Safer Return at Cal Poly Pomona

Instructional Continuity

Date: 3/6/2020
From: Provost - Vice President for Academic Affairs
Subject: Instructional Continuity

Dear Faculty Colleagues:

The Cal Poly Pomona community is preparing for the possibility that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) could impact our ability to come onto campus. In Academic Affairs, we need to be prepared to ensure that face-to-face classes and other forms of instruction can be delivered remotely via online services to the maximum extent possible. Blackboard (our learning management system) is an essential tool for this purpose. If you do not already use Blackboard for your classes, you can take some simple steps now. You can easily make your Blackboard course available for your students. Please also upload your syllabus and other course materials. Blackboard also has extensive grading features. For more Blackboard help, see eLearning’s Learning Technologies.

The video conferencing tool Zoom can be used to provide course content to students, and can also serve as a means of providing support to faculty who need assistance with unfamiliar online tools. Zoom has a large library of user-friendly tutorials and training videos.

Office365 OneDrive is an excellent tool for storing important files in the cloud for access from off campus.

We anticipate that there could be students who choose to self-isolate or who prefer to be isolated due to health risk factors. We, therefore, recommend that faculty consider these health issues and exercise compassion and discretion when working with students and colleagues facing challenges.

We also encourage departments and colleges to develop creative strategies to meet the learning objectives of the curriculum should it be become difficult or impossible for faculty, students, or both to come to campus for an extended period.

These preparations should not alarm anyone. Rather, if we are proactive and creative, we will be better prepared for any possible major emergency.

For the latest information related to Coronavirus, please check Cal Poly Pomona’s Health Alert page.

Finally, please ensure that your department, college, and the university have your current emergency contact information. Please log into MyCPP to update your information (Employee Center under Personal Info).

Thank you for all that you do for Cal Poly Pomona and in support of our students.

Sylvia Alva
Provost and Vice President for Academic affairs

Phyllis Nelson
Chair, Academic Senate
Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering