Supporting Students

StAAR Center: The StAAR Center offers free tutoring in writing, time management, and public speaking for all AS&E and SMFA students (grad and undergrad) and provides tutoring in math, science, foreign languages, and other course-specific subjects for undergraduates. The StAAR Center offers tutor-led study groups in introductory science classes for undergraduates, along with writing support groups, and workshops for graduate students, including English language instruction for international graduate students.  Refer your students to the StAAR Center website for detailed tutoring schedules: https://students.tufts.edu/staar-center

When Students Get Sick: In most cases of short-term illness, students should keep you informed of their absences and negotiate with you directly about extensions on assignments. Students with more serious illness or more extended absences are encouraged to work with the advising deans (listed below) for support and ongoing communication with faculty. The deans listed below will contact you by email to inform you of seriously ill students or students whose situation requires some flexibility. Please consult guidelines for instructors on handling student illness, extended absence, and similar situations. 

We anticipate that a significant number of students will require flexibility in class policies due to illness, quarantine requirements, or mental health issues. To help guide you through this unprecedented time, we offer the suggestions below for incorporating fair but flexible policies into your syllabus.

Absence and Notifications:

1. If a student in your class has been placed into isolation, is asked to self-isolate, or is asked to quarantine, you will receive an automatic email notification to alert you that your student will not be attending class in person. You will also receive an automatic email notification when your student is able to resume in-person attendance. No other health details will be disclosed due to privacy concerns.
2. Students will be responsible for adhering to policies about missed and/or late work and should continue to participate remotely if they are well enough to do so. Once they are able to return to class, they will be expected to check in with you on missed work to form a plan for academic recovery.
3. If you have been in close contact with someone who tests positive, you will be notified by contact tracers.

Quarantine:

It is likely that, at some point, one or more of your students will be unable to attend class in person but may be healthy enough to participate in some capacity. We have found that it is often more effective to arrange individualized accommodations and/or asynchronous opportunities for students to engage in coursework when this is the case.

However, options to facilitate participation for these students also include:

• Livestream your class
• Record your class using Zoom or Echo360 and upload the recording and slides to Canvas
• Have a volunteer notetaker or a rotation of notetakers upload notes on Canvas within 24 hours

Please be detailed and transparent in your syllabus about your grading policies, and consider flexibility in assessing quarantined students, such as:

• Flexibility in grading for participation
• Allowing quarantined students to take exams or give presentations online
• Offering flexible deadlines or alternatives for course components that are hands-on or require access to public spaces

Illness:

COVID-19 testing and COVID-like symptoms may require faculty or students to move to online modality suddenly, which could impact student participation in the course. Given the circumstances, students will not be able to provide a doctor’s note for every missed exam due to illness. We encourage you to:

• Proactively communicate policies for students who miss exams. For example, you can reweigh the point values of missed exams to avoid scheduling numerous make-ups.
• Offer multiple forms of assessment for students to demonstrate their knowledge, such as quizzes, short papers, or video projects.

Anxiety, Grief, and Trauma:

Many students may feel overwhelmed due to significant traumas. With this in mind, some examples of firm but flexible policies for all students include:

• A late-paper policy with a mild step-down in points or grade for lateness.
• A “one-time, no-questions asked” extension policy.
• A choice among assignments, such as two of four writing assignments with different due dates.

If a student discloses significant mental distress, please notify the undergraduate student advising dean or the graduate student’s Director of Graduate Studies so we can coordinate support and options across the student’s courses.

Tufts has partnered with Kognito to help faculty, staff, and students build skills around mental health and suicide prevention, and to support academic performance and student retention. You can find the online program here. Additional resources on trauma-informed pedagogy can be found here.

Academic Misconduct Reminder:

As a reminder, our policy on academic misconduct has not changed. Per a vote of the faculty, instructors are required to report suspicions of plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty to the Dean of Student Affairs Office.

Some Key Contacts:

• If you have concerns about accommodating a student with a disability, contact the StAAR Center and inform the ExCollege team.
• If you have a student who may need support in time management, writing, or tutoring for a specific course, please refer them to the StAAR Center.
• If you have concerns about an undergraduate student’s academic performance, please ask the ExCollege team to connect you to the student’s Advising Dean.
• For more ideas for planning your course, see the Teaching@Tufts website
• For more information on mental health issues, contact the Tufts Wellness Center.

Mental Health Services: You are often the “eyes and ears” on the ground and the first to become aware of issues that your students may be experiencing. They may appear distressed or stop attending class. Please don’t hesitate to bring any concerns to our attention, and be aware of the mental health and counseling services that Tufts offers:

CONTACT A DEAN WHEN YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT A STUDENT

The Associate Deans of Undergraduate Advising are dedicated to helping undergraduate students with issues relating to academic and intellectual direction, academic difficulty, extended absence from class, choice of major, academic petitions, and leave of absence, among other things, and they are responsible for coordinating resources for students experiencing difficulty. The ExCollege team should be informed when a student concern arises in the classroom.

The Advising Deans put together this worksheet featuring some situations students may experience during finals and their recommended responses.

The Dean of Student Affairs Office supports student engagement outside the classroom, including helping students to bridge their social and academic experience, and coordinates resources in unforeseen situations.

Identifying Outstanding Students: Tufts requests your assistance in identifying outstanding students who have the potential for major accomplishments in research, academia, the arts, and/or public service after graduating from Tufts. The Office of Student Life nominates students for all the major national fellowships and scholarships – Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Fulbright, Goldwater, Beinecke, and many more. Winning one of these can be life changing for a student (and it’s good for Tufts, too). Our success begins by identifying our most talented students, and your assistance is required because a student’s potential is not readily apparent from grades alone. 

OTHER RESOURCES TO SUPPORT INSTRUCTION

Don’t Cancel that Class! Occasionally, almost all of us must cancel a class to attend a conference, perform jury duty, or observe a religious holy day. If an obligation poses a conflict to your class schedule, please keep in mind that (with enough advance planning) the Career Center, the StAAR Center, and the Counseling & Mental Health Service offer programs for when a professor must be away. Consult the Student Life website for alternatives to cancelling a class.

SPIRIT Program: For faculty requesting funds to help defray costs for student-faculty engagement beyond the classroom, there is an online application form at the SPIRIT website. Funds are very limited, so make your request early, by March 1 for spring semester events. See SPIRIT website for program details and reimbursement process. (Please note that SPIRIT is for engagement with undergraduates only. The various graduate programs, GSAS, and the SOE Graduate Programs Office may have some resources for grad students.)

Excellent Teaching Advice: See the many outstanding ideas for course design, teaching, and assessment at the Teaching@Tufts web site.

Teaching During the COVID-19 Crisis: Remember to visit and bookmark https://coronavirus.tufts.edu/ase-faculty

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