Contributors:Megan McFarland

Whether it’s due to severe weather-related closures or individual circumstances, missing one or more instructional days can feel stressful for faculty and students alike. Explore the following responsive and proactive strategies to learn how instructors can limit the impact of unexpected disruptions and keep teaching during campus closures.

During Inclement Weather

Exercise normal flexibility and make reasonable accommodations for students who miss class, miss an exam, or don’t submit coursework as a result of inclement weather — including effects from other community closures.

Don’t require or even suggest that students be on campus. This includes early closures. When a closure occurs during a class or exam, release students immediately.

In all cases, it’s important and helpful for you to communicate course expectations to concerned students. You can send your entire class an email through your PSU Gmail account.

Supporting Learning During Campus Closures

Unexpected disruptions, cancellations, and closures often come as a result of significant emergency events. While instruction is important, the human needs of faculty and students come first. These kinds of events–such as severe weather, natural disasters, or illness–impact our functioning in a variety of ways. This means that our ability to think and behave might be different than we are used to.

Learn more about how to implement Trauma-Informed Teaching practices in our latest teaching guide:

Trauma-Informed Teaching: A Primer

Connect students and colleagues with resources to support basic needs, such as food, water, shelter, and healthcare:

Basic Needs Hub

PSU Cares

Communicate as quickly and clearly as possible with students about class closures. Use email, Canvas Announcements, or even a separate module to share updates to due dates, assignments, and independent work expectations. Consider opening a separate Canvas Discussion to avoid answering the same question multiple times.

Flexible Teaching Strategies to Consider When Campus Closes

Contact your department or school for any specific requirements and guidelines around instruction during a disruption.

    • Identify the most crucial learning outcomes for your course as well as the assignments that assess them.
    • Consider eliminating assignments and activities that don’t directly assess the most essential learning outcomes. Determine if there are any learning outcomes that are assessed by multiple assignments, and reduce duplications.

Example: Eliminating a weekly in-person reading quiz when students are already submitting a reading reflection to Canvas

    • Collaborate with your department and colleagues for guidance on how to prioritize a course’s learning outcomes.
    • When possible, offer asynchronous alternatives to missed course content. Consider recording lectures, offering supplemental readings, or even self-paced learning modules
    • Set aside office hour time to answer questions and review material

Because online courses don’t require campus attendance, they may continue during inclement weather closures — at your discretion. Although your virtual class may remain open, the library and most other university buildings will be closed. Please exercise normal flexibility and make reasonable accommodations for weather-related impacts such as:

    • Loss of access to Internet connections and devices, or even electricity
    • Changes in students’ and instructors’ work hours, childcare schedules, and more

Plan ahead for how you might accommodate power outages or other weather-related impacts. This could include:

    • Extending deadlines
    • Rescheduling exams
    • Recording class meetings
    • Not requiring students to have cameras on
    • Alternative learning activities instead of
    • scheduled class meetings

No matter how you adapt teaching plans for your online class during inclement weather, remember to clearly and quickly tell students your expectations and any changes. Email and online course announcements (in Canvas) are two good options for communicating with students.

Both faculty and students carefully plan their work, courses, and other responsibilities around listed class schedules. This means that it is often an undue burden to require participation outside of typical class meeting times. Avoid these practices in order to best respect student and faculty time:

    • Holding an additional class session on a day and time the class does not typically meet.
    • Extending class meeting time.
    • Rescheduling finals or adding a class session during finals week.
    • Asking students to do the same amount and kind of work the syllabus initially expected them to do while compressing the work into a shorter time period and/or reducing their access to instructor, peer, or campus resources.

How to Teach in a Condensed or Accelerated Format

For more ideas on how to adjust your course format following a disruption, check out the following resources from our colleagues across the U.S.:

University of Washington
Other Universities

Plan for Instructional Continuity During Disruptions

When you have the option, proactively planning ahead will help ease some of the stressors of having to quickly pivot during the term.

Create and share a communication plan in advance

      • Add information in your syllabus and Canvas about what students can expect in case of an unexpected disruption or inclement weather event. Be sure to include the University Closure Policy and Inclement Weather Procedures and any alternative plans or instructions.
      • Clearly articulate your communication plan in your syllabus and Canvas, as well as how often students are expected to check those communication channels.
      • In all cases, it’s important and helpful for you to communicate course expectations to concerned students. You can send your entire class an email through your PSU Gmail account.

Design with flexibility in mind

      • Offer low- or no-internet alternatives for assignments and course materials at the beginning of the term.
      • Offer asynchronous or make-up alternatives for in-person requirements, such as community partnerships.
      • Examples: Establish a policy that allows students to make up participation points by demonstrating mastery of that week’s learning objectives via a written reflection, slide deck, or short video.
      • Consider inserting a designated buffer week around Week 7 or another strategic point in the term. You can use this week as a catch-up period in case of unforeseen disruptions. If catch-up is not needed, you can use this week to present a special topic based on student interests! (Note: Be sure to communicate the purpose of the buffer week to students in advance.)

More Ideas for Planning Ahead for Course Disruptions

Check out the following resources from our colleagues at the University of Washington:

By utilizing both proactive and responsive teaching strategies, you can enhance your ability to navigate unexpected disruptions while maintaining a supportive and effective learning environment for your students. We recommend regularly revisiting and updating your strategies based on feedback from your teaching experiences and your students to help you arrive at the best balance for you and your classroom.

Learn More Elsewhere

Emergency Management Resources for Faculty