Faculty will teach their courses remotely as directed by campus leadership. We are currently working with faculty as they adapt to their courses for remote delivery. These adaptations may result in changes to course requirements, assignments, and examinations. Information about assistance with making these changes is available under “Individual and Group Assistance” on Keep Teaching.

We expect that faculty will adapt their courses in a variety of ways. Faculty may choose asynchronous techniques, recording presentations for playback by students, creating interactive assignments, providing readings, asking for writing assignments, etc. Faculty can also choose a synchronous technique, for example, to hold a virtual class session during the regular class meeting time, using Blackboard Collaborate (supported by DoIT) or other tools the faculty member is accustomed to using.

Faculty who have never used remote teaching tools are encouraged to obtain assistance from the Center for Teaching Excellence or the Division of Information Technology.

We are asking all faculty members to communicate their expectations, and update their syllabi, to reflect the transition to remote delivery.

There are very few classes that cannot be taught remotely and faculty members are expected to make every effort to do so. Remote teaching might not be the best format for a particular course but we are in unusual circumstances and the best format might not be an option.

If a faculty member cannot determine how their specific course can be taught online, they should report the course and why it cannot be taught in a remote format to their Chair and Dean.

Tips and other resources for students are available under “Resources to Share with Students” on the Keep Teaching site.

Contact the library for assistance with Course Materials Support including scans or links in Blackboard to articles, textbooks, ebooks, streaming video, book chapters, and open educational resources. Some textbook publishers have eased access to digital materials, including Pearson and Cambridge.

In general, the academic integrity expectations of in-person learning transfers to remotely delivered content. See the resources on Keep Teaching, including Addressing Academic Dishonesty in the Online Classroom [pdf] and Online Assessment Best Practices for Faculty. [pdf]

Faculty are encouraged to move high-stakes tests that would require proctoring to outside of the remote teaching period (which currently ends on April 5) or develop alternative ways of evaluation (e.g., papers, take-home exams, quizzes or exams through Blackboard that do not need proctoring, etc.) for use during the remote teaching period. The University is looking into test proctoring options should the remote teaching period be extended.

A faculty member cannot independently assign a Pass/Fail grade rather than a letter grade for a student.

An undergraduate student may request the Pass/Fail option of this form [pdf] which then must be approved by the advisor and academic Dean and they may request this up to the W date of a term (which has been extended to 4/6/202 for the full spring semester). Please note that the Pass-Fail option can only be used on free electives and not for the major, do not count towards the hours for President’s/Dean’s list (See grading policies), and a Pass grade is not calculated into the GPA. Because of these aspects of the Pass/Fail option, there are scholarship/fellowship implications and students considering this option should check with the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarship for details.

Graduate students normally must request the Pass/Fail option prior to registration. Because of the unusual circumstance, the Graduate School will approve requests up to the W date of a term (which has been extended to 4/6/202 for the full spring semester). However, note that the restrictions on Pass/Fail grading published in the Graduate Bulletin are applicable: the content must be outside the student’s major area or student and not on the program of study. In addition, many graduate courses only allow standard grading. Note that a pass/fail grade should reflect that the student must have a grade of C or higher for graduate credit.

• Part of Term 30 (Standard Part of Term; Full Semester): Last day to withdraw with grade of ‘W’ has been changed to April 6, 2020.
• Part of Terms 3B (Spring II), 3A2, 3B0, 3B1, 3B2, 3B3, 3BA: Refund and course withdrawal dates have been adjusted using a start date on or after March 23, 2020.

All part of term refund and course withdrawal dates can be found at: Codes Part of Terms. Please note that course end dates have not changed, and that students are responsible for all course requirements for the semester.

We expect that faculty will adapt their courses in a variety of ways. Faculty may choose asynchronous techniques, recording presentations for playback by students, creating interactive assignments, providing readings, asking for writing assignments, etc. Faculty can also choose a synchronous technique, for example, to hold a virtual class session during the regular class meeting time, using Blackboard Collaborate (supported by DoIT) or other tools the faculty member is accustomed to using.

We are asking all faculty members to communicate their expectations, and update their syllabi, to reflect the transition to remote delivery.

We are asking faculty to post chapters as needed on Blackboard or find alternative open educational resources for students to access. Students who are within a reasonable distance of the university are encouraged to get their notes and books from their Columbia residence. Students are allowed to enter residence halls to collect their belongings needed for class.

Some textbook publishers have eased access to digital materials, including Pearson and Cambridge.

We are committed to ensuring you can complete the semester and fulfill your academic requirements.

Tips and other resources for students are available under “Resources to Share with Students” on the Keep Teaching site.

An undergraduate student may request the Pass/Fail option of this form [pdf] which then must be approved by the advisor and academic Dean and they may request this up to the W date of a term (which has been extended to 4/6/202 for the full spring semester). Please note that the Pass-Fail option can only be used on free electives and not for the major, do not count towards the hours for President’s/Dean’s list (See grading policies), and a Pass grade is not calculated into the GPA. Because of these aspects of the Pass/Fail option, there are scholarship/fellowship implications and students considering this option should check with the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarship for details. Check with the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships before making a decision. 

Graduate students normally must request the Pass/Fail option prior to registration. Because of the unusual circumstance, the Graduate School will approve requests up to the W date of a term (which has been extended to 4/6/202 for the full spring semester). However, note that the restrictions on Pass/Fail grading published in the Graduate Bulletin are applicable: the content must be outside the student’s major area or student and not on the program of study. In addition, many graduate courses only allow standard grading. Note that a pass/fail grade should reflect that the student must have a grade of C or higher for graduate credit.