Support for teaching hybrid classes using lecture capture technology
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Update from Dr. Matt Hill, Director of Athletics
Context from the Fall and COVID-19
- The NCAA and UMAC Conference canceled all formal scheduled contests for the fall. We were allowed to schedule as we liked but there were no games scheduled by the NCAA or UMAC. We were unable to play any football games. We were able to play about 25% of normal scheduling:
- 17 men’s and women’s soccer games,
- 10 men’s and women’s cross country meets,
- 7 men’s and women’s golf matches,
- 19 volleyball games including hosting the national volleyball championship, and
- NCAA and UMAC Conference have moved the fall sports to the spring this year.
Impact on the Spring Schedule
- This means we will have 18 sports competing this spring instead of the normal 8!
- The team schedules will be less than normal, but still many more games overall than typical with the additional sports occurring.
- The busiest months will be the last two weeks of March, all of April, and the first two weeks of May.
- The scheduling is 90% done by the UMAC Conference for the nine universities of the UMAC. I as Athletic Director only have approximately 10% freedom in the schedule since it is a puzzle that fits for all 9 universities.
- One good note, when we did the SOAR project almost 7 years ago and added turf and lights we reduced missed class time 68% since we could move home games to late afternoon and night instead of during the class day. An added bonus is because of our great facilities some teams choose to play us here instead of having an away game.
- Spring is the most unpredictable time for weather so we end up having to reschedule games due to snow or rain.
- We cannot control game times for away games – and most universities in our conference do not have lights so we have day games with them.
Prioritizing Academics
- We stress reducing missed class time as much as possible and creative scheduling (e.g. as many games at night and on Saturday as possible).
- We follow the missed class time in the faculty handbook and students and coaches are aware of the policy.
- Per NCAA and UNW, student athletes are not allowed to miss class for practice unless it is at the end of the year on the road for a championship.
- Lecture capture has been wonderful for those who can’t be present at a class or who can watch the class later. We’ve had professors in the past that have recorded their class so student athletes could watch later if they had to be absent – now we have that capability in every classroom and proven it works. So has hybrid learning. Great!
- Bottom line, hopefully we can keep missed class time to a minimum and utilize the technology that has been put in place to give our students a great academic and athletic experience. We have always appreciated the flexibility of our faculty and coaches!
- As always, if there are issues, please contact me directly (mbhill@unwsp.edu) and we will work through them.