After TAMUK announced that it will be making the move to online classes for the duration of the semester, departments on campus are having to adjust how they give students the best experience during the COVID-19 outbreak.
In an email sent to all current students, faculty and staff, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. George Allen Rasmussen confirmed that classes and labs will be moved online.
“Texas A&M University-Kingsville faculty have been working to ensure we can deliver course content in the most effective manner during [these] rapidly-evolving times. We want to ensure you are able to complete this semester. As such, beginning March 23, all lecture courses and labs will be delivered in a virtual format,” Dr. Rasmussen said.
Dr. Jaya Goswami, the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, said the university will primarily be using Blackboard to conduct online courses. During the extended Spring Break, professors began preparing for this transition.
“The Distance Learning office is providing faculty face-to-face training, in addition to an online training manual and other resources. Many of our faculty already use Blackboard and other online resources in their classes,” Dr. Goswami said.
One question many students had concerned how their lab courses would work. Many departments are still developing their plans and the university advises students to reach out to their program coordinators to learn more information if they are majoring in veterinary technology, social work, communication sciences and disorders, nutrition and music.
The Department of Chemistry is one department that has figured out how they will be conducting labs.
“After a very efficient departmental meeting on 3/16 faculty and staff of the Chemistry Department came to common agreement to record videos of all our experiments for each laboratory course on a weekly basis,” Dr. Christine Hahn, the Chemistry department chair, said.
These videos will be uploaded to Blackboard. Students will then write up their lab reports as normal and upload them to Blackboard for grading.
The department is also taking into to consideration students who may not have access to internet.
“I have asked all instructors to reach out to all students and verify their access. If we identify students who are not responding we need to find out about their being and give them an opportunity to complete their assignments,” Dr. Hahn said.
Many departments are still developing their plans and will be emailing students with updates.
The Center for Student Success (CfSS) will also be transitioning to offering their services online. This includes Advising, Career Services, the Pathways Academic Assistance Center and the Writing Center. In an email sent to students, the CfSS outlined how students can access these services. These guidelines will be posted along with this story on thesouthtexan.com
Student Health and Wellness has also announced that they will be making changes for counseling appointments. These services will be accessible through Tele-Mental Health with which students can schedule appointments with professional counselors over the phone and have video chats through ZOOM. The guidelines for using this service will also be posted on our website.
