March 2020

Communications sent to the
UW Bothell community in March

 

Mar. 31, 2020 | Start of Spring Quarter and Thank You from Sharon A. Jones, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs

Dear Colleagues:

Let me echo Provost Richards’ message of gratitude. Since March 16th, the Registrar reports that UW Bothell has cancelled less than 10 courses that were originally scheduled for Spring Quarter. In addition, advising appointments continue with the same level of care as before, our administrative staff are keeping our operations moving forward securely, and our broader Academic Affairs team is supporting each other.

This is our transitional week at UW Bothell. Take the time to develop your courses and support structures the way you think is best for this unexpected situation. The most common stress factor reported so far to Undergraduate Learning is that pre-major students are "worried about remote learning." Faculty, please reach out to all students in all of your courses, reassure them, and let them know your plan for this quarter.

Our IT team continues to provide resources for faculty, staff, and students with updated websites at Instructional Continuity page, Student Help for Online Learning page, and Operational Continuity. With collaboration among Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and IT, we are receiving more technology to loan to students and plans are now in place for receiving requests and delivering equipment. Schools are doing the same for curricular items that their students, staff, and faculty need. Please let your Unit heads know what you need during this time.

Kara Adams used the following phrase in one of her recent messages … “Our awareness of and involvement in our community keeps us open, responsive, and responsible to our region.”  This is appropriate not only for our community partners but for own UW Bothell campus community. I am particularly proud of the 21 faculty who are sharing their expertise with remote instruction and going beyond tools to help us to think about the pedagogical strategies we can use during this time. Similarly, the TLC under Dr. Rosenberg’s lead is facilitating cross-campus discussions with faculty and Librarians regarding shared best practices for teaching, peer observations, and other aspects of course delivery associated with remote instruction (more soon from the TLC). These discussions, while serving the primary role of supporting us during this crisis, will also strengthen us as an institution with a mission of access to excellence.

I am proud that the UW decided quickly to establish a mechanism to help our junior faculty. Similarly, I’ve provided the Deans with guidance on how to address peer observations and course evaluations within their Schools and Deans are in the process of sharing that information with you. We will send any clarifications from the Provost’s Office as soon as we get them, however Schools have significant latitude regarding these issues as long as they follow the overarching policies within the Faculty Code.

We are all considering how this crisis is affecting our student body. As of today, Spring enrollment is very strong with all signs showing that our students are eager to continue learning. We’ve put together some advice from various Chronicle of Higher Education articles regarding how we can support our students throughout this quarter. I am certain that you are following these best practices and I am sharing to reaffirm what we are doing together.

As Provost Richards said, “we are in for a long march, not a sprint, so pace yourselves.” Please let us know how we can help via the Office of Academic Affairs feedback form.

With much gratitude,
Sharon

SOME IDEAS FOR HOW WE CAN HELP OUR STUDENTS

Adapted from "Coping with Coronavirus: How faculty can support students in traumatic times," https://connect.chronicle.com/CHE-CS-WC-2020-CVCollection-Faculty_LP.html. Prepared March 2020.

1 Field, Kelly. 2020. 10 Tips to Support Students in a Stressful Shift to Online Learning, Chronicle of Higher Education, Washington, D.C.

2 Head, Karen. 2020. Let’s Add Compassion to Our Online Courses, Chronicle of Higher Education, Washington, D.C.

3 Gannon, Kevin. 2020. How to Make Your Online Pivot Less Brutal, Chronicle of Higher Education, Washington, D.C.

4 Lang, James. 2020. Small Changes in Teaching: Making Connections, Chronicle of Higher Education, Washington, D.C.

Mar. 30, 2020 | A spring quarter like no other from Chancellor Wolf Yeigh

Dear UW Bothell Community,

In any other times, this would be my typical “welcome back” to spring quarter message. I'd also say that you're rounding the third base to finish out the year and that graduation is only a few weeks away.

But so much has changed in recent weeks, and I know these changes have brought much burden, anxiety, frustration and uncertainty. I want you to know that we're all working hard to help each other in these difficult times. And thank you for doing your part.

In an atypical way: Welcome Back! All of you who have registered for the spring quarter, you are indeed still rounding the third base to finish out the year. Our faculty and staff have been working furiously to make the classroom transition into an online learning environment. As we're just starting this, I know working remotely will get better as we move through the quarter.

As with with the classroom environment, we're also working to deliver traditional services online as well — library, registration, bursar, among others. Please be patient as we address the challenges and make improvements. Your constructive feedback is most appreciated.

We all have many questions. We have answers to some of them. Many we don't know, but we're seeking answers and resolutions to them. Please keep these questions coming. When we know something definitive, we'll be sure to post it on our coronavirus webpages — which have been expanded with an FAQ section. Campus and academic leadership teams will reach out to you with information as well.

There is one overarching principle that guides and grounds our thinking and actions: Do what is right for you and in the best interest of the UW Bothell community that supports our students, staff and faculty.

Again, thank you for what you are doing in this extraordinary time.

Wolf Yeigh, Ph.D., F.ASME
Chancellor and Professor of Engineering

Mar. 27, 2020 | Technology Access and Resources from from the Dean of Student Affairs, Tim Wilson

Dear Huskies—

It would be an understatement to say that this will be a spring quarter the likes of which we have never seen before. Because this is new for everyone, I wanted to take a few minutes to highlight resources and other information to be aware of so that your experience with remote learning can be as effective as possible.

To help you succeed in a remote learning environment, UW Bothell has developed a Student Help for Learning Online webpage. 

This page provides resources related to:

PLEASE NOTE:If you have immediate needs for technology or lack home access to the Internet during this time, please be aware that UW Bothell IT will be getting some additional hotspots and laptops over the next few weeks. To help us plan for future needs, fill out this technology needs survey as soon as possible.

Be sure to visit the Student Help for Learning Online page often as it will be updated frequently. If there is something you think should be added to this page, please email uwbit@edu.edu with your feedback.

As I said earlier, this will be a new experience for all of us. Please know that the faculty and staff have been working hard to make this new learning experience as smooth as possible, and that your needs have been—and will remain—our highest priority.

Take care,
Tim Wilson, Ph.D.
Dean of Student Affairs

Mar. 26, 2020 | Spring 2020 Quarter Building and Classroom usage from S. Gowri Shankar, Ph.D., CFA, Interim Vice Chancellor, Planning & Administration

Good morning! As you are all aware, the University of Washington has been on modified operations since March 2, and has moved to restricted operations since March 25, 2020. Even though most UWB employees who can work from home were already doing so, starting March 25, all employees who can telework without hampering critical operations are required to do so. Teleworking is no longer strongly encouraged or strongly suggested; it is mandatory for employees who can do so without hampering critical operations. Employees whose presence on campus is required to maintain critical operations have been appropriately notified by their supervisors.

Spring quarter will start next Monday, March 30, with classes being held remotely. All our buildings will be locked but faculty who need to enter buildings to periodically access their offices to prepare lectures and coursework can do so using their card access/keys. Please use appropriate caution when you are on campus and note that HVAC systems may not be fully operational in the buildings you enter.

Faculty who need to periodically use classrooms or computer labs can access one of the following rooms that will be available for use from 8 am to 10 pm.

Rooms:

Use of these rooms must be reserved with Ms. Kelley Dunn, Events Coordinator who can be reached at uwbecs@uw.edu or Desk 425.352.3556 l Cell 206.920.7053. Typically, room reservations will be prioritized for the use of faculty who are scheduled to teach in a specific time slot. Faculty with classroom reservations will be prioritized over walk-ins.

During the Spring 2020 quarter, UWB campus cafés and Subway will be closed. Business and Academic Offices will also be closed but can be reached remotely to access their services.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

S. Gowri Shankar, Ph.D., CFA, Interim Vice Chancellor, Planning & Administration

Mar. 26, 2020 | Supporting our Staff During "Stay Home, Stay Safe" from Beth Beam, Assistant Vice Chancellor Organizational Excellence & HR

As you may know, on March 23, 2020 Governor Jay Inslee enacted the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” directive. If your position is not critical to the operations of the campus (examples of critical positions include most of facilities services and campus safety positions), you are required to work from home effective Thursday, March 26. Staff and supervisors are asked to be creative in finding and assigning special projects, trainings or professional development work if needed. (Note: it may also be a great time to start working on your performance self-evaluation).  

On March 24, 2020 UW President Ana Mari Cauce stated that this guidance also applies to temporary hourly and student workers if they would have had regularly scheduled work hours between March 26 – April 7. 

In addition to these measures between now and April 7th, the President has also asked all units to suspend non-essential new hiring.  She stated this is not a “freeze” in the technical and administrative sense like was used during the recession. We are simply being asked the use good judgement about what positions are needed right now.  OE/HR will be reaching out to the hiring managers that have open positions to discuss next steps.

What if there isn’t work, or it isn’t possible to work from home?

Before deciding that there isn’t work, It is required that supervisors contact UW Bothell OE/HR (uwboehr@uw.edu) to discuss employees who are in regular, temporary hourly, and student positions in which no telework of any kind is possible. We will work with you to discuss options.

OE/HR and Central HR will help determine if the identified position(s) may be eligible for voluntary temporary reassignment in the medical centers.

If no reassignment opportunity is available for the employee and work at home options including professional development options have been exhausted, we can explore additional options.

Temporary hourly staff or student workers not scheduled to work during March 25-April 7 do not need to be provided paid work, however, you should not take any action to separate them in Workday.  

What happens after April 7?

As you know, things are constantly changing. There may be other decisions made after April 7, but we do not know yet what those will look like.  Look for new resources under UWHR’s Working through COVID-19 website under Time away from work and check uwb.edu/coronavirus for the latest, frequently-updated information.

Where can I find resources for training and professional development?

Is Shared Leave Available for Staff?

As a result of House Bill 2739, signed into law on March 17, the state of Washington’s Shared Leave Program has been expanded to cover COVID-19 related absences.

Staff may request shared leave donations if they, their relative, or household member has a confirmed 2019 novel coronavirus infection or is isolated or quarantined as recommended, requested, or ordered by a public health official or healthcare provider as a result of suspected or confirmed infection with or exposure to the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). This information will be included in the April 1 issue of the UW Insider and can be found on UWHR’s Working during COVID-19 website. For more information on the Shared Leave Program including the changes described above and how to apply, visit UWHR’s Shared Leave Program webpage.  

These are extraordinary times and we all need to think about ways that we can take care of ourselves and each other. As always, please remember your Employee Assistance Program resource, UW CareLink is available if you find you need to talk with someone 24/7 (1-866-598-3978). The OE/HR team is always here to help you as well. Please contact uwboehr@uw.edu  if you have questions.

Beth Beam, Assistant Vice Chancellor Organizational Excellence & HR

Mar. 21, 2020 | Support for Remote Instruction from Penelope Moon, Acting Director of Online Learning Strategy, and Andreas Brockhaus, Executive Director of the Office of Digital Learning & Innovation

As announced by the VCAA in her recent email, UW Bothell IT has been very busy developing resources to help you transition to remote teaching. All of these resources are available on UW Bothell’s Instructional Continuity page, which can be accessed via the UW Bothell homepage. This page is a hub through which you can quickly link to information about how to prepare yourself and your students for remote learning, how to use Canvas, and how to get help when you need it. 

10-week Canvas Course Template

This basic 10-week Canvas course template includes 10 modules, each of which includes a blank overview page, a space for a video lecture, a discussion forum, and a blank quiz/test. Each element contains instructions to help you customize it to fit your course vision. Any of these items can be deleted if they don’t fit with your vision, but they are there, if you need them. The template also includes a module specially designed to help orient students to remote learning.

Remote Teaching 101 crash course

This crash course focuses on how to get the most out of the basic 10-week Canvas template (see above) and transition to Canvas-based teaching. Instructional designers will orient faculty to the template and answer your questions. 

Upcoming sessions:

Open Office Hours

Designed to provide “walk-in” help on remote teaching and course building. Focus will be on helping faculty address advanced questions. For basic questions, please explore the “How To” section of the Instructional Continuity page.

Upcoming open office hours:

Just-in-time video tutorials

Produced by the UW Bothell IT Digital Learning team, these quick videos are designed to get you started transitioning to remote teaching. 

Linking students to learning support

Additionally, we want to call your attention to the UW Bothell Student Help for Learning Online page. This page can be accessed via the UW Bothell homepage and is designed to serve as a hub through which students can link to resources, including UW software downloads, how-to guides for using Zoom and Canvas, equipment checkout, and the help center. Please be sure to point your students to this page and check back as we will continue to update it with new resource links.

We’re here to help! If you have a question about any aspect of transitioning to remote teaching, contact uwbit@uw.edu. 

Thanks,

Penelope Moon, Acting Director of Online Learning Strategy, and Andreas Brockhaus, Executive Director of the Office of Digital Learning & Innovation

Mar. 21, 2020 | Taking Equipment Off-Campus from Christy Long, Assistant Vice Chancellor for IT and Chief Information Officer, and Kendra Yoshimoto, Director Fiscal and Audit Services

Colleagues,

Recognizing that most of our campus work is now remote, faculty and staff who need to utilize UW Bothell office technology to complete their work will be allowed to transport this equipment home. 

If you need to take home University equipment please adhere to the following:  

Per previous campus communication, UW Bothell buildings are card access only. This is similar to weekends or holidays, so that employees who need access to buildings can do so in as safe a manner as possible.

If your card is not working, please contact Campus Safety as they are on-site and can assist.

If you have any questions please contact: uwbit@uw.edu. 

Thanks,

Christy Long, Assistant Vice Chancellor for IT and Chief Information Officer, and Kendra Yoshimoto, Director Fiscal and Audit Services

Mar. 20, 2020 | Vice Chancellor Sharon A. Jones' message to Academic Affairs faculty & staff

Dear Colleagues:

As the Chancellor noted, each member of his leadership team is reaching out with more focused information. My message is being sent to the faculty and staff within Academic Affairs. Please share with others as needed.

First and most important, these are extraordinary circumstances and you should be prioritizing yourself and your families’ health and safety. I do not expect you to be working at the same level of productivity as you would under normal circumstances. This is okay! We are in a collective marathon not a sprint and your well-being is #1.

The Provost’s message on March 18th said that “…for undergraduate courses, treat the first week of the course as transitional [and] the first week must include instruction…” What does that mean for UW Bothell? I know that many of our faculty are facing extreme hardship as you redesign your courses to allow for remote instruction for the first time. I also know that students are stressed as they wonder what remote instruction will be like for an entire quarter. I want you to view that week as additional time to develop your course. The only request is to contact your students so that a) they know when more “formal” instruction will start and b) guide them to Student Help for Learning Online so they can learn how to use technologies, borrow a laptop, get a hot spot, etc. We do not expect anything more. While it is woefully inadequate, the first week is for you to prep your courses. Similarly, use the “finals” week the way you think is best for your course under these circumstances. The best advice I can give is keep it simple.

I suspect you have many other questions about what remote instruction means for Spring quarter and I’ll try to answer some of them. In terms of grading choices, you have considerable more flexibility to use CR/NC if this makes sense for your course during these circumstances. The final decision rests with your School/FYPP and there are consequences to students when using CR/NC. I am asking the Deans to consider how they can provide flexibility with any local decisions regarding CR/NC such that student progress is not negatively affected. In terms of facility use, all of the Spring quarter is remote instruction and as such, students are not allowed in the classroom and laboratory buildings. This applies to all courses. All UW libraries are to be closed per the Provost and President. Remote library services will be provided. See the UWB Library’s Online Learning Support guide for more information.

I want to specifically acknowledge our staff in Academic Affairs who continue to support our work, adjust to remote operations, realize and then address the numerous issues that we could not anticipate, and more. Our academic advising staff will have a particularly heavy burden as students try to understand what remote instruction means for them in terms of course changes, grading changes, financial needs, and many other issues.

Student Help for Learning Online has been created and will continue to be updated with resources to support students during this remote instruction period. This page includes information to address student inequities in terms of access to technology. If a faculty or staff member is concerned about a specific student’s access to technology (including computers and internet), we encourage you to submit a NAVIGATE Academic Alert by logging into uwb.campus.eab.com and selecting “Issue an Alert” from the Actions box on the right.  They can then search on the student's name and select “COVID-19: Student Has Limited Access to Technology”  as an alert reason.  Please include a brief note in the comments box with specific needs. Note that while all of the Library’s loaner laptops are checked out, we have purchased several more and are re-purposing others so that we will have additional loaners by the start of Spring quarter.

In partnership with my Office, the Deans, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Learning, and several key faculty and staff, the UW Bothell IT team facilitated the development of our Campus Plan for Remote Instruction. The plan provides information about support, training, and technology access for faculty, staff, and students. The plan will be available on Friday, March 20 and is located on our Instructional Continuity page. UW Bothell IT has also developed a basic 10-week Canvas course template to help faculty get started transitioning their teaching to Canvas. The template includes instructions to help faculty build their course and a primer module specially designed to orient students to learning remotely. Our IT Digital Learning team is available to help you transition to remote teaching so please email uwbit@uw.edu for help. They are also holding office hours and proving Live(!) training sessions titled Remote Teaching 101 to walk you through how to use the 10-week Canvas template.

Friday, 3/20, 10am-12pm https://washington.zoom.us/j/713549252
Tuesday, 3/24, 1-3pm https://washington.zoom.us/j/489386731
Thursday, 3/26, 10am-12pm https://washington.zoom.us/j/874002091

In addition, our Schools and FYPP have identified faculty who have agreed to support their colleagues in their respective units as they transition to remote instruction. The faculty peer support teams include Drs. Shauna Carlisle, Alice Pedersen, Wadiya Udell, and Camille Walsh in IAS, Drs. Codrin Nedita and Naveen Kumar in BUS, Dr. Jason Naranjo in SES, Drs. Charity Lovitt, Avery Shinneman, and Gavin Doyle in FYPP, Drs. Jody Early, Meghan Eagan-Torkko, Stefanie Iverson-Cabral, and Stoerm Anderson in NHS, and Drs. Bryan White, Mark Kochanski, Yusuf Pisan, Nicole Hoover, Robin Angotti, and Matt Gliboff in STEM. Thank you!

You should be aware that students are particularly worried about privacy issues with remote instruction. There have been reports of students taking screen shots of fellow students on Zoom and using them as unkind memes. This type of behavior violates the student conduct code in terms of academic misconduct and/or harassment or bullying. Faculty, please speak to this issue of virtual etiquette in your syllabi so we can be proactive.

The Provost’s Office and the Faculty Senate are in discussions to address the implications of these extraordinary circumstances for promotion and tenure along with other academic human resources issues. I realize this has to be a particularly stressful time for our assistant professors. I am hoping that we receive guidance very soon. I am asking Deans to provide as much flexibility as possible regarding the subset of academic human resources issues that are subject to local School policy.

Other members of the Chancellor’s Executive Team will be addressing a variety of these issues in separate messages. Please remember that you can provide anonymous feedback to my Office via the Office of Academic Affair feedback form.

Last but certainly not least, all of us in my Office realize that the impacts to your life go well beyond UW Bothell operations. Please keep the community in your hearts and minds as we work through this extraordinary time.

Sincerely,
Sharon

Mar. 20, 2020 | UW Bothell remote learning and resources for spring quarter from Chancellor Wolf Yeigh

Dear UW Bothell students,

I write today to follow-up on the tri-campus decisions about the spring quarter and University operations through June 12 that were announced yesterday by UW President Ana Mari Cauce and Provost Mark Richards.

I know you likely have questions about how this will affect your work and studies. Please know that I, my executive team, our deans and other campus leaders are working on how to implement these decisions within the UW Bothell campus community.

In the coming days, we will share more information and resources as they become available via email, on the UW Bothell website and through other communications channels.

Today, I ask for your continued patience while we plan to modify operations and engage more deeply in a remote learning environment with you over the next quarter.

If you have any questions, concerns or ideas to share, please bring them to faculty, your academic advisers, your school dean, the interim associate vice chancellor for undergraduate learning or the dean of Student Affairs so that they can work with campus leadership to provide you the information and resources you need to be successful.

In this time of uncertainty, I also strongly encourage you to take good care of yourself. Your physical and mental well being is of the utmost importance. Be patient with yourself as we navigate the next few weeks and months together. We all will be stronger as we work together.

You can find links to yesterday’s announcements, a new FAQ just for students and other pertinent information and resources on the webpages listed below, all of which are being updated on a regular basis.

Thank you again — each of you — for being active and contributing members of our UW Bothell community.

Bjong Wolf Yeigh, Ph.D., F.ASME
Chancellor and Professor of Engineering

Mar. 20, 2020 | UW Bothell operations for spring quarter from Chancellor Wolf Yeigh

Dear UW Bothell faculty and staff,

I write today to follow-up on the tri-campus decisions about the spring quarter and University operations through June 12 that were announced yesterday by UW President Ana Mari Cauce and Provost Mark Richards.

I know you have questions about how this will affect your work and our campus policies and procedures. Please know that I, my executive team, our deans and other campus leaders are working on how to implement these decisions within the UW Bothell campus community.

In the coming days, we will share more information and resources as they become available via email, on the UW Bothell website and through other communications channels.

Today, I ask for your continued patience and participation while we, as needed, modify our operations and prepare to engage even more deeply in a remote learning environment through the next quarter.

If you have any questions, concerns or ideas to share, please bring them to your direct supervisor, dean, vice chancellor or my office so that we can work to provide you the information and resources you need. You can also use the following feedback forms:

In this time of uncertainty — even as we remain focused on serving our students and supporting each other — I encourage you to take good care of yourself. Your physical and mental well being is of the utmost importance. Be patient with yourself as we navigate the next few weeks and months together. We all will be stronger as we work together.

You can find links to yesterday’s announcements, a new FAQ for students and other pertinent information and resources on the webpages listed below, all of which are being updated on a regular basis.

Thank you again — each of you — for your continued support of our students and commitment to our UW Bothell community.

Bjong Wolf Yeigh, Ph.D., F.ASME
Chancellor and Professor of Engineering

Mar. 17, 2020 | UWB/CC Library closed, effective March 17 5pm from Sarah Leadley, Director of UW Bothell and Cascadia College Library, and Christy Long, Assistant Vice Chancellor for IT and CIO

Hello everyone,

March 17, 2020 - In coordination with University leadership, the decision has been made to close the UW Bothell and Cascadia College Library. All tri-campus UW Libraries will be closed to the public effective Tuesday, March 17, at 5 p.m. with the exception of limited circulation services to the extent local staffing permits.

Services and support for teaching and learning continue remotely, please see our Online Learning Support website for updates and additional information.

The UWB IT Helpdesk will also be closed to in-person services (this includes media equipment checkout services). At this time, we will shift to remote services and the best way to reach us is: uwbit@uw.edu. Emergency hardware and/or in-person services will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Please visit our Instructional Continuity, Operational Continuity, and Student Help for Online Learning webpages for information and support.

The health and safety of our staff and users is the priority, and it is imperative for us to support public health guidelines on social distancing. The current operational plan is in effect until the beginning of spring quarter. Libraries will continue to work collaboratively with University leadership to assess and announce operations for spring quarter as they are confirmed.

Thank you for your continued partnership and patience as we navigate this very fluid situation.

I will follow-up with additional information about specific library services as soon as I can.

Sarah Leadley, Associate Dean and Library Director
Christy Long, Assistant Vice Chancellor for IT and Chief Information Officer

Mar. 16, 2020 | Support for Staff through Coronavirus from Assistant Vice Chancellor for OEHR Beth Beam

In this unprecedented time we are all being impacted personally and professionally by the effects of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Further, we are being flooded with ever changing information that can cause uncertainty and stress. To helpful mitigate this just a titch, OE/HR has created FAQ documents for staff and managers, has researched some additional resources, and will be hosting a weekly, 30 minute, community connection Zoom meeting starting next week. We need feedback from you to organize and support these sessions. Please follow the UW Bothell Community link below to complete the survey.

As we all are experiencing the impacts of this pandemic, let’s look for ways to come together and connect while engaging in social distancing. We can creatively show our shared concern, compassion and care for each and ourselves by connecting, while many are working remotely.

In support of this intention, we are offering the following:

The following documents are attached to this email:

All of these documents will be available on the UW Bothell Coronavirus webpage.

Beth Beam
Assistant Vice Chancellor Organizational Excellence & HR

Mar. 11, 2020 | Academic Affairs COVID-19 Update from Sharon A. Jones, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for the tremendous work you’ve done over the past few days so that our students can complete the Winter quarter successfully. Faculty are helping peers as they move to online instruction for the first time. Staff are helping each other so that students continue to benefit from excellent service across multiple units including advising and academic planning. All operations are continuing despite the very uncertain and dynamic situation. And our Academic Affairs leadership team continues to provide me with good counsel to guide agile decision-making. Your commitment to our students and each other is evident in the creative solutions you’ve enacted to maintain continued excellence in teaching and learning, advising, and the many other ways our faculty and staff support our students. Through it all you are displaying compassion and sensitivity that makes us proud to be part of the UW Bothell community. It is humbling to be part of this team.

As President Cauce’s message yesterday indicated, we can expect a decision to be announced no later than March 20 about whether we will begin spring quarter classes in-person or remotely. In the meantime, instructors are strongly encouraged to develop academic continuity plans that consider longer term disruptions, such as a late start or broad online instruction for Spring Quarter, in case they are needed. If we do not need to use these plans, faculty can still use the remote module(s) that you prepared for Spring quarter if that works best for you. Similarly, the remote methods to provide non-instructional academic services will ideally provide our staff with more flexibility once we are past this event.

I’ve asked the Deans and other key staff to provide me with information about the Spring quarter that will be shared with the President and Provost on Monday March 16. We realize that some courses may require very different prepping depending on remote or in person. I’ve asked the Deans to provide me with a list of the Spring courses that could not be taught remotely. I am also in communication with the Registrar’s Office and student service units to be fully coordinated in our planning.

With leadership from the Deans and others in Academic Affairs, we have assembled a draft academic continuity plan that is under review. This work in progress will become a good resource for us for future events. Below is a summary of some of what’s happening within Academic Affairs though it is woefully inadequate as many heroic actions are occurring throughout our community.

Please share your insights with your Deans and supervisors and consider using our feedback tool. Rapid constructive feedback from the entire community that is effectively channeled enables us to continue supporting our faculty and staff while ensuring the best possible learning outcomes for students that fairly recognize their academic work so that these disruptions do not create barriers to academic progress.

Winter Quarter Grading

Grades for Winter quarter are due by 5pm on Tuesday, March 24. The Provost’s March 6 message emphasized that no X grades or I grades should be awarded unless those were arranged before March 2. Any delay in awarding grades can have significant impact to students’ financial aid status, eligibility for graduation, admission to major or graduate study, and ability to participate in commencement.

Although the option exists to change your course grading option to Credit/No Credit, it does create complications for students (admission to major, eligibility for academic honors at graduation, etc.) and should be considered as a last resort. A CR/NC option applies to ALL students in a course, and exceptions to assigning numeric grades cannot be made once changed. To make a request to change your grading option, please complete a request to the Office of the University Registrar which will be processed in our Bothell Registrar’s Office with follow up to the faculty and students as needed. See Registrar information.

Online Support

Please visit the instructional continuity page HERE. The UWB Center for Teaching and Learning has assembled resources for continuity of instruction which can be found HERE. This document puts lots of scattered information into a user-friendly guide.

A UWB IT team met (remotely) with faculty who were suggested by their Deans on Friday March 6 to hear feedback on the types of resources needed. UWB IT is planning more direct support for remote instruction and has a draft plan for Campus Spring Remote Instruction under review by a group of faculty.

Other instructional resources include the UW Center for Teaching and Learning best practice information HERE for teaching and UW IT Connect HERE.

UWB IT also has resources to support staff who are preparing to work remotely HERE and students HERE.

One of the issues that is still under discussion is how to provide access to those in our student population who depend on on-campus technology resources including hardware and software. We have requested that STF consider purchasing additional loaner laptops for students and that process is underway. I am in communication with Deans about additional anticipated technology needs that they expect students to have access to for instructional purposes and possible solutions.

If you are concerned about a student’s access to technology (including computers and internet access), please submit a NAVIGATE Academic Alert by logging into uwb.campus.eab.com (and selecting “Issue an Alert” from the Actions box on the right). You can then search on the students name and select “COVID-19: Student Has Limited Access to Technology” as an alert reason. Please put a brief note in the comments box with specific needs. You can also select other academic concerns at the same time. More information about academic alerts can be found here.

Other Student & Faculty Support

Thanks to Karen Rosenberg and her amazing team, the academic learning centers are fully remote and serving our students as they prepare for finals.

Kara Adams is actively working with Deans, faculty, and partners regarding Winter CBLR courses where students cannot attend in person sessions for the rest of the Winter quarter. She is also identifying the Spring CBLR courses that cannot be conducted remotely for the first part of Spring quarter and communicating with faculty and partners.

Natalia Dyba and the faculty leaders have proactively addressed our UWB spring break study abroad programs.

Academic Advisors across campus have been training on Zoom so that they can provide remote advising to students and are making Zoom and phone options available for students to schedule through Navigate.

Carolyn Brennan checked with the Office of Research Faculty Advisory Board who indicated that it is okay to keep the April deadline for internal seed funding.

Each of our offices has developed, or is in the process of developing, redundancy plans for class coverage, student-facing services, and leadership coverage.

Please go to HERE for updated hours for buildings, dining, student serving offices, and more. This site will be continuously updated.

As I mentioned, the list above is just a sample of the tremendous effort throughout our Academic Affairs community. We are engaged in this process while keeping in mind the University’s policies and our campus mission and values. The most important value that I am witnessing every day is the display of compassion for each other and the broader community. We will need to find ways to recognize the efforts of so many of you who are displaying the humble heroism that we are grateful for. Thank you, UW Bothell!

Sincerely,

Sharon A. Jones, Ph.D., P.E.
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Professor – Division of Engineering and Mathematics

"Everything we do before a pandemic will seem alarmist. Everything we do after will seem inadequate."
- Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services, Pandemic Influenza Leadership Forum, 2007

Mar. 10, 2020 | A Video Message from the Dean of Student Affairs, Tim Wilson

Mar. 10, 2020 | COVID-19 does not discriminate, neither should you from Wayne Au, Acting Dean of Diversity & Equity, UW Bothell and John Eklof, Executive Director of Equity & Inclusion, Cascadia College

Dear Campus Community,

As COVID-19 continues to spread here in the region, we are seeing an increase in reports from faculty, staff, and students at both Cascadia College and UW Bothell who are witnessing or experiencing jokes and comments when someone coughs, with some of these comments and jokes being directed towards Asians and Asian Americans. The administrations of both Cascadia College and UW Bothell want to remind our community that these jokes, comments, and sentiments – racist or otherwise – are completely unacceptable at all times and are inappropriate given the gravity of the current situation.

As Public Health-Seattle & King County remind us, viruses do not discriminate. There can also be a variety of reasons why someone is wearing a medical mask, and most importantly, real people are personally being affected by this virus.

If you experience or witness a bias incident of this nature please report it either to the UW Bothell Bias Reporting System or the Cascadia CARE Team Concerned Student Report.

Although this moment is marked with uncertainty about our immediate future and many are fearful about the spread of COVID-19, this ambiguity and fear are not an excuse for racism and xenophobia towards our Asian and Asian American students and employees — or any other member of our community.

In Solidarity,

John Eklof
Executive Director of Equity & Inclusion
Cascadia College

Wayne Au
Acting Dean of Diversity & Equity, Campus Diversity Officer
Professor, School of Educational Studies
University of Washington Bothell

Mar. 08, 2020 | Library and UWB IT hours update from Sarah Leadley, Director of UW Bothell and Cascadia College Library, and Christy Long, Assistant Vice Chancellor for IT and CIO

Hello everyone,

Taking into consideration the public health recommendations for social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID 19, and reduced staff capacity in the short-term, Library building hours have been revised as follows until further notice.  Please note that the UWB IT Helpdesk is located on the 2nd floor of the Library building.

I anticipate that a limited number of Library staff and student employees will be on-site.  As a result, some in-person services may be reduced. We appreciate your patience as we navigate this challenging situation. During this time, we encourage students, faculty, and staff to utilize the many online library services available.  This website includes information about our 24/7 online research help, as well as the ways in which the Library can provide instructional support for online teaching and learning.

The IT Helpdesk will also be operating with a limited number of staff on-site. Walk-up hours for equipment checkout and in-person support will be the same as the Library hours. Please visit our Instructional Continuity and Operational Continuity webpages for information and support.

We greatly appreciate everyone’s cooperation and flexibility as we navigate this evolving situation, and we will continue to post new information on our websites and via email as updates occur.

Please do let us know if you have any questions,

Sarah Leadley, Associate Dean & Director of UW Bothell and Cascadia College Library
Christy Long, Assistant Vice Chancellor for IT and Chief Information Officer

Mar. 06, 2020 | Update on classes, finals and campus operations from Chancellor Wolf Yeigh

Dear Campus Community, 

I write to follow-up to the message sent this morning from UW President Ana Mari Cauce. 

Let me begin by thanking you for your patience and perseverance in focusing on your studies and work even as we all monitor the spread of the coronavirus and take extra measures to keep ourselves, our families and communities safe. 

As noted in the president’s message, starting on Monday, March 9, classes will no longer be meeting in person. For the remainder of the winter quarter, instructors are asked to conduct classes and/or exams remotely, as possible, until the quarter concludes on March 20. You can read more about this announcement online in a message from UW Provost Mark Richards. 

If you have any questions about the announcement regarding classes and exams or about UW Bothell operations, please consult with your instructors, advisers or supervisors. 

I also write today to call your attention to several important updates: 

In close consultation with UW leadership in Seattle and with public health officials, we will continue to track the health situation and to provide you with needed information and resources. 

All faculty, staff and students are also urged to check the homepage of the UW Bothell website to find direct links to the most up-to-date information from UW in Seattle. The homepage also features a link to campus-specific resources that will be updated regularly with relevant information and instructions. 

I know that there are many people all around campus who are doing amazing work day in and day out on behalf of our students and our entire UW Bothell community. As President Cauce’s message noted, “this University has faced and overcome challenges before. Working together, we will do so again.” 

Thank you for your attention and participation as we all focus on serving our academic mission, continue our daily work and, as always, prioritize the safety of our students, staff and faculty.  

Bjong Wolf Yeigh, Ph.D., F.ASME
Chancellor and Professor of Engineering

Mar. 04, 2020 | New FAQ website re: coronavirus and classes, grades, final exams from Pamela H. Lundquist, Registrar

UWB Faculty,

As we approach the end of winter quarter, final exams, and the grading deadline, I wanted to bring to your attention to a new (as of yesterday, March 3rd) Office of the Registrar FAQ website about the coronavirus and classes, final exams, coursework, grading, graduation, etc. You may find this page useful in answering your own questions, in addition to helping answer questions you’re getting from your students.

The website directs you to the UW Seattle Office of the Registrar email for clarification or questions but feel free to email me directly: perrault@uw.edu or uwbreg@uw.edu.

Pamela H. Lundquist, Registrar

Mar. 03, 2020 | Important Updates on Zoom Enterprise and a Webinar on Instructional Continuity from Christy Long, Assistant Vice Chancellor for IT/ CIO

Colleagues,

Below are two resources available to support instructional and operational continuity:

Christy Long
Assistant Vice Chancellor for IT and Chief Information Officer

Mar. 03, 2020 | Mitigating impacts to research activities due to COVID-19 from Sharon A. Jones, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs

As noted in President Cauce’s February 29 address to the University, the University is closely monitoring the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and associated COVID-19 disease, and extensive emergency procedures are in place. Be sure to read the UW’s coronavirus FAQ page, as it contains important information for everyone in the UW community.

What special planning should researchers carry out? For convenience, we have included a checklist at the bottom of this message.

Emergency personnel

At this time, there are no plans to restrict access to University research spaces, but it is wise for every research group to plan ahead in the event that full access is not possible for some time period. In the case of campus suspended operations, the usual policies would apply. This includes the need for emergency personnel to carry out specified duties. The suspended operations link above includes the definition of emergency personnel, and below are the general categories:

The position is necessary to support or maintain:

In each unit, emergency personnel should be already designated. If you are unsure of who in your research project is designated emergency personnel, work with your department administrator or an equivalent administrator to identify such personnel.

Precautions

Remember, all personnel should stay home if they experience any symptoms including fever, cough, or difficulty breathing. It is also advisable to encourage limiting physical contact with others, such as hand-shaking (substitute elbow bumps or bows) and sharing of food. Finally, the most effective prevention measure is frequent, thorough hand-washing.

Communications

If a communications plan for your research group is not already in place, designate points of contact so everyone receives timely information.

Plan for researcher time

Principal investigators and research group leads should discuss approaches now, in the event that some personnel are unable to come to work. Such advanced planning will make future decisions straightforward and minimize disruption to research activities.

Remote access

All students, post-docs, staff, and faculty involved in research projects should ensure that they have access to information they need to carry out work remotely. This might include, for example, access to literature, access to existing datasets and research-related files, and access to meeting software (such as Zoom). Principal investigators should prepare to carry out meetings remotely, using similar approaches as for remote teaching of classes. If you are unsure about whether you have access to such tools, it is wise to test them now. Examples of the types of research work that can be done remotely are: data analysis, literature reviews, writing proposals, reviews, or research papers, writing the background sections of theses, computational work, meetings, discussions, etc.

Prioritization

Depending upon the nature of your research, you might consider prioritizing work that can only be carried out in your research facility, and put off work amenable to remote support, such as data analysis. Stockpiling results and data now that could be analyzed remotely in the future is a potential option that might create future flexibility.

Save samples along the way

If you are carrying out a long-term experiment and if it is feasible to freeze samples at specific steps, you might consider doing this more often.

Proposal deadlines

In general we expect that OSP will be able to submit proposals, even if personnel are working remotely. Our experience is that federal agencies are very flexible about deadlines under difficult circumstances beyond our control. However, if agencies are officially closed, proposals will most likely remain in a queue, pending resumption of agency operations – as has been the case during federal budget-related shutdowns. Information will be posted on the OSP website, if necessary.

Travel

Should you cancel planned research-related travel such as to a conference, site visit, or other laboratory? Not necessarily. Be sure to access the list of travel restrictions – which will apply to everyone who travels on UW funds, including research grants or contracts -- and use caution in considering travel to a country with restricted access to specific locations. As always, you should use your own judgement based on the circumstances.

Advance planning will allow everyone in your research group to focus on their own efforts and work together as a team, rather than wondering how they and their team members are to proceed. Even if such plans are not needed for the current situation, they are still a good learning experience for the future.

Checklist:

Sharon A. Jones, Ph.D., P.E.
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Professor – Division of Engineering and Mathematics

Mar. 02, 2020 | Continuity Planning Information for Staff from Assistant Vice Chancellor for OEHR Beth Beam

Dear UW Bothell Staff:

We recognize that there are very dynamic conditions surrounding the novel coronavirus and that this has created some uncertainty for some. This has generated a range of questions about campus operational continuity and ways to keep oneself and others safe and healthy.

Your personal safety and well-being, as well as that of your co-workers, are the top priority. If you develop symptoms such as a fever, cough or shortness of breath, please take care of yourself and don’t come to the workplace. Please take the following steps:

Call your health provider in advance. Please do not show up at a clinic, urgent care or other health facility without calling first. Your provider will need to take special measures to protect other people in the clinic. Staff should contact their primary care provider or a UW Medicine facility.

As a reminder:

This is a rapidly evolving situation. To gather the most up-to-date information, we recommend that you monitor the UW's Environmental Health & Safety webpage, the UW's coronavirus FAQ webpage and the CDC's COVID-19 website for ongoing updates. You can also find campus-specific information at UWB's Campus Safety webpage.

All UW Bothell employees may also contact the University of Washington’s Employee Assistance Program online at UW CareLink or by phone at 1-866-598-3978 should they need support or guidance during this time of uncertainty.

UW Bothell is open for business as usual and continues to proactively prepare for the dynamic conditions presented by the novel coronavirus.

The following options are available for staff, if deemed necessary, to support campus operational continuity.

STAFF MEMBERS

As information about the novel coronavirus evolves, please consult with your direct manager to explore the option of teleworking (UWB Telework Agreement) and determine if this is operationally feasible. This option is available if you can effectively perform your job duties while teleworking. During this conversation, your manager will explore the impact of teleworking on student access and campus operations. This telework agreement will be short-term and will be re-evaluated at the end of each week and based on the dynamic conditions related to the novel coronavirus. Further, your manager will need to confirm that as a staff member you have access to the following to support the option of telework:

Some employees may also experience the unexpected closure of your child’s school. Should this occur, eligible staff are able to take time off. Please see the Family Care Emergency Absences website.

A child care emergency occurs when you are unable to report for or continue scheduled work because of emergency child care requirements such as unexpected absence of regular care provider, unexpected closure of the child’s school, or unexpected need to pick up child at school earlier than normal.

Unless a collective bargaining agreement or the Professional Staff Program states otherwise, an employee who is unable to report for or remain at work due to a family care emergency must be allowed to apply up to three (3) work days per calendar year of each of the following time off types available to the employee, to account for time away from work:

Sick time off in excess of three days may be used when a child’s school or place of care has been closed by order of a public official for any health-related reason. Health-related reason means a serious public health concern that could result in bodily injury or exposure to an infectious agent, biological toxin or hazardous material.

STAFF MEMBERS WHO MANAGE STUDENT EMPLOYEES

If needed, you may discuss with your student employees the option of completing their work remotely. This will be contingent on the type of work that is being done. For example, students who are in service oriented type positions – e.g., parking, food, front desk, customer service will not be able to work remotely. Should a student employee need support/guidance during this time of uncertainty, please refer them to UW Bothell Counseling Services.

To ask questions, please reach out to UW Bothell’S Organizational Excellence and Human Resources at uwboehr@uw.edu.

Beth Beam
Assistant Vice Chancellor Organizational Excellence & HR

Mar. 02, 2020 | Letter to campus from Chancellor Wolf Yeigh

Coronavirus and COVID-19 response planning

Dear campus community,

As you know, the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 have presented our region with an extraordinary public health challenge. Events are happening rapidly, and the situation seems to be changing by the hour. Over the last couple of days, we have received questions from you and your families about how we as an institution are responding. I am writing to provide you some information and updates.

My leadership team and I have been and continue to be in constant contact with each other and with UW leadership in Seattle. UW Bothell is following the University's Communicable Disease Outbreak Management Plan, and we are gathering information about relevant health and logistical issues so that we can evaluate options to deal with them in the coming days and weeks.

While our primary mission is to continue providing the same level of excellence in instruction to our students, there is no question that we will prioritize the safety and well-being of our students, staff, faculty and communities. To achieve this, we need your participation and support.

The homepage of the UW Bothell website has direct links to the most up-to-date information from UW. It also features a link to a new page on the UW Bothell website that includes campus-specific resources that will be updated regularly with relevant information and instructions. We will post more detailed information about the preparations being made by our various teams (Facilities, IT, OE/HR, Student Affairs, Housing/Dining and others) in the coming days.

These links are the best starting points as you seek information, look for answers to your questions or want to access resources.

As we begin the last three weeks of the winter quarter, we have empowered faculty to make decisions that are appropriate for their students and themselves, including moving their classes online where feasible and/or adapting course requirements to deal with this emergency. We also are advising managers and supervisors to work with their staff if necessary in arranging for remote work and/or flexible work schedules over the next few weeks until we better understand the nature of this crisis.

We urge all students, faculty and staff to be mindful and proactive about your own health and safety. As UW President Ana Mari Cauce has urged us, we need to be careful, to be cautious and to be compassionate. Working together, we can apply all our resources and strengths in dealing with this evolving situation.

We will continue to share more information with you as it becomes available. It is worth repeating: The most accurate and current information on University-wide and campus-specific efforts is available on the homepage of the UW Bothell website.

I thank you for your support as we work to keep our campus community safe and informed.

Bjong Wolf Yeigh, Ph.D., F.ASME
Chancellor and Professor of Engineering