Dear colleagues,

I hope the semester is wrapping up smoothly. Before getting into my updates, I want to encourage all faculty to be as flexible as possible with final examinations and assessments. We realize that it is the faculty who know best what will be most effective and equitable in making final assessments of student learning, but we are also attuned to the challenges of the time and encourage all to bear this in mind as we enter the final assessment period. As always, we will need to submit final grades as quickly as possible to ensure that Nikki and her team in the registrar’s office can wrap up grades and clear graduates for graduation. Thank you in advance for doing that. As a reminder, we will be holding our virtual graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 15 from 12-1:30 PM. I hope everyone can join the festivities. While it will be a different modality, it will be a joyous celebration.

Today, I have three updates to share. The first is a summary of a town hall that we held with students around plans for Fall 2021. The second is a summary of our recent teaching and learning sessions. The third includes links to resources that might be helpful for faculty and staff working with students who may benefit from mental health assistance. I end with links to upcoming faculty development events and resources.

Town Hall with Students on Plans for Fall 2021

On March 31, Dean Galea shared plans for the fall in his note to the community. As you all know, the University is working hard to return to fully in-person teaching and learning in Fall 2021, and we have spent the past few months thinking together about how we may do this best and how to ensure that we continue to offer high-quality teaching and learning in Fall 2021 and beyond. To that end, we drafted, discussed, and refined a plan that was based on feedback from students, program directors, faculty and staff, and ultimately secured approval by the Governing Council and University Provost.

In line with University guidelines, our expectation is that we will be teaching all of our courses that are designed for in-person teaching as in-person classes starting in the fall of 2021. Our experience over the past year has taught us that courses designed to be taught in person should be delivered in person and that all of us—students and teachers alike—are better served with this approach. We have also learned ways to improve our in-person teaching, including for example that recordings of class sessions are extremely valuable for students. We propose to continue recording and posting recordings of all class sessions.

But we are not letting go of digital teaching. We have developed and will continue to develop online courses that are created specifically for asynchronous, online delivery and are listed on the course schedule with the OL suffix. Online courses run on the same semester schedule, and students engage with course content at their own pace and have regularly scheduled deliverables. Online courses additionally have weekly, synchronous live sessions (generally 60-90 minutes per week), where faculty, instructional staff, and students engage in discussions, case studies, and applications once students have worked through the requisite online content asynchronously.

We also recognize that our MPH and MS programs are fast-paced programs that can be completed full-time in 12-18 months, and we have a number of students who began these programs in 2020, never moved to Boston, and aim to complete program requirements in the fall of 2021. We also expect that some incoming international students in our MS programs may experience challenges securing visas in time to begin their programs in the fall of 2021. Therefore, we have devised a system to allow masters students who cannot be in person for the fall semester only to continue their educational programs.

Students who cannot engage face-to-face but need an in-person course may apply for a virtual exception. Virtual exceptions will be granted to MPH or MS students who are unable to move to the Boston area for a final semester of in-person study in Fall 2021 and to international MS students who cannot begin their program of study in the fall of 2021 because they are unable to secure a visa in time when online options are not available. This virtual exception is a one-time exception for Fall 2021 and applicable only to masters students, per University guidelines.

Students with approved virtual exceptions would attend sessions of all courses remotely. This virtual exception will pertain only to the fall of 2021, and we expect that it will be relatively rare. Importantly, as virtual exceptions are granted for a whole semester only for students who need them, we expect that the vast majority of students will be in the classroom and a smaller number joining remotely.

We are currently working on a virtual exception request form and a timely process for evaluating requests. As soon as the form and the process are finalized, we will share the details.

On April 20, we held a town hall meeting for students to discuss the plan and to address questions. It was a positive and constructive conversation with many good ideas shared. First and foremost, students urged faculty to continue recording and posting recordings of class sessions as a valuable tool for learning. This is something we will continue in Fall 2021 and beyond. The second issue was a request to reconsider attendance policies and class participation grades, feeling that such policies were archaic and potentially discriminatory to some students. Attendance policies will be raised with the Education Committee, and we will seek feedback from the community to create guidance in this area. Concerns were also raised by some students about those with disabilities as we move away from the LfA modality. We assured students, and confirm now, that we have and will continue to provide accommodations for students who need them, in accordance with policies set by the Office of Disability and Access Services.

There will be more to discuss as we approach the fall and we are open to any and all questions and feedback on our plans. There are still some obvious questions around wearing masks, whether there will be physical distancing, and required vaccinations. And there are some not so obvious questions, such as those raised by our students, that need careful consideration. We will devise solutions together, and we will communicate updates as they are available.

Teaching and Learning at SPH

At our meetings on April 13 and April 27, we focused attention on online courses as faculty expressed interest in learning more about how they might bring a course online. The meeting on April 27 was focused on online teaching and was led by instructional designers from our Office of Lifelong Learning with valuable input from our faculty who are both new to and very experienced in online teaching. The  Education Committee is working on a strategy to guide our development of online courses, and it will be shared as soon as it is finalized. Please join us at our next and last meeting for the semester on Tuesday, May 11 at 1 PM. All are welcome, and we ask that you please register to join us.

Resources to Support Students and Ourselves

Stress, burnout, and exhaustion are hitting all of us, and most especially our students. Ilana Schlesinger, our wellness coordinator, developed the following resources that might be useful at this time as you support students and yourselves. Ilana, as always, is available with an open door, and she can be reached at sphwell@bu.edu.

When checking in with a student, especially if you have to give tougher feedback, please be mindful of how you do so, thinking about how it may land with the student. Here is an informative guide for compassionate teaching during this time, published by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

  • Well-being resources for students:

The SPH Wellness Program currently offers individual wellness appointments, as well as tailored workshops for larger groups.

Stress can manifest itself at any time, but Ilana is available to assist with stress management techniques, such as facilitating mindfulness meditations prior to exams for students. She also has resources for faculty to share in class. Please contact Ilana directly if you have concern for a student and she will then follow-up, or feel free to encourage students to reach out to Ilana directly.

  • Additional resources for students:

Behavioral Medicine offers individual counseling, community referrals, and support groups. They are available 24/7 for crisis management if you are concerned about a student (617-353-3569).

Please also see this guide for helping students in distress.

A reminder that the Headspace Meditation App is free to all members of the BU community.

Students might also be interested in the BUMC Food Resource Guide.

Lastly, student organizations, such as Mental Health Public Health Connection, International Student Organization, Students of Color for Public Health, Queer Alliance, Express Heal Triumph (to name a few), can be a great source of support. 

  • Academic support resources for students:

Graduate Student Life works closely with individual students and professors to ensure that students’ needs are met related to academic accommodations. Accommodations look a bit different in a virtual world; however, accommodations are fluid. Students are allowed to apply and request adjustments to these accommodations at any time during the semester. Students can apply for academic accommodations here. The Faculty Guide to Academic Accommodations is available here. Please reach out to Ilana or Mary Murphy-Phillips with any questions regarding the application process.

BUSPH Core Course Tutoring Program is a referral-based program for students at risk of not meeting the B- minimum grade requirement in a core course. All tutoring sessions are taking place online. Please submit any referrals and/or questions to sphtutor@bu.edu.

BUSPH Peer Coach Writing Program is a program that is open to all SPH students. Appointments are held virtually, and no referral is required. Please email sphcoach@bu.edu with any questions.

Brandeis put together a nice guide for supporting students’ learning during this time, as did Northeastern. UPenn students shared this video with their faculty on how to support LGBTQ+ students.

  • Resources for our own self-care:

We also encourage each of you to please prioritize your well-being to the best of your ability during this time. Know that you don’t have to do that alone. Students look to faculty as role models—if they sense that you are overwhelmed and making no time for yourself, they may follow suit. Ilana is also offering weekly well-being events for the community, ranging from meditations to yoga classes to check-in groups. You can find details on the school’s calendar.

The Be You series also offers faculty and staff programming, exploring various well-being and community-building topics. The Faculty Staff Assistance Office provides individual and group support, as does the Office of Family Resources. Please also see Diversity and Inclusion Programming for Staff & Faculty, and Nutrition Support offered by the BU Sargent Choice Nutrition Center. If any member of the community needs confidential, independent support, they can consult the Ombuds Office, and we have a number of Faculty Resources in the SPH Handbook.

Upcoming Faculty Development Events and Resources

The 16th Annual McCahan Event will be held virtually on May 26 and 27, and the theme is “Teaching Self-Directed Learners in Times of Uncertainty and Change.” Please see their website for more information. I know that many of our faculty will be participating in this event, and I hope that you can join.

The BU Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) has many resources on different pedagogical approaches using Zoom, such as lectures, small group discussions, and active learning using Zoom, as well as a Faculty Guide to Assessment Options in Remote and Hybrid Classes. They also regularly post teaching tips and guides in their News and Announcements section and continue to update their pedagogical resources, training resources, and experiences from the classroom, which are accessible here.

Be sure to check out the vast resources offered by our excellent BUMC Ed Media team on the features available in Zoom and tips for editing Zoom recordings, uploading and editing recordings with Echo360, and a video on editing with Kaltura. Additionally, they have an archive of training videos and a form to request a training appointment.

Finally, please see our SPH Remote Teaching Resources page with guides for effective use of educational technologies, supporting students, inclusive teaching, and much more.

As always, please do not hesitate if you have any questions or need anything as we finish up the semester.

Sincerely,

Lisa

Lisa M. Sullivan, PhD
Associate Dean for Education
lsull@bu.edu

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