In-Person Instruction

Lab instructors must adhere to specially designed requirements and guidelines provided to academic units. Masking and physical distancing guidelines apply. For specific precautions to take, see the Universal Masking and PPE Recommendations.

Undergraduate and graduate students are permitted to continue working in labs if they are in town. Students may not request to remain in an on-campus residence hall solely for the purpose of working in a lab. Undergraduate students, graduate students, external visitors, and visiting scholars must receive prior approval from the relevant academic dean for them to continue on-campus research. Those who are already approved to work on campus do not need to be re-approved. All students and visitors must adhere to the standard operating procedures of the lab and be part of the person-count for square footage, scheduling, and any other relevant considerations. Instructors cannot and should not require undergraduate or graduate students to come to campus, and undergraduate and graduate students who conduct on-campus research must be included in the research reductions and approaches to de-densification.

All courses, including graduate courses, will move to an online instructional format after November 20, 2020.

Graduate and undergraduate students currently undertaking research in person are permitted to continue doing research in labs after the Thanksgiving holiday in accordance with the guidance from the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research. Learn more about the requirements for continuing to conduct research as an graduate or undergraduate student.

Graduate students at Penn State Law, Dickinson Law, or the College of Medicine have additional guidance. Penn State Law classes at University Park will continue in their hybrid format through Tuesday, November 24, 2020, the last day of Penn State Law classes. Dickinson Law classes will continue in their hybrid format through November 24, 2020, and classes will be held in a fully remote format from Monday, November 30, through Friday, December 4, 2020. At the College of Medicine, all pre-clinical courses for MD and PA students, and all graduate studies courses, will move to an online instructional format after Friday, November 20, 2020. Medical and physician assistant students in clinical rotations and clerkships will continue their patient-care activities in hospital and office settings following the Thanksgiving holiday. They must adhere to all hospital policies for the use of PPE, hand hygiene, and physical distancing in patient-care settings.

If a student is exhibiting symptoms in a classroom, the instructor is empowered to ask the student to leave the class and to see a health care provider. The student should not return to class until they are no longer exhibiting symptoms or have been cleared by a health care provider and can provide proof of clearance to the instructor. If the student refuses to leave, the instructor should follow the guidance in the classroom guidance document (PDF). 

See University guidance on what to include in course syllabi about the mask requirement (PDF).

In addition, see Penn State syllabus requirements outlined in Faculty Senate Policy 43-00, including a number of example syllabus statements. 

Be sure to check with your college or campus regarding locally mandated syllabus policies. 

For this instructional mode, consider adding a brief description of how you will conduct class in this mode and your expectations for students’ participation. You might address questions like, should students be active during whole-class discussions and should they participate in small group activities by speaking with each other or by using online communication and collaborative tools?

Instructors should follow Faculty Senate Policy 42-27, Class Attendance, which identifies examples of legitimate, unavoidable reasons for absence, such as illness, injury, military service, family emergency, or religious observance. Instructors should accommodate student absences with flexibility during this pandemic period, especially as we don’t want students who feel ill to think that they should attend class so that their grade is not negatively impacted by an absence. 

Other general resources about attendance requirements as a part of participation in the course:  

• View current information related to COVID-19 and classroom attendance policy on the Penn State Coronavirus Information website.
• Read Class Attendance procedures (undergraduate).

While you are not required to take attendance for your in-person course, if you want to take attendance, consider the following options: 

• Integrate iClickers into live sessions.
• Develop a participation survey/quiz for students to complete after each in-person session. Ask students to either expand on content discussed or ask questions they would like covered in future sessions. 
• Create a reflection assignment (e.g., one thing I learned, one thing I still have a question about).

Remote students can collaborate in Zoom or using digital tools such as Canvas groups or Microsoft Teams that provide workspace, communication, and file sharing. Students have many other online applications to collaborate remotely (i.e., Zoom, Google, etc.). 

If you have made special arrangements for some of your students who are out for a period of time to connect remotely during class, consider dedicating some of your in-person class time for groups of students to work on projects either face-to-face or in Zoom break-out rooms.