H1N1 & Course Delivery:
Guidelines for Faculty

      The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that H1N1 (“swine flu”) infection rates may double those of normal years (perhaps as high as 40 percent). Reports of H1N1 infections at UC—even before the term begins—and at other US campuses well before the typical flu season suggests that the CDC predictions may be fulfilled.  Following the advice of CDC for institutions of higher education (http://pandemicflu.gov/professional/school/preventfactsheet.html), the University has already notified students that they should not attend classes if they have flu symptoms.  The same is true for faculty.  Following that advice may greatly reduce the spread of the virus.

      The University’s commonly recognized responsibilities include keeping UC open and our students learning—despite disruptions caused by student absenteeism and instructor illness.  Less obvious but equally serious, though, is our duty to protect public health.  Achieving these responsibilities requires that we adapt to these new circumstances.

      The Provost Office offers the following faculty guidelines to help protect public health while maintaining academic operations and integrity:

• Modify attendance policies and state those modifications clearly in your syllabus. We want to eliminate any reason for students to attend class when they demonstrate flu symptoms or when they could further spread the virus. The CDC recommends that those with the flu stay isolated 24 hours after fever subsides without the use of fever-reducing medications.
• Emphasize to students the importance of communication: if they have to miss a class, they should let you know their status and to seek guidance on making up work.  To ensure uniformity of such guidance and to reduce your own workload, use Blackboard or e-mail to post requirements for make-up work.
• Do not penalize students for failure to produce a doctor’s excuse since, in mild cases of the flu, people are being asked NOT to see their doctors.
• Explicitly state on your syllabus – and discuss on the first day of class – how you plan to communicate unanticipated changes in your course should you become ill or should courses be cancelled. Insert a disclaimer that allows for mid-term changes in deadlines and policies if circumstances warrant.
• Create a "flu buddy" system through which two or three students assume responsibility to check on one another but also to help one another understand assignments, stay aware of due dates, etc. if one of them misses class because of illness. (A further benefit: students who develop these interpersonal relationships are far more likely to be successful academically.)
• In the case of students who appear clearly to be sick, ask such students to leave the classroom and, if seriously ill, to call Student Health Services.  They may also contact the Holmes Clinic at (513) 584-4457, or the Lindner Clinic at (513) 556-2564.
• Don’t wait until you become ill to create your own "flu buddy" system. Rather than cancelling classes, we might collaborate with two or three colleagues to cover one another's courses.
• Expand or create distance-learning options (utilizing e-mail, Skype, Elluminate, discussion boards, web-based assignments, blogs, wikis, podcasts, etc.) so that ill or quarantined students can do a portion of their work outside of your classroom or can more readily communicate with you or with each other outside the classroom. Click here for more information and ideas regarding distance learning.
• Expand or create online modules so students can do part of their coursework online. For many of us, this may require utilizing Blackboard in new ways. For questions about using Blackboard, please contact the Faculty Technology Resources Center (FTRC) at 513-556-1602.
• If your course is not suited for distance learning, create opportunities for students to make up work (and again, clearly state those opportunities on the syllabus).
• Create multiple opportunities for evaluation of students. In some cases, students with H1N1 will miss several days of class and will be too sick to work anywhere, even at home. For such cases, add or expand options for students to drop a “lowest grade” or re-weight assignments to reduce the importance of one single grade.
• Consult with your department and college to determine whether their policies or recommendations help refine or localize the guidelines presented above.
• UC’s Emergency Services area within Public Safety has gathered together additional information and links on these matters, as has our University Health Services office. And the CDC has created a set of guidelines specifically for higher education.