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COVID-19

Remote Access

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

Below, we briefly describe the accommodations for students having to miss class due to illness or exposure.

  • Lecture sessions: Course content is posted as a set of readings/videos that can be watch asynchronously.
  • Quiz sections: Material (including solutions) will be posted on the course website.
  • Support hours: We will offer remote support hours each week. As always, if you need to schedule a separate time to meet with course staff because none of the scheduled office hours work, use this form.
  • Asynchronous help via the Ed discussion board: post online to get asynchronous help from a member of the course staff or your peers.

Masking

While in public, indoor spaces occupied by other people, you must be wearing a mask. This includes, but is not limited to: class sessions, quiz sections, and support hours in an office or other meeting room. See more information about UW‘s masking requirements here.

Course staff will always wear a mask in class and when working with you. You and your fellow students must wear a mask when working with each other or with the course staff and when attending class.

For the purposes of this policy, a face covering must fit snugly against the sides of the face and 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, we 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.

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.

Social Distancing

Vaccinations and masking provide strong protection against the spread of COVID. At this writing, 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 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 from UW on what you should do if you get sick. You should also check out the remote access options listed above!

What if Noah or a TA gets sick?

The course staff are committed to keeping you safe, so we will not make you risk a potential exposure to COVID to attend class. If Noah 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 and the discussion board 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 notice as early as possible for any changes from in-person to remote for a day.