Learning
Providing our students a safe, supportive and high-quality learning experience is of the utmost importance. Therefore, students may choose to conduct their semester online, in person or as a hybrid of the two. Not all classes will be available online, so students will need to assess how such a choice would affect their paths toward graduation.
Of the 11,000 classes this semester, several thousand will be presented online. The 400 largest unique classes will meet online only, all of which will offer remote lectures, with in-person learning experiences led by teaching assistants available on campus for some of them. Rooms will be assigned to courses so that when all students registered for that course attend, no more than 40% of the seats in that classroom will be occupied.
To ease registration for the fall semester, passing periods between classes will not be changed, so course times will stay as they were when students registered except for those classes that have to be moved for density reasons. Every course will have an instructional continuity plan, including designating a teaching partner to take over the class in the event of instructor illness.
Online and on-campus courses will have the same tuition rates. The university will honor all contracts for university-owned residence halls, and students’ housing bills will be adjusted for the shortened amount of time on campus.
Your Semester at a Glance
Accommodations for Exams
Because students will be taking final exams from home, students with limited access to the internet may need accommodations for exams and will be provided guidance once classes begin. Faculty members will not penalize students for requiring at-home exam accommodations.
Course Schedule Changes
Students will be given an opportunity to change their course selections after the rescheduling process is complete this summer. All schedule changes can be made through Texas One Stop. Students can check this site to find the dates when their course selections can be changed.
Shortened Time On Campus
The fall 2020 semester will start Aug. 26. In-person instruction will end Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving. Most Students will remain away from campus for the remainder of the semester, taking final exams online Dec. 7-16.
Standard Academic Week
The typical academic week will be used for the majority of classes, meeting between Monday and Friday.
Expanded Class Days
Classes will be more evenly distributed through an expanded class day running from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Three Modes of Classes
Lectures will be streamed and/or recorded in many in-person and hybrid classes to allow students who become ill or who need to self-isolate to keep up with the classes.
Online
An online course is a class designed from the ground up so all students will attend the main class experience online. Material in these classes may be presented synchronously, with a live lecture in real time, or asynchronously, with recorded lectures and materials. Classes with enrollments of approximately 100 students or more will have online lectures. Online courses are listed as WB, web-based, in the course schedule. For some online courses, students may have the option of taking sections in person, if they are on campus, but will never be required to do so.
In-person
Classes designated as in-person are those for which there is at least some material critical for the course that can only be acquired through in-person attendance. Many of these courses involve learning skills or using equipment that would not be available remotely. In-person classes may have some content presented online, but students who register for classes without coming to campus cannot take these courses.
Hybrid
A hybrid class has both in-person and remote learning elements, with the frequency of in-person learning based on instructional needs. Students may be able to take some hybrid courses on a completely remote basis, but other hybrid courses will require students to be on campus for a portion of their coursework. The specific frequency of in-person class meetings will vary by course and may be modified by departments in consultation with their deans over the course of the semester as conditions change. The specific hybrid classes that can be taken all online will be communicated to students in the coming weeks.
Classroom Experience
Every class is designed to ensure that all students can focus on learning while maintaining a healthy environment by adhering to classroom guidelines.
- Cloth masks are required for students and instructors in all classrooms. UT will encourage compliance by increasing awareness and fostering a spirit of cooperation. For those who continue putting the community at risk with their behavior, corrective and disciplinary action may be taken in accordance with the university’s guidelines for faculty, staff and students.
- Instructors will use microphones to be heard clearly.
- Instructors can end a class in which students are present who are not wearing cloth masks and who refuse to leave. Instructors can refer such student violations to Student Conduct and Academic Integrity to initiate the discipline process. Instructors should provide asynchronous material online to cover what was missed in classes canceled for this reason.
- Individuals with conditions that preclude them from wearing a mask must fill out an Employee Accommodation Request form or contact Services for Students with Disabilities as appropriate for accommodations.
- The university is developing training materials on basic safety precautions for students, staff and faculty to complete prior to the start of the fall semester.
- All instructors will use a microphone while teaching, both for amplification and to stream or record their lectures for online students.
- No eating or drinking is allowed in classrooms, as masking would be interrupted.
- To the extent possible, students are encouraged to return to their rooms or apartments to participate in online courses. Because this is not always feasible, however, space in the first floor of the Perry–Castañeda Library and other spaces to be identified will be available for this purpose. A website with a list of these spaces will be put online before the start of classes.
- Classrooms more than four floors above street-level will not be used for classes in order to minimize the use of elevators by students and instructors with mobility impairments.
- Classes will be dismissed by sections to minimize congestion exiting rooms.
- Classrooms will be cleaned thoroughly at the end of the day.
- Students needing ADA accommodations should work with Services for Students with Disabilities. All other students with special circumstances should work with Student Emergency Services.
- Students with special circumstances (non-ADA) including COVID-19 symptoms should go to Student Emergency Services and complete the absence notification request form with the expectation that their attendance requirement will not be affected.
- There are many kinds of teaching lab, studio and performance spaces. The maximum occupancy of these spaces depends on the nature of activities taking place in them. In teaching labs and studios in which students sit at fixed stations, maximum occupancy requires social distancing of 6 feet between individuals.
- In spaces in which individuals must often move around to do their work, students and instructors should make every effort to maintain social distance of at least 6 feet. Maximum occupancy in these spaces will be set at 125 square feet per person, though other types of space on campus may have slightly different requirements that will be shared directly with users.
- Guidelines for performance spaces involving activities such as group singing and playing of wind and brass instruments have yet to be determined, as these activities involve significant risk of spray.
- The 400 largest unique classes will meet online and be recorded in studios and portable studios. Classes that meet online and that have some in-person sections will also have some sections that meet online to accommodate students who are working remotely.
- Some studios for holding large classes remotely will be located in easily accessible places such as the Commons Learning Center on the J.J. Pickle Research Campus to accommodate faculty members in high-risk groups who should not come to campus.
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