InClassLfA Student App
With thanks to Christine Paal, University Registrar, for this information.
InClassLfA, an app that students can use to reserve seats in classes they wish to attend in person, will be available for faculty on the Charles River Campus this week (BUMC has been using its own version of the app since Summer 2020). It will be also be available to students from next week. Not all schools/colleges on CRC are using it, so check with your academic administrators to see if your program is using the app.
Benefits for students: For students, it will simplify the task of planning class attendance: rather than having to think about the rotation procedures for multiple classes, they will be able to arrange their schedules in a single app.
Benefits for faculty: For faculty, it will reduce the burden of managing rotations manually, and it will remove some of the uncertainty about which students will be attending in person on a given day – so, it will help with planning class time.
The app is “opt-out” for faculty: all courses will be entered into the app initially, and faculty who wish to manage their rotations themselves may remove a single course or all of their courses by going into the app and selecting opt-out in the action area of the app.
Log in for faculty: https://www.bu.edu/inclasslfa
How it works (you can also check out this short video for more information):
- The app is integrated with university registration systems to ensure that classroom information and student registration data is accurate
- Students may access the app Monday through Thursday for each upcoming two-week period and select seats for LfA hybrid or fully in-person classes
- Students will not be able to sign up for classes that are designated as remote only
- If, for a given class session, the number of students wishing to attend in person outnumbers available seats, the app’s algorithm equitably assigns those seats
- The total seats available reflects the physically distanced capacity of the assigned classroom
- Students are then notified by email on Fridays, and faculty may check their results in the app after 1pm on Fridays
- Students on the waitlist will be added to the class automatically if a seat opens up and they will be notified by email.
Other useful information
On first use, faculty should verify that the classes assigned to them are correct. If not, they should work with their respective Associate Deans to make the necessary corrections. Faculty may also stipulate the number of seats they wish to set aside for non-students (for example, teaching assistants, teaching fellows or guest lecturers). If applicable, the classroom moderator initially assigned to a given class will be pre-populated to have a seat in the app.