Dear Colleagues,
I am delighted to welcome you back for the spring semester, and I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of some important information, collected here for ease of reference as you finalize your course syllabi.
First and foremost, the University adopted a new
Academic Integrity Policy for undergraduate students that went into effect in the Fall 2020 Semester. Your syllabi should include information to make students aware of the new policy. Your associate/vice dean can answer your questions, and Dean of Students Ryan Holmes and I are happy to assist as well.
I also encourage you to include the specific paragraph below concerning the newly created Student Well-Being and Resiliency website in your syllabi:
Well-Being Resources and Support
As you complete your coursework, consider how you can maintain your health and well-being as a top priority. To help you become familiar with the many programs and services available on campus, review the information collected on the Division of Student Affairs Student Well-Being and Resiliency website available at miami.edu/well-being. Please reach out to me or any of the resources listed on the site if you need assistance or support throughout the semester.
Please make sure to include the dates for the last day to add a course and the last day to drop a course in your syllabi/calendars. For the
Spring 2022 Semester, these dates are:
January 26: Last Day to Add
February 2: Last Day to Drop without a W
The Registrar’s office routinely receives requests for adding students to courses (or, in the case of variable-credit courses, for adjusting number of credits) well past the deadline. This is problematic for a variety of regulatory reasons, and your help in proactively making students aware of these deadlines is especially important.
As already communicated, teaching during the beginning of this term will occur online until January 31st. Our colleagues in Academic Technologies have prepared a very comprehensive
guide to starting the semester, which was highlighted in the
January 6 message from the Provost.
Due to the continued impact of COVID-19, we will have students in quarantine and isolation who are unable to attend class, and we encourage you to use lecture capture/recording to ensure these students do not fall behind. As each class is unique, you will know best how to help students keep up with any session that they miss. Please review these
instructions for enabling captioning and consider including
this language
regarding class recordings in your syllabi.
On the topic of absences, please note that the
Faculty Manual (page 185) and the
Bulletin include language on what is considered an “excused” absence, which extends to class meetings that are devoted to exams only. Please feel free to email me with questions, concerns, or ideas for dealing with specific situations and improving our overall processes.
Lastly, I would encourage you to remind students of the following important information, again via your syllabi:
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Masks continue to be mandatory in the classroom and all indoor public and common spaces and are strongly encouraged outdoors in group settings.
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Surgical masks or multi-layered, tightly woven cloth masks should be used. Single-layer cloth masks are not considered protective against the omicron variant and hence do not meet our current standard for campus safety.
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No food or drinks are permitted in classrooms to ensure that students wear masks for the entirety of class periods.
Thank you for the invaluable support you provide our students and your contributions to their academic success. I wish you a great start to the semester.
Sincerely,
