Cohorting
To keep our community members healthy and safe we are adopting a cohorting strategy, forming groups of students who take classes together on specific days. This approach minimizes exposure, prevents the spread of the disease, and facilitates contact tracing in the event of a positive case. It is critical that students come to campus only on the days they have been assigned to attend class.
Full-time MBA students who wish to use the library to study on non-class days (Friday to Sunday) must have a seat reserved; more information on library use is posted under Campus Life.
HyFlex and Online Courses
This fall we are launching a HyFlex model of teaching, in which students are mixed between in-person and remote instruction, as well as offering courses that will be taught fully online.
Decisions on course format were made by each individual faculty member, in consultation with the administration and in alignment with University guidance. Our faculty have delivered hundreds of courses effectively in an Online format over the past spring and summer terms, and will continue to do so this fall. Courses that require physical movement to break-out spaces, such as Managerial Negotiations and Leader’s Voice, will also need to be run in an online format. Courses involving travel (Global Immersion Program, Bridging the American Divide, REAP: Reforming Mass Incarceration and the Role of Business) are either being postponed or revised to run without travel.
The HyFlex Model
HyFlex combines “hybrid” – the blending of in-class and online learning – and “flexibility.” Its purpose is to create in-person learning opportunities while meeting physical distancing requirements and accommodating students who cannot attend in person. We are investing considerable resources to ensure that HyFlex courses are rich and engaging for all participants. Classrooms are undergoing technological upgrades to our audiovisual equipment to create an integrated experience for students attending in person and those attending remotely. Faculty and teaching assistants are receiving training to teach in this HyFlex environment, and will be translating the hallmark elements of the CBS classroom experience—such as cold-calling on students and facilitating discussions—to the HyFlex classroom.
To manage room capacity and campus density, all students will be assigned days when they are permitted to come to campus and attend their HyFlex classes in person. The assignment process will be slightly different for incoming and returning students, and for different populations of students (e.g., MBA, MS, PhD).