Message from the Provost Regarding Quarantine

Dear Colleagues:

Earlier today, President Standifird announced all students will be quarantined for the next two weeks while faculty and staff access will be unchanged. It does mean, however, we will move to fully remote teaching for that period of time. The reasons for this decision are detailed in his message. We did anticipate this possibility as we were planning for the fall semester. I am confident you are all prepared to make this change quickly. I am also grateful to the large number of you who participated in the FOLD training this summer and/or previously participated in the Quality Matters program. I am writing to provide some detail on how we will proceed with academic delivery for the next two weeks.

IT tells us we have adequate bandwidth to deliver all of our courses remotely and for students to take those courses online. Students have, however, been encouraged to connect their computers directly to a router using an ethernet cable.

For those of you transitioning from face-to-face to online teaching, we encourage you to consider asynchronous delivery for the next two weeks. Asynchronous delivery will make it easier for roommates who are quarantined to a dormitory room to participate in their classes and minimize their interference with each other’s learning. While we are confident we have adequate bandwidth, asynchronous delivery will also reduce the burden on it. For those of you delivering your courses synchronously, please remember to only use the days and times assigned in the published schedule of classes. You may continue to use your assigned classroom for remote delivery if that is your preference.

While I am confident all or nearly all of you are prepared to make this quick switch to online delivery, you may reach out to learn@bradley.edu if you need some support for this change.

We will provide students who live in campus housing units that experience lower internet bandwidth access to some classrooms in Westlake Hall for reliable Wi-Fi.

We have identified a small group of experiential classes for which we will grant exceptions to the campus-wide quarantine. These exceptions are focused on students who need to complete certain experiences in order to graduate in December or May. These exceptions may include graduating students who are participating in classes such as student teaching or capstone projects. Your department chair will be able to tell you which classes or experiences are approved for ongoing face-to-face contact.

Walter R. Zakahi
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

–Sent to all Employees on 09/08/2020