Fall 2022 Resources

UVic will be offering in-person education primarily this Fall. All instructors are expected to remain consistent with the course delivery mode as identified in the UVic timetable; however, there may be situations where high levels of student absences impact the planned in-person delivery of a course. In these situations, the instructor should consult and seek approval of the chair or director.

For example, with the chair or director’s approval, an instructor may: 

• Temporarily move their course online in response to high levels of student absence, where maintaining face-to-face delivery would disrupt learning continuity and course delivery. The duration of online learning should be kept to a minimum but could exceed two weeks if beneficial to students. 

Instructors may not:

• Preventatively move their course online in anticipation of absences or to meet their own preferences.
• Move their course online temporarily to manage short-term absences without the approval of the chair or director.
• Poll students on course delivery preferences and then implement changes based on results.

Chairs and directors have been provided with guidance on reviewing faculty and instructor requests for course delivery changes related to absences that uphold our commitment to providing as much face-to-face instruction as possible while also ensuring student accessibility.

Knowing that absences are likely, use these strategies to maximize continuity in your course offerings and to support student flexibility and accessibility throughout the term.

The current classroom technologies do not allow for students to fully participate remotely, with the exception of the multi-access classrooms (HHB 110 and CLE A127).

If you are exploring options for connecting students virtually to the in-person classroom (e.g., students experiencing short-term absences), there are two possibilities for live-stream with limited capabilities for student interaction. Those options are Echo360 livestream, or Zoom.

Students joining remotely via Echo360 livestream or Zoom may not be able to adequately hear class discussions, questions, or student to student interaction. Without careful planning, it may also be difficult for instructors to monitor the in-person and online environment. Current solutions are limited and the use of the resident computer is strongly advised. If you would like to discuss this further, consider contacting the faculty support teams at ltsisupport@uvic.ca.

Two multi-access classrooms (HHB 110 and CLE A127), have been outfitted with technology that instructors can use to teach both in-person and online attending students, synchronously. These rooms are equipped with technology that allows active participation in the class regardless of physical location as well as the ability to record the lecture if desired. Instructors are not expected to teach in two modalities (in person and online) simultaneously. Instructors teaching classes scheduled in these rooms can use as much or as little of the new technologies as necessary for the delivery of their course. The rooms have been developed by UVic to support instructors who teach in flexible modes, should they choose to do so. 

There are a series of resources available to help you select your assessment strategies used in your courses including online assessments and alternatives to exams. 

Making your assessments accessible

Learning Experience Designers – Accessibility provide guidance and support to faculty/instructors in designing accessible learning activities, creating/ setting up accessible content and learning environments, and addressing the needs of learners with exam accommodations. 

Changing course assessment modes from in-person to online

Online Assessment Room (OAR)

The OAR is a supportive invigilation environment for online, synchronous and timed assessments and exams. The OAR was used extensively in the completion of fall exams and specifically for students with academic accommodations. This space is available to be booked for students requiring an alternative assessment arrangement (e.g. to accommodate extended time, distraction free environment, time zone, illness, etc.)

In designing your course and to save time, we encourage you to adopt principles of UDL to create more flexibility in your course to support the needs of our increasingly diverse complement of students. UDL is a research-based framework developed by the Centre for Applied Special Technology (CAST) that guides instructors to incorporate strategies for delivering instruction, reduce student learning barriers and provide students with opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of ways.

In the last 18 months EQHR has received a significant number of complaints involving student communication on the social media platform Discord, which is a server that provides topic-based communication channels for people to collaborate, share, and connect. These channels are invite-only, but also anonymous in that users can use handles instead of their real names. It is common for students to form class-based channels to discuss their course readings, assignments, group projects, and experiences in the class. etc. Students have alleged that other students in these class-based channels are engaging in discrimination, harassment, and sexualized violence in the form of racism, ableism, transphobia, and sexism as well as other forms of interpersonal attacks, including doxing (maliciously posting private and identifying information about another person).

As part of promoting a safe, respectful and supportive learning environment, it is recommended that faculty and instructors:

1. Remind students the University will not tolerate racism, sexualized violence, or any form of discrimination, bullying or harassment, including in online spaces. For more information or to report concerns about online student conduct, students can contact: onlineconduct@uvic.ca
2. Consider ways you could provide students in your course with spaces for community building, collaboration and building digital literacy skills. At UVic, one option is to use a class Team. LTSI is available to support you in choosing and using learning technologies for your courses. Please email us at ltsisupport@uvic.ca.

• The Fall 2022 term course schedule has been extended by one day from Friday December 2, 2022 to now end on Monday December 5, 2022.
• To account for the adjustment to the September calendar, Monday, Dec. 5th will incorporate the Friday course schedule and all classroom bookings will reflect this revision. Monday classes will not be scheduled on December 5, 2022.
• The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women will be observed between 11:30 am and 12:30 pm on December 5, 2022. Classes and exams are not scheduled during this time.
• The December final exam period will begin on December 7, 2021 and run until December 21, 2022.

Instructors can help support the transition process of International students arriving to campus this Fall by being flexible and understanding. Many of the strategies instructors may use for short term absences may also be effective to support the transition of international students. For example, instructors can provide students with PowerPoint slides or other digital course materials, or offer to meet with students during virtual office hours to review missed session(s). While recording lectures is not required or expected, impacted students would likely find such recordings beneficial as they transition into the in-person environment. To successfully complete the course, the student must meet course requirements. It is important to be clear about what those core requirements are in the syllabus, so students can choose whether to stay registered in the course.