University shifts 28% of classes to online

FAYETTEVILLE — About 28% of courses are shifting to online-only instruction this fall at the University of Arkansas, a spokesman said.

Class sizes, subject matter and faculty requests all are reasons for courses changing to online-only as the university seeks to encourage physical distancing during the pandemic, said UA spokesman John Post.

Out of 4,675 courses scheduled to meet in-person this fall, 1,320 are changing to remote delivery, Post said.

The percentage is a lot higher for Justin DeBord, a business finance major who will be a junior this fall. He said email from UA have informed him four of his five classes have been moved online.

“It’ll be super odd to live near campus but not really ever go,” DeBord, 20, said.

The first day of fall semester classes is scheduled for Aug. 24.

UA hasn’t held in-person classes on campus since March 12. Its written guide for returning to campus calls for a phased-in approach to opening, with the student body returning for classes next month.

Chancellor Joe Steinmetz, in a statement delivered to students Friday, said emails are being sent with schedule and room changes for their courses.

“Locations of classes may change to larger venues to facilitate social distancing. Some will be shifted to online-only or split between online and in-person attendance. For larger classes, students may be alternating between in-person and distance learning,” Steinmetz said. He said health and safety are central to the university’s planning.

Post said the majority of classes at UA are planned as face-to-face or “hybrid” courses. If different methods of instruction are available for a course, the university is allowing some schedule changes when possible.

“Not sure at this time about how many of these requests we might receive but we will grant as many requests as we can,” Mark Rushing, UA’s associate vice chancellor for university relations, said.

Examples of large courses shifted to online-only this fall include principles of biology and general sociology, according to information provided by Rushing. Each course enrolls more than 400 students.

The university could still make adjustments. As far as the percentage of courses shifted to online-only, “the numbers will likely continue to change somewhat as needed as we near the first day of classes,” Post said.

The university is offering about 5,500 classes this fall, but that includes some 825 courses for online-only programs, Post said.

Stephen Caldwell, chairman of UA’s faculty senate, said classes will be different than in the spring, when the university suddenly suspended in-person instruction because of the emergence of covid-19.

“The online instruction for the fall is going to be much, much stronger than the spring when we were just scrambling to make it to the end of the semester,” said Caldwell, an associate professor in the university’s Department of Music.

For one, faculty gained experience teaching online, Caldwell said.

“It gave us half a semester to see what works and what doesn’t work,” Caldwell said.

Kim Petrone said she’ll teach sections for a course — legal environment of business — she expects to have mostly in-person sections with some online-only sections.

“For seven years, I’ve had the good fortune of teaching the same course in both formats, online and face-toface. I know from experience (and student reviews) that both online and faceto-face can be good classes,” Petrone said. She said she expects to teach both formats this fall, with the face-to-face sections to have a rotating attendance so as to make for less crowding.

The university over the summer provided training courses to faculty to help improve their skills for teaching online.

Two-day workshops have been held on three occasions, along with 28 shorter workshops to help faculty with remote teaching, said Donald Johnson, co-director of the UA Teaching and Faculty Support Center. A total of 499 faculty members took part, he said, with training still ongoing in another remote teaching program.

With additional time to plan for teaching an online course, “it should run much, much smoother,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell praised the university for responding to requests from faculty who asked to teach online-only. Steinmetz, in his campuswide message, said faculty members wanting to teach remotely will be allowed to do so.

“It shows a huge appreciation for what we do, and it shows the university is giving us large leeway for what is right for our own classrooms and for our own family situations,” Caldwell said.

DeBord, who is from

Keller, Texas, said while he has no real concerns about taking online courses, it isn’t his preference.

“It’ll be different with the learning style. Obviously not a huge fan of online learning as in class instruction is much easier especially if you have questions to ask,” DeBord said, adding adjustments can be hard to make, depending on the subject.

Other courses at UA will change even without going online-only, as many are expected to be taught using what Post called a “hybrid” approach that’s “a combination of face-to-face instruction and remotely delivered instruction.”

The intent with such a “hybrid” approach “is that all students will attend a face-to-face class, in a defined sub-group of the entire class, on an alternating and scheduled frequency,” Post said. Others would participate remotely.

Post said “all interactive sessions in a hybrid course will be recorded and made available to be accessed remotely for those students who may not be able to attend in-person.” Steinmetz, in his message to campus, said all in-person classes will be recorded so students can watch if they need to self-isolate because of covid-19.

Last month, Texas A&M University stated about half of its fall courses would be offered exclusively online. A University of Missouri spokesman this week said the campus was “still making changes to courses” when asked how many would be online-only.

The plans vary by university and also are affected by recent surges of new coronavirus cases in some parts of the country, including Arkansas.

At Arkansas State University, “at this time, we have less than five percent shifted to online only,” spokesman Bill Smith said. Like at other universities, Arkansas State faculty are being asked to be ready to shift to online-only if required, Smith said.

The University of Central Arkansas is planning to have a variety of course options available, including online, for students, Amanda Hoelzeman, a UCA spokeswoman, said. She said no percentage was immediately available, as faculty had a deadline of Wednesday to turn in their instructional plans.

Elsewhere, some colleges in California have cited a recent surge in covid-19 cases in announcing all or most fall courses will be taken online.

On Friday, Steinmetz was asked during a videoconference with faculty if there was a possibility for the campus to begin fall with 100% remote instruction.

“I don’t see a scenario right now,” Steinmetz said. He noted a decision by University of Arkansas trustees made in May to have campuses prepare to open for the fall semester.

“We’re certainly following that resolution and making the plans to do so. But I’ll add that the virus will determine where we are, and what we do,” Steinmetz said.

He said that should circumstances worsen — “if things got very, very, very, very bad” — the university would have to turn to trustees and make a case for going fully remote with instruction.