Much has been said about the continuity of academic operations during times of crisis. Institutions have drafted plans, invested millions of dollars in infrastructure and alert systems, and trained faculty, staff, and students to minimize disruptions in teaching and learning during such periods.
The COVID-19 pandemic provided ideal conditions that acted as a stress test for the readiness of institutions and faculty to teach under crisis conditions. Investments and plans have been made, published, and revised prior to this global emergency. Before this worldwide event, higher education institutions faced natural and human-made crises or emergencies that, in most instances, disrupted academic operations for over a week.

The author will present the perspective of a fully online campus that serves 32,000 students each semester across more than six different term lengths and 43 academic programs. By leveraging a digital-first campus strategy, the college, which operates six campuses, has adopted methods to minimize disruption during various emergencies, including power outages, campus shootings, and pandemics.

This presentation will explore how a digital-first campus develops and implements comprehensive strategies for maintaining academic continuity during unexpected emergencies. Attendees will gain strategies for preparing faculty and the institution for continuing teaching during a crisis, including training, support systems, and academic continuity planning, which are essential at a large institution. A forward-looking perspective will be discussed, such as How might the lessons learned from recent crises reshape higher education? How does a fully online campus differ in crisis preparedness compared to traditional campuses?

References:
[1] Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B., Trust, T., & Bond, A. (2020). The difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning. Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning
[2] Moore, M. G. (1989). Editorial: Three types of interaction. American Journal of Distance Education, 3(2), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/08923648909526659
[3] Morales, C. R. (2017). Managing quality in online education: A peer development approach to course design. In Proceedings 33rd Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning Conference. Paper presented at the 33rd DT&L Conference. Madison, Wisconsin.
[4] Morales Irizarry, C. R., & Casanova Ocasio, A. J. (2020). Estrategias de apoyo a la facultad en tiempos de pandemia: La respuesta de dos instituciones. HETS Online Journal. XI(2), 60-78. Retrieved from https://hets.org/ejournal/2020/11/16/estrategias-de-apoyo-a-la-facultad-en-tiempos-de-pandemia-la-respuesta-de-dos-instituciones/
[5] Pastrán Chirinos, M., Gil Olivera, N. A., & Cervantes Cerra, D. (2020). En tiempos de coronavirus: Las TIC’s son una buena alternativa para la educación remota. Revista Boletín Redipe, 9(8), 158-165. https://doi.org/10.36260/rbr.v9i8.1048
[6] Russell, T. L. (2001). The no significant difference phenomenon: A comparative research annotated bibliography on technology for distance education. Montgomery, AL: IDECC.
[7] Trust, T., & Whalen, J. (2020). Should Teachers be Trained in Emergency Remote Teaching? Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 28(2), 189-199. Retrieved from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/215995/

Keywords: Teaching During Crisis, Academic Continuity, Faculty Training, Remote Teaching, Online Teaching, Online Learning, Instructional Technology.