- There are opportunities for classes to be held outside. Faculty members can get more details here and learn how to schedule.
- All on-campus classrooms, teaching labs, tech suites, and project and study spaces will be back to full capacity with no distancing required.
- Course delivery formats will return to pre-pandemic methods: on-campus or online; there is no expectation for full hybrid format. We do plan to incorporate lessons learned from hybrid delivery to help improve student learning outcomes. For example, look for wider use of lecture capture, which can benefit students who may need to miss an in-person lecture.
- Global Project travel: The Global Experience Office (GEO) evaluates risk with a multistep decision process that considers factors specific to each site. These include national entry restrictions, rate of COVID-19 infection in the surrounding area, status of operations for the local project partner, and quality of available local medical care. The goal is for everyone to complete their IQP requirement while staying safe and healthy. Watch for information from the GEO if you’re planning project travel this year.
- Students with approved accommodations through the Office of Accessibility Services should continue to follow the usual process for requesting accommodations.
What You Need to Know Now
Technology assistance for supporting remote students:
- FAQs on lecture capture by default
- Lecture capture to archive video and audio of in-person experience; can be set up to livestream, record, and post to Canvas automatically
- Use classroom Zoom AV for discussion-based courses; will broadcast in-room student discussion
- Zoom office hours
For students who cannot attend in-person exam:
- In synchronous time period: email pdf of exam to student; have them submit scan of exam for grading (example of a mobile app that supports PDF scanning using a cell phone: CamScanner)
- Morgan T&LC Assessment Tips
For students who cannot attend in-person labs:
- Have remote student partner with in-person student
- Allow late submission of lab reports
- Re-use materials for remote lab students if available from last year
- For lengthy absence, use incomplete and allow later completion of in-person lab experience
For students who cannot attend in-person group work/project meetings:
- Students engaged in team-based project work should continue to work remotely, if they are able. Team members should be able to set up individual meetings during class time with their remote participants, so that they can engage in the class activities with their entire hybrid team.
Sanitizing Our Spaces
The WPI Facilities team implemented heightened cleaning protocols for all spaces on campus, focusing particularly on high-touch surfaces (tables, desktops, keyboards and shared equipment, chairs, handrails, doors and doorknobs, elevator buttons, restrooms, etc.) Hand sanitizer stations have been installed all across campus, and cleaning supplies are still available for individual cleaning of personal spaces and surfaces. Learn more.
Additional adjustments to our operations may be needed based on updated guidance and public health trends. We recommend you check back regularly for the latest updates.