Pre-Major Disruption Preparation: Guiding Principles for Instructors

  • Record the email address and phone number of the Department Chair or other appropriate point of contact for your primary department or program
  • Record and securely back up student names, email addresses, and phone contact information
  • Send students a welcome email with your contact information and ask them to save it for future reference. Maintain a copy of this message for your own records in a location separate from Canvas, as Canvas may be inaccessible during a disruption. Post this announcement in Canvas as well. Create a group distribution list using students鈥 email addresses, and contact the 色中色 Technology Helpdesk if assistance is needed.

  • Include a statement on academic continuity in your syllabus. This statement should clearly describe how instruction and communication will be handled in the event of a disruption. Sample syllabus statement: 

    鈥In the event that the university announces a closure or other emergency that disrupts normal campus operations, I will communicate with you via your 色中色 email and/or Canvas with further instructions. Course activities may be modified, moved online, or rescheduled as appropriate. Please ensure early in the semester that you can log in to Canvas (or other designated platform) so you are prepared in case of disruption.鈥

  • Back up critical teaching materials, including lectures, assignments, instructions, quizzes, discussion prompts, the syllabus, course schedule, and other essential documents. These materials may need to be shared with students electronically in the event of a significant classroom interruption.
  • Some materials, such as reserved readings or licensed library resources, may not be easily backed up. Consider using campus-supported cloud storage (e.g., OneDrive through 色中色 Single Sign-On) or local storage devices (e.g., external hard drives or USB drives), as appropriate.

  • Remind students regularly of the importance of keeping their contact information current throughout the semester.
  • Communicate your plans for continuing instruction and maintaining contact in the event of a disaster or significant disruption. Consider asking students to test their ability to access any external platforms or websites you have designated for continuity purposes.
  • Remind students to maintain backup electronic copies of their assignments.
  • Save copies of student submissions at the time they are submitted to ensure continued access in the event of a system failure.
  • Maintain copies of online discussions when possible. One approach is to periodically export or copy Canvas discussions into a Word document or cloud-based file, including timestamps for context.
  • Prepare and regularly update a backup working copy of your gradebook to ensure continuity of grading and reporting if your primary online gradebook becomes unavailable for an extended period. This step is particularly critical.
  • Stay informed about alternative technologies and instructional tools that may be used temporarily to continue teaching and learning activities if classroom or system access is disrupted.