Fall 2021 Scheduling

[Parasaurolophus]

They're committed to a face-to-face fall, probably without social distancing, but with ~20% of classes online to accommodate international students who won't be able to enter the country.

Happily, I've managed to ensure that 2/4 fall classes are online, which means I'll only have to go in 1-2 days a week.

[onthefringe]

Just to continue the bitching...
Last Fall when we were discussing cancelling Spring Break (which we did), Fully HALF of the meeting was spent discussing the ONE day that STAFF had off in spring break and how they could adjust (to make sure they didnt lose it)!  Fine, but Faculty are being screwed by 5 days!! No real issue, it seems!

Stretching the semester for faculty is inconsiderate and bad for morale, but faculty are salaried employees, exempt from many FLSA requirements..

But, most TT faculty are salaried on 9 month appointments, so stretching the semester (rather than shifting it) can be asking them to work unpaid.

[Vkw10]

Just to continue the bitching...
Last Fall when we were discussing cancelling Spring Break (which we did), Fully HALF of the meeting was spent discussing the ONE day that STAFF had off in spring break and how they could adjust (to make sure they didnt lose it)!  Fine, but Faculty are being screwed by 5 days!! No real issue, it seems!

Stretching the semester for faculty is inconsiderate and bad for morale, but faculty are salaried employees, exempt from many FLSA requirements..

But, most TT faculty are salaried on 9 month appointments, so stretching the semester (rather than shifting it) can be asking them to work unpaid.

Yes, it can. But FLSA rules are much tighter for hourly employees, so that's where people pay attention. I'd bet that the university designated those stretch days as non-working days.

[Caracal]

They're committed to a face-to-face fall, probably without social distancing, but with ~20% of classes online to accommodate international students who won't be able to enter the country.

Happily, I've managed to ensure that 2/4 fall classes are online, which means I'll only have to go in 1-2 days a week.

Thats basically the plan where I am. I'm supposed to be fully in person. Barring any unexpected developments, I feel fine about this. It seems pretty clear that there was extremely limited transmission in classrooms, so as a vaccinated person, I should be pretty safe. Of course, a lot of potential unknowns in all of this, but there is a point where things are going to have to slowly return to normal. My students almost universally want to go back to in person, and I do too.

Of course, it makes me nervous to express this much optimism...