|
|
| |
NSCM eUpdate January 12, 2021
| |
|
DID YOU KNOW
that the 2021-22 Sabbatical Applications are due on Friday, January 15, 2021, by 11:59 p.m.?
Now you know!
| |
Virtual Suggestion Box Submission and Response
The Nicholson School of Communication and Media has a virtual suggestion box link included at the bottom of all eUpdates and also located in our Nicholson Resource website, where faculty and staff can anonymously ask questions or make suggestions. You can find the link to the suggestion box here.
The leadership's goal for the school is to be responsive to these items. To that end, each item is discussed at the leadership team meetings and the answers/responses are shared with faculty and staff on a regular basis. We encourage everyone to use this opportunity, but you also are welcome to visit with Dr. Littlefield during his weekly office hours or to reach out to others on the leadership team at any time.
The following submission was recently received.
Question: If students are required to come to class or miss content, it is likely that students will just not tell anyone they have Covid and still spread it. What happens if UCF requires a student who has a family member at home who is at-risk or is at-risk themselves? There should be a remote option for all classes that are done on a computer. It is unfair for students to have to choose a class that will not help them the most (lesser quality in terms of learning/a filler class) because they have to protect themselves and their family.
Answer: Thank you for your Virtual Comment/Suggestion Box submission.
At the Nicholson School of Communication and Media, we are following the policies and guidelines set forth by University. This spring semester, UCF has instructed us to add more in-person classes following lessons learned during the fall experience – where no cases of COVID-19 were traced back to our classrooms. UCF did this to enable the university to meet the needs of students while also prioritizing the health and safety of all members of the community. More information regarding this can be found on: https://www.ucf.edu/coronavirus/student-experience/ .
While we have added more in-person classes this spring, we continue to offer Remote and Blendflex classes. More information can be found here. At NSCM we have made every effort to provide a variety of classes in every mode of instruction in order to best serve all students needs. We also are working closely with faculty to be flexible in meeting their needs and requests as solutions are found to offer these courses. Thank you to all faculty who have worked with us to get classes scheduled.
We believe that UCF students are pledging to Armor Up, and will be wearing a face covering and complete the Covid Self-Checker available in the UCF Mobile app each day in order to protect fellow Knights and the community. If a student has Covid-19 or must isolate due to Covid-19, they are not allowed on campus and should not be encouraged to attend class, even if they have an in-person class with an attendance policy. Faculty Excellence will be monitoring the Covid Self-Checker for students and will provide reports to faculty if they have students who are absent due to COVID. Please consider the Provost’s request that whenever possible to show leniency and flexibility with students in their classes particularly as it pertains to assessments.
Similarly, faculty must complete the COVID Self-Checker each time they are coming to campus. These daily reports come to me for my review. Faculty are reminded of the suggestion that having a colleague as a back-up is a good plan, especially if they are unable to be in class. This buddy system is an option to safeguard against having classes uncovered due to the instructor’s inability to hold class.
Please see UCF’s Covid-19 policy found here. UCF takes Covid-19 precaution very seriously and if students are ill or must isolate, they are instructed to work with faculty so that they can provide alternatives to ensure that students can keep up with coursework. More information can be found here.
In addition, Associate Dean Laurie Von Kalm has provided the following suggestions:
For online classes, keep in mind that internet access can crash and glitches with computers and test monitoring software can occur. Last semester there were a number of cases where students received a 0 for a test after a single isolated incident and these grade reductions had a big impact on the final grade for these students. Your syllabi should outline step by step what a student should do if they lose internet access or if they realize that their webcam or test monitoring software stops working during a test. Please go over these steps with the class so they have no excuse for not knowing.
For face-to-face classes, it is ok to make attendance mandatory and you do not have to use the remote access software available in the classroom if you don’t want to. However, please make sure there is a process that is documented in your syllabus that students can follow if they have a good reason (e.g. COVID infection) for being unable to attend multiple classes and you should make remote access possible for those students. For additional guidance and information, see the UCF Faculty Toolkit’s syllabus guidelines and FAQs (https://www.ucf.edu/coronavirus/faculty-toolkit/).
Many students (and faculty) are concerned about safety in the classroom. To date UCF has not had a single case of classroom transmission. Classrooms are operating at approximately 1/5 capacity, masks for students and instructors are required, sanitizing wipes are available in every classroom, the air in the room is exchanged several times an hour and a thorough cleaning occurs every night. So far, these mitigations have been successful in preventing the spread of COVID in our classrooms.
Finally, a quick reminder about the synchronous, V1 mode courses and asynchronous, WW courses. V1 courses have a meeting pattern – day/time – in the schedule of classes and in-class activities (i.e. scheduled exams) should occur during the published course time. WW mode courses are asynchronously taught and there is no meeting pattern in the schedule of classes. As a reminder, these courses cannot have scheduled exams or assessments that are required to be completed during a window of time that may conflict with a regularly scheduled course. If needed, see the Faculty Too lkit referenced earlier for additional guidance.
| |
Academic Activity - Spring 2021
As we begin the Spring 2021 semester please remember the following:
If you are the instructor of record for any student course in the spring semester including thesis and dissertation, research, or independent study hours, you must document student engagement in the course during the first week of classes to ensure that all eligible students receive their financial aid in a timely manner. The way to do this is by setting up a required academic activity for your students in Webcourses@UCF (Canvas). Please make sure that this activity contains a graded assignment with a value greater than zero.
In order to receive the earliest financial aid disbursement, students should complete this action during their first week of class. Later completions will be accepted but will result in later financial aid disbursements. This assignment should remain open for students who may join the class late. Do not delete the assignment, even if you believe all your students have completed it, as this will negatively impact financial aid disbursements.
Please visit this website for details on how to set up your academic activity:
https://cdl.ucf.edu/teach/resources/financial-aid-requirement/
The website also contains key points of contact to call on if you have questions or need assistance. Feedback from students indicates that they appreciate early and meaningful academic exercises. The video within the website provides excellent suggestions from faculty on how to create a valuable academic engagement exercise. For additional questions, you may reach out to the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning at (407)823-3544 or the Center for Distributed Learning at (407)823-0407 for assistance.
| |
NSCM Rankings and Accreditation Survey
A reminder to provide feedback to the Rankings and Accreditation survey before we close it on Monday, January 18, 2021.
http://ucf.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6tcONpofD9zXt4h
| |
NSCM yearly program/area award nominations now open (closes Feb. 12)
Happy New Year! Once again NSCM will be rewarding its faculty, staff and graduate students with annual awards this spring. The NSCM Awards and Recognition Committee kindly requests that you nominate your colleagues, support staff and graduate students for one of the awards. The nomination form is now open (early access) and nominations officially begin on Monday, January 11.
The nomination process closes on Friday, Feb. 12. The process is easy, specifically designed to celebrate all of us as peers. No additional backup/support information will be necessary once the nomination information is completed and submitted. Self nominations for all awards are acceptable.
Nominations are based on the individual opinions of excellence of those nominating colleagues. Due to the diversity of our school's disciplines, the committee purposely avoided specific definitions of excellence. The Awards and Recognition Committee, in determining the final awards, will respect this diversity. Any specific activities represented by these nominations should have occurred between May 2020 and May 2021.
NOMINATION LINK: http://ucf.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_exMDfJBcVcKZo7H
Nominations are being accepted for the following awards:
1. Outstanding Research Award (all faculty)
2. Outstanding Creative Activity Award (all faculty)
3. Outstanding Teaching Award (all faculty)
4. Outstanding Service Award (all faculty)
5. Outstanding Contribution to Inclusive Culture
6. Outstanding Staff Award (all staff categories)
7. Outstanding Grad Student Research/Creative Activity Award
8. Outstanding Grad Student Teaching Award
The nomination, consideration, and selection of the faculty and staff awards will be facilitated by the NSCM Awards and Recognition Committee. The nomination, consideration, and selection of the graduate student awards will be facilitated by the NSCM Graduate Committee. The considerations and selection of the Outstanding Contribution to Inclusive Culture will be facilitated through the committee spearheaded by the Assistant Director of Inclusive Culture.
The timeline for nomination, consideration, selection and presentation of these awards follows:
1. Nominations by Feb. 12, 2021
2. Committee will confirm nominations and eligibility the week of March 8 to 12, 2021
3. Presentation of awards at the faculty meeting in April.
Thank you for helping to recognize, support and reward your colleagues.
In service,
Doug Blemker, Gary LaPage, Gary Rhodes, Ula Stoecki, Terrell Theen and Peter Smith
| |
Faculty Notice — Face to Face classes
Just a quick note to you know faculty notifications have begun this week for those faculty teaching face-to-face courses. We are following the same process as in the fall where Jana Jasinski will be communicating with faculty if a student is unable to attend their face-to-face class. Notifications go out daily. This is a joint effort between student health services, the registrar’s office, and academic affairs.
Any faculty who are notified can certainly reach out to Jana Jasinski with questions.
| |
Downtown Week of Welcome — Spring 2021
Please share with your students and fellow colleagues, and let Chanda Torres know if you are interested in signing up. We would love to have a campus leadership present!
Sign up for a shift at UCF Downtown: UCF Downtown Campus Locators Sign Up.
For questions about Campus Locators, you can contact Jason Dodge.
- Sunday 1/10 – Frontyard Festival Movie Night (Black Panther) @ Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center, 6 - 8 p.m. (In-Person)
- Monday 1/11 – Welcome Back with a Gift in a Jar @ Seneff Plaza, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. (In-Person)
- Tuesday 1/12 – Promotional Item Scavenger Hunt (prizes hidden around campus with clues on Instagram), all day (Hybrid)
- Wednesday 1/13 – Starbucks Brunch Hangout @ Marriott Starbucks, 111 a.m. - 1 p.m. (In-Person)
- Thursday 1/14 – RSO Fair, 111 a.m. - noon (Virtual)
- Friday 1/15 – Welcome Back Bash Trivia Night, @ DPAC 5 - 7 p.m. (In-Person)
| |
Virtual Tour of the South: Law Admissions Forum — January 13
If you wish to see the Pre-Health and Pre-Law Advising announcement regarding their Virtual Tour of the South, please click here.
| |
Career Readiness Month Spring 2021 - Marketing Materials
As we prepare for another busy semester, please invite your students to join Career Services for Career Readiness Month, taking place between January 15 and February 1. This “month” of workshops, employer events, webinars, and more is a great way for students to prepare for success in large recruiting events such as Internship Fair and Career Expo, which take place in early February. Students across majors are encouraged to get involved with our weekly calendar of events and opportunities, which they can easily access in Handshake.
Attached are some resources and tools that you may find useful to share with your students or colleagues through email, Webcourses, your class syllabus, etc. The “CRM Spring 21 Program Schedule” PDF has a full schedule of events! Additionally, this Campus Partner Toolkit for CRM may provide quick answers to your questions. More resources will be shared on Twitter (@dtc_careerready) if you’d like to follow along there as well or encourage your students to do so.
| |
|
In an effort to ensure faculty and staff have a confidential way to share their thoughts/concerns and/or suggestions for improving the school’s operations/functions, a ‘virtual suggestion box’ has been created.
To access this, please click here or the button below.
| |
|
|
|
|
