What should you include in messaging to students?

As you transition your face-to-face course to an alternate modality, it is important that you provide and maintain a clear line of communication with your students. Your students trust and respect you and are looking to you for reassurance and guidance. Here are the top five things you should do as you reach out to your students.

Encourage students to use their UWGB email. Students should regularly check their UWGB provided email for University updates. Students should also use their UWGB email for all communications regarding their classes.
Let students know when you will likely check your UWGB email so they can plan for a response. Email correspondence will be a primary means of communication. Think of them as your low-tech office hours. Students need to know when to expect a response to their questions about the course if you are not holding regular, synchronous virtual meetings.
Reinforce IT resources available to students. IT distributed an email on Wednesday to students that outlines free tools available to all UWGB students. This list is now available on Learning from Home included on our Coronavirus webpage. Knowing what your students have access to not only shapes what you plan to do but can also help students understand that we are all here to support their learning.
Students should be directed to store information that they need to access from any location on their UWGB provided OneDrive or an external storage device, e.g. a thumb drive or flash drive. OneDrive will only work when the students have access to the Internet, but it can be a very easy way to store and move their course-related materials.
Share with students your plan for the week of March 23. Even if you don’t have a plan yet, let students know when they can expect to hear an update from you and how you will share that update. If you are going to use Canvas, tell students when they can expect course information to be available in Canvas. If you are relying on other technologies, tell students when they can expect an email from you with that information.