UCLA W2022 course guidance
- Lauren Clark
- Paul Macey
Graduate & Undergraduate Councils
To: UCLA Faculty and Department Chairs
Dear Colleagues:
Classes for Winter 2022 will largely be held in person. In the context of the pandemic, the Academic Senate’s Graduate and Undergraduate Councils voted to authorize exceptions to onsite instruction in Winter 2022 as described below:
Allowable Exceptions to Onsite Instruction: [Rationale must support one of the following justifications.]
Instructor ADA accommodations approved through Insurance and Risk Management (only include the date that IRM approved the accommodation).
Courses where student mask-wearing severely degrades instruction (e.g., language courses).
Other instructor (e.g., faculty, lecturer, and TA) accommodations, such as visa issues or international travel restrictions. Justifications do not include instructor/TA preferences or that an instructor/TA has moved out of area.
Primary offering courses in which a significant proportion of the students enrolled are unable to attend on campus due to COVID-related legal or administrative issues, such as visas or international travel restrictions.
For individual courses with secondary sections, up to 33% of total sections or one, whichever is greater, may be offered remotely.
To support Winter 2022 scheduling, departments seeking exceptions to onsite instruction must provide justification and a rationale for each class. Download the Justification Request sheet (XLSX, UCLA Logon ID required), complete and submit to Claire McCluskey in the Registrar’s office at cmccluskey@registrar.ucla.edu by October 25, 2021.
Notes:
This process only governs requests to teach remotely for reasons related to the COVID-19 emergency. Requests to create online versions of existing courses (or propose new courses in online format) follow regular Senate processes, outlined here for undergraduate courses (PDF) and here for graduate courses (PDF).
Senate approval is not needed to convert an existing undergraduate course to hybrid form as long as the instructor of record interacts in person with students for at least one hour each week (not counting office hours or secondary sections; see the Undergraduate Online Course Approval policy at the link above). However, Senate approval is required for graduate courses proposing to convert to a hybrid format.
The Councils hereby grant authority to the Education Working Group to review, approve or deny such exception requests.
While the fraction of in-person courses will increase in Winter 2022 in comparison to Fall 2021, students with documented disabilities will be provided accommodations per the recommendations of the Center for Accessible Education; these may include remote instruction where feasible.
We will continue to reassess the need to extend this emergency measure beyond Winter 2022, on a quarter-by-quarter basis.
Kathleen Bawn
Chair, Graduate Council
Leah Lievrouw
Chair, Undergraduate Council