Advancing De-densification and Preparedness for Fall
Over the course of July the Curricular and Academic Management Services team in the Office of the Registrar was hard at work to implement changes to the schedule of classes. Schools, colleges and departments had until July 3rd to make updates to the schedule of classes, including determining room assignments for in-person classes and deciding which sections will be remote. Once changes to the schedule of classes were completed, the RO worked with DoIT to activate scripts to make batch updates to the modes of instructions, where around 6,400 class sections were transitioned to remote instruction.
Then, over a two week period, class sections were assigned to classrooms. The university plans for 55% of its fall courses to be delivered online, 37% will be delivered in person, and 8% are a hybrid combination. Campus had to develop innovative solutions to utilize both traditional and non-traditional spaces for classrooms.
To capture this change in mode of instruction and indicate building density, RO staff developed a data visualization. This information provides people a better understanding of how many individuals will be in a building at a given time. It also provides building managers with crucial information to ensure proper PPE and cleaning equipment are available.
Outside of working on classroom spaces, the RO has also been working with schools/colleges and support services to find other spaces to use for virtual learning on campus. These spaces are needed for students who are on campus but still complete virtual learning and other instances such as e-proctoring. Staff are working to repurpose nearly 1,000 seats for reservable and drop-in student use.
In addition to inventorying usable spaces on campus, efforts are being made to catalog and inventory AV and technical needs. For any classroom that can hold over 20 students, the space is being assessed to review the need for speaker systems and microphones, specifically which instructors need microphones.
Staff have been working around the clock to help prepare for the start of the fall semester, inventorying and accounting for de-densification is one portion. View the data visualization titled “Student-Instructor Building Density Tool” for more information on the de-densification of buildings and the use of classroom spaces.
Outside of working on classroom spaces, the RO has also been working with schools/colleges and support services to find other spaces to use for virtual learning on campus. These spaces are needed for students who are on campus but still complete virtual learning and other instances such as e-proctoring. Staff are working to repurpose nearly 1,000 seats for reservable and drop-in student use.
In addition to inventorying usable spaces on campus, efforts are being made to catalog and inventory AV and technical needs. For any classroom that can hold over 20 students, the space is being assessed to review the need for speaker systems and microphones, specifically which instructors need microphones.
Staff have been working around the clock to help prepare for the start of the fall semester, inventorying and accounting for de-densification is one portion. View the data visualization titled “Student-Instructor Building Density Tool” for more information on the de-densification of buildings and the use of classroom spaces.