WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, March 11, Howard University announced its immediate plans to transition all elements of its academic portfolio from traditional in-person learning environments to online instruction only. The unprecedented response to the global spread of the novel COVID-19 Coronavirus was announced by University leadership just days before the start of Spring Break, and on the heels of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s declaration of COVID-19 as a worldwide pandemic. As the threat of widespread infection intensified, institutions across the world were tasked with the enormous role of reducing community spread by completely virtualizing all aspects of academia. 

At Howard, leaders within the Office of the Provost are responsible for providing administrative oversight and academic support for the University’s 13 schools and colleges.  Collectively, they facilitated an aggressive transition strategy, along with the deans of each of the schools and colleges, that resulted in the successful transition of all of the courses offered to students, this semester. With more than 120 disciplines, leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees, the massive undertaking would be a first in Howard’s more than 150 year history. 

However, it wasn’t the first-time faculty members from various disciplines joined forces to achieve a unified goal – a trait of Howard’s culture that Provost and Chief Academic Officer Anthony K. Wutoh says played a vital role in a practically seamless transition. 

“Our faculty are to be truly commended for the expeditious and committed manner in which they transitioned courses to online and remote instruction in less than ten days, and particularly over the Spring Break period,” Wutoh explains. “This was yet another illustration of the dedication that our faculty demonstrate to our students' learning and development.”

Wutoh and his team of associate provosts first began by examining best practices in academia regarding transitioning to online instruction during an emergency and addressing concerns faculty would likely express around delivery of instruction, required materials and assessment. Subsequently, the team prepared a worksheet, called the Howard University Course Continuity Plan, as a tool to help faculty to make decisions about their courses as they prepared to transition online.  The comprehensive document was widely distributed by the Office of the Provost and relied upon by the department chairs and the deans. 

“There was a very high response rate by departments and faculty members,” says Associate Provost for Faculty Development Okianer Christian Dark, Esq. “By the Thursday of our Spring Break, the faculty we surveyed had developed  course continuity plans for more than 85% of the courses that were to be transitioned for online instruction.” 

The provost’s team identified a number of additional tools they believed would be invaluable in helping the faculty transition their courses online, including  tutorials for platforms like Blackboard, an online-based learning management system, and Zoom, a remote conferencing application. Howard University’s Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (CETLA) was a key component in the transition strategy because it was used to assist in the rollout of information and structuring of faculty training sessions. CETLA is a unit of the Office of the Provost which has for the past 16 years provided professional development in teaching and pedagogy, with particular focus on using technology to promote mastery of student learning outcomes. For years, CETLA has provided Blackboard certification and Distance Learning certification to faculty.  Before spring break, CETLA provided Blackboard courses for certification and an open house to assist in readiness for online instruction. During spring break, additional Blackboard trainings were conducted, including mandatory training for faculty who were not certified before March 2020. In a matter of days, the University went from less than half of the faculty being distance learning or Blackboard certified, to approximately 85-90% (more than 1,100 faculty members) being trained on Blackboard.  In addition to Blackboard, many faculty also opted to use Zoom for instruction.  So far, the University has provided nearly 800 Zoom licenses to professors for online course instruction. 

“Led by a team of passionate highly-skilled staff, expert trainers and consultants, CETLA, in record time, empowered Howard’s faculty to use (and have access to) available technology and evidenced-based best online teaching practices, effectively taking the entire university fully online, in short-order in these unprecedented times” says Interim Director of CETLA and Associate Professor of Law Alice M. Thomas.

The Professor Becomes the Pupil

Helen Bond, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education and chair of Howard University Online (HUOL), an advisory body of faculty who work to develop online courses and programs at Howard. Bond worked with CELTA and the Office of the Provost to present the mandatory Blackboard Basics Training. The one-hour training was held on Zoom and designed to provide faculty with basic skills on how to properly manage courses online, with emphasis on areas like creating discussion boards for students and exploring the types of assessments available for use. She also led an optional course on best practices in online learning, focusing on maintaining high instructional continuity and how to achieve teaching and learning outcomes in the online classroom.

“Faculty were very receptive to the training. They recognized that while the Blackboard Basics Training was mandatory, it also represented an opportunity,” Bond explains. “The opportunity was to reach out and serve their students without the restraints of time and distance. This was evidenced in the large numbers of faculty that participated in the optional trainings that were offered.”

The training videos produced for the faculty are posted on both cetla.howard.edu and the provost.howard.edu websites for faculty to continue to utilize as a resource.  CETLA also provides a Help Desk to provide one-on-one support for Blackboard and general questions regarding online instruction. Faculty are encouraged to engage in virtual town halls and in-house sessions hosted their respective school or college. This allows for the exploration of teaching practices for innovative approaches to online instruction. The town halls have also been important in gauging success and providing a space for faculty to find clarity in any lingering concerns.

While the University continues to evaluate its operational responses to COVID-19, leaders are in agreement that the changes implemented today, will have lasting effects on tomorrow. They say a successful transition is only the beginning. Furthermore, the University’s motto, Excellence in Truth and Service, resonates now, more than ever, as Howard takes a commanding and proactive role in defining a new normal for students and faculty of America’s educational institutions.

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About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced one Schwarzman Scholar, three Marshall Scholars, four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, 25 Pickering Fellows and more than 70 Fulbright Scholars. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.

Media contact: Ramzey Smith, Office of University Communications, ramzey.smith@howard.edu