policy review - continuity of academic operations - … evaluation surveying data analysis...

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MARKET EVALUATION SURVEYING DATA ANALYSIS BENCHMARKING INNOVATIVE PRACTICES LITERATURE REVIEW

Policy Review - Continuity of Academic Operations

This report explains the purpose of academic continuity planning and offers profiles that exemplify how it is done. The goal of this report is to offer relevant models and guidelines for the institution of academic continuity measures.

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ACADEMY ADMINISTRATION PRACTICE

© 2010 Hanover Research – Academy Administration Practice

NOVEMBER 2010

Introduction

Academic continuity is defined by the Sloan Consortium, an organization dedicated to integrating online education into higher education, as, “the process of maintaining continuity of learning in a crisis situation caused by natural disaster, human-induced (“man-made”) disaster, or other precipitating factor.”1 While some may think academic continuity planning is synonymous with emergency management, there are important differences to note. Emergency management typically focuses on protecting the people and the resources of the college, the functions described as “Campus Safety and Security” and “Business Continuity” in Figure 1 on the next page.2 As explained by an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, emergency planning at colleges for the past few years has focused on developing measures to notify faculty, staff and students of an emergency situation and to protect people and data.3 Recently, however, academic continuity has garnered more attention. Academic continuity measures relate to the institution’s ability to continue offering its key service, education, even in an emergency situation. This report will center on the steps taken to ensure academic continuity in times of crisis. As online teaching technologies have become increasingly available and user-friendly, colleges across the country have begun to see how these could be used to deliver courses at a distance should an emergency bar access to the campus. Course management sites like Blackboard allow schools to more easily transfer courses to online formats. This can be a very real advantage for an institution as it allows the college or university to continue offering courses and maintain some degree of normalcy even during a crisis. For example, the threat of a swine flu outbreak on campuses across the United States in 2009 caused the CDC to recommend liberal absence policies and to suggest distance learning to help students maintain self-isolation. The CDC also recommended that colleges and universities be prepared to suspend classes if the flu became more widespread than anticipated.4 This warning prompted Millsaps College to instate an academic continuity plan, as being prepared to quickly transfer courses to online formats would protect students from further spread of the flu and minimize interruptions of coursework. Academic continuity measures are increasingly important in today’s world for several reasons. First, the incidence of natural disasters has increased by 40 percent in the last

1 Academic Continuity. Sloan-C. http://www.academiccontinuity.org/ 2 Academic Continuity and Institutional Resilience in Higher Education. Sloan-C, May 12, 2008. http://www.academiccontinuity.org/node/288 3 Young, Jeffrey R. “In Case of Emergency, Break Tradition – Teach Online.” Chronicle of Higher Education, August 17, 2009. http://chronicle.com/article/In-Case-of-Emergency-Break/48021/ 4 CDC Guidance for Responses to Influenza for Institutions of Higher Education during the 2009-2010 Academic Year. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/institutions/guidance/

Academic continuity measures relate to the institution’s ability to

continue offering its key service, education, even in

an emergency situation.

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15 years, making it more likely now than ever that an institution will need to resort to its academic continuity plan.5 Additionally, statistics show that every dollar spent on pre-disaster planning and mitigation efforts saves seven dollars in post-disaster economic losses.6 Despite how useful pre-disaster planning has proven to be, the results of a 2009 survey by United Educators and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges found that less than 25 percent of colleges regularly perform risk management or plan for criminal acts, environmental catastrophes and financial misconduct, and that 50 percent only plan for these kinds of risks after being audited, experiencing a campus crime, or seeing the results of such an event at another campus.7

Figure 1: Academic Continuity in the Context of Institutional Resilience

Source: http://www.academiccontinuity.org/node/288

Reasons offered by the Sloan Consortium for establishing academic continuity practices are as follows:8 As a way of maintaining and/or restoring at least some normalcy to student’s

lives As a strategy for minimizing enrollment loss As a way of maintaining a vital part of the nation’s economic and knowledge

infrastructure

5 UW Emergency Management. University of Washington. http://www.washington.edu/emergency/bcm 6 Ibid. 7 “Most Colleges Avoid Risk Management, Report Says.” Chronicle of Higher Education, June 25, 2009. 8 Bulleted information copied verbatim from: “Why Focus on Academic Continuity?” Sloan-C. http://www.academiccontinuity.org/?q=node/273

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In addition, as discovered in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, academic continuity ensures that the faculty will retain jobs and paychecks in times of extreme financial and personal stress. In Part I of this report, the Hanover Research Council will provide examples of academic continuity plans already in place at colleges and universities in the United States. Part II will move on to consider examples of universities that experienced emergency situations without having certain academic continuity measures in place. Advice from administrators at these institutions will be invaluable for determining the most important aspects of academic continuity. Part III draws from all of the examples to suggest certain fundamental guidelines and best practices for academic continuity planning. In all, the report aims to offer a comprehensive overview of this relatively new initiative at U.S. institutions.

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Part I: Existing Academic Continuity Plans

To identify the institutions to profile, Hanover conducted a search for academic continuity plans. From among those available for review, Hanover selected the institutions that were most like XYZ University in status (public or private) and in size. At the end of Part I, Hanover includes the Academic Continuity Toolkit offered by the University of Washington. This University is not presented as a peer of XYZ University but is included because the Toolkit is comprehensive and may offer further inspiration in the realm of academic continuity planning. The academic continuity plans profiled here can be broken down into three main parts: communication with students, course preparation, and delivery mode. Some also contain mention of how and when the plan will be enacted. Farleigh Dickinson University Farleigh Dickinson University is a private University in New Jersey home to 8,585 undergraduate students and 3,527 graduate students. The University offers Associates, Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees.9 Farleigh Dickinson University has prepared a “Faculty Quick-Start Guide” to help faculty prepare to bring their classes online during unforeseen short-term school closures. The plan was updated in the 2009-2010 academic year in response to the threat of a swine flu outbreak to include recommendations from the CDC. One of these recommendations was to make distance learning options available to those students who fell ill during spring break in order to allow them to stay at home and to avoid infecting the rest of the campus.10 Farleigh Dickinson University recommends, but does not require, that faculty develop a Continuation of Instruction plan for each course that they teach. This plan should include the following elements:11

A plan for communicating with students

Preparation of course materials for online delivery at a distance

Preparation of at least two delivery modes for these materials

Communication of the plan to the Department Chair, School Director and/or Dean of the College

9 Fast Facts. Farleigh Dickinson University. http://view.fdu.edu/default.aspx?id=198 10 Home. Faculty Quick Start Guide – Preparing to Continue Instruction During an Emergency. Farleigh Dickinson University. http://fdu-coursecontinuity.wikispaces.com/ 11 Ibid.

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Farleigh Dickinson’s Guide has come to be considered as one of the most comprehensive academic continuity guides available, and as such has been used as a model for several of the institutions profiled in this report. Communicating With Students Farleigh Dickinson considers the preparation of methods of communication to be a crucial part of any academic continuity plan. Important elements to consider and tasks to complete include the following:12 Faculty and students should have an FDU Webmail account in addition to a

non-FDU e-mail account on record, in case campus computer systems become inaccessible during an emergency.

A listserv is created for each course taught. The instructor should know the addresses for the listserv and know how to use it to contact students.

Students and faculty must maintain both e-mail accounts. Maintenance consists of periodically logging in, checking the spam folder, and deleting old e-mail to make room for new communications.

Faculty should collect student information with a Student Questionnaire to gather additional contact information for use during an emergency.

Students must be provided with faculty emergency contact information.

Instructors should facilitate the exchange of information between students in each class, possibly by creating a student class directory with contact information.

Course Preparation The Quick Start Guide also instructs faculty to prepare course materials for distance delivery methods.13 The Guide requests that if a faculty member feels that one or more of their courses is entirely incompatible with an online or other distance delivery format, they should contact their chair or director. With enough notice, the University can plan to reimburse tuition for those courses should in-person delivery be restricted by an emergency situation.14

12 Step 1 – Communication Plan. Faculty Quick Start Guide – Preparing to Continue Instruction During an Emergency. Farleigh Dickinson University. http://fdu-coursecontinuity.wikispaces.com/Step+1+-+Communication+Plan 13 Step 2 – Course Preparation. Faculty Quick Start Guide – Preparing to Continue Instruction During an Emergency. Farleigh Dickinson University. http://fdu-coursecontinuity.wikispaces.com/Step+2+-+Course+Preparation 14 Ibid.

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For each new course, and at the beginning of each new semester, the faculty is instructed to update course plans both for in-person and distance delivery. Instructors are advised to create at least three copies of all class materials to be stored at home, in the office, and given to the Chair or Director. Materials should be stored in both electronic and paper formats.15 The Guide instructs faculty to complete the following steps in preparation to maintain academic continuity in an emergency situation:16 Learning Objectives: the course should be broken down into units of study

and the instructor should write several clearly defined learning outcomes objectives for each unit.

Course Content: instructors should have a list of the related content for each learning objective (such as textbooks, lectures and multimedia materials) and should…

Consider how vulnerable these will be during an emergency (consider that students departing campus may be unable to bring textbooks, and that they may not have access to broadband internet connections).

Prepare alternative methods for achieving those learning objectives that are related to particularly vulnerable content elements.

Prepare two weeks of material that could be used at any point during the course that can be delivered at a distance in case of an emergency.

Convert paper-based materials such as lectures and lecture notes to electronic formats in advance.

Retain hard copies of readings, etc.

Student Activities: instructors should list the activities (such as discussions, problem sets, and writing research papers or essays) that are related to each learning objective and should…

Consider barriers to normally-planned activities that may arise in an emergency.

Prepare online or distance delivery methods for these activities, such as using online discussion boards, e-mail, or phone.

Consider alternate activities to replace those activities that may be impossible to complete at a distance.

15 Ibid. 16 Ibid.

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Keep electronic and hard copies of descriptions of the regularly-planned course activities and the emergency alternatives.

If a course relies on activities such as laboratory work that will be impossible in an emergency situation, the instructor should contact the Chair or Director so that alternate arrangements can be made in advance.

Assessment and Grading: the faculty is encouraged to be as lenient and flexible as possible with grading during an emergency situation and to consider in advance how the forms of assessment planned for the class will translate to distance delivery formats. For example, in an emergency situation, instructors will not be able to enforce time limits or closed-book policies for exams.

Syllabus and Course Policies: instructors should revise the course syllabi to include notes on the contingency plan for course delivery in an emergency.

Delivery Modes Farleigh Dickinson University has been in the practice of using Blackboard as its online learning technology. Webcampus, a service offered through Blackboard, is the university’s technology of choice for academic continuity because it has already been institutionalized: Webcampus course pages are automatically opened for every Farleigh Dickinson course.17 The Quick Start Guide offers resources to the faculty for learning to use the Blackboard software and becoming comfortable with the technology. The Guide also instructs faculty to prepare additional course delivery methods in case campus systems become unavailable during an emergency. The Guide presents the following as alternate options for distance delivery and requests that faculty offer students access in preparation for emergency situations:18 Wikis: group-edited documents that are user-friendly and easy to set up and

include a comments area that will allow the class to engage in discussion. The University recommends using wikispaces. The downside to this method is that faculty will be unable to restrict access to the wiki without paying a fee.

Blogs: an effective method to communicate with students that is also user-friendly and offers a comments section that is attached to the content. The University recommends Wordpress as a free blog service.

17 Step 3 – Preparing to use Webcampus. Faculty Quick Start Guide – Preparing to Continue Instruction During an Emergency. Farleigh Dickinson University. http://fdu-coursecontinuity.wikispaces.com/Step+3+-+Preparing+to+use+Webcampus 18 Step 4 – Other Course Delivery Methods. Faculty Quick Start Guide – Preparing to Continue Instruction During an Emergency. Farleigh Dickinson University. http://fdu-coursecontinuity.wikispaces.com/Step+4+-+Other+Course+Delivery+Methods

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Facebook: this is suggested as an effective means for communication because most students are already signed up. The downside to this method is that students may feel uncomfortable connecting with faculty on this site.

Google or Yahoo Groups: with this tool, faculty can create communities to which they can post files and other course content. The Groups allow discussion and can be made private.

FDU Pagetoaster: this tool allows faculty to create webpages without any knowledge of HTML or web design. It is operated by the University and can be used to post content in an emergency. Faculty would most likely, however, need to supplement Pagetoaster with e-mail, phone, or U.S. Postal Service contact. This tool will also be unavailable if FDU systems and servers go down during an emergency.

E-mail

U.S. Postal Service: the faculty is instructed to maintain a directory of student addresses and should call students to check these addresses before sending anything.

Teleconferencing: this is a method to deliver audio lecture, but requires students to be available at the same time for a call. The faculty is encouraged to set up smaller discussions with portions of the class at a time, as a discussion over the phone with a large class may be difficult.

In the Event of an Emergency… As well as outlining mitigation procedures, the Guide offers steps for faculty to take in the actual event of an emergency. This portion of the Guide states that the University Provost will activate the Continuation of Instruction Plan if the campus has been closed for at least a week due to an emergency situation.19 The initial steps recommended by the University include logging onto the FDU system to determine what services have been affected by the emergency. Initially, the faculty should also call students to find out where they are and what factors might affect their ability to continue with the course. Faculty should be prepared to explain to the students how the course will continue, and from there should continue making course materials available.20 As the emergency progresses, faculty should be sure to remain in contact with all students, in addition to sending personal email messages, as

19 Step 6 – When An Emergency Occurs. Faculty Quick Start Guide – Preparing to Continue Instruction During an Emergency. Farleigh Dickinson University. http://fdu-coursecontinuity.wikispaces.com/Step+6+-+When+An+Emergency+Occurs 20 Ibid.

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students will appreciate the support. The faculty is encouraged to remain flexible and open throughout the crisis.21 Radford University Radford University is a public university in Virginia (7,773 undergraduates) that maintains a wiki page for academic continuity planning resources similar to that of Farleigh Dickinson University. The plan is based on the following stated principles for academic continuity planning:22

Preparedness begins at the course and program level.

Without strategic preparation and planning, no continuity plan can succeed.

From a student perspective, the course is the building block of the degree, which is the ultimate goal of each student.

Preparations must extend to every faculty member, course and program. Communicating With Students Like Farleigh Dickinson, Radford University emphasizes the importance of updating student information regularly so as to ensure open channels of communication during an emergency.23 Many of the same details and recommendations from Farleigh Dickinson are included in the Radford wiki: student data must be accurately recorded and saved in multiple locations and e-mail contacts for students must include their Radford University e-mail account as well as at least one external account. The University stresses that faculty should continually update and check the contact information of students so as to prepare for quick and effective communication during an emergency.24 Like Farleigh Dickinson, Radford recommends that faculty offer students their own contact information and facilitate the sharing of contact information between students.25 As additional measures to protect methods of communication during an emergency, Radford reminds faculty and students that they will not be able to utilize the “desktop-to-desktop” live instruction technology available through the Adobe Connect software the University maintains without access to a computer with certain technical requirements. The academic continuity planning guide also reminds faculty, staff and students to regularly update their personal computers, check their internet

21 Ibid. 22 Bulleted information copied verbatim from: Academic Continuity Planning and Implementation Strategies and Resources. Radford University. http://academiccontinuity.wikispaces.com/ 23 Preparing for Academic Continuity. Academic Continuity Planning and Implementation Strategies and Resources. Radford University. http://academiccontinuity.wikispaces.com/1.+Preparing+for+Academic+Continuity 24 Ibid. 25 Ibid.

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access and speed, install security protection software, and ensure that they know how to use the Blackboard and Adobe Connect programs efficiently from home.26 Course Preparation Unlike Farleigh Dickinson University, Radford University uses the rubric designed by Quality Matters. QM is a program designed to evaluate the quality of online and blended courses.27 The rubric offers best practices in the area of online education. Its eight “General Standards” are listed below:28

General Standard 1: The overall design of the course is made clear to the student at the beginning of the course.

General Standard 2: Learning objectives are clearly stated and explained. They assist students in focusing their effort in the course.

General Standard 3: Assessment strategies use established ways to measure effective learning, evaluate student progress by reference to stated learning objectives, and are designed to be integral to the learning process.

General Standard 4: Instructional materials are sufficiently comprehensive to achieve stated course objectives and learning outcomes and are prepared by qualified persons competent in their fields.

General Standard 5: Meaningful interaction between the instructor and students, among students, and between students and course materials is employed to motivate students and foster intellectual commitment and personal development.

General Standard 6: Course navigation and the technology employed in the course foster student engagement and ensure access to instructional materials and resources.

General Standard 7: The course facilitates student access to institutional services essential to student success.

General Standard 8: The face-to-face and online course components are accessible to all students.

26 Ibid. 27 Welcome. Quality Matters Program. http://www.qmprogram.org/ 28 The “General Standards” copied verbatim from: Academic Continuity: Course Preparation. Academic Continuity Planning and Implementation Strategies and Resources. Radford University. http://academiccontinuity.wikispaces.com/2.+Academic+Continuity+-+Course+Preparation

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Like Farleigh Dickinson University, Radford University stresses the importance of clear learning objectives for course preparation, including measurable objectives at the unit/module level. These objectives should be communicated to the student.29 Radford University also employs Blackboard as its learning management system (LMS). The academic continuity planning guide provides several guidelines for the preparation of the Blackboard page and offers the following tips for faculty use of the system:30

Be certain that your course in the LMS contains a clear overview and schedule of activities.

Provide clear directions for students to access all elements in the course, including what to do first.

Create a folder named “Read Me First” or “Start Here” that includes essential course information and guidance for accessing course information, materials and resources.

At the first class meeting, conduct a course “tour” to acquaint students with icons and other conventions that will facilitate access to course resources.

Provide a clear statement of “rules of conduct” in participation in online activities:

Use a rubric or other appropriate assessment tool to evaluate student participation in discussions

Clarify writing expectations; e.g., use of correct English grammar and spelling as opposed to popular – text-messaging – online usage

Provide links to the Student Handbook and Honor Code

Clearly describe minimum skills students will need in order to engage in learning activities in an online environment:

Ability to use email with attachments

Ability to save files in different program formats

Ability to access and utilize network servers

Ability to access and use software programs specific to the discipline/content

Ability to use spreadsheets

29 Ibid. 30 Bulleted information copied verbatim from the above cited source.

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Radford University’s plan also contains provisions for assessments; the University urges that professors consider alternate assessment strategies for use during a potential emergency situation that could combine multiple approaches. Respondus, a tool available through WebCT/Blackboard, allows faculty to create tests and quizzes and publish them online. Interestingly, Radford does not encourage professors to be more lenient in times of emergency but rather states that, “assessments and grading should be equal to assessments and grading for the class taught face-to-face.”31 Delivery Modes The Radford University academic continuity planning guide suggests the following technologies as potential distance delivery modes to maintain academic continuity:32 WebCT Blackboard

Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro: software that allows faculty to either create narrated slide presentations for live delivery or storage, and to develop text-, audio- or video-driven class discussions online in a live “meeting room” format.

Podcast: the guide suggests that faculty could deliver course content or lectures as podcasts, suggesting Apple’s iTunes software as a possible platform.

IP Videoconferencing

Web Pages

iPad

Wikis: Radford also suggests wikispaces as the platform

Flip Video Camcorder: a pocket-sized camcorder that permits faculty to upload video online

Blogs

Facebook

Courses 2.0 (Facebook): an application available through Facebook designed to facilitate communication between instructors and students that allows instructors to schedule virtual office hours.

Study Groups (Facebook): another Facebook application designed for communication between students, and between instructors and

31 Ibid. 32 Technologies to Support Academic Continuity. Academic Continuity Planning and Implementation Strategies and Resources. Radford University. http://academiccontinuity.wikispaces.com/3.+Technologies+to+Support+Academic+Continuity

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students. The application allows members to create to-do lists, schedule meetings, ask questions, share files, discuss, and collaborate.

Google and Yahoo Groups

U.S. Postal Service

The guide also reminds faculty of the development and training opportunities available through the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, such as technology support.33 In the Event of an Emergency… As at Farleigh Dickinson, the decision to activate the Academic Continuity Plan will be made by the University Provost if the campus has been closed for at least one week due to an emergency. Other steps suggested are identical to those at FDU.34 Millsaps College Millsaps College is a small, private liberal arts college located in Jackson, Mississippi. The College is home to just 1,100 students.35 Despite its small size, Millsaps College has published a Faculty Guide for Continuity of Course Instruction.36 Millsaps created the Guide in September 2009 in response to the threat of a swine flu outbreak on campus. The Guide notes that the same steps would be useful to take in response to natural disasters.37 The Guide was based on the Farleigh Dickinson University Faculty Quick Start Guide. It consists of an abridged version of that Guide’s more detailed recommendations.38 Communicating With Students Like the other institutions profiled, Millsaps College recommends that all students and faculty maintain and exchange one Millsaps e-mail address and one non-Millsaps e-mail account. The Guide also suggests that faculty and students exchange other crucial contact information including phone numbers and other, personal e-mail accounts to be used only in the case of an emergency that closes the campus and could affect the campus systems.39

33 Ibid. 34 Procedures and Protocols in an Emergency. Academic Continuity Planning and Implementation Strategies and Resources. Radford University. http://academiccontinuity.wikispaces.com/5.+Procedures+and+Protocols+in+an+Emergency 35 About Millsaps. Millsaps College. http://www.millsaps.edu/about_millsaps.php 36 Millsaps Faculty Guide for Continuity of Course Instruction. Millsaps College. http://www.millsaps.edu/_resources/author_files/faculty_guide_for_continuity_of_course_instruction_2009.pdf 37 Ibid., 1 38 Ibid., 2 39 Ibid., 1

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Course Preparation The Millsaps College Guide recommends that faculty save electronic and paper copies of their course materials and syllabi. It also mentions that faculty will need to be aware of learning objectives, course content, and learning activities in case of an emergency.40 Delivery Modes Millsaps uses Course Connect as its course management system. Three staff members are trained to help faculty set up courses through this system. It is not yet in use school-wide, but has been put in place for 78 courses. The Guide also recommends that faculty consider Google or Yahoo Groups, Facebook, or the U.S. Postal Service as other course delivery options.41 In the Event of an Emergency… Like Farleigh Dickinson and Radford University, Millsaps College plans to begin offering courses online or at a distance only if the campus closes for at least one week due to an emergency.42 Rochester Institute of Technology The Rochester Institute of Technology is a private university located in Rochester, NY and in 2010 was home to a total of 14,224 undergraduate students and 2,982 graduate students.43 The Wallace Center at RIT provides faculty with advice for the creation of a Continuation of Instruction Plan for use in the event of an emergency. Faculty are encouraged to create a plan for each course they teach and, afterwards, to share the plan with the Department Chair, School Director, and/or Dean of their College who may be able to suggest additional measures including naming a backup instructor for each course.44 Communicating With Students RIT recommends that on the first day of classes, faculty exchange RIT and at least one non-RIT email accounts with students. Faculty should also collect students’ phone numbers and other information.45 RIT maintains an alert system called the

40 Ibid. 41 Ibid., 2 42 Ibid. 43 Fast Facts. Rochester Institute of Technology. http://www.rit.edu/overview/fastfacts.html 44 Faculty Quick Start Guide: Preparing a Continuation of Instruction Plan. The Wallace Center at RIT. P. 3 http://wallacecenter.rit.edu/content/faculty-success/Preparing-a-Continuation-of-Instruction-Plan.pdf 45 Ibid.

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Emergency Mass Notification System.46 This system allows the University to contact the community via instant message, text message, voice message or e-mail. The system is designed to cycle through each contact method twice, depending on what contact information is available for each member of the community, and to continue trying until the individual confirms receipt of the message.47 Course Preparation To prepare courses for online or distance delivery in the case of an emergency, RIT offers similar recommendations to those provided by Farleigh Dickinson and Radford University. These are to focus on the following elements of course preparation:48 Learning outcomes objectives: RIT recommends that faculty break the

course down into units of study and prepare learning objectives for each unit.

Develop or identify course content: Faculty should prepare a list of all content necessary for each learning objective and write down ways in which these could be transferred to an online format or replaced with web-based content.

Student learning activities: Faculty should consider online/distance delivery options for the student learning activities.

Assessment and grading: RIT encourages the faculty to consider online/distance delivery options for assessments.

Syllabus and course policies: Faculty should include the relevant details of the Continuation of Instruction Plan on the course syllabus at the beginning of the semester so that students are prepared.

Delivery Modes RIT uses the course management system called myCourses. This is the delivery mode most highly recommended for use in the Continuation of Instruction Plan. RIT provides help services for faculty learning to use myCourses including consultations, tutorials, an instructor’s manual, and training sessions offered by The Wallace Center.49 Like the other institutions profiled here, RIT highly recommends that the faculty become familiar with at least two alternative online delivery options,

46 RIT Alert – Emergency Mass Notification System: Information and Terms of Use. Business Continuity. Finance & Administration. Rochester Institute of Technology. http://finweb.rit.edu/buscont/massnotification.html 47 Ibid. 48 Faculty Quick Start Guide: Preparing a Continuation of Instruction Plan, Op. cit., 2 49 Ibid., 1

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preferably one offered through RIT and one supported by an institution or company outside RIT. Recommended course delivery options are:50

Adobe Connect web-conferencing system

Personal webpage on RIT Server

RIT Wiki

Google or Yahoo Groups

Skype

University of Washington The University of Washington is much larger than XYZ University and is also publicly funded. However, the University of Washington has published a highly useful Academic Continuity Toolkit for its faculty and staff.51 The ACT contains suggestions for how to put materials online, how to communicate online, how to conduct a class online, and how to access materials from home, as well as providing help resources and a “Readiness Quiz” that measures an instructor’s level of preparation for online or distance delivery.52 Though the University of Washington faces challenges and enjoys advantages that do not surface at XYZ University due to funding and size, the Academic Continuity Toolkit may still be a useful resource.

50 Ibid., 2 51 Academic Continuity Toolkit (ACT). IT Connect. University of Washington. http://www.washington.edu/itconnect/emergency/act/index.html#steps 52 Ibid.

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Part II: Academic Continuity Plans Evaluated in Hindsight

Because academic continuity planning is a relatively recent development, there are plenty of examples of institutions that faced emergencies without continuity plans. In Part II, we present two such examples to reiterate the importance of academic continuity preparation and to learn from administrator’s experience as to what elements of academic continuity planning would have been most helpful in the crisis. Valley City State University In the Summer of 2009, Joe Tykwinski, Chief Information Officer at Valley City State University, participated in a webcast hosted by the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (also known as WCET Connect).53 The Webcast was titled, “Online Learning to the Rescue: Continuing to Teach when Disaster Strikes.” Mr. Tykwinski was present to discuss the fallout of the flood that closed the campus of Valley City State University in the Spring of 2009. Emergency In April of 2009, the Sheyenne River was expected to flood due to snow accumulations from the past winter and heavy rains late in March.54 VCSU therefore had some time to prepare and was able to build new dikes to protect the campus. Eventually, the National Guard was deployed to assist VCSU and the surrounding area to prepare for the onset of a flood. By the time the water was at its highest, the campus could be accessed by only one road.55 On April 17th there was a breakdown in the sewer system and the mayor required all non-essential businesses to close. At this point, the University made the decision to complete the semester online.56 Aftermath In preparation for the flood, VCSU confirmed its contingency locations for all servers and IT equipment and contacted telecommunications providers to ensure that internet connections were ready to use at the alternate location.57 The University also stored back-up tapes of data at the relocation site. They decided that data protection was the number one priority and that relocating the servers would be done only if absolutely necessary (which in time it proved to be).58

53 Tykwinski, Joe. “Online Learning to the Rescue: Continuing to Teach when Disaster Strikes.” WCET Connect, Summer 2009. Screens 11 – 29 https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/playback.jnlp?psid=2009-06-17.0805.D.6ED730004FC10DE6DB7425E6F760D6.vcr 54 Ibid., 16 55 Ibid., 17 56 Ibid., 22 57 Ibid., 18 58 Ibid.

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In one week’s time, the University was able to begin offering courses in distance formats. Since faculty did not already have continuity plans in place, they spent the week scrambling to adapt their courses for online or distance delivery. In the end, 56 percent of the courses were finished completely online using the Blackboard academic suite.59 Eight percent of the courses were already partly online and therefore only needed to be slightly enhanced to finish out the semester in that format. Thirteen percent of the courses were being delivered off-site and therefore required no re-design or conversion. Twelve percent were deemed complete at that time, and eleven percent were completed primarily through e-mail correspondence.60 The University credits the quick turn-around and conversion of courses to online and distance formats to its long-standing commitment to the use of instructional technology. In 1990 there was a mission designation to provide leadership for instructional technology and in 1996, the University began a 1:1 computing program to provide students and faculty with laptop computers.61 The University also began using electronic portfolios in 1996, and in 2006, VCSU required a Blackboard presence for all courses. Starting that year, the faculty was required to enter information such as syllabi, office hours and contact information onto their course Blackboard page.62 Faculty and students were also required to use Microsoft Exchange. Additionally, Valley City State University is part of the North Dakota University System, a group of eleven campuses that share resources such as libraries, ERP systems, and video and web conferencing technologies and support. This partnership meant that VCSU never lost these services during the flood.63 During the flood, the staff from the University System Office was able to provide technical support to faculty looking to move their courses online. Additionally, when the servers had to be moved during the flood, VCSU moved them to a neighboring college that was also part of the University System.64 Lessons Learned After its experience with the flood, VCSU identified certain key IT lessons. Mainly, VCSU could have benefited from having backup servers at alternate locations. Since the University was forced to relocate its server during the flood, the e-mail system and other applications were down for a period of time. Other lessons were listed in Mr. Tykwinski’s presentation as follows:65 59 Ibid., 23 60 Ibid. 61 Ibid., 24 62 Ibid. 63 Ibid., 25 64 Ibid., 21 65 Bulleted information copied verbatim from: Tykwinski, Joe, Op. cit., 26

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Ensure servers, power, and cooling are located to avoid likely hazards

Discuss levels of redundancy and risks with campus decision makers

Virtual servers make redundancy easier and more affordable

Prepare remote site power, cooling and cabling, if nothing else! Other lessons from the flood related to communication and course delivery. VCSU learned that it is crucial to have accurate contact information for all faculty, staff and students. The provision of emergency notification contact information is not required in North Dakota, and only 49 percent of students complied with the University’s request. This made communication difficult during the emergency and in the aftermath when faculty tried to track down students not attending the online classes.66 As for course delivery, the University ran into some roadblocks when it discovered that not all users had the level of familiarity with the programs or of broadband access at their homes necessary to access the online course materials and information. To remediate this problem, the University believes it would be helpful to:67 Offer some programs in online-only formats to iron-out problems with

delivery in advance.

Encourage faculty to use instructional technology more often by providing incentives, IT support, professional development opportunities, and ever-more convenient options.

The final wisdom gleaned by VCSU from the flood emergency was that, “the best way to prepare is to function closer to the contingency state on a periodic basis.”68

66 Ibid., 27 67 Ibid., 28 68 Ibid., 29

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University of New Orleans Richard Speaker was also a presenter for the Webcast.69 Mr. Speaker is an Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of New Orleans, and held this position during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike. Emergency In the Fall of 2005, UNO was home to 17,000 students. The University had only begun classes one week before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29th. The storm flooded eighty percent of the city and caused the evacuation of 1.3 million people. In addition, 1.5 million units incurred some damage. On September 24th, Hurricane Rita made landfall west of New Orleans. On October 10th, the University decided that students would not be able to return to campus that fall and started a mini-semester online and at some physical sites.70 The main campus did not reopen until January 2006, at which point the university was still offering many programs online due to building closures. Some buildings were closed due to damage and mold for as long as a full year after the storm. In the fall of 2007, UNO continued to have a stronger online presence than before the storm, offering 10.6 percent of its course offerings online.71 Aftermath Hurricane Katrina knocked out the UNO computer system. This made communication extremely difficult, as the University had not previously encouraged the use of outside e-mail addresses. Members of the faculty, staff and administrators had trouble contacting one another in order to begin the planning and rebuilding process. Eventually, administrators were able to return to campus accompanied by an armed guard to recover the servers, relocate them, and begin to plan the mini semester.72 Lessons Learned The University learned several lessons from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. By 2008, when Hurricanes Gustav and Ike hit, the University had taken the following steps to protect academic continuity: the University set up an emergency text notification system, moved the servers for Blackboard and other crucial elements to Baton Rouge and placed backup servers in Shreveport, built a virtual campus online using Second

69 Speaker, Richard. “Online Learning to the Rescue: Continuing to Teach when Disaster Strikes.” WCET Connect, Summer 2009. Screens 30 – 63 https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/playback.jnlp?psid=2009-06-17.0805.D.6ED730004FC10DE6DB7425E6F760D6.vcr 70 Ibid., 33 71 Ibid., 34 72 Ibid., 42

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Life as a platform and based this technology in servers in the Pacific Northwest and accumulated a list of faculty and student non-UNO alternate e-mail addresses.73 The four main lessons learned were as follows:74 Over-reliance on a single university-based computer system: The

University was crippled by its reliance on the campus servers. When those servers went down in the storm, UNO e-mail went down and faculty, staff and students could not contact one another. Instead, the University should have planned ahead with backup servers, lists of alternate contact information, and the availability of multiple delivery modes for online courses such as Yahoo and Google Groups, Moodle, and Sloodle.

Long-term emergencies require comprehensive plans that rely on a variety of actions and technologies: UNO learned that it should have set up an actual or a virtual rendezvous site for administrators, faculty and staff. The University should have immediately moved the servers and a small core staff to the rendezvous location as soon as they knew of the impending disaster.

Plan to work with faculty and students who are dispersed for long periods of time, using various media and course platforms: In advance of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, UNO should have benefited from the expertise of some faculty and had those who were well-versed in the use of online course management technologies instruct those who were new to it.

Build alternative communication structures within departments and divisions: The University in hindsight would have set up faculty groups online that stored emergency contact information.

One of the most important things that the University learned from the Hurricane Katrina disaster was that it is important to resume teaching, research and service functions as quickly as possible in the aftermath of a disaster in order to ensure that faculty, staff and administrators have continued financial support.

73 Ibid., 44 74 Ibid., 47

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Part III: Guidelines and Best Practices for Academic Continuity Planning

As described by Claudine Schweber from the University of Maryland University College, the most frequently identified components of academic continuity are communication, continuation of learning method, instructor readiness, student readiness, infrastructure support and institutional policies.75 Drawing from the above examples and models, Hanover has identified several specific best practices and guidelines for an academic continuity plan. These are as follows: Communication

It is necessary for institutions to have several methods in place for communicating with students, faculty and staff in a crisis. Universities must maintain contact information for students, faculty and staff, including cell phone numbers, alternate e-mail addresses, and even physical addresses. Universities must be prepared for the event that the server goes down and university e-mail accounts are unavailable.

The University of New Orleans learned that it would be useful for administrators and faculty to establish a real or a virtual rendezvous point in the event of a communication breakdown during an emergency.

Course Preparation

As evidenced by the academic continuity plans profiled in this report, it is important that the faculty be encouraged to plan for an emergency. This includes maintaining paper and electronic copies of all course materials as well as considering how the course will move online or be delivered at a distance in the event of an emergency that bars students and faculty from accessing the campus.

Communication with administrators is also crucial so that if certain courses cannot be delivered online, the institution can plan to reimburse students or can develop other solutions.

Course Delivery

Faculty should be encouraged to acquaint themselves with the college or university’s chosen course management software and should use the system on a daily basis so as to be better prepared for online delivery in the event of an emergency.

75 Schweber, Claudine. Education Access = Entry + Academic Continuity. Sloan-C. www.academiccontinuity.org/files/EDEN08+access+CSchWeber.doc

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In fact, it may be helpful for the college or university to offer some programs fully online so as to confront and manage any difficulties that arise well in advance of a crisis situation.

To protect the university system, servers should be maintained at various locations and not just at the campus. As VCSU learned, relocating servers can take time and cost the University crucial days of access to e-mail and other applications. Virtual servers are also an option, but whichever method is chosen, redundancy is necessary.

Faculty should be familiar with several other course delivery modes in the event that the server fails and the preferred platform is unavailable.

One additional element of academic continuity not fully canvassed by the profiles was emphasized by Shannon Meadows, the Vice President of Higher Education at Blackboard Connect, in her introduction to the aforementioned WCET Connect webcast.76 Partnering with the community, with other institutions and with corporations can be extremely beneficial during an emergency. For example, Bowdoin College and Loyola Marymount University have formed a partnership whereby each maintains a server for the other, ensuring that the college or university can stay online in a crisis.77 Valley City State University benefited greatly from its membership in the North Dakota University System. When the University of North Dakota flooded, they partnered with volunteers from the community to lay sandbags and mitigate additional damage. This is corroborated by the findings of the Academic Continuity and Emergency Management working group.78 This working group met in June of 2007. It was funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and attended by representatives from various government agencies, institutions of higher education, national education organizations and emergency management professionals. The findings concur that these connections and partnerships with the government, community and corporations may be central to the success of academic continuity planning. The report states that, “key stakeholders in higher education typically lack personal

76 Meadows, Sharon. “Online Learning to the Rescue: Continuing to Teach when Disaster Strikes.” WCET Connect, Summer 2009. Screens 3 – 9 https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/playback.jnlp?psid=2009-06-17.0805.D.6ED730004FC10DE6DB7425E6F760D6.vcr 77 Ibid., 8 78 Academic Continuity and Emergency Management: Improving Higher Education’s Ability to Continue Teaching and Learning when Confronted by Disasters.” Sloan-C, June 2007. http://www.academiccontinuity.org/?q=node/245

Partnering with the community, with other institutions and with corporations can be

extremely beneficial during an emergency.

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relationships with state and local authorities and public and private sector institutions which could offer emergency support and ‘back-up’ capacities and operations.”79 Kathleen Henning, former Emergency Management Coordinator for Montgomery County, also suggests that college and universities, “become an active and vocal partner in local community planning efforts, including working with the local Emergency Manager, the local Citizen Corps Council, and to be networking with other colleges and universities on all-hazards planning.”80 Establishing these relationships would help to coordinate the emergency planning of the community and the university and would facilitate academic continuity. In all, the most important element of academic continuity planning is extensive preparation. Faculty, staff, administrators and students should all be well versed in the emergency academic continuity procedures and should be prepared to continue courses online for as long as necessary – not just for days or weeks, but even for months. As Valley City State University discovered, the best way to prepare is to practice. Putting online technologies in place and instructing faculty in their use well in advance of an emergency or crisis situation will ensure that the transition of courses to online platforms is smooth and effective.

79 Ibid., 2 80 Interview with Kathleen Henning: EM & Higher Ed. Sloan-C, July 2, 2009. http://www.academiccontinuity.org/?q=node/339

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