Updates: Continuity of Instruction

Continuity of Instruction

April 28, 2024

Dear Colleagues, 
 
I hope you are well as we enter into the last full week of classes and then on to exams and Commencement. Senior leaders are aware that there are a large number of questions and concerns regarding the protests taking place on the Tivoli Quad. President Davidson has identified our top priorities as:  

1. Safety 
2. Academic mission continuity 
3. Free speech/right to assemble.  

We are aware that the protests here are part of a national movement that includes students, faculty, and staff and members from the Auraria campus institutions, as well as individuals who are not affiliated with campus. 

Currently, the situation is contained and campus is safe. My focus today is on continuity of instruction at MSU Denver during the next two weeks leading up to Commencement. We will be planning for summer as well in the next few days. 

At this time, I would like to ask all instructors to do two things: 

In the coming days, please practice flexibility, wisdom, and kindness in interacting with your students. Some of them may not feel comfortable either physically or psychologically on our campus. If students ask for flexibility in completing class assignments or exams, please allow them the opportunity to make up classwork, if at all possible.   

As an instructor, if you feel unsafe coming onto campus, you may use your judgment to switch to remote instruction. Give your students as much notice as possible if you make that choice. For students who cannot participate remotely, there are a variety of additional assignments that they can undertake to finish the course. Combining creativity with academic integrity will be the challenge here. If necessary, for some students, there is in additional the option of incompletes. That should be an option of last resort and used sparingly. 

Please be prepared to switch to remote instruction if you receive the request to do so.  At this time, there is no reason to believe that we will make a general call for remote instruction. However, it is better to have a plan in place than to be unprepared for that request. There are a variety of tools available for remote instruction, including Teams, Zoom, Canvas, email, and cell phones. Our recent survey from Academic Affairs indicates that almost all of our students can access some sort of digital device. Again, please be flexible in your approach. If this request were to take place, it would only be for a short time, so use your wisdom, judgment, and kindness in moving forward. 

Best regards, 

Laura Niesen de Abruña, Ph.D.
Provost 
Office of the Provost/Academic Affairs
Metropolitan State University of Denver