CBE COVID-19 Information
These pages provide information and tools to help the CBE community address the COVID-19 outbreak. While the College of Built Environments follows all advice and directives set forth by the University of Washington broadly, this site is meant to help with information on local impacts to mission-driven activities of teaching, research, service, and related resources that directly impact our built environments community for faculty, staff and students.
Please note that the University of Washington’s campuses are currently in Phase 2 of its COVID-19 recovery, in accordance with Washington’s Safe Start plan. Only employees designated as critical can be working in-person and only at the direction of their supervisor. In-person instruction is not allowed except for essential clinical instruction that has been pre-approved. Events and gatherings are not permitted.
Since COVID-19 information changes rapidly, be sure to check back for updates to this page.
Resources
Local CBE and up to date UW information on COVID-19:
- UW Coronavirus FAQ page – UW up to date information on academic and administrative procedures affecting all operations of the University of Washington broadly
- UW Back to the Workplace Task Force – UW information on updated University protocols, guidance and resources for units on the steps that must be taken before bringing more people back to our campuses
- UW COVID-19 Prevention Plan for the Workplace – measures based on requirements, regulation, and guidance from the Governor’s Office, State Department of Labor & Industries, and public health agencies
- UW Back-to-Workplace COVID-19 Safety Training – required online training, takes a little over 30 minutes
- UW COVID-19 Face Covering Policy
- UW Back to School Task Force – developing plans for safe return to in-person learning on our campuses
- The Huddle – UW School of Medicine website devoted to daily updates on COVID-19 care from a medical perspective
- HR leave policies & procedures – staff protocols on annual leave policies & procedures
- Washington State Department of Health (DOH) – State of Washington site responsible for public health updates statewide
- US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) – Federal agency responsible for nationwide responses to epidemiological events and actions
- Research Impacts of Covid-19 from NSF and NIH
Starting Monday, March 9, classes will no longer meet in person. For the remainder of the quarter, instructors have been asked to conduct classes and/or exams remotely, as possible, until the quarter concludes on March 20. In addition, final exams will not be conducted in person, but may be conducted online when feasible, and at the instructor’s discretion.
Departments and the instructors of record should determine the most appropriate solutions for finishing courses and determining grades. Departments and faculty are asked to put student health and success first in all decision making, and to consider the following when making their determinations:
- If the course is already being delivered as a 100% online course, or if it can be administered without in-person class meetings (online/remotely), then the course may continue.
- Other courses should be concluded, and course grades may be assigned as follows:
- If grades that reflect student academic achievement can be fairly determined based upon completed work, then numeric grades may be calculated and submitted.
- If the instructor feels that numeric grades cannot be fairly calculated for all students, then grades of credit/no credit (CR/NC) may be determined and submitted for the entire class. Credit (CR) grades are not included in the GPA, but can satisfy graduation, financial aid eligibility and other requirements. (A minimum grade of 0.7 is required for a credit in an undergraduate course, and 1.7 for a graduate course.)
- A grade of I (incomplete) should not be submitted unless the student would have fallen into this category prior to Monday, March 2 (e.g., due to lack of attendance or completion of coursework).
- A grade of X should not be submitted
UPDATE: The UW will be allowing faculty to change the grading of their sections to CR/NC if they are unable to determine a valid numeric grade for the students. We have set up a form at https://apps.registrar.washington.edu/forms_faculty/request-cr-nc-grading/ to allow faculty to notify us that they need to change to CR/NC grading. UWIT is in the process of adding links to that page in GradePage and MyUW.
The UW is working alongside the Office of Student Financial Aid, Veterans Education Benefits Office, International Student Services, Graduation and Academic Records, DARS, and other offices that CR/NC grades might affect. We encourage you to be in conversation with your chair and other departmental/program leadership about the appropriate decisions around grading for your discipline/major.
We ask that instructors take actions that consider first and foremost the best interests of their students. Please visit the website of the Office of the Registrar’s FAQ page here for further questions.
Prepare for when classes can’t meet: itconnect.uw.edu/learn/prepare/
Working Remotely: https://itconnect.uw.edu/work/working-remotely/
Tools and Guidelines: http://intranet.be.uw.edu/facilities/alternative-classroom-teaching-tools/
Technologies that are currently available for you are listed below with some training guides and links:
- Zoom (video conferencing, group meetings)
- Canvas
- Panopto (lecture capture)
- https://uw.hosted.panopto.com/
- or, from a Canvas course page
UW campus tours and admission information sessions will not be held March 6 – April 10. Guests who have registered in advance have been notified by email. The UW Office of Admissions will keep the admissions visit website up to date with the latest scheduling information. Major impacts to campus operations are also posted on the Admissions website or the UW home page. Visit Seattle also has resources about COVID-19 for anyone traveling to the city. CBE will update our events as information becomes available.
Academics: Vikramditya Prakash: t: 206-616-9091, e: vprakash@uw.edu
IT: Mark Baratta: t: 206-543-4872, e: baratta@uw.edu
HR/Finance: Rachel Ward: t: 206-616-2440, e: wardrm@uw.edu
Facilities: Meegan Amen: t: 206-616-2439, e: meegan@uw.edu