Umich, how so brainless?

[branchandroot]

*crawls out of the hell-pit of this week*

Ugh. I mean ugh.

So, yes, hi. This week, Umich finally decided to move classes online. This happened in the form of a message on WEDNESDAY saying that classes were cancelled for the last two days of the week to give faculty time to shift to online. It didn't have a smiley emoji on the end, but you could tell it would have if the uni president knew how to add one.

Umich, and ESPECIALLY the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, which employs me, is a wholly residential school. It prides itself on being a residential school, with the residential experience, and only a smattering of online programs at the graduate level in the professional Colleges. When I say that the university is utterly, abysmally, unspeakably unprepared to do any online teaching whatsoever, I am understating the case by about a thousand percent.

Nevertheless! Four whole days, to prepare to go wholly online!

I should, perhaps, mention that my unit, all seven of us, are the ones who would be responsible for online education at LSA (all 20,000 students and 4,000 instructors worth of LSA), supposing there was any online education, which there isn't. If you think this means there are exactly two of us (one of them me) who are in any way prepared to support the (4,000) faculty in this, you would be correct.

Now, I saw this coming last week, and have been writing webpages of recommendations and resources like a madwoman to get them up in time, and I made it by the skin of my teeth, but of course then the entire goddamn College ignored that advice to attempt to almost ALL hold class by videoconference. Never having done so before. In the middle of the whole rest of the country trying to do the same thing. I'm sure you can imagine how well this is going so far, and we haven't even had actual classes that way yet.

So, my boss is losing her mind, my team is losing their minds, my faculty are losing their minds, and it wasn't until Friday that the uni president finally, finally caved in and said non-essential staff should go remote too.

Non-essential staff only, mind you. The University isn't closing. Oh no. My parent unit is still responsible for assisting all those instructors who want to come in and use their classrooms as usual to lecture to empty seats and be recorded with Lecture Capture, and call it teaching. So, the rest of Technology Services is losing their minds also.

But I and my team, at least, will now be able to do what we can from home, instead of (just for example) taking the bus in every day. *sings hallelujah to the tune of the Loan Ranger theme, which comes out sounding quite suitably unhinged*

So, yeah, that was my week. How was yours?

Comments

[rthstewart]

Yep. it's a nightmare and I'm so sorry you've had to deal with it but thank you for trying. I know one UM student, senior, who JUST STARTED a paid internship in the UM office of emergency services. she's off campus, so if, for the moment, showing up. I'm fortunate. I didn't have to brain too much this week because most cognitive function was definitely elsewhere.

[branchandroot]

It really is, and now we've apparently got a case in one of the residential towers.

[rthstewart]

OH THAT SUCKS. That's something my son's college has been very clear on. We can't let you stay here -- if you all start getting sick, we can't take care of you. Our local hospital can't take care of you.
Colgate University tried a different approach -- please, students, don't leave campus for spring break. Stay here and then no one will get sick. But that didn't work either and they are closing too.

[branchandroot]

Yeah, I don't think there's any stopping it now. Not after everyone's spring break travels were let to go forward on the national level.

[trobadora]

Oh wow, that sounds like a nightmare.

My company is still sticking its head in the sand and refusing to let us work from home, but what's going on with your uni can't really be called better.

Between that and the toilet paper hoarders, SO much stupid all around.

[branchandroot]

It's just a huge nightmare, and the head-to-sand ratio is just stunning to me. The most humane thing to do for everyone would be to say "we're two thirds done with the term, grade on what work you've seen so far, we're ending term now". But /no/.

[themadpoker]

My university sent out an email Wednesday night saying classes would go on as usual and then followed up Thursday morning with a 'actually, we're moving classes online after spring break' so uhh. You're definitely not alone in lack of preparation? My coworkers and I are trying to get some support resources put together by Tuesday (I'm a librarian) but wow I feel bad for the IT and instructional design offices right now.

[branchandroot]

*facepalming forever* I swear, most colleges think they can keep it from happening to them if they just clap hard enough for the healthfulness fairy. And when that fails, wave the online wand; online happens by magic, of course.

Indiana U's Keep Teaching pages are getting copied pretty much everywhere, with their blessing.

[themadpoker]

Yeahhh, I think there's a lot of last minute decision making happening here. I'm hoping they close us to the public after spring break, I'm concerned about getting large congregations of students in the library given the online switch. THanks for the Indiana tip!

[libitina]

Here are the pages my library has put together (that I know of). I'm very glad they decided I didn't need to be one of the people to keep going in to get all of the scanning done.

Only one of our instructors managed to request additional reserve scanning before my (branch) library closed.

https://www.library.upenn.edu/blogs/libraries-news/covid-19-libraries-policies-and-information

https://www.library.upenn.edu/blogs/libraries-news/virtual-classes-guides-tutorials-and-services

https://mobile.twitter.com/upennlib/status/1238561345550700545

We are allowing student who can not safely return home to stay in the dorms. And our university hospital is already treating at least one person with covid-19. I have not, however, heard news of any of our students being confirmed ill.

Yay not having to commute in!

[themadpoker]

Much appreciated! We're doing the same with out students though luckily we have no confirmed cases so far. I suspect that might change when people return from spring break though.

[ilyena_sylph]

Oh honey!

Yeah, my university is at 'remote classes only' for this next week because a couple of our kids and faculty were at a conference where someone then tested positive for COVID-19, but all staff and faculty still have to report to work every day.

Which is.

Some bullshit.

I mean, there is literally nothing I can do from home, so they'd have to put me on admin leave or just. like. not pay me. But.

FFS.

[branchandroot]

That's absolute bullshit, good lord. Here's hoping yours sees sense and forks over paid leave. Mine did that, at least, which is something.

[ilyena_sylph]

God I can only hope.

As of like two hours ago they've now suspended in-person classes for the remainder of the semester.

But they're keeping the res halls, libraries, and dining areas open so at least they're not kicking the kids out... yet?

[branchandroot]

Yeah, Umich lasted two days in that stage, and then they told everyone to bugger off home (except essential staff, because sick staff are apparently less worrisome than just ending the term now). Not that I'm cynical about this whole process, by now, or anything.

[edenfalling]

Cornell declared halfway through Friday that everything was shutting down, goodbye, get off campus yesterday please. Which means a lot of students who can't/won't leave Ithaca for whatever reason are now frantically looking for sublets in Collegetown, while a whole bunch of other people are frantically trying to pack and/or ditch all their things and arrange transportation out of town. It's a MESS.

And we just got our first confirmed Covid-19 case in the county, though so far still none on any of the local college campuses, so that's been fun. Two of the tenants whose apartments we were planning to show this afternoon called and said, basically, "Help the virus is here and you can't bring anyone into my home." Which is fair! But very inconvenient, especially on only an hour's notice or so.

At least Cornell doesn't intend to start online classes until April 6, for which I'm sure the tech department is grateful.

[branchandroot]

*facepalm* Seriously, why are uni administrations acting like such /idiots/ over this? Do they believe Fox News or something? Plus, turfing out the students with no notice helps /no one/. Good luck keeping your area contained!

[ephemera]

I'm riding the same thing (plus ship 150 students home, "helped" by Trump's announcement of a travel ban, 8 hours into the operation) from the other end, and I am a) so so so grateful for the amazing resources your professional colleagues are pulling together at short notice to support all our faculty and b) the faculty members who are willing to be realistic and flexible (most of them, thankfully) and c) the University President who gave us a a week and a half of space to pull it together - four days is insanity!)

[branchandroot]

*winces* Oh man, good luck with the student-shipment.

Four days is /truly/ insanity. I almost cried at the Film, TV, and Media department meeting, when they agreed to all strip down their classes to absolute minimum and call it a day.

[schneefink]

Kudos to all lecturers!
My university already had a very good platform for online learning, and I was impressed how quickly we got information from the professors how classes will proceed (lecture casts, more homework etc.) Easier with some than with others, of course, and I probably don't want to know how it looks behind the scenes... I hear rumors other universities in Vienna are struggling much more, because they have very little existing infrastructure for a distance set-up.

[branchandroot]

Yeah, at least we /do/ have an LMS and everyone /technically/ on it. Even if they've never actually used it before. *cries*