COVID-19 and Educational Continuity

Dear UCI Faculty,

We write with renewed urgency on the potential challenges we face in delivering the curriculum in light of the rapidly changing coronavirus situation. We all have the shared responsibility to help ensure the continuity of our academic programs, as well as the well-being of our students, faculty and staff.

The Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation (DTEI) and the Office of Information Technology (OIT) stand ready to provide faculty members with tools and resources to move courses online. The resources below will be updated regularly as new information becomes available:

• You will find a general guide at: http://dtei.uci.edu/teaching-continuity-plan-during-disruption/.
• Specific tools and resources are available at: https://sites.uci.edu/teachanywhere/ and https://techprep.oit.uci.edu/.
• One key tool is Zoom, for hosting virtual classes. The campus is in the process of implementing a University-wide license, but Zoom can be accessed and tested under the current license structure. For details of testing and updates on Zoom, please see http://dtei.uci.edu/teaching-continuity-plan-during-disruption/ (especially the video of the Zoom training session).
• Another key tool is Yuja, for recording lectures and streaming instructional material https://yuja.replay.uci.edu/getting-started/.
• If winter final exams cannot be administered in person, resources are available for secure online test taking and at no cost to students. For information, please email eee-support@uci.edu.

Some Schools are already planning pilots of online instruction during Week 10. We applaud these efforts and encourage all units to consider undertaking some type of pilot testing during the coming week. Such exercises will familiarize a cohort of instructors with remote teaching, along with revealing potential problems and areas where more resources would be helpful. Please work with the academic leadership in your School or Department to coordinate these efforts. This is a time to pull together with faculty and staff colleagues and to learn from each other.

Staff involved in our teaching mission will provide essential support. Through the network of Senior Advisors and Associate Deans for Undergraduate Education, Vice Provost Dennin and his team will mobilize program and technology staff in Schools and Departments. For direct help from DTEI or OIT staff, send a message to eee-support@uci.edu.

In accordance with the message from Chancellor Gillman earlier today, we expect that if UCI suspends in-person class meetings, the campus will remain open in other ways. For planning purposes, you may assume that buildings will be open and that you will have access to your office and to classroom facilities. The latest communications from UCI appear on the COVID-19 webpage. Updated FAQs and details about modified campus operations will be posted to this page as they become available.

We thank you for your commitment to delivering a world-class education at UCI, while maintaining the health and safety of our community.

Enrique J. Lavernia, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
James Steintrager, Chair of the Academic Senate, Irvine Division
Michael Dennin, Vice Provost for Teaching & Learning and Dean, Division of Undergraduate Education