From: Joanne Russell, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2021 9:51AM
Subject: Planning for Fall 2021

Dear Faculty and Staff,

I am writing to provide an update on planning for Fall 2021 classes.

The Department Chairs and I are working with President Schrader, VP Rios and the KCC Forward Committee to plan for Fall 2021, in accordance with the KCC Campus Reopening Plan. Our goal is to enter phase II of re-opening, which is  25%-50% of socially distanced campus occupancy. Phase 2 still requires 6-foot social distancing, masking, and cleaning between classes.

Academic Departments are providing the final copy of their Fall 2021 schedule to Academic Scheduling this week in preparation for the Fall 2021 enrollment period, which opens April 12 for continuing students.  Although it will be challenging, our goal is to develop a schedule that will not require substantial adjustments, unless health conditions change significantly from the current expectations.

CUNY has defined three modes of instruction (O, P, and H) by which to define a class in CUNY First. These modalities have regulatory and financial aid implications, so it is essential we use the terms correctly. Online classes cannot have any on-ground components, and can be synchronous or asynchronous. For in-person classes, all required class meetings occur on campus during scheduled class meeting times. In a hybrid class, online contact hours (synchronous or asynchronous) displace some portion of the required contact hours that would normally take place in a scheduled in-person (face-to-face) class. 

There are many variations to hybrid classes. Most of the classes that are currently meeting in a hybrid format have divided the class into groups of students so as to be able to comply with social distancing. Some hybrid classes have in-person components at various times throughout the semester but not on a weekly basis. No matter what modality or meeting pattern is chosen, the faculty workload to teach the class must remain the same. If it is impossible to schedule a hybrid class without increasing the faculty workload, then the hybrid option would not be a good match for the class.

By the time the schedule goes live on April 12, we may not have determined exactly how to structure some of the hybrid classes. However, the “H” designation and the times that are listed in the schedule communicate to the students that there will be some mandatory on-campus classes for the times that are listed in the schedule. This will allow us to continue to work together to determine specifically how and where each class will meet.

You may have also heard about HyFLEX classes- that is, classes that are taught in person while also streaming to a remote group of students. Using this technology will require professional development and technical support, and may not be practical for some classes. CUNY is exploring the possibility of a pilot and I have asked Chairs to identify faculty who may be interested in exploring this technology.

I hope this provides additional clarity as we move forward with planning. We still have many details to work out, but we are hopeful that we will be able to provide more options for students to participate in on-campus classes.

Joanne Russell, Ph.D.
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
Kingsborough Community College
2001 Oriental Boulevard
Brooklyn, NY 11235-2398
718 368 5661