Teaching through campus closures

General preparedness for disrupted classes or campus closures

Often Seattle University escapes the academic year without a single campus closure. But the occasional snow day in fall or winter does happen – as do power outages – and can raise faculty and student anxiety about the syllabus and assignments. 

March 2020 – COVID-19

You may also find the advice here relevant in the light of the COVID-19 campus closure; here, mentally replace "power outages" with the other kinds of factors that may affect our students: potential care-giving responsibilities, lack of quiet space, uneven access to online materials, low bandwidth, as well as general anxiety around a global pandemic.

This page is here to provide some preemptive and in-the-moment advice and recommendations on how best to respond to campus closures. Remember that if power outages occur, our online solutions are moot, so think about both technology-infused and technology-free options.

In thinking about the technological options available to you, you might find Daniel Stanford's Bandwidth–Immediacy matrix helpful. 

Matrix showing different technologies according to their bandwidth usage and immediacy

The following advice is divided into three sections, based on timing:

  1. In-the-moment: Advice for when you need a back-up plan *now*
  2. After-the-moment: Catching up on course content once campus reopens
  3. Preemptive: General advice for the course planning process – ready for next time! 

David A Green, PhD | Winter 2019/Winter-Spring 2020

In-the-moment

Advice for when you need a back-up plan *now*

After-the-moment

Catching up on course content once campus reopens

Pre-emptive

General advice for the course planning process – for next time!