ACU announced spring break would be extended an additional week and courses on-campus would move online from March 23 to April 9.
“Faculty will use March 16- 20 to prepare for online course delivery and will receive more detailed information today from the Provost’s Office,” the email said. “Staff should consult with supervisors about their work schedules and opportunities for working remotely. Residence halls and dining operations will reopen March 14 to accommodate students who need those services.”
Students have received emails from professors saying classes will be conducted through Canvas with regularly scheduled assignments and recorded and streamed lectures over apps including Zoom, a video communication platform.
Leslie Reed, professor of German, said in an email sent to students, “Be prepared to log into Canvas again on Monday (for GER 112 and 222) and Tuesday (for GER 341) to attend class. You will not have to log in at any specific time, but there will be assignments that will need to be completed on your class days to count as attendance. This means you’ll need: your computers/tablets, internet access and your textbook/notes if at all possible.”
Greg Straughn, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said that the transition to online courses for the time being has shown its difficulties as most of the faculty has not experienced this.
“While most of us make use of the internet for entertainment and communication, and an increasing number have had experiences teaching and learning online, this still does not describe the experience of most of our faculty,” Straughn said.
However, Straughn said these difficulties do not prevent the university from serving its students.
“Making sure that we are serving the students’ needs and achieving the learning outcomes of courses remains our top priority,” Straughn said.
Regarding the Department of Music and Theatre, Straughn said upcoming performances in the semester have been canceled.
“We have made the difficult decision to cancel the remaining performances of our season in both the theatre and music departments,” Straughn said. “We did this earlier in the week, prior to Governor Abbot’s restriction of group sizes to 10 or fewer.”
Due to the current situation of uncertainty and transition, Straughn said he is prayerful that students, staff and faculty continue to remain healthy.
