Provost Ann Cudd has provided additional guidance and direction for the University. Please visit the Office of the Provost’s March 20 message for important updates on:

• Access to faculty offices and labs for instructional purposes
• Guidance for grading this semester
• Graduate classes
• Thesis defenses and other milestones
• Teaching Assistants and Teaching Fellows
• Academic Term Dates
• Summer Term Planning
• Option to Extend Tenure Clock
• Student Option of Teaching Surveys
• Available resources for teaching remotely

Pitt Information Technology has introduced new web pages for additional and expanded resources to assist with the transition to remote learning.

• Virtual Lab: The Pitt IT Virtual Lab enables you to access much of the same lab software and resources that you use while sitting in a Pitt IT Computing Lab on campus.
• IT Resources to Support Remote Work: You can leverage Pitt IT resources to work productively from any location.
• Important Message Regarding Zoom: Faculty with pre-existing and/or personal Zoom licenses have expressed interest in switching to the University enterprise Zoom account. Visit Pitt IT’s Zoom page for more information about using your University Zoom account with an existing Zoom account.

Important Information About Recording Your Classes: In order to facilitate the free exchange of ideas during lectures, if a faculty member intends to record their lecture with student participation, they must advise the students, via e-mail and at the beginning of the lecture, that the lecture, including their participation, is being recorded. Students should not be required to participate in the recorded conversation and should be encouraged to ask questions off-line. Further, the recorded lecture may be used by the faculty member and the registered students only for internal class purposes and only during the term in which the course is being offered. Faculty who have questions should contact faculty@pitt.edu. Consult the University policies for additional information on copyright.

Today’s updates:

1. Zoom Video Conferencing is now available to all University faculty, staff, and students. You can access your enterprise account by visiting Pitt’s Zoom webpage and authenticating with your University credentials.
2. Zoom is compatible with CourseWeb/Blackboard and we anticipate that it will be compatible with Canvas very soon.
3. The Zoom Help Center contains a variety of resources to help you get started with using this video conferencing tool. We encourage you to view these resources for assistance with audio and video sharing, scheduling class meetings, and for a general overview of how you can use the tool to conduct synchronous meeting sessions.
4. The Teaching Center has a Getting Started with Zoom page as an additional resource repository.

The Teaching Center will begin offering a series of remote office hours starting Sunday, March 15. Sessions will be structured as either open topic or broad topic Q&A discussions and delivered remotely via Zoom. Teaching consultants and educational technologists will be available to answer instructors’ questions on a first-come, first-served basis. Check out our schedule for Remote Office Hours and Virtual Workshops starting Sunday, March 15.

The University Center for Teaching and Learning advises faculty to consider activities that enable continuity of instruction in the event of high student/faculty absenteeism or changes to normal campus operations due to pandemic illness, natural disaster, unsafe conditions, or unforeseen emergencies. During such an event, it is prudent to minimize disruption to the essential processes of teaching and learning, while maintaining the health and safety of the campus community. Please visit our instructional continuity web page for resources that will assist you in continuing instruction in the event of an extended disruption to standard University operations.