3/30/2020 - Spring Term Welcome and Important Information for Students

To: Caltech Students
From: Office of the Registrar

We hope this message finds you well, and we are pleased to welcome you back to Spring Quarter at Caltech in a new online environment. As you know, this first week of term is dedicated to providing students with an opportunity to settle into online learning, and to allow faculty to communicate with you about course materials, procedures, and expectations. With that in mind, please follow each of these initial guidelines:

1. Finalize your schedule. Work with your advisor to confirm that the courses you see in REGIS are the courses you intend to take this term. The Registrar's Spring Term information page contains Registration Information for Students.
2. Enroll in all of your course Moodle sites after you have officially registered for those courses in REGIS. Students who attempt to enroll in a Moodle course for which they have not officially registered will be dropped from the Moodle.
3. Consult with your advisor about schedule changes, which they need to pre-approve. Your schedule must be submitted to your advisor each day after you make a change, as this is the only way they can see your schedule.
4. Respond to any preliminary communications and expectations sent to you by your instructors.
5. Note that students are not permitted to audit courses this term. The only exception is Bi 252, and this exception only applies to students for whom Bi 252 is a requirement.

Please see the Online Learning website with important information about learning resources and tools for this Spring Term, as well as an FAQ. This website will be updated throughout the term.

Please review closely the following information.

Personal Privacy and Intellectual Property

In an online learning environment, students must respect the privacy of their classmates and not share personal information about other students beyond the online classroom. Students must not share class recordings, transcripts, or links to lectures and discussion sessions with anyone who is not enrolled in the class, or teaching or supporting the class. While each student enrolled in a course should have access to all course materials and learning options, they should also remember they have an ethical responsibility as members of the Caltech community to keep this information private. Violations of these expectations may be considered violations of the Honor Code and of the Caltech Code of Conduct.

Honor Code

While many of you will be working at a distance from Caltech, you remain members of the Caltech community. It is still the case that "No member of the Caltech community shall take unfair advantage of any other member of the Caltech community." Students should be thoughtful and deliberate as they adjust their work habits and collaborative practices to an online learning environment. Review course collaboration policies carefully, and consult a course instructor or TA if you have questions or concerns.

Current Residence Information

With the undergraduate community now dispersed around the globe, Caltech needs to know where every student is actually residing during Spring Term. This information will be critically important as the public health emergency in our country continues to unfold. All enrolled students must therefore use the Current Residence Information Form to provide the address where they are residing for Spring Term.

Student Resources

Many familiar resources remain available remotely, with necessary adjustments for the online learning environment:

• Student Wellness Services, including Counseling Services and Occupational Therapy, is serving students via secure and confidential telephone appointments. Students can schedule counseling or occupational therapy appointments by calling the main office number, (626) 395-8331, during regular business hours (8 a.m.-5 p.m. PDT, M-F). Student Wellness Services has created a Service Updates page to provide information and updates about Spring Term services.
• The Deans' Office is accessible through email and phone. Deans are available to provide advising around Overloads, Underloads, Leaves, UASH petitions, and personal or familial matters. Students can directly e-mail the dean's office at deansoffice@caltech.edu, or schedule a time to speak with a dean via the Online Booking System.
• Deans Tutors are available through Find a Tutor, and will be able to meet with students via Skype, Hangouts, Zoom, or other platforms. Note that to access this website you must be logged into the Caltech VPN, where under "Groups" you need to select "Tunnel All Traffic." If you have trouble identifying a tutor, please email deansoffice@caltech.edu for assistance.
• Your Freshman Advisors and Option Advisors are accessible via email as needed.
• Caltech Accessibility Services for Students (CASS) is available via email and online at CASS. Students with academic accommodations are encouraged to continue to work with CASS during Spring Term.

Course Updates

Since last week, the following updates on courses for the term have also been posted on the registrar's website:

• Ch 3a and Ch 3x will all be offered this term, with lab experiments and lectures pre-recorded, and mandatory, 1-hour live recitation sessions with a TA (assigned by time zone). The enrollment scaps have been removed.
• Some previously open courses now have enrollment limits. Please check the schedule of classes or REGIS. To over-enroll in limited seating courses, you must ask the faculty instructor for permission. If permission to over-enroll is granted, the faculty instructor will then email permission to regis@caltech.edu.