Dear CoE Faculty,
As we begin to look towards re-engaging in a residential experience in Fall 2021, it is important to plan for the upcoming academic year. In Engineering, we anticipate that the College will largely return to in-person instruction during the Fall 2021 term.
While there are many considerations and decisions still to be finalized, these three important policies for Fall 2021 instruction will aid you in planning with your departments:
- In general, courses that were in-person during the Fall 2019 term should return to in-person for the Fall 2021 term. Courses that offered an online section during Fall 2019 may continue to offer an online section in Fall 2021.
- Whether or not a specific course or section will be offered remotely will be dictated by safety, pedagogy, and classroom availability. Details about the criteria for remote courses and sections (as described in the Registrar’s Distance or Hybrid formats) will be communicated once our risk assessment process is complete.
- Instructors of in-person classes will not be expected to provide parallel remote instruction sections. Enrolled students will be expected to attend in-person classes. Exceptions may exist if large numbers of students are unable to travel to Ann Arbor by the beginning of term (e.g., international students).
We know that many of you have developed new instructional methods and course materials during this academic year, and we encourage you to use these new resources to enhance your instructional course offerings. Continuing to be innovative in our modalities in ways that increase inclusivity and accessibility to our education is fundamental to providing a preeminent engineering education.
We will reach out shortly to ask about your teaching preferences to help with our planning process. While navigating the remainder of this semester, please remember to access our teaching resources for engineering faculty and don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have.
Thank you again for your continued commitment to engineering education.
Stay well,
Joanna Millunchick, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education
Mary-Ann Mycek, Associate Dean for Graduate & Professional Education