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Last updated Nov. 8, 2005
Beginning on Monday, November 7, all Florida Atlantic University classes and business operations on all campuses will resume normal operations.
2005 Hurricane Academic Recovery Plan
As a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma Florida Atlantic University lost 11 days of class time amongst the disruption, sometimes serious disruption, of student, faculty, and staff lives. At the request of the President and the University Provost representatives of the university community including members of the University Faculty Senate, the United Faculty of Florida, and the Student Government Association met on November 3, 2005 to develop and recommend options for academic recovery from these hurricanes with particular emphasis on adjustments to the university academic calendar.
After careful and full discussion the following modifications were recommended and approved by the University Provost and President:
- Commencement originally scheduled for December 8 and 9 will be held entirely on December 9. This will make one additional Thursday night available for classes. Thursday night classes have been the most adversely affected by the storms and the holiday schedule. The final ceremony on December 9 will end after sundown. Any student adversely affected by this circumstance will be provided an opportunity upon request to participate in an earlier ceremony.
- Reading Day will be a regular instructional day.
- Since classes were affected by the loss of time in various ways, the recovery should allow flexibility to respond appropriately to the various circumstances. In this light the recovery will apply to daytime and evening classes differently.
- Daytime classes, those scheduled to begin before 4:00 pm will follow the previously published schedule of class meetings and final exams noted above, with the modification that the final exam period will now run from 8:00 am on December 2 through the evening classes on December 8 (these evening final exams were originally scheduled for December 1).
- Evening classes, those scheduled to begin at 4:00 pm or later, weekend classes and special classes such as practicums and internships will be provided an additional week of class meeting time to run from December 10 through December 17. The official end of the term will be December 17.
- All instructors will file with their department chairs by November 10 a plan for completing the academic requirements of each course for which they are responsible within the time available. Individual class plans to accommodate lost time should approximate 2100 minutes of class meeting time for three hour courses or the equivalent (2800 minutes for four hour courses) and may include such options as:
·Use of Friday, Saturday, or Sunday blocks of time (will need to be coordinated with the scheduling office)
·Extensions of class meeting times as circumstances of space and time permit (also will need to be coordinated with scheduling office and facilities)
·Provision of additional office hours for small group or individual tutorials
·Provision of additional on-line (blackboard, e-college)/email assignments and exchanges (for classes already utilizing such means)
·Faculty in such classes should provide all affected students with notification of adjustments to the class syllabus (if any) necessitated by these changes.
·Faculty are strongly encouraged to be particularly sensitive to the fact that some students may be adversely affected by any changes and unable to fully participate on dates other than those originally scheduled . Deans and chairs are likewise encouraged to recognize the individual circumstances of faculty members in this process.
- The following deadlines will be extended by one week:
- Deadline to file thesis/dissertation
- Degree certification
- Fall 2006 preliminary schedule
- The deadline for submitting grades will be extended to December 20 for those courses which must utilize the extra week of class time. For all other courses grades will remain due on December 12.
Response to early feedback on academic recovery plan
During this hurricane season, FAU lost 11 days of class time. This week members of our student body, our faculty and our administration jointly developed and approved a plan to help recover as much of the lost class time as possible.
As you may have noticed on our web site and in our email announcements, we have now developed a process that will allow faculty to work with their students to recover the lost time in a format that best suits each class. As a matter of policy, FAU's goal is to recapture at least 90% of the total instructional time lost as a result of the storms. The formula used to determine how the time will be made up is based on instructional minutes. Some classes, particularly those taught on the weekend and in the evenings have lost more minutes of instruction than others. These classes in particular may see an extension of class time beyond the original end of the semester. We understand that in some cases these modifications in class schedules may place additional burdens on students. We remind those students that our faculty and university administration are here to help find resolution to their situation. Though we ask that students meet with their professors first, if resolution proves difficult, students are encouraged to work with their department chair and dean.
Please note all of the proposed plans by faculty to reclaim at least 90% (or the equivalent) of their instructional minutes will be submitted to the department chairs and deans by Nov. 10 for approval. Faculty will not simply condense their syllabi to accommodate for the lost time. Detailed plans highlighting the modified schedules will be reviewed and approved for each class.
We appreciate the patience and willingness of students to work with faculty members during this time. Together we will develop a plan that satisfies academic requirements and allows each student to receive the instruction needed to lead to a bright future.
Because of changes in the Fall semester created by Hurricane Wilma, and changes caused by construction of the library addition, regular semester hours for the Wimberly Library will be:
Mon-Thursday 8:00 a.m. - midnight
Friday 8:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Sunday Noon - midnight
Fall Semester 2005 begins on Monday, August 22, 2005, and ends on Friday, December 9, 2005; however, the term will be extended until Dec. 17 for some evening and weekend classes. Final exams will still take place from December 1-8.
From August 22 - November 27, the hours will be as previously posted for the Spring semester. From November 28 through December 8, the Library will be open until 2 a.m. each day, to enable students to study for final exams and finish final papers.
From December 9-17, the Library will revert to regular semester hours as listed above.
Beginning on December 18, the Library will be closed to the public because of demolition work in connection with the construction of the new addition to the building [unless the construction schedule is so delayed that demolition cannot occur at this time].
The Library will continue to be closed to the public until the day before start of the 2006 Spring semester on January 8, or until demolition work is completed. Watch the front door of the building, and the library's web site ( www.fau.edu/library ) for updates on opening and closing.
The Library will be closed on Friday, November 11 (Veteran's Day), and November 24-25 (Thanksgiving). The Library will be open noon-8:00 p.m. on November 26-27.
Intersession will last until the beginning of the Spring 2006 term on Monday, January 9. If construction/demolition work allows, the hours during Intersession ( December 9 - January 7) will generally be as posted for the previous Intersession, i.e. open Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. and closed on weekends.
Regardless of other circumstances, the Library will be closed December 24-26 (Christmas) and January 1-2. The Library will be open on Sunday, January 8, from noon to 8:00 p.m., construction work permitting, to help people prepare for the new semester.
Spring Semester, 2006 begins on January 9, and ends on May 5. Hours will generally be as posted for Spring, 2005. The Library will be closed on January 17 (M.L. King Day). During Spring Break, March 7-13, the Library will observe reduced hours of 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Intersession hours will run from May 5 through May 14, with hours as posted above for Intersessions.
Summer 2006 Semester will run from May 15 - August 11. Hours will be as posted for previous Summer sessions. The Library will be closed on May 29 (Memorial Day) and July 4.
Annual Open Enrollment – The Annual Open Enrollment Period for benefits elections ended on Friday, Oct. 28; however, as a result of Hurricane Wilma, employees who work or reside in counties with widespread electricity outages as reported by the State Emergency Operations Center on October 25, 2005 or employees who have been assigned to assist with the recovery efforts will have two additional weeks to make changes to their benefits enrollment for calendar year 2006. Counties included in the extension: Broward, Collier, Miami-Dade, Glades, Hendry, Indian River, Lee, Martin, Monroe , Okeechobee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie. Elections made during this period can only be done by calling the People First Service Center at (866) 663-4735, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The People First website and IVR systems will be unavailable for benefits enrollment during this time. This extension will end Thursday, November 10, 2005 at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Changes made during this extension will be effective January 1, 2006, however may result in delays in receiving enrollment materials and benefit identification cards.
Attention In-Unit Bargaining Members: The deadline for ballots for ratification of the revisions to the 2003-2006 FAU BOT/UFF Collective Bargaining Agreement has been extended until November 14th. The complete text of the affected Articles is on reserve at all campus libraries and is available at www.fau.edu/bot/cba.pdf . The ballots will be counted in PS 336 at 3 p.m. on November 14th.
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