Survey to request alternative teaching arrangements has been reopened

Dear Colleagues:  

• This email contains updated information for faculty, staff, and graduate students with teaching obligations (“instructors”) to request alternative teaching arrangements for fall 2020. 
• The form for requesting alternative teaching arrangements has been REOPENED.  Requests should be submitted on the linked form by July 27, 2020.   

As you recall, we originally opened the online request form on June 29 and with a priority deadline for submission of requests by July 6. We had a significant response from instructors – over 550 requests – that were forwarded to departments on July 9. Since July 7, instructors who accessed the form received a message encouraging them to contact their chair, director, or regional campus leadership to request alternative teaching arrangements. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve nationally and in our campus counties, Faculty Senate has requested that we reopen the form for instructors, and I agree this is a good idea for instructors. While we know that our students value a face-to-face experience, we also know that we cannot offer all of our classes in the typical manner and safely fit within available space and it has been helpful to know that instructors are willing to teach remotely.  

Faculty, graduate students, and staff with fall teaching responsibilities may request alternative teaching arrangements due to COVID-19 based on the following reasons:  

1) Qualified Disability: Instructors with a disability covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) who wish to request alternative teaching arrangements or other reasonable accommodation should complete the linked form. The Office of University Accessibility will work with the instructor through an expedited process. 

2) Increased-Risk Exemption Request: Instructors who themselves or whose household member is identified as “at increased risk” or as ”might be at increased risk” for severe illness by the CDC  (older adults, people of any age with certain underlying health conditions, or people who need extra precautions) should complete the linked form to request alternative teaching arrangements. 

• Note: CDC guidelines related to increased risk of severe illness have recently been updated based on new evidence, including the addition of several new categories (e.g., pregnancy, lower obesity threshold, children with complex health conditions) and the division of underlying health conditions into “at increased risk” or “might be at increased risk” of severe illness. Please check https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/index.html.
• The CDC may update its information at any time in response to evolving evidence. Instructors are encouraged to monitor the CDC webpage to determine whether they meet current guidelines for increased risk.   

3) Other  COVID-Related Request: Instructors who do not have a qualified disability, do not meet the CDC’s definition of people who are at increased risk for severe illness or live in the same household as someone who is at increased risk, but have other COVID-19 related reasons to request alternative teaching arrangements (e.g., childcare issues, caretaker for an older person not a member of the same household) should complete the form contained in the link above.   
 
If your situation has changed and you would like to be considered for alternative teaching arrangements, please complete the linked form by July 27, 2020. If your personal situation changes after July 27, please inform your chair, director, or regional campus leadership as soon as possible.  
 
NOTE: Please do not use the hyperlinked form, above, to request alternative work arrangements that are not teaching-related. In that circumstance you are encouraged to contact your chair, director, or supervisor as soon as possible to discuss options.   

Once an individual request is submitted, this information will be compiled and sent to the appropriate department/school and college or regional campus. No personal medical information will be disclosed to your academic unit.  
 
We will continue to monitor the pandemic as cases rise across the country, and we will update this planning process as necessary in response. Our students’ educational success is in your capable hands. Thank you for the tremendous effort you are making on their behalf.  

Elizabeth Sayrs
Executive Vice President and Provost