Undergraduate and Graduate Councils
To: All Instructors
Dear Colleagues:
We write amid a difficult and heartbreaking time as our Bruin community grapples with the devastation of the Los Angeles fires. As you know, in response to the Administration’s declaration of emergency operating status, the Academic Senate has authorized remote instruction for undergraduate and graduate classes through Friday, January 17. The Vice Chancellor of Research has also announced the ramp down of campus laboratory activities to prepare for a potential scenario in which UCLA moves to an evacuation warning or mandatory evacuation status. While we recognize that this emergency pivot to online teaching and learning may present pedagogical and logistical challenges for instructors and students, we hope that the guidance provided here will empower instructors to meet this challenge and maintain instructional continuity in an effective and empathetic manner.
Instructional Flexibility
As a reminder, instructors have discretion and autonomy to adapt courses, assignments and midterm exams to extenuating circumstances, while adhering to Academic Senate regulations and departmental policies as well as ensuring equitable access for all students. We encourage instructors to make reasonable adjustments regarding deadlines for affected students.
Practical Considerations for Remote Teaching
To ensure that academic continuity and rigor are maintained during this period of remote learning, instructors may wish to consider how they might adapt teaching strategies to be more effective over Zoom. To assist with this, the Teaching and Learning Center has developed guidance on best practices and considerations for teaching on Zoom. Additionally, the Bruin Learn Center for Excellence has created a guide on support for remote teaching that may be useful for instructors during this time.
Supporting Students
If instructors wish to address the current crisis with students and/or provide resources to students seeking additional support, the Teaching and Learning Center has developed a guide on teaching through difficult times that provides helpful guidance for doing so.
Finally, as the situation evolves, the Academic Senate will continue to emphasize the primacy of our UCLA academic mission, and will communicate any additional adjustments or guidance as needed. For general updates and FAQs from campus Administration, please see the UCLA Newsroom Fire Updates site.
We appreciate your efforts to support our academic mission while extending understanding and flexibility to our students during this difficult time.
Sincerely,
Jeff Maloy
Chair, Undergraduate Council
Deepak Rajagopal
Chair, Graduate Council
Download this BruinPost PDF here.
