times, and the preparation for the upcoming Fall semester is no exception. Because the University governance (Senate) is represented in the multitude of Fall semester planning, steering, and implementation task forces responsible for these changes, and given the recently approved Senate restructuring, your Senate leadership team felt the urgency to share much needed information with our campus community. To that end, please do not hesitate to reach out to any of the representatives listed at the end of this communication with any questions, concerns, and/or comments.
Senate operations and procedures over the Summer period
Since the majority of the Senate members (faculty, students, and professional personnel) are not physically on campus over the Summer period, all governance operations and business items are referred to the Senate executive committee. This includes members of the Senate Agenda Committee as well as the leadership of the different councils operating under the governance system. When a business item requires further input from a specific committee within the Senate structure, chairs of these committees are invited to the discussion and decision-making processes. The Senate leadership team has been meeting monthly with the Provost and the President to discuss Fall planning, budget, and other pressing issues. Senate councils and committees membership can be accessed through the University Senate website.
Due to the approved change of the Senate restructuring, resolutions, in each of the councils, were passed to maintain the abovementioned procedure over the Summer of 2020. This stays in effect until the new Senate seats are filled in August 2020 for normal operations thereafter.
The full University community has received a number of communications from our administration regarding the rationale behind and the specific guidelines for our Fall 2020 reopening. On a large campus such as ours, communications can be a challenge and not everyone receives the same message. So, we would like to provide information on questions that have surfaced so that you can quickly refer to policies and processes. Please keep in mind that these are updated regularly as more information becomes available. Please check the COVID-19 website for updates.
Face Mask/Shield Policy
- When in the presence of others (indoors or outdoors) and physical distancing is difficult to maintain, such as in hallways, elevators, stairs, public spaces, and common areas;
- When in a classroom or laboratory if physical distancing is difficult to maintain;
- When using campus transportation (such as a shuttle bus);
- When multiple individuals are in a University vehicle; and
- When it is determined by an employee’s supervisor that wearing a mask/shield is necessary for specific job duties. Environmental Health and Safety will determine if particular types of face masks/shields are required for particular job settings, and this will be communicated through supervisors.
Individuals are not required to wear face masks/shields if alone in private offices/areas or working behind a barrier like plexiglass.
It is important to note that accommodations should be granted to employees and students who have health issues hindering their abilities to wear face coverings. In such situations, employees should contact University Human Resource Services, while students should contact the Office of Disability Services.
Students in classrooms/studios/educational spaces, etc.
Multiple questions have been raised about potential situations of student noncompliance with the established policies and procedures. In such situations, as per Ball State University’s Return to Campus Plan, (Non-compliance section, Pages 6 and 7), the student should be given the chance to comply with the policy. If the student refuses, the matter should be referred to the Office of the Dean of Students. It is not the intention to have faculty policing such compliance and taking direct actions, of any kind, against students in cases of noncompliance.
Please be advised that updates to the Face Mask/Shield Policy will be forthcoming on August 1 and will be posted on the COVID-19 website.
Requesting online teaching – planning and procedures
Through the course of the work of the different planning, implementation, and steering task groups for Summer and Fall semesters, updates have been frequently provided to college deans and department heads. In the most recent rounds of information gathering for decision-making related to moving courses to online modality, course capacities, course locations/rooms, technology needs, among many others, college deans and department heads have been asked to share and collect information from faculty. In other instances, surveys were sent directly to faculty to assess their needs.
- Older adults (aged 65 years and older);
- People with HIV;
- Asthma (moderate-to-severe);
- Chronic lung disease;
- Diabetes;
- Serious heart conditions;
- Chronic kidney disease being treated with dialysis;
- Severe obesity; and
- Being immunocompromised.
It further provides a pathway for requesting accommodations as follows:
“Employees who have been authorized to return to work on-site and have concerns about doing so due to a condition that places them in a higher-risk group, those who are pregnant, or those who wish to seek disability accommodations related to returning to on-site work should contact University Human Resource Services.” (Ball State University’s Return to Campus Plan, Page 5).
It has also been established and shared by the University leadership that if a faculty member prefers to teach in an online modality for one reason or another, the faculty member should communicate that with the department head and ask for an accommodation. If the faculty member does not feel comfortable doing that for any reason, the faculty member should reach out to HR. After an assessment of the situation, and following confidentiality practices, HR will inform the department head and dean of the needed accommodation, if any.
Remote Work Policy/telework and flexible work arrangements
Questions have also come up regarding the Remote Work Policy/telework and flexible work arrangements. In this regard, please find included below a link to the current policy:
The policy is intended for professional and staff employees and highlights three forms of telework and flexible work arrangements, namely (1) flextime, (2) reduction in time commitment, and (3) telecommuting or remote work. As per the established policy and procedures, the process must be started by a request from the employee to be submitted to the supervisor for review. The approval process starts with the supervisor and ends with the area Vice President.
Physical distancing and physical spaces
University employees returning to campus this Fall will notice a number of changes in our academic buildings, changes designed to reinforce and facilitate the physical distancing we know to be a necessary part of the COVID-19 response. Each public or shared space in buildings will have capacity limits posted at the entryway noting the exact number of people the space can accommodate under physical distancing guidelines. Classroom furniture will be marked with the same restrictions, even reduced in rooms where that is possible. Hallways have directional signage reminding people to pass on the right and maintain appropriate distance. Earlier this Summer, administrators made their requests for plexiglass purchase and installation in public office areas to provide additional protection.
University residence halls and dining facilities have created their own plans and communications regarding physical distancing and protection for residential students and patrons. Please refer to the COVID-19 website for detailed information about these plans.
Fall planning – course delivery and modality
Since May of 2020, planning for the Fall semester has started. This included the creation of multiple assessment, implementation, and steering groups and committees tackling different academic aspects in all divisions of the University. The work has transitioned from one group to the other resulting in a very detailed assessment of the current situation of COVID-19, best practices, suitable options for Ball State, among many more. Throughout this period of time, the Senate has been represented in all groups, and committees and governance procedures/policies have been maintained and followed. In addition, there have been multiple points at which colleges and academic departments/schools have been consulted and asked to provide feedback to forge the best path forward for our community.
One guiding principle at the core of these discussions was always the excellence of the educational mission in the safest possible environment. This required detailed assessment of the current classroom capacities, current enrollment numbers, modality of delivery, among many others, while keeping in mind the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and health officials’ recommendations. This mandated hours and hours of work from different divisions within the University including, but not limited to, Academic Systems, Admissions, Student Affairs, Financial Aid, Academic Advising, and the Registrar, to mention few.
It is imperative to keep in mind that a lot of this work has taken place while the Fall schedule had already been set, and students registered. This presents another layer of difficulty as students will need to be migrated to new classes created in different modalities, not to mention the accreditation and Higher Learning Commission (HLC) guidelines that the University will have to abide by.
To provide more context, deans and department heads in consultation with faculty were asked about course modality and changes for their units as follows:
