SUBJECT: Fall Updates from the Provost Office

Dear colleagues;

As we are moving from the mid-semester point and approaching Thanksgiving later this month, I want to send a well-deserved thanks and message of appreciation for everything you all do. Our university is a wonderful and special place and the credit goes to the excellent faculty, staff and students we have that make the campus community an inviting place to be. I am grateful for being part of such a wonderful community! With that said, I’d like to provide you with some event announcements and reminders, and other important information as we enter into the final few months of the fall term.

Important dates:

• Dr. Desmond Patton’s talk: Thursday, November 10, 11am in Kochoff Hall
• KPIs Webinar: Thursday, November 16, 12:30pm
• Thanksgiving Recess (no classes): Saturday, November 19 to Sunday, November 27
• Library Open: Monday, November 23 to Wednesday, November 25, 9:00am to 6:00pm
  Please note that some campus buildings will be closed, but can be accessed with your MCard
• Provost Roundtable: Panel on Mental Health, Thursday, December 1st at 11am, library
• Campus Holiday Gathering: Thursday, December 1st, 2 to 4pm,  Kochoff Hall
• Fall 2022 classed end: Friday, December 9
• Study days: Saturday and Sunday, December 10 and 11
• Final exam days: Monday, December 12 to Friday December 16
• Commencement: Saturday, December 17
• Final grades due: Monday, December 19
• Winter semester classes begin: Thursday, January 5, 2023

Friendsgiving Side-Dish Kits

The Provost Office and Mardigian Library in partnership with Dearborn Support are giving out free Friendsgiving Side Dish Kits to students on Thursday, November 17 from 1:30-3:30pm in the University Center. These kits include ingredients for mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and other traditional favorites!  You can support the side dish initiative this holiday season by donating to the Student Food Pantry and Dearborn Support online or in-person.

PBL Webpage

As our campus continues to advance our collective goals around PBL, I want to make you all aware of the campus-wide PBL website which will be used to link to college-specific PBL websites along with providing helpful resources and other important updates moving forward. Please remember that there is lots of room for different approaches to PBL along with multiple levels of engagement!

Call for Nominations – Faculty Awards

As a reminder, please consider nominating a faculty colleague for one of our faculty awards. All nominations are due Friday, January 27, 2023. The announcement along with details for submitting an application can be found here.

Early Warning Update

Thank you for your participation in the Early Warning program this semester. As of today, 776 alerts (580 unique students) were generated by faculty. 55% of these alerts have been addressed and closed. As a reminder, we are piloting the functionality to close and provide updates to faculty this semester. Academic advisors and the Office of Academic Success are actively reaching out to the remaining students.

Future of Work Update

During October, the Future of Work Task Force conducted 10 staff listening sessions and sent out a survey to all faculty on effort and well-being. The results of both of these will help inform the task force’s recommendations in a report which will be shared in early December. For Winter 2023, work modalities currently in place for units, offices, and employees will continue throughout the semester unless advised otherwise by unit supervisors/managers.

Reminder About Open Education Grants

The Open Education (OE) Committee under the Office of the Provost sponsors grants, on a rolling basis, to promote usage, creation, and education around all things open. This includes Open Educational Resources (OERs) as well as Open Pedagogies and Open Practices. OE Education grants are open to all faculty and staff at UM-Dearborn and Adoption and Creation grants are open to all instructional faculty. For more information and to apply please visit: Open Education Campus Committee | University of Michigan-Dearborn.

Conflicts Between the Academic and Religious Calendars

Please remember the guidance available in our campus policy on Conflicts Between the Academic and Religious Calendars. Students are required to provide faculty with notice of the dates of religious holiday(s) (click here for a listing of religious holidays during the 2022-2023 Academic Year) for which they will be absent by no later than the drop/add deadline. Of course, that date has passed but I encourage you to consider providing flexibility this coming winter term if a student does reach out.

Final Exam Guidance

As we approach the end of the semester, the final exam period for the Fall 2022 is from Monday, December 10 - Friday, December 16. Details on protocols for final exams can be found on the Guidance for Final Exams for the Fall 2022 webpage.

As a reminder, a three-hour block on one of the exam days is provided for in-person and hybrid courses. Please note that the Fall 2022 Final Exam Schedule can be found on the Final Exam Schedule webpage of the Registrar’s Office website. All classroom assignments for in-person exams will be assigned later in the Fall term. If faculty need to adjust a final exam date or time, please refer to the Final Exams and Study Days policy and contact the Registrar’s Office at [email protected].

For online courses, faculty must provide a window for students to take the final exam and online exam proctoring is prohibited. For classes scheduled for ONLN (asynchronous), the exam window should be at least 24-hours. For classes scheduled as ONREG (synchronous), the exam window should be at least 6-hours.

Finally, looking ahead, we are planning for the winter term. We will continue to prioritize mental health for students, faculty, and staff and focus on the Future of Work taskforce recommendations.  Please join my Walk and Talks (winter dates to be announced) and reach out to me should you have any questions or concerns.

I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and hope you can enjoy the holiday, get together with your family and friends, rest and relax. I am very grateful to be working with you and for the warm community we have here at Dearborn.

Gabriella

Gabrielle Scarlatta
Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs