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This week, the University of Kentucky will unveil plans for a fall 2020 semester restart. The plan is based on concept plans developed by three teams of faculty, staff and students and refined with input from the full university community.

On a previous episode of Behind the Blue, we spoke with three students who shared their experiences from a spring semester in which the UK campus was forced to close and move classes to an online format due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the goal is to return this fall to in-person classes on the UK campus, planning and consideration will be made in case an outbreak of the novel coronavirus once again forces UK to close for the semester.

On this week’s episode of ‘Behind the Blue’, we talk with three UK faculty members to get their perspective of the unexpected shift to an all-online format, tips for making the online experience more productive, and advice they might give to other faculty or students if we’re once again faced with a “virtual semester.”

Lou Hirsch is a lecturer in the Department of Plant Pathology and the director of Undergraduate Studies of Agricultural and Medical Biotechnology and Agricultural Individualized Curriculum in the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

Renee Kaufmann is an assistant professor in the College of Communication and Information, specifically in the School of Information Science.

Darshak Patel is a senior lecturer of economics and the director of Undergraduate Studies at the Gatton College of Business and Economics.

Mentioned in this episode is the University of Kentucky’s Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT), which provides extensive support to faculty in adapting their classes to an online learning environment. For more about CELT and their work at UK, click here.

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