How to navigate spring in-person classes - The Daily Tar Heel

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As the university approaches the end of the fall semester, it is already expecting students to return to school for courses that may be held in the spring. 

Rick Wernoski, senior vice president of corporate operations, said the classroom operations team is building a spring model based on the work carried out during the fall semester, which includes new technologies, precise seats and measures for campus navigation guidelines. 

Wernoski said that of the 205 general classrooms (including the auditorium), approximately 91 classrooms have been equipped with point zoom cameras and ceiling microphones since the fall semester. The university has also expanded its support for departmental and professional school spaces.

Face-to-face classroom teaching can be conducted entirely in person, or a mixture of on-site and remote. Wernoski said, you can have a group of students in person, or another group of students online, and professors can use new technology to adjust the ability of the two types of students to interact.

Each classroom will be equipped with hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes, and the university has removed the excess seats to keep the room with movable workstations and seats 6 feet away.

The seats will be set six feet apart and marked on the floor to limit the movement of the chairs. Wernoski said that every night, if the chair is moved, the room will be reset. 

In fixed-seat classrooms such as auditorium-style classrooms, workstations will be marked with a 6-foot physical distance marker.

He said the lecturer’s podium will be configured to be at least 6 feet away from the nearest workstation or the front aisle of the auditorium classroom. 

"The idea is to keep the faculty behind the podium or the line that passes through the room from behind the podium so that they can move in the backspace, but not in front of the space," Wenowski said.

Wernoski said that in addition to the traditional face-to-face spaces in the fall semester, the university will also identify two types of learning spaces-quiet areas and learning areas. The quiet area will be used for distance learners or students who need a quiet environment, and the learning area will be used for a small group of students to work together, have conversations, and maintain physical distance.

"When we looked at the 6-foot physical distance, we lost about half of the general classroom and became 10 seats or less," Wernoski said. "Therefore, we are using these spaces on campus for these additional learning spaces."

Andy Bechtel, an associate professor at the Hughesman School of Journalism and Media, said that he chose to teach two of his journalism classes remotely in the spring semester for the following reasons

Their workshop class style. He said that he tried face-to-face courses in the first part of the fall, which was strange.

"In the past, I hope we can go back in time, it is easy to hang out at the table, as a professor, I can walk around the room, check the staff, and see how you are," Bechtel said. "I do think it is better overall. However, it is not safe to do so now."

The university also allocates some classroom space for teachers who prefer to teach in classrooms rather than campuses or home offices.

Lindsay King, an associate professor of teaching at Housman School, is personally teaching two introductory courses and one advanced course for the spring semester.

She said: "My spring class is very close and in the same room, so I don't have to go to many of Hughesman's rooms." "So, compared to autumn, I feel much better in spring."

She said that even though you can't attend classes, you must have the habit of attending classes even if you are just speaking.

Wenowski said the university is working on a logistics project similar to the Carolina Co-Ambassador Program, where staff help students, faculty and staff browse the campus and provide information at the mask distribution site. 

He said that the university is waiting to determine the face-to-face courses to be taught and their locations before starting similar programs. 

Vernoski said that although the layout of some buildings does not allow this, if possible, the buildings will have direction signs to move traffic in one direction. He said

It is part of Carolina Carolina Together’s mobile website and can be used to guide students in and out of buildings based on their specific classrooms. 

The Carolina Together map also contains information about indoor and outdoor spaces and the distribution of masks.

Wernoski said that the classroom operations team is negotiating with other advisory committees on campus (such as the "Campus and Community Advisory Committee") to exchange ideas and get the greatest feedback in order to provide the best environment for faculty, staff and students.

"Entering it, I think we feel very confident and good about the work we did in the fall, which laid the foundation for the success we saw in the spring," Wernoski said. 

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