Message to Faculty
8/26/2009
Dear Faculty,
Last spring, the H1N1 influenza virus had a minimal effect on the administrative and academic operations of Indiana University East. However, the federal Centers for Disease Control and of the Indiana State Department of Health now expect that the H1N1 flu will be more widespread and have a significantly greater effect on normal activities during the upcoming regular flu season and possibly earlier in the fall.
Of course, a severe outbreak of any communicable disease, such as the H1N1 influenza virus, could seriously interfere with the academic mission of Indiana University East. University and campus emergency planners and health staff are closely monitoring the situation. The University Emergency Planning Committee, health services personnel, and others are developing preventive and mitigation measures, planning for distribution of a vaccine when it becomes available, acquiring supplies, assuring continuity of physical and IT infrastructure, developing appropriate communications, and addressing a host of other preparatory activities.
Much of the planning for academic continuity must be the province of individual faculty members. While there is no reason for faculty members to make dramatic changes to the way classes or other activities are conducted at this time, the situation may well change as we move further into the semester, with class, lab, and other academic activities interrupted for some period of time by absent faculty, students, or staff. In a worst case, educational activities could be suspended for one or more weeks, based on the guidance of the relevant public health officials.
The following are four ways that you can prepare now:
1. Instructional methods
The most important way that you as individual faculty members can prepare for such eventualities is to make plans now for handling significant absenteeism due to illness or a significant interruption during which the class, lab, or studio cannot meet.
The attached pages outline several options that you can tailor to your own instructional needs. Our goal is to minimize, by planning now, the impact of absenteeism or interruption on our educational, research, and creative activities.
2. Grading
You will also want to consider a range of alternatives (depending on the circumstances) for evaluating students’ performance in the event of widespread absenteeism or a significant interruption.
3. Absences and extensions
Related to grading, you should consider alternatives to your ordinary rules for attendance and extensions, like requiring proof of illness or imposing penalties. Entirely appropriate under ordinary circumstances, such rules could be extremely harmful in an outbreak of the flu. To limit the spread of any highly communicable disease, it is very important that individuals (students, faculty, staff) with the flu stay away from classes, labs, and other gatherings, and that they do not go to crowded locations like health services or physicians’ offices solely to obtain documentation of illness. Moreover, public and university health officials will likely be urging people with flu-like symptoms to stay away from school and work until they have been completely asymptomatic for a full day, and we should not undermine this important message.
4. Work with your school deans
As you make your plans, please also keep in touch with your dean to ensure that your plan can be supported, meets applicable educational standards, and does not conflict with others’ plans.
The health and safety of all of our community members is our paramount concern and will remain our paramount concern as events unfold. Early, flexible planning now is the key to minimizing the impact on our academic programs. I thank you in advance for your careful attention to this matter and will be happy to take any questions you may have at our Senate meeting tomorrow.
Nasser H. Paydar, Ph.D.
Chancellor
