Easing of COVID-19 Restrictions
This week, Governor Walz announced a three-step process to lifting restrictions, beginning today, May 7, and continuing into the summer. The initial changes, which impact outdoor events, were communicated to students and employees today.
Click on the image below to see a summary of the changes in the three-step process. We are encouraged to see steps being taken as vaccine rates continue to increase.
At this time, we are planning to use classroom distancing measures as outlined by MDH for the summer (6 feet) and fall (3 feet). We will continue to monitor all guidance provided to institutions of higher education, determining changes as needed as the guidance is updated.
Feedback on Lecture Capture and Teaching Modalities
This afternoon, I hosted a Provost Coffee Hour to solicit faculty feedback on using lecture capture and teaching in various modalities. The hour passed so quickly! I was impressed by the thoughtful perspectives shared and the creative ideas suggested for increasing support for faculty and students going forward. I invite you to continue thinking about the working draft of the Assumptions for Post-COVID Learning Environments document. Please provide your feedback or additional thoughts through the end of May by accessing this anonymous Qualtrics link.
We have also opened a survey for students to share about their learning experiences in our four teaching modalities (i.e., face-to-face, blended, hybrid, virtual). At this point we have over 270 responses from Traditional and PSOC students. These results, along with feedback from faculty and staff, will be analyzed by the Academic Continuity Team (ACT) to help shape recommendations for the fall.
Summer Professional Development
Once again this summer, we are planning a series of helpful professional development opportunities for you. The Online Learning Office and Academic Technology have been gathering training ideas from faculty, groups on campus, and surveys that have been conducted. We are pleased to offer classes and workshops, such as Best Practices in Online Teaching (BPOT) and Improving Your Online Course (IYOC) through Quality Matters, in addition to a full series of webinars on topics such as using Moodle and Zoom. To help encourage participation in these development opportunities, incentives will once again be available for faculty who progress in their professional development. More information will be provided in the near future.
Free Navigating Grief with Humor Course
If you were able to attend today's Faculty Symposium keynote with Dr. Melissa Mork, you know how important it is for us to have strategies for resilience and effective ways to cope with loss. In partnership with our Media network, Melissa will be offering later this June a free online course, Navigating Grief with Humor. Registration will open on June 7. At that time, you can go to https://myktis.com/ for more details about the course and registration process.
Melissa's course follows another successful free online course, entitled Christ through the Gospels, which Melissa Larson is facilitating. This course, which begins on Monday, May 10, has over 3,300 registrants (Note: registration for this course is now closed). I rejoice in the creative collaboration taking place between Northwestern University and Northwestern Media, with the opportunity to impact many lives for God's kingdom!