For Faculty
Instructional Continuity Checklist for Faculty
The following checklist addresses instructional continuity in the event of a major service disrupting event such as from weather or a pandemic closure.
Please do not wait for an emergency to begin to know how to proceed. Be proactive in maintaining a grade-book copy throughout your semester.
If you are using Canvas, you are able to download the grade book. Canvas has multiple layers of redundancy to prevent a service disruption, but if the system goes down having a grade-book available could be useful to you. The following link will instruct you on the steps for downloading your grade book:
https://www.instruction.uh.edu/knowledgebase_category/canvas-grades/
It will be important for you to let your students know what your alternative plan for conducting class will be ahead of time. This could help alleviate confusion among your students. The University has several options for you. Here are instructions for using:
On the 12th day of class each semester, an Instructional Continuity course is created for every instructor who is not currently using Canvas for the semester. This is to give faculty who need instructional continuity option. It will be to your benefit to familiarize yourself with the steps for logging in and using the course before an emergency situation arises. Students will be added to the courses during an emergency situation by University personnel.
To log into your Instructional Continuity shell after the 12th class day, please log into ACCESSUH and click the CANVAS icon.
Use the Instruction@UH tutorials for the basic tools.
At the beginning of the semester, students should be encouraged to have a hard copy of your syllabus, which contains contact information and course expectations, including a disruption of service.
It is always beneficial to have a back-up of any personal material you have in your courses. Cloud services are useful for this.
If you think you will use the class listserv, and not Canvas, know how to use the listserv created for emergency situations and be ready to send your students an email communicating how to contact you and what to expect during the closure time. http://www.uh.edu/infotech/services/e-comm/mailing-list/disaster-recovery/
In the event of closure, make sure to update your syllabus to reflect the changes in assignments and due dates, exams, make-exams expected, etc.
Familiarize yourself with some of the alternate ways of creating and presenting material available on campus.
Know who you need to contact for instructions regarding your department/college closure.
Make sure that you have current contact information on file and are able to receive UH emergency communication and are aware of the Instructional Continuity site online.
Resources:
[1] For answers and tutorials for Canvas visit the following URL to search.
[2] Options for instructional continuity can be found at: