First Week of the Quarter

For the first week of the quarter, all CSE 163 meetings will be held online. This includes class sessions, quiz sections, and office hours. We will have information soon on how to attend these sessions which will be hosted on Zoom.

The University of Washington is currently planning that we will be returning to in-person instruction from Week 2 onwards. The section below outlines our plans for COVID Safety in CSE 163 assuming we will be spending Week 2 and on in person. Obviously the situation could change and we will do our part to update any of these safety precautions as we get further updates from the University.

Week 5 and Onward (In-person)

Info

All policies below are designed to match guidance from the University of Washington. It is possible for guidance to change as the pandemic evolves over the coming months, so we will constantly be updating this page as rules/regulations change.

Return to Campus

According to the email President Cauce sent on ⅓, we will be returning to in-person instruction on January 10th and onwards. In her email, she outlines the following recommendations:

Remote Access

If you are sick or have potentially been exposed to COVID-19, stay home. There are no attendance points or anything in this class, so you will not be penalized for missing class to keep our community safe. See more here.

Below, we briefly describe the accommodations for students having to miss class due to potential illness, with full information in the linked pages.

  • Class Sessions: Course content will be posted as a set of readings/videos that can be watch asynchronously. Recordings of the live class posted on course website, and all materials posted online.
  • Quiz Sections: All material (including solutions) posted on the course website, some videos posted walking through material covered in class.
    • Since there are two quiz sections scheduled at 12:30, we will be hosting one quiz section in-person (AI) and one online (AE) at that time. All students in the class are welcome to remotely attend this remote quiz section (AE) if they prefer. A recording of this quiz section will be made available to all students in the class. See email for details.
  • Office Hours: Office hours can be attended in-person or remotely. All office hours have a remote option and most have an in-person option as well.
  • Asynchronous help via the Ed Discussion Board: Post online to get asynchronous help from a member of the course staff.

Masking

While in public, in-door spaces occupied by other people, you must be wearing a mask. This includes, but is not limited to: class sessions, quiz sections, support hours in Hunter’s office, support hours in the IPL. See more information about UW‘s masking requirements here.

Hunter and your TAs will always wear a mask in class and when working with you. You and your fellow students have to wear a mask when working with each other or with the course staff, or when attending class.

For the purposes of this policy, a face covering must: Fit snugly against the sides of the face; completely cover the nose and mouth; bandanas and gaiters are not considered face coverings for this policy. Students who do not wear a face mask will be asked to leave the classroom. If you forget your face mask or refuse to wear one, I will ask you to leave the classroom. Repeated failure to wear a face covering may result in you being referred to the Student Conduct Office for possible disciplinary action. I hope that we can all agree to keep each other safe by wearing our face masks.

Everyone is also encouraged to make sure they have a higher quality mask based on the increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant.

Learn more about detailed face mask usage here.

UW has approved a hydration exemption which allows students and instructors to briefly move aside their mask if they are drinking water even in class. This exemption is meant be used only for a brief moment to hydrate, and you should not be talking with your mask off or have your mask removed for a prolonged period of time. This exemption, does not allow for eating food in classes.

Do you need to maintain social distancing?

Vaccinations and masking provide strong protection against the spread of COVID. Currently, UW does not require social distancing in the classroom or office hours for students who are vaccinated and wearing a mask. The masking and vaccination requirements proved to be very strong in Autumn 2021, leading to no known documented COVID cases that came from transmission in a classroom.

Of course, some students might feel more comfortable keeping a little distance. If you would like to keep space between you and another student, please kindly ask them to leave a space between you and them if there is room available. Similarly, if someone asks you to maintain a space between them, please respect that request if possible.

What if you get sick?

See this FAQ by UW on what you should do if you get sick. You should also check out the Remote Access options listed above!

What if you are potentially exposed to COVID-19?

Follow the recommendations outlined in this flowchart by EH&S.

What if Hunter or your TA gets sick?

The course staff is committed to keeping you safe, so we will not make you risk a potential exposure to COVID to attend class. If Hunter or your TA feels ill, we will move any in-person activities we are hosting (e.g., a class session, quiz section, or support hours) to be purely online or have someone else on the course staff fill in for us while we are potentially contagious.

Please make sure you check your email frequently and before you attend an in-person event to make sure it is still happening in-person. We will always try our best to give as advanced notice as possible for any changes from in-person to remote for a day.