Graduate and Undergraduate Councils
To: All Faculty and Department Chairs
What you need to know:
- Guidance on managing COVID-19-related absences has been updated
- Resources for flexible teaching are available
Dear Colleagues:
We begin the new academic year cautiously hopeful for the opportunity to pursue our educational mission without major disruptions. That said,COVID-19 continues to affect the lives of students, faculty and staff. The purpose of this brief memo is to offer some guidance for managing challenges that may arise during the months ahead.
Campus COVID-19 policy has been updated to reflect current conditions, though it may be revised if circumstances change. At present, campus protocols require 5–10 days of isolation for students, faculty and staff who test positive for COVID-19. Even under the best scenarios, then, it is reasonable to expect that students may need to miss class due to COVID-19-related reasons. Absences related to public health risk mitigation should not be penalized. Instructors should clearly articulate expectations about in-person attendance, and apply them equitably and consistently. Instructors should provide appropriate and reasonable accommodations to students with documented disabilities, as determined in collaboration with the Center for Accessible Education (CAE). Students who must miss a significant portion of in-person instruction for medical reasons should be directed to CAE to discuss accommodations.
In affirmation of the joint statement by the UCLA administration and UCLA Academic Senate, we encourage instructors to build flexibility into course structure and requirements as appropriate. Relevant updated resources include:
- Ideas for assessing learning, including alternatives to high-stakes exams
- Options for recording and livestreaming lectures, and for using BruinCast to make lectures available to students who are not able to attend class in person
- Choices about teaching modality
In some classrooms, measures adopted to help students who need to miss class due to illness can bring other positive consequences, including greater inclusiveness and more effective learning. In other contexts, the benefits of providing for absences of specific types must be weighed against other considerations, including privacy, academic integrity and excellence, reasonable workload, and feasibility. These considerations vary depending on the nature of the course. Decisions about in-person attendance and absence policy reside with instructors in consultation with their departments.
We remain grateful to all instructors who continue to work hard to maintain UCLA’s academic excellence in challenging times. We wish all of you a productive and rewarding school year.
Sincerely,
Kathy Bawn
Chair, Undergraduate Council
James Bisley
Chair, Graduate Council
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