Page 54 - Innovation Delaware 2021

difficult problem to solve was how to continue with laboratory classes, many of which had staff and students working on scientific experiments being funded by federal and private grants. “Some grad students lost six months of research,” Morgan says. At Delaware State, Newton says, “We were among only about 5% of the nation’s [top-rated] 275 R1/R2 research universities that didn’t ever close down our labs. Under the leadership of our provost, Dr. Saundra DeLauder, we kept them open using enhanced, strictly enforced safety protocols.”
There was also a heavy emphasis on faculty training for digital education, not
just during the pandemic but also for future courses. “This summer, we offered a course design institute where we taught about 70 faculty members to enhance their online teaching,” says DTCC’s Brainard.
Delaware State operated a similar program. “During the summer, we used grant money from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to provide stipends for our faculty to attend intensive coursework on formally redesigning their materials for digital and hybrid delivery,” Newton says.
And the amount of hard work, innovation and dedication faculty
members showed for a good teach- ing environment should not be underestimated. “There was one faculty member who had always received good teacher evaluations, but had never taught digitally,” Morgan says. “She was so thrilled at the end of the spring semester that students had rewarded her hard work with good ratings.”
From Virtual Learning to a Hybrid
So, as the months rolled on and students transitioned through summer classes and into the fall 2021 semester — some still being remote, some a hybrid of digital and
52 DelawareBusinessTimes.com