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COVID-19

Academics

The hallmarks of a Florida Poly education are small class size, face-to-face instruction, access to professors, and strong student support services. 

Returning to the Classroom

Classes are offered in several instructional formats to maximize the use of the campus for students while minimizing the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak.

Blueprint for Returning to Campus

The University's plans for returning to campus are detailed in the Blueprint for Returning to Campus. This plan is the culmination of weeks of collaboration and hard work by task forces who examined University needs and best practices to develop our smartest and healthiest way forward.
 
The plan’s creation was informed by science and guided by national, state, and local health experts. With every step, we have maintained as our highest priority the safety and welfare of all campus stakeholders. 
 
The University will continue to pay close attention to these challenges and their impact on our community, and address needs and issues as they inevitably arise.
 
 

Details for the Instructional Environment

Florida Poly is committed to providing students, faculty, and staff with a campus environment where excellence in education, discovery, and application continue to grow and prosper.

Courses are offered in an on-campus environment that includes key instructional format designs. We are utilizing technology to support the student learning experience, but the core learning that happens at a STEM university needs to include an engaged, face-to-face experience.

The primary instructional formats that will be used are:

  • Face-to-Face: Course is offered on campus in a traditional face-to-face format. Students are required to attend class in pereson on campus.
  • Low-Flex: Course is offered in amultimodal delivery. This is a modification to the Fall 2020 Flex format. Courses feature live, in-person lectures or problem-solving sessions with students in person and, at the same time, synchronously through a web-based meetings platform. Students are required to attend in person on campus a minimum of half of the scheduled sessions on a weekly basis. Courses meet on specified dates and at specific times.
  • Online Engaged: Course is fullyonline and may include synchronous elements. Classes meet at a regularly scheduled time and instructors will set significant expectations for synchronous engagement during scheduled class times. 
  • Labs: Lab sections will be delivered face-to-face. These live, in-person sessions meet on specified days and at specific times. Students are required to attend class in person on campus.
  • C Courses: Course will be delivered face-to-face and in a multimodal delivery. Most C courses will be face-to-face, including the laboratory sessions, and require students to attend in person. 

The student experience at Florida Poly must be rich in interactions between faculty and students and within student peer groups. To promote this experience, we have set expectations for Spring 2021 attendance to provide students with on-campus access to learning and to support strong student engagement in academics and campus life.

  • Students in Face-to Face, Low-Flex, C courses, and Lab Courses are expected to attend classes on campus and in-person.
  • Students in any kind of Flex-delivered course must demonstrate in-person/on-campus class attendance as outlined in the course syllabus.
  • Students in Face-to-Face courses are expected to be in attendance for all course sessions as all classrooms are set up for physical distancing and class capacity is set to not exceed that level.

Florida Poly has established a minimum recommended standard for computing, and this standard is being made available so all students can appropriately plan for the Spring 2021 semester.

A portion of Federal CARES Act funding will be used to help students acquire the computing tools that they need to be successful at Florida Poly.

The Technology Services Help Desk lends various equipment for student usage, including laptops, webcams, and hotspots. Lending expectations have been adjusted to all long-term rental for students in need.

Florida Poly courses are held in the Innovation, Science, and Technology Building and every classroom is equipped to deliver all instructional modalities.

To manage the population inside buildings, we have established a system in place that limits the number of students in the classroom to provide for physical distancing, and limits the population in the building so that overall building population allows students to be in the building and maintain social distance.

The buildings are also well equipped to provide frequent fresh air changes; careful consideration on how to manage air flow in the classrooms when populated has been investigated. The University is also limiting the amount of furniture in each classroom to ensure appropriate physical distancing.

Academic Support Services are available to students both on campus and virtually. The Student Success Center offers student advising and coaching appointments both face-to-face and through virtual meetings. Students can schedule a meeting in the medium they are most comfortable with. Tutoring services are also available both on campus and virtually. Like the Academic Success Center, tutoring will allow students to meet with a tutor in the medium they are most comfortable with.

The University has modified its Spring 2021 Academic Calendar.

Adjustments are reflected  in the following table:

Spring 2021: First Day of Class Jan. 11, 2021
Spring 2021: Breaks (no classes)

Jan. 18, 2021: Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday

March 10, 2021: Spring Day Break

March 26, 2021: Spring Day Break

Spring 2021: Last Day of Classes April 23, 2021
Spring 2021: Reading Days April 24 and 26, 2021
Spring 2021: Final Exams April 27-May 1, 2021


Course schedules may undergo some modification as the University completes the reassignment of instructional modalities and firms up building healthy population efforts. However, there are currently no plans to adjust the scheduled times for courses.

Students who are unable to participate in a campus integrated learning experience will apply for reasonable accommodations through the Office of Disability Services.