March 11, 2020
Dear Faculty,
In light of the University announcement of the adoption of social distancing practices to lessen the impact of COVID-19, I am writing to follow up on the decision that no winter quarter final exams will take place on campus. We understand that this change is a challenge, especially given the short time-frame. However, we believe that taking these steps now will help to ensure our community's well-being. This message will provide suggestions and resources to help you adjust to this plan.
Once you have made adjustments to your final exams plans, please make sure to reach out to your students with clear communication on the changes and expectations.
Many of you have already assigned final projects, take-home exams or other assignments that don't require students' presence in class. All of these types of final assignments may be submitted via D2L or email. Others of you may be teaching a fully online class and have already made arrangements for a proctored exam; you may proceed as planned.
For those of you who give in-class exams, here are some alternative approaches to consider:
If you conduct presentations:
If you had planned to give an in-person exam:
- Use the D2L Submission tool to share a file with your exam questions and allow students to upload a file with their responses by a specific time.
- If you have experience building quizzes in D2L or feel comfortable following the quiz-building guide, you can build and distribute your exam via D2L.
If you have academic integrity concerns about moving your exam online:
- Modify exam questions so they require unique answers that students are less likely to copy and share. For example, you could convert multiple-choice questions to short answer or essay questions.
- Add variety and/or randomization to exam questions. You can provide students with several question prompts and allow them to respond to a specific number of questions from that list. You can also use D2L or email to share different versions of your exam with different students.
- If it's essential that you limit the amount of time students have to complete an exam, you can set a limit on the amount of time that the D2L Submission folder is open. If you are comfortable creating quizzes, you can also set a time limit on the quiz.
- Consider decreasing the weight of your final assessment to account for potential compromises in the integrity of the exam and add weight to past assignments. Note that this should only be used if other suggestions provided here do not address your concerns.
If none of these options meet your needs, please contact your instructional designer to discuss alternatives.
If you have students in your class who are registered with the Center for Students with Disabilities:
- Please ensure that any accommodations remain in place.
- Know that CSD will remain open and available for registered students to take their exams on site.
Thank you, in advance, for all your efforts in accommodating this change and for your support of our students in this already-stressful time of the term.
Sincerely,
Salma Ghanem
Interim Provost