Newsletter Fall 2009

Planning for Disaster

Author: John Ruttner

On occasion the campus has been forced to close for brief periods because of high winds. At other times, wildfires have forced closure. Earthquakes have disrupted other campuses and are a very real threat to CSUSB as well, potentially causing damage and bringing the university functions to a lengthy halt. Add to that the effects that an outbreak of a pandemic like swine-flu could have, and we see that the day-to-day operations of the university cannot simply be assumed, and that considerable contingency planning is necessary.

How could the teaching and learning functions of the institution be continued in the face of the types of disaster described? How could you as a faculty member continue a course if neither you or the students could access the campus because it was closed? And on a related note, what would happen to the course you're teaching in the classroom if you unexpectedly had a serious accident or should fall ill and would need to miss weeks and possibly months of teaching?

In all these situations, if you do some early preparation it is possible to convert a course to an online blended version and salvage the quarter. There are things that you can do now that will reduce the effort required and simplify the process.

One example is cloud computing, which uses the infrastructure, platform, and software from different providers over the internet. Cloud computing can help faculty make their course content accessible online and interact with students using an array of different services provided by companies such as Google, Yahoo, or Microsoft. Another example is the development of a study guide session delivered through Blackboard that provides an overview of lecture content, short quizzes, and allows for communication through a threaded discussion. This "abridged" session can be used to replace a face to face session in case of an emergency. There are many other examples of how distance technology can help you prepare and the ODL designers can assist you in planning alternative options for content delivery that are specific to your needs.

Several CSUSB instructors managed to continue their courses when the "unexpected" happened and they were forced to switch to an online format. They could adapt their content and their course design because they had some preliminary organization in place. Working closely with ODL designers, they managed to make it work for themselves and their students. Given the uncertainties that the campus faces, perhaps it might be a model that all faculty should consider; call it an "insurance policy" of sorts. If you are interested in this idea contact ODL; we'll be glad to discuss it with you.