March 11 message from Assistant Dean and Director of Teacher Education, JerMara Davis-Welch

Dear Teacher Candidates,

I know we're all well aware of what's been happening concerning COVID-19 across the world, country, and state. Yesterday afternoon, UCR leadership sent out an email with the firmest plan yet on how the campus plans to move forward with its daily operations. I wanted to write to all of you directly to put this in the context of our program and provide an initial set of information on our current plan. I also want to provide you with information I've gathered from other sources regarding programs across the country and our current status.

The most important thing to know is that if you are sick, stay home. Let your supervisor and DCTs know, but stay home.

1. Classes: Meetings for class this week are at the discretion of your instructor. That said, if you haven't heard otherwise from your instructor, please plan on attending class in person.

- Winter-quarter finals and the first week of Spring quarter (March 30 to April 3) will be held virtually campus-wide, and "may" extend later into Spring.

- All instructors of courses at UCR have been asked to prepare to teach online for the entirety of the Spring quarter, although, as of now, the only concrete plan is for the first week of the Spring quarter to be taught virtually.

2. Fieldwork: At the moment, fieldwork is continuing to follow the plans and schedules of your placements. But your districts are most assuredly having internal conversations about their plans with respect to closures. If they close the school, they close the school, and you won't go to your placement. If you have an underlying health condition (e.g., heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, kidney disease, or weakened immune system) and are concerned about your continued presence in a school setting, please let your supervisor know.

- Dependent on the number of hours you have fulfilled, the loss of fieldwork hours in the event of school closures "may" (not will)  impact your ability to complete the program or otherwise complete your certification and licensure requirements by the end of the 2019-20 academic year. As of the latest communication we've received from the CTC (3/6/20), "if a teacher candidate (intern, resident, traditional student-teacher placement) or other educator preparation candidate is out of the classroom/school for several weeks equaling 100 or more hours, then the candidate will need to complete another placement or extend the placement when the school is reopened to meet the 600 hours of clinical practice requirement." I want to emphasize this is based on communication disseminated on March 6th. Things are rapidly changing, and I assure you that the Commission is continuing to have internal conversations about plans and updated directives for teacher prep programs with respect to school district closures. As these are uncharted waters for everyone, this situation is affecting teacher prep programs around our nation and global community. In essence, we're all grappling with how to handle best what is going on. Even so, please know UCR and the GSOE is here to support you, and that we are doing our best to help you complete the program (on-time). As things are rapidly developing, please closely monitor your emails for additional plans and updates.