Dear Academy Community,
I hope this finds you all well and safe, and enjoying a beautiful summer.
We know that many of you have additional questions about the Fall after reading Provost Zukowki’s letter from July 1st. I am writing to update you on our progress and current plans for launching Academy fall classes, and hope once again to reassure you about what has remained the same for the Academy, and the careful adjustments we will be making based on this latest guidance from the university.
First, I want to reiterate that the health and safety of our community is paramount, and we have been working diligently over the past months to align with all guidelines and recommendations, while adjusting our curriculum and our facilities as needed to also maintain the core of the Academy experience.
As we wrote to our majors in June, the Academy learning experience relies on group and team communication, collaboration, and making. The university understands the special nature of our programs and is allowing us to continue to plan for instruction that provides our students with many of the same unique opportunities that are the hallmarks of an Academy education. All instruction plans include strict protocols for maintaining recommended safety practices and procedures.
The provost’s July 1st letter explained that, while the majority of coursework across the university will be moving online, courses that are reliant on specialized facilities or performance-based experiences will still be offered on campus. The letter specifically stated: We anticipate that 10-20 percent of our classes will be conducted in person, on campus. These will be primarily face-to-face labs, studios, performance, and other courses involving hands-on work, and independent research studies that require facilities and equipment only available on campus.
So, what does this mean for all of us?
IYA’s Current Academic Plan
1. In accordance with the above, ACAD courses that rely on access to specialized equipment in maker facilities, design studios, workshops and labs will still be offered on campus in IYH, in two instructional modalities:
- All sessions on the ground in IYH, with online options available for distanced students in all classes, excluding ACAD 376 Discerning and Making and ACAD 240 Materials: Denim to Nanotubes (see below).
- ‘Hybrid’ sessions, with students alternating on-the-ground sessions with online sessions as course needs and safety dictate. Hybrid courses will also be available fully online for distanced students.
2. Also in alignment with the most recent guidelines from the university, to maximize availability of IYH facilities for classes that require them, and learning outcomes and ease of access to classes that don’t, we will be moving some of our undergraduate requirements and electives to all-online modalities, with no on-campus component. Specifically, we feel that students in the following courses will have a better and more fluid educational experience online, without the need for masks, distancing, and density caps:
- ACAD 302 Hacker Imagination
- ACAD 176 Rapid Visualization: Sect. 10242
- ACAD 362 Analytics for Health Innovators
- ACAD 188 Digital Toolbox: Modeling Products I
- ACAD 499 Story Building for Inventors and Entrepreneurs.
As of the writing of this letter, one additional IYA minor program requirement that may not require access to IYH facilities is under consideration for a move to online. As we work to ensure the best possible experience for all our students, we will update you as soon as we can on any additions to the list above.
3. As referenced in 1. above, we have determined that we will not be able to offer an online-only option for distanced students in ACAD 376 Discerning and Making and ACAD 240 Materials: Denim to Nanotubes. These classes offer unusually high levels of applied learning and require field and lab work that can’t be easily duplicated online. Both courses will run on campus only in Fall 2020. For sophomores, ACAD 240 will be available again in Spring 2021, and juniors will be able to complete ACAD 376 in Fall 2021 (concurrent with ACAD 475a Garage Experience). Options to replace ACAD 376 with Industry and Impact Labs, and other industry-focused experiences are also available, and can be discussed with your advisor.
IYA’s Current Facilities Plan
1. As we wrote on June 23 in our letter to Academy majors, all IYH facilities are planned to be operating, with carefully scheduled access for classes and individual students to the Creator and Mixed Reality studios that follows recommended guidelines for safe use of spaces. IYH will not be open to the general public, and overall building density is planned to be reduced in alignment with recommended safety protocols.
2. Currently, all classrooms, student conference rooms, maker facilities, and communal spaces have been set up for appropriate distancing and density caps, and the school will continue to comply with all recommended guidelines for cleaning and other measures designed to protect the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff. We have complete layouts, floor plans, flow charts and procedures for all spaces based on the most current university guidelines, and will be adjusting as necessary as we get closer to the fall, and are able to finalize plans based on the most recent updates and recommended protocols.
Once again, we are working hard to ensure a great academic experience for all of you this fall. We appreciate your understanding of the constraints under which we are operating, as well as the fluidity of the ongoing situation. As with everything we have done so far, everything we will be able to do in the fall will be based on the guidelines provided to us at that time by the university as they work with the city of Los Angeles, the State of California, and the CDC.
Please reach out to the following members of the Academy Student Affairs team with any additional questions or concerns:
Jessica Vernon, Associate Dean for Admission and Student Affairs (jvernon@usc.edu)
Amber Bradley, Senior Academic Advisor (aebradle@usc.edu)
Bria Bourgeois, Academic Advisor (briabour@usc.edu)
You are all in our thoughts every day. Be well, stay safe, and continue to Fight On!
Dean Erica Muhl