We write to update you on the status of the College’s grading policy for this semester. This morning, the faculty voted in favor of an Opt-In Credit/No-Credit, course-by-course system. For spring 2020 only, you will have the option to take as many of your current courses as you wish on a Credit/No-Credit basis. If you don’t choose Credit/No-Credit for a particular course, that course will remain letter-graded. You have until May 8 to invoke Credit/No-Credit for any of your courses, using an electronic form provided by the Registrar’s Office. You will have a window of time from May 9 to May 19 in which you may revoke any Credit/No-Credit decisions. There will be a notation on the spring 2020 section of all transcripts conveying to outside audiences that a “Credit” should be interpreted as a reasonable response to these extraordinary circumstances, and not as indicating diminished rigor.
With academic continuity underway through remote instruction for the remainder of the spring semester for both our Vermont and California campuses, as well as the Schools Abroad, we have now turned our attention to plans for Middlebury’s summer academic programs. Our summer schools and programs provide our undergraduate and graduate students with expansive opportunities, and we want to continue as many of them as we can for the 2,000-plus who typically take advantage of them.
It is important for all of us to make a plan should we or a member of our family become sick from COVID-19. This message is especially relevant for those staff in Vermont deemed essential since they have continued to work on campus. We ask that supervisors of essential staff make sure to share this information with their employees.
We write at what we know is a moment of significant uncertainty to update you on a number of issues related to faculty governance, our academic policies, and teaching. We also want to acknowledge that our situation is incredibly fluid, and to let you know how much we appreciate the rapid transition to remote learning that you have executed and are executing. We know that we could not have made this transition without our staff colleagues in DLINQ and ITS, and we thank them for all the work they have done.
As we enter the second week of our extended spring break, we hope that this message finds you healthy and safe. We, along with your faculty, have been preparing for remote learning, which will begin next Monday, the 30th. This brief message provides you with important information regarding the resumption of classes.
It feels like we have been managing the issues connected to the COVID-19 pandemic for months, and to some degree we have been. But our challenges accelerated 13 days ago when we decided to start spring break early and make plans to teach remotely. We know all of you have been scrambling to figure out how to teach remotely. Thank you for these efforts, which have required you to completely rethink how you have done your job for a year, or how you have done it for years or decades. This has been challenging for all of us.
Dear Faculty Colleagues, as promised, we are writing with specific information regarding the scheduling of classes once they resume on March 30. Before stating the resolution of our deliberations, we would like to explain the relevant context. We have decided on our way forward after significant consultation, with department chairs and program directors and with the academic continuity group. We recognize that there is no ideal solution to our upcoming schedule, but we have tried to come to the best available solution.
Dear Students, as promised, we are writing with specific information regarding the scheduling of classes once they resume on March 30, and to explain the reasoning for the changes we are making.
