NC State announced earlier this week that no on-campus, face-to-face courses will be held this summer. All summer courses scheduled as meeting face-to-face will automatically be converted to reflect an online delivery format. For any courses you take this summer, you will be charged an online rate. I want to assure you that our college is committed to providing the courses and instructions you need so you can complete your degree requirements on time, including those who are planning to graduate this summer. We have communicated with our instructions that they should be resourceful and flexible to help you graduate on time.

Per Chancellor Woodson’s communications March 17, “NC State students who occupy university housing are instructed to remain at or return to their permanent off-campus residences, unless granted an exception.” Criteria for exceptions include international students and those experiencing housing insecurity or personal extenuating circumstances. To request an exception, submit a Special Circumstance Housing Request. Please also feel free to reach out to our Associate Dean Anona Smith Williams if you would like to submit an exception or have personal extenuating circumstances.

Any decisions regarding potential refunds for housing or dining fees will be made by the UNC System after April 1, or after the universities are beyond the immediate challenges being faced regarding the spread of COVID-19.

To ensure student academic success and mitigate stress that may arise from moving courses to an online format, the following grading options will be made available to students on MyPack Portal, beginning on April 6. The grading option can be applied to all graduate and undergraduate courses.

• The S/U grade will not carry grade points and will not impact your GPA.
• A grade of S will be assigned by the course instructor when the work is judged to be of C- quality or better.
• A grade of S will fulfill degree requirements, C-wall requirements, and prerequisites for future courses.
• A grade of U will not earn credit and will not affect a student’s GPA, though it will be used in Satisfactory Academic Progress calculations.

Students will have the option of switching to this S/U grading basis until May 8th, which is after the semester has ended and most grades have been submitted. We suggest students consult with their adviser and/or instructor before making this change, as it cannot be reversed. To read more about these options, click here for a statement from Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, Warwick Arden.

The Student Teaching experience, as designed, includes approximately 19 weeks or more depending on your specific program, over the course of two semesters. This exceeds the 16-week minimum stated in North Carolina law. Should schools return to session before the end of NC State’s semester, we would encourage those of you who feel comfortable doing so to return to student teaching. However, should you be unable to return to your placement for any reason, including health concerns, you will need to notify the Office of Professional Education as soon as possible. In addition, we remain in contact with accreditation and licensure agencies to come up with creative solutions to support you if schools are closed for more than 3 weeks. If schools move to remote learning during school closures, you should work with your cooperating teacher from a distance to support their efforts. You are not expected to lead instruction.If you need support for assisting your Cooperating Teacher with remote learning efforts, our METRC librarians are available to assist you.

Observations
Candidates must have a completed N.C. Certificate of Teaching Capacity (NC CTC) form for licensure. More will be shared about this process at a later date.

edTPA
edTPA is not required for program completion, but is part of our program practice and required of all candidates to clear their North Carolina license. All students who have gathered all of their video and artifacts should submit those items by the due date stated by their program. If you are unsure if you will be able to meet this deadline, please communicate immediately with your university supervisor and program coordinator. There will be options for students who are teaching in virtual environments to complete the edTPA.  Once those options have been finalized, we will post them to the edTPA website.

Licensure Exams
During this time of school closures, we encourage you to study for your licensure exams if you have not already completed and passed them. For North Carolina Licensure Testing Requirements see LICN-003.

PGUs

The college requires Professional Growth Units (PGUs) for licensure (4.5 for undergraduates and 2 for MAT). Some planned PGUs are being canceled or postponed, while others are moving online. Please continue to check SAGE and the PGU website for updates on PGUs available online. In addition, if you engage in professional learning online through other organizations, please track that so that you can receive credit. For questions about PGUs, please contact Kirsten Hoeflaken.

Given Chancellor Woodson’s announcement March 17 that NC State is moving to fully online instruction and taking other steps to help mitigate the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), all early field experiences in P-12 schools are discontinued effective immediately. This means that anyone who is currently placed in a school for a course other than for student teaching should NOT return to their placement. Your course instructor will contact you with instructions for successful completion of individual courses and requirements. 

All courses are moving online. Your instructors for each of your courses will communicate directly with you about how they will proceed with classes. In addition, all field placements have been suspended until further notice. Each program area is working out alternative arrangements and will be communicating with you about those. Those few courses, practicums, and internships that cannot be held online are being reviewed on an individual basis with the students and community at large to determine the best course of action. The college is working carefully to address how required practicum and internships can be completed. We will be creative in our approaches and will be working with appropriate accreditation and licensure agencies to support our students. 

The College of Education fosters a career-long commitment to learning and professional development by requiring undergraduate students seeking initial licensure to complete a series of Professional Growth Units or PGUs. We are still offering programs for PGU credit while away from campus. 

All NC State Libraries facilities, including the Hunt and Hill Libraries, are now closed. However, the Libraries’ expanded online collections and services remain available:

• Our online collections are always available.
• You  can request a scanned copy of a textbook chapter or section for their class from the Libraries. They will receive an email when the PDF is available.
• We have limited supplies of laptops, document cameras, headsets, and other technologies for long-term loans. Please submit a request for what you need, tell us where you are, and we will work with you to get you what you need.
• Research consultations, tech consultations, and data/visualization consultations are available via virtual meeting software, phone, chat, and email.
• Subject expert librarians are available via phone and email.

For help with all Libraries services, please Ask Us via online chat, email, and text message. Chat is available during these hours:

• Monday–Thursday, 8am–10pm
• Friday, 8am–5pm
• Saturday–Sunday, 12pm–5pm

In addition, our METRC librarians and staff continue to provide online/distance services through chat, email, phone and video conferencing. Contact information, tutorials, ebooks, and additional resources are available on our website.

As classes move toward online and other alternative delivery formats, if you need assistance with technology support or resources, you can contact:

• NC State IT Service Help Desk and 919-515-HELP
• METRC Staff (help with ebooks, class projects, etc.)
• Library’s Ask Us Service (click on “Chat Now”)

Counselor Education Intern Ashtyn Coates is prepared to offer virtual coaching to students who need help adjusting to their courses moving online. She is an excellent resource for coaching, accountability, motivation and time management. If you are interested, please contact Ashtyn Coates directly at ancoates@ncsu.edu and she will set up a time to meet with you. 

Weekly check-ins with College of Education undergraduate students. Check-in for wellness and needs for support, share updates, answer questions, encourage engagement or just to see and hear from your peers during this time of social distancing. Everyone is welcome. Join us. 

METRC and the NC State Libraries also have available to you ebooks and other online resources:

• College of Education eBooks
• NC State Library eBooks (Find through the standard library search)

All dissertation defenses will move virtual until further notice. Your dissertation advisors will follow-up with you with specific information about the format.

Chancellor Wooodson’s announced March 24 that all spring 2020 commencement exercises will be postponed. The university will release information about updated commencement plans in the weeks ahead. Once we know this information, we will decide as a college how to proceed with our graduation ceremony in a way that aligns with the university. If you are track to graduate this May, please know that the postponement of commencement exercises does not impact the completion of degree requirements and that you will still graduate on time. Though our graduation ceremony will be delayed, we will work hard to make it our best yet.  

We know some in the Wolfpack family, including some of our students, are experiencing food insecurity because of unexpected financial hardships. We wanted to remind you of two resources: The university’s Feed the Pack on-campus pantry will host pop-up pantries every week on Tuesday and Friday from 12 p.m.-6 p.m. at the pantry location. Learn more about the Feed the Pack food pantry here. Also, if you have other needs, including for emergency financial assistance, please visit Pack Essentials website and check out the university resources available to you. 

Even though you may not be returning to campus for the time being, please practice healthy habits in order to protect yourself and others:

• Wash your hands with soap and water frequently for at least 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Avoid touching your face, eyes, nose or mouth with unsanitized hands.
• Avoid the sharing of food or drinks.
• Practice social distancing, which means maintaining at least three feet between yourself and others, especially those who are coughing or sneezing.
• Cough or sneeze into your bent elbow or a tissue, and dispose of the tissue immediately.
• Stay home if you are sick or do not feel well.

If you believe you may be ill with COVID-19 or are experiencing any of the virus’ most common symptoms (fever, cough, or shortness of breath), you can make an appointment with NC State Student Health. Please call them ahead at 919-515-2563.

The university has now created a form for students where you can self-report if you test positive for COVID-19, or are told by a healthcare provider that you are presumed positive for the virus. You are encouraged to fill out the form for students. This information is voluntary and confidential, but it helps university healthcare professionals monitor the impact to the campus community and to provide you with any resources and support you might need.

If you would like to schedule a phone call or a virtual meeting with someone from the College of Education Student Services Team, please see below for contact information:

• Tremaine Brittian, Director of Advising and Recruitment, tlbritti@ncsu.edu
• Amanda Beller, Assistant Director of Advising, aldunca3@ncsu.edu
• Crystal Espey, Teaching Fellows Coordinator, cnespey@ncsu.edu
• Christin James, Academic Advisor, cpjames@ncsu.edu
• Tiffany Wiggins, Ph.D., Director of Student Success, tswiggin@ncsu.edu
• Robin McWilliams, Director of SAY Village & Community Youth Partnerships, crmcwill@ncsu.edu
• Whitney White, Ph.D., Program Manager for Strategic Outreach and Special Initiatives, whitney_white@ncsu.edu
• Anona Smith Williams, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Student Success and Strategic Community Engagement, anona_smith@ncsu.edu

If you are a graduate student in need of additional support or receiving updates specifically related to graduate students within the College of Education, please contact Dr. Melvin “Jai” Jackson, the director of the Office of Graduate Student Support Services.