some updates! faculty coaches, remote teaching resources, and stop-the-clock

[Bill Maurer]

    Dear social sciences faculty, lecturers, grad students, staff and researchers,

    I hope everyone is finding some down time as the summer continues along
    and Summer Session I concludes. Thank you to everyone who has been
    teaching and TAing--I hope it went well! And I hope those approved for
    Phase 2 research activities are having a productive time on campus while
    adhering to their agreed-upon safety protocols.

    A few key updates: The virus is still spreading, but our public health
    officials are reaffirming that the three simple measures advocated since
    the beginning--wearing face coverings, maintaining physical distance of 6
    feet from others, and frequent hand washing or hand sanitizing--really do
    work wonders in curtailing the infection rate. I am writing once again to
    urge you all to continue these practices and be vigilant. As you know,
    there's been a dramatic increase in cases across the country and in
    California, and while it may be plateauing, it's far higher than where
    we were in March. All our reopening plans hang in the balance unless we
    can get that rate down again.

    Speaking of reopening: Let's keep planning for Fall and Winter remote
    instruction. It will be a happy day if we learn that Winter can proceed in
    person or partially in person. But, as Edna Mode says in The Incredibles,
    luck favors the prepared. To that end, I am pleased to announce four
    faculty instructional coaches have agreed to assist faculty, lecturers
    and grad students in preparing course materials so that we can offer
    our students a truly high quality learning experience. Ian Straughn
    (Anthro) will assist in devising strategies for keeping students engaged;
    Marek Kaminski (Poli Sci) will assist in all things related to quizzes,
    exams and assessment; Kristin Turney (Sociology) will lend her expertise
    in video lecture strategy and production; and Gustavo Oliveira (Global
    and International Studies) will help you in getting into the right
    mindset for remote instruction: re-envisioning your class, adjusting
    your syllabi, using other sources of content to complement lectures,
    and achieving that perfect alchemy of synchronous and asynchronous
    instruction. They will be holding regular office hours and will also
    be sharing videos and other information via email and our Remote site,
    with their own announcements and resources here--please check it out
    now for events already scheduled for next week! We will send emailed
    reminders to those who are or will be teaching.

    We also continue to retain the talents of Janet DiVincenzo, instructional
    designer extraordinaire who stands ready to assist and can be reached
    at jdivince@uci.edu. All campus resources for remote instruction are
    at https://dtei.uci.edu/, including self-paced training modules for
    instructors.

    Finally, for faculty, note that we all have the option of using the
    Covid "Stop the Clock" (for assistant professors) or one-year deferral
    (for everyone else) for personnel reviews. More information is available
    here. I want to assure everyone that there is no stigma at all attached to
    using these options. CAP and AP have also underscored this. In addition,
    you can opt out of your stop-the-clock should you decide to do so at a
    later date. The pandemic is affecting us all in different ways and the
    campus is committed to ensuring faculty receive appropriate accommodations
    for their personnel reviews.

    That's all for now! For those preparing for Summer Session II, best
    wishes! And for everyone, have a safe and happy summer!

    Bill