Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art
Emergency Preparedness for Instructional Continuity Plan

Overview

This Emergency Preparedness for Instructional Continuity Plan provides instructions and resources for Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art faculty members that will help them continue course instruction when circumstances call for disruption of normal classroom instruction. The Plan highlights two elements for successful course instruction continuation:

  1. Communication - The key to coping effectively with emergency situations is being prepared and keeping communication lines open.
  2. Curriculum Delivery –The best available methods for continued course instruction include using remote delivery and distance learning technologies. Suggested methods are provided for practice drills and considerations are provided for unforeseen circumstances.

Communication

In Emergencies, the Office of Marketing and Communications will:

  • Maintain continuous contact with DPS on a secure telephone line.
  • Send a text, email, and voicemail alerts via CUAlert to students, faculty, and staff. (User preferences for CUAlert can be verified or updated at any time at CUAlert.cua.edu. Use your Catholic University username and password to log in.)
  • Send notices to students, parents, faculty, and staff via University Google Groups.
  • Post alerts and updates to the University homepage, Twitter, and Facebook.
  • Provide initial post and updates as needed for the University homepage and Safety First web page.
  • Set a message for callers to the main University phone number, 202-319-5000.
  • When the incident has concluded, a message will be sent through all of the above methods.

Secure updated contact information (administrative and student):
Each semester, faculty should generate a list of contact information for students enrolled in their class(es). This information should include main/alternate email addresses and relevant phone numbers and should be stored in a secure location that is accessible from off-campus, such as the faculty member’s Google Drive.

Curriculum Delivery

  • Archival storage of critical class materials

    • Faculty should copy, organize, and save all critical teaching materials electronically, including lecture notes, assignments, tests and quizzes, course syllabus, course schedule, and any other required items.
    • Faculty should have an up-to-date electronic copy of their gradebook (in an Excel spreadsheet, for example) that they can access in the event Blackboard is unavailable. This gradebook should be updated regularly.

    Three possible scenarios addressed by this Plan include: 

    1.) faculty absences (less than two weeks), 

    2.) student absences, and 

    3.) extended University closing (> two weeks).

  • Case 1: Faculty Short Term Absences (<2 weeks)

    • Faculty should prepare a minimum of two weeks of lecture material in advance in the event of short-term absences or emergencies.
    • Contact a fellow faculty member or a capable graduate student and make arrangements for them to conduct your class for the expected duration.
    • Another option is to prepare a self-directed module that gives your students the opportunity to learn more about a specific topic or topics that may be covered in class but not in great detail. This option is most easily implemented because it may be used at any point in the semester.
    • Faculty using Blackboard may make lecture notes available with accompanying text, audio, and/or video.

  • Case 2: Student Absences

    Due to health-related issues, students may be advised to be absent from class. Faculty should not penalize students for such absences and should make every effort to help students catch up on missing course materials and assignments. Students should self-report illness to Student Health Services by email (CUA-StudentHealth@cua.edu) or phone 202-319-5744.

  • Case 3: Long Term Educational Disruption (School Closing)

    In the event that the University must shut down, or interrupt normal course delivery, for an extended period of time (> two weeks), faculty should develop an individual course Plan including:

    • Preparing Lecture Materials
      • Convert hand-written lecture notes into PDF documents. University copiers have capabilities to scan hard copy documents into PDF documents.
      • Use electronic documents and add audio narration so students can understand them more easily. Two recommended methods to add audio to lectures are:
        • 1. Use Panopto software to record a simultaneous screen capture and voice narration of lectures. Panopto is integrated into the Blackboard system, and can also be used as a standalone application. See Panopto Resources for more information.
        • 2. Powerpoint has options to directly record voice narrations to PowerPoint slides. Use the “help” feature for instructions.
    • Uploading lecture materials to Blackboard
      • Blackboard is a valuable resource that facilitates remote course delivery and management. Upload lecture materials in Blackboard by going to https://learn.cua.edu and logging in using University credentials.
      • Help for Blackboard can be found by clicking on “Cardinal Lean FAQs” on the welcome screen page.
    • Delivering course content synchronously via Google Meet.

    Consult Technology Services for additional suggestions and help for technology options. 


    Contact the Technology Services Help Center by:

    Phone: (202) 319-HELP (4357)

    Email: techsupport@cua.edu

    Online: techsupport.cua.edu


    Or visit instructionalcontinuity.catholic.edu for specific information and instructions on Blackboard, Panopto, and Google Meet


    The Dean's Office will email contact information for faculty and staff who have agreed to give peer technological assistance to faculty members.

  • Perform Practice drills

    • To test your preparedness and that of your students to use alternate forms of instruction, you could consider performing the following practice drills:
      • Sending students a welcome email that contains your contact information.
      • Teaching one class period via a remote methodology (such as Blackboard)
      • Posting a class assignment using alternate internet resources (such as Google Docs) and require your students to upload their assignments to this medium.
    Faculty members may consider working from home for a day to test and ensure that they are able to maintain contact with key personnel and retrieve necessary documents from offsite.

  • Performances and Performance-based classes

    In the event of the University closing, special considerations should be made for applied classes, respective concerts & productions, and required student performances (e.g. recitals). These considerations may include:

    • Teaching of lessons or assessment of hearings via video conference
    • Acceptance of video submissions for assessment of performances
    • Postponing or cancelling productions 

    Faculty teaching applied or private lessons should develop a plan of instruction that suits their individual course needs with it being understood that intended course objectives and goals may not be achieved with alternate methods of instruction.