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When the pandemic forced Syracuse University to transition completely to virtual learning in March 2020, many SU students and professors did not know how they would continue classes. SU formed the Academic Continuity Team shortly after the pandemic hit campus to support students and faculty to operate successfully in virtual classrooms. 

The Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence is a general resource for faculty hoping to improve or supplement their teaching, which made the center a major contributor to forming the Academic Continuity Team. 

Martha Diede, the director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, serves as the co-leader of the Academic Continuity Team.

“The Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence is the central organization at SU for teaching and learning, so when SU pivoted to emergency online teaching, the CTLE [was] the unit to which people looked for direction,” Diede said. 

The Information Technology Services was also a major contributor to the team’s work, Diede said. They would send out multiple emails weekly to faculty and provide information to better support faculty as they navigate online instruction. ITS also hosted information sessions over Zoom discussing various topics related to online teaching, said Eric Ferguson, ITS’ communication manager.

“We had to learn quickly how to work together in March 2020,” Ferguson said. “Our biggest success has been learning how to make the best use of everyone’s specific skills and expertise.”

The Academic Continuity Team was awarded a Chancellor’s Citation for outstanding group contributions to the student experience and university initiatives.

“You don’t always know if people notice your work,” said Jenny Gluck, the associate chief information officer for academic services. “People always notice when something goes wrong, but they don’t always notice when things go right. Getting that (award) was a validation.”

Professors are now familiar with online learning thanks to the work of the Academic Continuity Team, Diede said. Most classes have now transitioned back to in-person learning, so the team is not as essential to daily operations as it once was, she said.  

“The Academic Continuity Team was formed to ensure that teaching and learning could continue during the most disruptive days of the pandemic,” Diede said. “Our success last year demonstrates that this kind of cross-functional planning is useful, but because we were successful, the team is no longer needed.”

The Academic Continuity Team worked long hours behind the scenes aiming to make sure SU was successful with their transition to online learning, Gluck said.

“What I know is that we got a lot of people who said ‘thank you,’ so that would imply that we did okay,” Gluck said. 

Published on September 14, 2021 at 11:47 pm

Contact Shantel: [email protected] | @shantelguzman2