[ENCI-l] Civil Engineering Update for Undergraduate and Graduate Students - 15 March 2020

[Students in Civil Engineering Undergraduate Program]

Dear Civil Engineering Students; Undergrad, Grad & PDFs (cc’d to Civil Faculty).

I wanted to provide you an update on where we are at with courses and a few other things.  I had a good chat with CEUS reps on Friday (via Zoom) and had an email prepared to update everyone but decided to wait a few hours!  Thank you for your patience as everything evolves and we figure out a new normal.  I first wanted to let you know we are working diligently to get our classes up and running again.  I am having discussions at all levels, at all times of day right now (including leadership meetings on line this morning!).   I also want to acknowledge this is a particularly stressful and confusing time for all of you… I imagine you have so many questions and concerns, and simply just don’t know what is going on.  I hope this email helps provide a bit of information.  I also want to encourage you to reach out an any time.  Please feel free to contact me (jhayley at ucalgary.ca<mailto:jhayley at ucalgary.ca>), Neil Duncan,our Associate Head Undergraduate (duncan at ucalgary.ca<mailto:duncan at ucalgary.ca>), Markus Dann, our Associate Head Graduate Studies (mrdann at ucalgary.ca<mailto:mrdann at ucalgary.ca>), your CEGS or CEUS leaders, or your course instructor.  There is also support available through student wellness services<https://www.ucalgary.ca/wellness-services>.

Classes:
As announced by the Provost on Friday, all classes are switching to alternative forms of delivery starting on Monday.  What this looks like will vary from class to class.  Right now, I’d say your class might look like one, some or all of these options:
1. Pre-recorded lectures (probably using Yuja) that you may view at your convenience - hosted on D2L.
2. On-line lectures hosted using Zoom during normally scheduled lecture times.  Exact mechanisms may vary from class to class, however Zoom allows for interaction using the “chat” feature and the “raise hand” feature.  Some instructors might record these Zoom lectures and post them on D2L for viewing later.
3. Annotated lecture slides coupled with announced virtual office hours and/or virtual tutorials.
4. Pre-recorded laboratory experiments and/or laboratory simulations with simulated lab data.

We ask that for all forms of delivery that you respect copyrights and NOT post these videos on video sharing websites or social media

Tutorials:
These will be handled on a class by class bases, but we intend to maintain course content, including worked examples.  The delivery method of any quizzes will change.

Laboratories:
In person laboratories are cancelled for the remained of the term, but may be substituted with virtual labs or data analyses.  These will be announced by your course instructor in the coming days.

Midterms:
If If there are still midterm exams coming up in your courses, your instructor will communicate to you how the exam format will change.  All midterms/quizzes/assessments set to occur on Friday, 13 March were cancelled.  Your instructor will be in touch about alternative plans.

Final exams:
We are currently making arrangements regarding final exams and your instructors will be sharing details with you in the next week.  Note that it is still likely that most courses will have final exams; however there will be no face-to-face exams.

Course outlines:
Instructors are working on any revisions required to course outlines.  As soon as approved, these will be available to students via D2L - expect to see them posted on Friday.

Campus services:
Right now, the university remains open and all campus services are available.  For example, you are welcome to come to campus and use the computers, the maker space, the wifi, etc.  However, there will be no requirements for you to come to campus for any class component.  You might need to be available virtually at lecture times (check with your instructor if you are uncertain) and you might need to be available virtually for your final exam scheduled time (we will let you know by the end of the week).  This might mean that classes such as ENCI 570 capstone design change slightly in scope such that students are in no way disadvantaged if they leave the campus/city.

For thesis based graduate students:
The university remains open, as do your research laboratories.  Please check with your supervisor and create a plan for the next couple months, as well as a contingency plan should campus services change.  At the end of everyday, please ensure your laboratory is safe to walk away from, your work area is tidy with no food or debris.  If you are working in a research laboratory setting, please connect with your supervisor and refresh your safety plan, including work alone plan.  Reach out to your supervisor, Dr. Dann or myself with any concerns.

Other questions:
Other concerns I heard raised are around internship, specifically if a 3rd year’s internship get cancelled, then availability of 4th year courses.  We will be certain to address this in the upcoming week(s) as soon as we are rolling with the revised course content.  Also, questions about 4th years and the ability to complete your degree.  It is my understanding that the course delivery and assessment methods have changed, however, the course content will remain effectively the same and that you will receive the necessary components to complete your degree requirements as planned.

Last words:
Finally, I thank each and every one of you for your patience as we work through this process.  On Monday and Tuesday we will still be working through a steep learning curve for many of our instructors.  We have set up on-line workshops and chat sites to help bring our faculty up to speed and help them create the content to deliver to you… bear with us as we work through a few of the kinks at the start!  For updates about your classes, make sure you are checking D2L regularly.

Enjoy the last of your weekend and feel free to reach out with any questions.  And Happy Belated Pi-Day.

Jocelyn Hayley

Jocelyn L. Hayley, PhD, PEng
Professor & Head, Civil Engineering
Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary
JHayley at ucalgary.ca<mailto:JHayley at ucalgary.ca>




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