CoPA Now

Faculty Start of Term Memo

Table of Contents

2020/21 Academic Calendar

The spring semester begins on Tuesday, January 19th and ends on Monday, May 10th.  Tuesday, May 11th and Wednesday, May 12th are the designated university makeup days. The full academic calendar can be viewed here. 

Please refer to Class Session Dates for complete details regarding Spring 2021 expected course sessions. Class Session Templates by Day are available for download. The final 15th session for Monday-meeting classes (full semester courses) may be rescheduled at any time that is convenient for the instructors and students, including the days set aside for make-ups. Faculty should poll students to determine the best option for holding the 15th session. The Make-up days are Tuesday, May 11th – Wednesday, May 12th. If you plan to hold your 15th session on a day other than one of the make-up days, please email CoPAAcademics@newschool.edu with that information.

Spring 2021 Holidays are: 

  • Presidents Day: Monday, February 15
  • Spring Break: Monday, March 15 – Sunday, March 21


Spring 2021 Module Dates are:

  • Module 1: January 19 – February 21
  • Module 2: February 22 – April 4
  • Module 3: April 5 – May 10


10 Week courses will run: January 19 – April 5

Consult The New School website for building hours information. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, not all buildings will be open during the Spring semester and an appointment may be required for access. Some buildings may be closed on holidays or during breaks. For more information regarding building access during the Covid-19 pandemic, please visit https://www.newschool.edu/covid-19/campus-access/.

For faculty who need access to campus to retrieve personal belongings, please write to the help desk at least 48 hours in advance of needing access.

During the spring semester, all teaching will occur via remote platforms. Teaching on campus is prohibited. If heath and safety conditions allow, The College of Performing Arts may explore possibilities for on-site teaching later in the semester. Any such changes will be communicated in advance.

Course Syllabi

Faculty are required to: 

  • Distribute course syllabi via email to all students before the first class session
  • Post syllabi to the “Syllabus” section of the course’s Canvas page 
  • Submit a digital copy of each syllabus using the CoPA Syllabus Submission Form by the following:
    • Full Semester and 10-week courses: Sunday, January 24th, 2021
    • Module 1 Courses: Sunday, January 24th, 2021
    • Module 2 Courses: Sunday, February 28th, 2021
    • Module 3 Courses: Sunday, April 11th, 2021


The university has created a revised syllabus template specifically for the remote learning environment. Faculty should use this revised template to ensure they are including all Syllabus Requirements for Online Courses. 

The “Minimum Technology Requirements” of your syllabus section should mirror the program specific information on the Technology page of coparemote.com. There are several courses which have pre-approved advanced technology in addition to this list of resources. Unless approved by your dean’s office, faculty cannot require students to have access to technology outside of what has been pre-specified.

Syllabi must include:

  • Course Information (University Name, College Name, School Name (if applicable), Program Name, Course Title, Course Number)
  • A course description (current course descriptions can be found in the University Course Catalog)
  • Learning Outcomes
  • Student Assignments
  • Final Grade Calculation
  • Remote Learning Course Structure/ Course Outline
  • Student Participation/ Attendance Policy
  • Remote Learning Environment Expectations 
  • Course Readings, Materials, and Technology Requirements
  • Minimum Technology Requirements – please reference the Technology page on coparemote.com. Your syllabus should mirror the information on this page.
  • Resources
  • Disability Services
  • Course Policies
  • University Policies


More information about creating an online syllabus, including a complete syllabus template, a short syllabus template, and syllabus requirements can be found at: www.newschool.edu/provost/curriculum-learning-teaching-resources 

If you have questions about syllabi or have trouble uploading your syllabus to Canvas, please email CoPAAcademics@newschool.edu.

Scheduling and Attendance

Course Schedules and Rosters

Once you have received your appointment letter but before the start of the semester, please log in to my.newschool.edu to review your course assignments, schedule, and rosters.

Be sure to check your course rosters frequently during the first few weeks of the term, as students may still be adding or dropping classes. You should bring any anomalies to the attention of your program managers. Rosters may be accessed via my.newschool.edu (under Academics). Students who are not registered should not attend courses.

Teaching at CoPA

Meaningful Participation in Online Learning at CoPA

Participation is an essential part of student learning. To read the university’s complete statement on meaningful participation, click here.

Participation that is both ongoing and meaningful best supports learning, creates community and enhances faculty’s ability to effectively engage with and support students. Faculty will share their expectations for meaningful participation with students via their syllabus (posted on Canvas), including how student participation might affect final grades.

Students should participate in classes meaningfully each week via the methods outlined by their faculty. It is especially important that students engage in their courses during the first week of classes. Participation during this initial week of classes will be used to confirm a student’s enrollment at the university, which is required for disbursement of financial aid, confirmation of immigration status, and official enrollment reporting. If a student does not participate meaningfully in the class in a given week, they will be considered “absent.” Simply logging into the Canvas course page does not constitute meaningful participation.

When a class has synchronous class meetings, students are expected to participate in the session in real time. The university recognizes that certain circumstances may prohibit real time participation. In such cases, students should discuss their situation with faculty before the synchronous session to determine the availability of alternative means for engagement with course materials in lieu of missing a synchronous session. If a student’s circumstances will prohibit real time participation in multiple synchronous sessions, they should communicate their situation to faculty at the beginning of the semester in order to ensure the availability of alternative means of participation.

Synchronous and Asynchronous Teaching

Class meeting times listed in the course catalog are representative of the required contact time of a given course in relation to the number of credits students earn within said course (e.g. a three credit course requires 2.5 hours of contact time. A two credit course requires 1 hour and 40 minutes of contact time). Faculty are not required to convene synchronous meeting sessions at times listed in the course catalog. It is possible to truncate the number of synchronous sessions or total meeting times by reallocating some course interaction to asynchronous work. We encourage this kind of reallocation in order to avoid Zoom fatigue, accommodate differing time zones and different learning styles and needs, and thereby foster more effective learning experiences. Asynchronous work may take the form of watching recorded lectures, participating in discussion groups on Canvas, small group work, faculty office hours, and one-on-one time with the instructor.

Please clearly outline the schedule and expectations for synchronous and asynchronous work in your syllabus.

Given the extraordinary nature of the circumstances this academic year, faculty should work with students who can’t make all course meeting times due to time zone discrepancies. However, a student may not complete their coursework without participating in a reasonable amount of synchronous sessions of each of their courses. We recommend that faculty share lectures with students who may miss some synchronous class meetings. To that end, please note that Zoom recordings must be saved to Google Drive instead of Zoom’s cloud as cloud videos are deleted after 30 days.

If you have students reaching out to you with concerns about successful completion of the coursework given the required synchronous component, please contact your respective dean or academic department.

Taking Attendance

Starfish (available via my.newschool.edu) is the tool used for reporting attendance and meaningful participation.

Attendance should take into account the university’s statement on meaningful participation. The entire policy on meaningful participation can be found here.

As an institution that receives federal aid, The New School is required by the Department of Education (DOE) to report attendance for each class session and to report students’ last date of attendance accurately. Regulations require that the University report the last date of attendance of all federal aid recipients within 14 days in order to determine students’ federal aid refunds. Failure to do so puts the University in danger of violating federal Title IV regulations, and risks depriving students and the University of access to federal financial aid. Starfish also allows instructors to identify attendance and other behavioral issues early so that University support services can intervene. Starfish is a quick and easy tool that faculty are required to use to meet their requirement to record attendance.

Meaningful participation is an essential aspect of student learning. Faculty are expected to share their expectations with students via their syllabus (posted on Canvas), including how student participation might affect final grades. Faculty are also expected to monitor student progress and participation regularly; failure to participate in classes can be an early indicator that a student is experiencing trouble. At the same time, faculty should recognize that students may experience challenges in following the regular class schedule, given the current unusual and challenging circumstances, and should therefore emphasize flexibility guidelines for participation.

If you teach a non-traditionally meeting course (examples include but are not limited to: Private Lessons, Internship/Externship, Studio, Independent Study, Group Lessons, Seminar, Practicum), you will be required to take attendance for your course in Starfish at three specified points in the semester, which will appear in Starfish when you select your course to take attendance.

On those dates, mark the attendance appropriately according to the following criteria:

PRESENT: Some remote classes may function asynchronously (no class meetings); however, meaningful student participation in class activities each week is still required. In cases where a class has both synchronous sessions and asynchronous content, it is recommended that both synchronous and asynchronous participation be considered when determining “attendance” for a given week.

ABSENT: If a student does not participate meaningfully in the class, they should be marked  “absent” in Starfish.

How to Access and Use Starfish:

There are three ways that faculty can log in to Starfish: 

  1. By going directly to Starfish.newschool.edu, 
  2. Through Canvas
  3. By logging into MyNewSchool and going to the Dashboard.
  • Starfish includes students’ photo IDs so that you can identify each student.
  • Starfish defaults attendance to ‘present’, so you only need to select students who are absent or tardy.
  • Students can see the exact dates you marked them as absent or tardy in their Starfish account.
  • Students and academic advisors are sent automatic notices if students have been marked as missing for two or more classes. This does not require additional action from you.


A two-minute instructional video for the Starfish Attendance feature, as well as other Starfish resources for faculty, may be found here. A quick guide can be found here.

Zoom Videoconference Setup Instructions

Faculty should create a recurring Zoom meeting to be used for the entirety of a given course (rather than a unique meeting for each class). This Zoom meeting should be titled for the course and the weblink / meeting ID and password should be included in your Canvas syllabus. For more information, please visit https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/214973206-Scheduling-recurring-meetings

Instructor Absences

All absences must be submitted via your school’s Faculty Absence form (links below). In the event that you must cancel class or send a substitute on the day it is expected to meet, you must submit your school’s absence form, contact your school’s representative, and email your students via Canvas. Substitutes must be pre-approved by your school’s academic point person. 

Drama
Contact: Liz Olson
Drama Faculty Absence Form

Mannes
Contact: Michael Seabrook
Mannes Faculty Absence Form

Jazz and Contemporary Music
Contact: Ryan Anselmi
Jazz and Contemporary Music Faculty Absence Form  

MA Arts Management and Entrepreneurship
Contact: Alexander Chadwell
Arts Management and Entrepreneurship Faculty Absence Form

MM Performer-Composer
Contact: Kalun Leung
MM Performer-Composer Faculty Absence Form 

Please email CoPAAcademics@newschool.edu if you plan to schedule a makeup session with the date, and time for your makeup class.

Course Evaluations

Student feedback is important to the university. At the end of each term, all faculty must set aside 20 minutes of class time so that students can complete an anonymous evaluation of the course. Please build this into your course planning and syllabi. 

During the course evaluation period, any student who completes an evaluation for a course, or officially opts out, will be able to view their grade in the course on MyNewSchool once a grade is posted.  When the evaluation period has finished, all students will be able to view their posted grades on MyNewSchool.

Off-site Studios

For the safety of our faculty and students, no in-person instruction is permitted in the
Spring 2021 term, either on campus or off-campus. Should the COVID-19 situation change to make such teaching possible, additional guidance will be issued.

Course Materials

Please be mindful of the cost of materials associated with coursework, especially in consideration of the varied economic backgrounds of our students and the economic climate that we find ourselves in today. Work with your program director or course coordinator to resolve questions concerning your syllabus, including those related to required materials. 

Please also note that due to limited access to library resources and students who may be studying outside the NYC area, most students will not be able to use the library to access physical materials. However, the library has digital resources that can be accessed anywhere. More information about the library’s digital collections can be found here.

Updating Your Faculty Profile

As we prepare for the new semester, we would like to make sure that the CoPA websites display current and complete profiles for you. Please follow the instructions below and provide the requested information within two weeks of receipt of this memo. If you have questions, please contact the representative from your school/program:

Mannes: Iris Maenza irismaenza@newschool.edu 

Jazz and Contemporary Music: Dylan James dylanjames@newschool.edu

Drama: Liz Olson olsone@newschool.edu 

CoPA MA AME: Alexander Chadwell chadwella@newschool.edu

CoPA MM PC: Kalun Leung leunk117@newschool.edu 

 

FACULTY PROFILE PAGE

As a CoPA faculty member you have (or will have) a faculty profile including your name, your New School email address, a photo, a bio, and a list of the courses you teach. Please consult the links below to see your current profile.

Mannes: http://www.newschool.edu/mannes/faculty-az/ 

Jazz and Contemporary Music: http://www.newschool.edu/jazz/faculty-az/ 

Drama: http://www.newschool.edu/drama/faculty-az/ 

MA AME: https://www.newschool.edu/performing-arts/arts-management-faculty/

 

Name
Your name is automatically pulled into the page through a system managed by HR. 

(Faculty have the option to enter a “preferred” name in WorkDay: from the MyDay main page, click on the Personal Information icon and then the Preferred Name link. Enter your preferred name and submit.) 

Photo
The default photo on the page is your ID card photo. We encourage you to change your profile photo and to submit a headshot  to your school representative. 

Bio
To add or update your bio please use the Faculty Profile Update Form. We encourage you to add your CoPA program and school affiliation to your bio. Ex. “(Your name) teaches at [Mannes School of Music or The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music or School of Drama or in the Arts Management and Entrepreneurship program] at The College of Performing Arts at The New School.”

Sharing Work

We are eager to share the work of the students and faculty of CoPA. Here are a few ways that this can happen:

  • Faculty and Students are invited to share work emerging from their coursework using the following form  CoPA Video/Audio Submission Form. This form link is included on our website www.coparemote.com and in our weekly CoPA Bulletin.  The administration will contact all associated parties prior to publishing student or classroom work on on public channels.

  • The CoPA Bulletin is a virtual community bulletin board for students, faculty and staff of the College of Performing Arts to share and learn of news, events, and opportunities. If you’d like to submit content to include please fill in this form which is also included in each bulletin.

  • We love sharing your projects, performances and events via social media. Please fill in this form and tag us @newschoolperformingarts on Instagram, @mannescollege @newschooljazz @newschooldrama on Twitter & Facebook when you post.


We are pleased to continue our CoPA Spotlight series during the Spring Semester. CoPA Spotlight is a new performance series featuring live and recorded student performances nominated by faculty across the College of Performing Arts and chosen to perform for The New School community.  Details on how to nominate student work will be shared with faculty during the semester.

Professional Development and Technology Support

New for Spring 2021. With remote work and collaboration continuing in the spring, we are pleased to announce new professional development opportunities for all CoPA faculty. Two new initiatives will launch in Spring 2021 to help you develop skills in technology, audio, video, and remote instruction using a peer-to-peer model that has been successful in the past.

The full range of opportunities will be published in January on the new Support Central page of CoPA Remote where you will be able to sign-up for the two initiatives described below. Sessions are filled on a first-come first-served basis; stay tuned as registration information will be emailed in January.

1. Faculty Workshops (Small Group)

Faculty hosted conversations on topics ranging from remote teaching best practices to home studio design. You will have the opportunity to ask questions and gain technical skills in a small group faculty-only setting. Each session is 50 minutes in length and are open to all levels of experience unless otherwise indicated. Should you prefer a one-on-one private session, please refer to the following program.

2. Office Hours (One-on-One)

Office hours are hosted by faculty throughout the semester to help address specific issues or provide specialized training. These are one-on-one sessions that can be reserved via CoPA Remote Support Central and vary in length depending on the subject matter. Faculty specialists can provide guidance on basic computer troubleshooting, Canvas setup, Soundtrap, Zoom, video editing software, and more. Please note that office hours will be conducted on Zoom. 

3. Help Center

For all course-related concerns and non-urgent technology troubleshooting, please continue using the Help Desk on CoPA Remote. The form is actively monitored by CoPA Staff during business hours who will attend to your issue in a timely manner.

Quick Reference: Important Links and Resources

INFORMATION FOR FACULTY

The link below provides information and resources for full-time and part-time faculty.

https://www.newschool.edu/faculty/

Information specifically for copa faculty during the remote instruction period can be found at coparemote.com

MYNEWSCHOOL

My.newschool.edu

PRIVACY AND SECURITY GUIDANCE FOR FACULTY

The Privacy and Information Security Guidance for Faculty is a two-page document with guidance for use of email, use of cloud services, and guidance for recording lectures, seminars, and studios.

SYLLABI INFORMATION


Provost Office’s Resources for Teaching page

RESOURCES FOR ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING
CANVAS

www.newschool.edu/information-technology/online-learning/canvas 

Canvas provides secure spaces for posting readings and other documents, holding class discussions, collecting and grading assignments, etc. An instructor guide and Canvas video tutorials are available through the provided link. 

ACADEMIC CATALOG

http://www.newschool.edu/copa/catalog.pdf

STUDENT SUCCESS NETWORK / STARFISH

A web-based tool called Starfish, the Student Success Network, is available to faculty. It is intended to enhance communication between and among students and their instructors, advisors, and support services. Use Starfish to take attendance, raise concerns about students, and refer students to support services. 

Information and login: http://www.newschool.edu/provost/starfish-faculty-resources/ 

Online support: http://help.hobsons.com/Starfish/FI3VYgGm6zb3OWi2R2d2/Help/EndUser/Default.htm

ADVISING CONTACT INFORMATION

The advising team at CoPA is responsible for handling academic issues raised by faculty and students and is also able to make referrals to appropriate support services for non-academic issues, such as health services, disability services, and crisis management. Faculty are encouraged to communicate any concerns about their students as soon as possible. To contact an individual student’s advisor, use Starfish, the Student Success Network, to find their name, email address, and other contact information. CoPA Advising Office: copaadvising@newschool.edu

UNIVERSITY COURSE CATALOG

Degree Programs: http://courses.newschool.edu 

Continuing Education: http://opencampus.newschool.edu

ADOBE CREATIVE CLOUD

All faculty, students, and (non-temporary) staff have subscriptions to Adobe Creative Cloud. To access your individual subscription, log into MyNewSchool, select the “Services” tab, and follow the directions in the Adobe channel. For additional information, visit https://it.newschool.edu/services/business-applications/adobe-creative-cloud-staff.

SOUNDTRAP

All students have access to Soundtrap in the Spring 2021 semester.

THE NEW SCHOOL LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES

Services for faculty include Reserves, in-class research instruction, and purchases of recommended material. Please however see their statement on textbooks in the library collection on the guide for what they are able to provide access to for students this Spring. 

Go to the Youtube playlist for an Introduction to the Libraries and Archives and to learn how to use BobCat, the library catalog. New faculty can schedule a 1-on-1 Consultation to learn about the Libraries and Archives. 

Reach out to chat and Ask Us [libhelp@newschool.edu].

Website: http://library.newschool.edu/

LINKEDIN LEARNING

Current New School faculty may access LinkedIn Learning.   LinkedIn Learning’s 4,000+ online software instruction and professional development tutorials on Adobe Premiere, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, AutoCAD, Blender, HTML, Javscript, Revit, Rhino, and as well as marketing, photography, and much more.  As of summer 2019, all the content that was in Lynda.com is now in LinkedIn Learning.

To use LinkedIn Learning, use this link or the link from the library’s databases page.

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