Spring Student Support Package

Dear Colleagues,

As NCSSM continues a year of pandemic response, low-density campus model, and a blend of hybrid and remote instruction, we understand that significant screen time and instruction in a variety of modes has been challenging for students and employees. In last week’s progress reports, we saw a concerning increase in students requiring academic intervention. Our advising and counseling services are working extremely hard to provide the support that students need, but it is clear that additional support is needed for our student body.

In addition to our existing procedures and support systems, we have created a support package and we will be implementing several new support measures in direct response to the CoVID-19 pandemic. Please read through the support package and action items. Your supervisor and Academic Programs and Student Life teams are available to assist you in implementing the actions.

  1. Revised Schedule - Week of April 5

The residential and online class schedules have been revised for the week after spring break to allow students a break from Zoom, time to catch up on outstanding assignments, and common time to work on group projects before the final six weeks of the semester.

Note: Open Enrollment will continue on their regular schedules April 5-9. If the residential and online schedule revisions necessitate some flexibility with your open enrollment schedule, please contact Jamie Lathan.

Residential Program

Monday, April 5: Required Teacher Workday (as originally scheduled). No classes.

Tuesday, April 6: We will follow a Monday schedule during the day and a modified evening class schedule to ensure that all core classes have a chance to meet. During this time, instructors will complete any preparatory work for the week of April 12 and indicate their availability for the rest of the week.

Wednesday - Friday, April 7-9: Academic Support Days. All residential classes are suspended. Instructors will hold office hours daily and be available for appointments. There will be no new assignments. Students are expected to seek the help they need and use the time to complete and submit all outstanding assignments as soon as possible. Counselors and advisors may reach out to individual instructors with information about students who need more structured support to complete their assignments.

Action Steps for Faculty Teaching Residential Courses:

  • By Friday, March 26, faculty should contact all residential students who have outstanding assignments (cc. family account and support team). Please provide a list of work that needs to be completed by Monday, April 12, in order to be caught up in your course (Note: the comments you entered in Blackbaud for midterms likely contain some of this information). Faculty are also encouraged to reach out to students (cc. family account and support team) who have submitted their work but could benefit from some extra help with course concepts. Academic Programs will provide a template for these messages to help you get started. Students will be expected to work with their support team and family to establish a reasonable schedule for completing all outstanding work by April 12.

  • You will have one meeting block for your residential core classes on Tuesday, April 6. Please use this time to complete any preparatory work for the week of April 12, and let your students know your availability and the best way to reach you April 7-9.

  • You are required to be available for a minimum of two office hours per day April 7-9 and to be available by appointment.

  • In order for students to be able to maintain positive momentum coming out of the Academic Support Days, it is important to reduce your course content for the remainder of the semester to compensate for the loss of instructional time the week of April 5. There should be no new out-of-class assignments the week of April 5. Please avoid “doubling up” content in other weeks to make up for missed instructional time, as these actions will exacerbate student anxiety and support needs.

Online Program

Similar to residential classes, online webinars are suspended April 5 - 8 with no new assignments.

Action Steps for Faculty Teaching Online Courses:

  • By Friday, March 26, faculty should contact all online students with outstanding assignments (cc. family account and senior advisor or caas@ncssm.edu). Please provide a list of work that needs to be completed by Monday, April 12, in order to be caught up in your course. Faculty are also encouraged to reach out to students (cc. family account and senior advisor or caas@ncssm.edu) who have submitted their work but could benefit from some extra help with course concepts. Students will be expected to work with their family to establish a reasonable schedule for completing all outstanding work by April 12.

  • By Friday, March 26, notify your online students about your availability the week of April 5. Scheduling office hours during your regular webinar time is strongly recommended. You are required to be available for a minimum of two office hours per day April 7-9 and to be available by appointment. If you teach both residential and online courses, the office hour expectation is two hours per day total at minimum.

  • In order for students to be able to maintain positive momentum coming out of the Academic Support Week, it is important to reduce your course content for the remainder of the semester to compensate for the loss of instructional time the week of April 5. There should be no new out-of-class assignments the week of April 5. Please avoid “doubling up” content in other weeks to make up for missed instructional time, as these actions will exacerbate student anxiety and support needs.

  1. Revised Grading Guidelines

Each residential and online student will have the opportunity from June 4, 2021, through June 11, 2021, to select up to two courses for which they would like to convert their letter grade to Pass (coded PC-19 to denote COVID-19) or Withdraw (coded WC-19 to denote COVID-19).

  • This is an opt-in only approach. Students are NOT required to select any courses if they are satisfied with their letter grades.

  • The letter grade(s) selected to be changed to PC-19 or WC-19 will not be calculated in your GPA. You will receive credit for the course you select if it’s PC-19. You will not receive credit for a WC-19 course.

  • The following multi-term courses are not eligible to be converted to PC-19 / WC-19: AS4030, AS4050, and MR4050.

  • Students who converted their core chemistry or physics (CH3500, CH4020, PH3500, PH4020) grade to PC-19 in the fall are not eligible to convert their chemistry or physics course to PC-19 in the spring. If the grade for a biology course is converted to PC-19, it will not satisfy the graduation requirement for biology. Students will have to ensure that another biology course is completed with a passing letter grade.

  • Due to the varying requirements at colleges and universities, NCSSM cannot guarantee that choosing to change a letter grade to a PC-19 or WC-19 will not have an impact on future scholarships, articulation credits, or college admissions. You are encouraged to visit admissions websites for more information about how colleges and universities are making changes to their admission requirements in response to the coronavirus.

  • Grades of PC-19 may not satisfy prerequisite requirements for NCSSM courses. If a student opts for PC-19 in a course that is later used as a prerequisite at NCSSM, NCSSM leadership may consult the original letter grade to determine eligibility.

  • Before selecting the WC-19 option, a student must consult with their counselor or registrar to ensure that this is the best option available.

  • Students will be required to affirm that their family/parents are aware of their plans to submit the grade change form, and family accounts will be copied on email confirmation of the grade change.

  1. Revised Synchronous Meeting Guidelines (Residential Program Only)

Effective April 12, classes will have a maximum of three required weekly synchronous class meetings (hybrid and/or virtual). For classes that are scheduled to meet four days a week, the fourth class meeting will be optional synchronous or asynchronous and may be used to complete assignments, as a tutorial, as office hours, or for group work.

  1. Class-Based Academic Relief

Required Action Items for Faculty (effective immediately):

  • Select two relief strategies from this document to implement in each of your classes. If you have already implemented one of the strategies, select one additional strategy. If you have already implemented two or more of these strategies in each of your classes, thank you; no further action is required.

  • Taking a short break during a Zoom meeting and stepping away from the screen can help reduce Zoom fatigue. Starting this week, please be sure to add Zoom breaks in your classes if you do not already include them. For example, schedule a 1-2 minute break for each 50-minute class, two 1-2 minute breaks for each 90-minute class, one five minute break for each 90-minute class, etc.

We understand that it is challenging to implement changes on short notice, and we know that it is very difficult to reduce content in courses that have been thoughtfully developed. We believe these support measures are necessary to enable our students to complete the academic year successfully and on time. We also hope the flexible time during the week of April 5 will benefit you as well. If you need to request any additional vacation time, please confer with your supervisor.

Thank you for your commitment to our students, and thank you for supporting them during this particularly challenging CoVID year.