Useful Information and Links
This information was compiled from the Q&A session at the New Faculty Orientation Welcome Session on August 26th, 2021.
Covid Protocols/Hybrid Teaching
- Pratt will continue to follow guidance issued by the CDC, state and local authorities and monitor campus conditions throughout the fall semester, and provide immediate updates through the Back to Pratt website (www.pratt.edu/backtopratt) and weekly e-newsletter. Our Post-Pandemic Remobilization Operations Task Force (PPRO) will be issuing revised guidelines shortly for the Institute’s health and safety decision making and directives. We are grateful for your cooperation and feedback.
- All Pratt Covid protocols will be posted (and emailed to you) at the Back-to-Pratt website: https://www.pratt.edu/coronavirus/
- The Office of Facilities Management is carefully following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) to improve the indoor air quality and circulation across campus. For more information, please visit the FAQ section of our Back to Pratt site – link
- Face covering protocols are based on current CDC, city, and state recommendations and are subject to change. Please check the health and safety section of the Back to Pratt site – link
- Indoors: Students, faculty, and staff are required to wear a face covering while indoors on campus including in classrooms, studios, shops, labs, offices, and common areas. While giving a lecture, a speaker may remove their mask while lecturing, provided they are more than 3 feet away from anyone else. Vaccinated individuals may remove face coverings when seated in a private office occupied by one person or at a workstation, provided that there is separation from other seated people. All community members may remove face coverings in their personal living space on campus.
- Outdoors: Students, faculty, and staff are not required to wear a face covering outdoors; however, we encourage the use of face coverings whenever possible.
- Anyone who has tested positive will self-isolate, but any close contacts who are fully vaccinated will not need to quarantine which is the vast majority of our campus. In the event that there is an unvaccinated person that meets the definition of a close contact, then that person will be isolated accordingly. More detail can be found at our Back to Pratt Healthy and Safety link here.
- If you have questions about the distribution of time in hybrid courses, speak with your department about their expectations based on types of class and content.
Online Teaching Tools
Canvas is the Learning Management System (LMS) that Pratt uses. Starfish is an online platform that is a student success tool designed to improve communication and workflows around student engagement and support.
Canvas is the best place to share materials, class information, syllabi, assignment information, files, and more with your students. Sign in with your Pratt OneKey to get started. Here is an overview video of Canvas to get started. When you log on, you will see that your courses have been populated with the students who are enrolled in your classes, and this will continue to happen automatically every semester.
All Canvas courses should include the class syllabus, professor contact information, and the link to the class Zoom (if applicable). We also strongly suggest that any files and materials necessary for the course are posted here, so that students can access all necessary information for their courses in one central location. It is up to you how you wish to use Canvas to best support your courses and teaching style, and we will help you navigate Canvas in the way which best suits you and your students. We recommend that if you choose to record attendance and grades, you use Canvas to do so. More about Pratt’s Attendance Policy can be found here.
For more information about Canvas, check out the Canvas resources on the CTL’s website. There is a link here to all training options available for Canvas, both synchronous and asynchronous.
For virtual training sessions about Canvas usage, we have these upcoming sessions (all sessions will be recorded and will be posted on the CTL site afterwards):
- Tuesday, September 7th, 3:00 – 4:00 pm – Canvas Intro, Modules, and Pages;
- Wednesday, September 8th, 3:00 – 4:00 pm – Creating Quizzes and Assignments on Canvas;
- Thursday, September 9th, 3:00 – 4:00 pm – Canvas Gradebook;
- Friday, September 10th, 3:00 – 4:00 pm – Attendance on Canvas and Q&A.
Faculty can use Starfish to send messages, raise concerns and alerts, ask for assistance, provide feedback and referrals, and create an appointment-making platform. Please attend the session on Sept.2nd to hear more about this tool. Questions about Starfish, contact: starfish@pratt.edu
- Do not use Starfish for scheduling. To schedule office hours or appointments with your students, you can use Canvas’ calendar or whatever scheduling software you and your students have access to.
- Do not use Starfish for attendance. Only use Starfish to report absences if absence becomes a serious issue.
- Once a student is flagged in Starfish, faculty will be guided by the Learning/Access Center.
Faculty are additionally free to use other teaching tools (such as Miro and Milanote, both of which we have educational licenses for) as they see fit for their classes.
For online courses, faculty should set up their own recurring Zoom meetings. As faculty, you should be added to the Pratt educational zoom license, and please contact services@pratt.edu if you are not added to the educational plan.
Please see this guide for information on recording your classes and lectures.
For information on what equipment is found in each classroom, we have the TEC (technology enhanced classrooms) spreadsheet. This sheet will be continually updated as more equipment is added to classrooms. Please stay tuned for an update to the TEC website which further explains the various types of equipment. Here is a pdf which explains our new hybrid TEC carts, the locations of which are indicated on the spreadsheet, and another document to explain how to get started with the hybrid teaching cart.
One.Pratt
One.pratt.edu has links to many different platforms and services, in addition to a knowledgebase where you can start discussions and ask questions about the platforms and services used at Pratt. Explore one.pratt.edu and familiarize yourself with the resources linked here. Some links you see on this site include:
- Self Service: Information about using self service can be found in this knowledgebase article. Self service includes your class roster and class schedule, including updated room location information. If you want to contact your class before a meeting and are not sure if they are checking Canvas yet, use the class roster to email your students and remind them to check their Canvas inboxes.
- Production: A remote job submission and fulfillment tool for 2D, 3D, and digital cutting (DC) requests and projects. Here you will find information about Pratt labs and printing facilities, their hours, and submission guidelines for you and your students.
- Launchpad: LaunchPad provides access to a cloud-based application streaming service (AWS Appstream) enabling Pratt students, faculty and staff to access software typically found in Pratt’s computer lab via a web browser. This is the recommended method for remotely accessing software that is computationally intensive. To access software necessary for your courses, familiarize yourself with Launchpad.
- Biography: Click here to edit your biography in the campus directory. Your biography is an important part of the Pratt Institute web presence. Please include your full name, a URL, education, and a brief biography or work experiences.
Outside classes
Programming/Events
- New faculty in-person meet and greet is scheduled for September 15 at 10 am, outside on the Pratt Campus. All are welcome. More information will follow.
- In addition to the face-to-face meet-and-greet event, the CTL will offer ‘virtual meet-and-greet’ spaces for new faculty to mingle. More information will be emailed.
- Ther New Faculty Orientation series (all via Zoom) schedule is available here: https://prattctl.com/newfacultysupport/
- The CTL offers informal Coffee Chats, on Zoom, Monday mornings at 10 am. Link to Zoom is available through the CTL calendar: https://prattctl.com/events/
- The CTL offers Technology Office Hours daily, on Zoom daily at 3 pm. Link to the Zoom is available through the CTL calendar: https://prattctl.com/events/
- The DEI allies training schedule will be announced on this page: https://www.pratt.edu/the-institute/diversity-and-inclusion/dei-allies/
Please see the Campus Access checklist on the Back To Pratt site. This checklist has information about vaccine requirements, the required social contract, and information about your Pratt ID cards. In this Campus Access checklist you will find a link to download the Pratt Safe app for your digital ID. You do not need a physical ID card to gain access to campus, but the swipe card can be helpful for turnstile access to campus. To pick up your physical ID card, follow the instructions here.
Funding
For course-specific museum visits, guest critics, field trips, screenings, etc., please check with your department for funding support.
Faculty: Faculty Development Fund provides financial support for the professional development and advancement of full-time faculty, staff who teach, chairpersons and members of the adjunct and visiting faculty.
Students: Graduate Student Engagement Fund encourages and supports the professional development and advancement of graduate students through their work on original and creative projects.
General: The Office of Research & Strategic Partnerships operates with a mission to uncover, communicate, and foster the creative future with the Pratt faculty, staff, and students that can support research scholarship, community activism, and academic leadership. For more examples of our Centers’ work, visit prattresearch.org.
Please attend the session that will highlight this office on November 4th.
ETC
- To book the outdoor tents or make other room reservations on Campus, search for locations here.
- Feel free to visit campus before classes! If you’re interested in knowing more about the room schedules of your classroom or scheduling time to familiarise yourself with your classroom before your class starts, contact your department.
- Supply chains for many class supplies are a little slow due to COVID-19, so we recommend having some flexibility for students and their expected materials. We also recommend letting students know about the Pratt Give-Take and Pratt facebook groups, where they can often find materials for free on campus.
- The Pratt Institute Libraries have many resources online, including extensive research guides and the “Ask a Librarian” live chat.
- The Pratt Student Affairs division is dedicated to student advocacy, support and well-being. The departments within the division include: Athletics and Recreation, Career and Professional Development, Counseling Services, Health Services, International Affairs, Learning/Access Center, Residential Life, and Student Involvement and Family Programs. All of these departments are linked to from the Student Affairs page on the Pratt website.
- For more information on the NFO event about the Learning/Access Center, Student Wellness, and Mental Health, click here. This event is taking place on September 2nd, 12:30 – 1:30 pm (virtually, on Zoom).
- Faculty perks:
- Ample on-campus (Brooklyn) parking is available to employees at an annual fee. Currently the annual parking fee is $200. Parking permits are available through the Security Office and more information can be found here.
- Pratt employees may use the ARC (Athletics and Recreation Center) located on the Brooklyn campus free of charge.
- Faculty and students are eligible for free admission to several museums. The complete list can be found here.
- Lynda.com content is available for you through LinkedIn Learning. All Faculty, Staff, and Students have access to this site and more! see Pratt Institute Libraries databases – libguides.pratt.edu/az.php
- The Pratt Institute Libraries are excited to provide a new subscription to nytimes.com. All current Pratt students, faculty, and staff are now eligible to create NYTimes accounts with their institutional email. This new subscription replaces ProQuest Historical NYTimes. Click here to read more details (PDF).
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