Dear all,
As the spread of the coronavirus continues, our university like many others is taking all serious measurements needed to assure the safety of our community members. We applaud the university for its responsiveness to this serious situation affecting our society in large. We would like to assure you that we are communication with the administration we have met with representatives from both the Provost’s Office and the FCPE at which time we raised questions and concerns that many of you have shared with us in order to clarify several points related to faculty rights:
Firstly, the administration has assured us that they are trying to address all of the various scenarios that have or may materialize in the coming weeks but at the moment they are prioritizing the conversion to online instruction. Faculty vary widely with respect to their experience in online instruction and not all courses are easily or even able to be converted to an online mode of instruction. For some, online instruction is business as usual. Others may be starting from zero and this unanticipated need might be daunting. We have a mutual understanding that faculty have the right to evaluate what can be delivered online and the online conversion is subject to faculty review. At the same time, the university will provide all resources and specific support needed for the course goals to be met, while working with faculty at every level of technological knowledge and experience. The University has pledged to provide whatever resources and help any faculty needs to be successful for all courses. If the information and resources provided are not enough for you, please reach out to the FCPE to ask for what you need. If you anticipate specific challenges related to a specific educational activity/goals for your course, we highly recommend contacting the FCPE to get more intensive assistance. Additionally, we ask that you reach out to your part-time faculty colleagues and make sure that they are aware of the support that exists for them.
Many of you are asking the same or similar questions. We want to try to provide clear answers for the following issues:
Ownership of online course materials: Article XXIII Section 7 of the CBA addresses distance education and the ownership of online course materials developed by a faculty member for their courses. In short, a faculty member retains ownership of any material that they put up online for their classes unless they have specifically entered into a “work for hire” situation with the university.
Changes to course syllabi: Faculty are permitted to/may open up their syllabi and make adjustments as they see fit in order to provide student instruction and any such changes should be communicated to students.
Exams: Faculty should prepare for the possibility that all exams will need to be taken remotely and make any changes that might be necessary. The FCPE is looking into a variety of ways to help faculty navigate this process. For some classes or laboratories, where assessments are not done by a traditional exam, faculty may need to be creative and/or flexible in how assessments can be completed. We are assured that the administration is supportive of any changes that need to be made.
Students: At present, students are allowed to stay on campus and use the facilities. Any change in this policy will be communicated across the campus community.
Telecommuting Agreement: Faculty who are telecommuting during this crisis will not be expected to sign a special telecommuting agreement as we all understand that this is a unique situation. Faculty who have regular telecommuting arrangements will still need to abide by the parameters of their specific agreement. Faculty who are presented with guidelines or asked to sign agreements at variance with or in addition to existing policies should forward these materials to the union.
There are also a number of issues that have not yet fully been resolved but we wanted you to know that we are aware that they may be of concern:
Peer Review Process: There are upcoming deadlines in peer review processes. The Provost has not yet decided what to do with those deadlines but we will work to ensure that no faculty member is adversely affected by this disruption of campus activity.
Service Obligations: Currently, while classes are cancelled, the University remains open. Faculty should expect to continue to do their committee and other service work with the understanding that much of it may be moved online.
Campus Access: Currently, the Garden City campus is open and faculty should feel free to do their work from their office. The administration is considering ways to use the empty classrooms at the Manhattan Center as an additional space where faculty can do work. Since this is an evolving situation, this could change, especially if someone on campus is diagnosed with the virus. In such a case, the university may be shut down rather quickly and, at least temporarily, no one would be able to come on campus. Faculty should be prepared for this eventuality and keep materials to which they might need access (current course materials, student records, peer review documents, etc.) with them should the campus need to be closed.
We understand that this is confusing and disruptive but we encourage faculty to take advantage of the resources and support being offered by the Provost and in particular the FCPE. We also assure you we are in communication with the administration during these difficult times and encourage you to reach out to us if you have concerns or questions.
Faculty have the most direct accountability for ensuring the continuity of instruction for our students.