Dear Students and Faculty,
I want to thank all of you for your dedication in making the most of this semester during these difficult times. With schools and universities across the country closed and everybody full of worry about their parents and loved ones, I know it has been challenging for all of you to focus on learning and teaching.
We recognized the obstacles to finish the semester in the face of the Covid-19 threat as early as February and started making preparations for online learning and teaching. All departments and schools of the university were active participants in our planning. We were prepared to carry on with online learning until the end of semester on April 8th. However, the government stipulation that all universities remain closed until April 9th, and the uncertainty beyond that time forced us to rethink our strategy.
It was clear that we might not be able to hold in-person exams and that it would be unfair and unsafe to require students who left Dhaka to travel back to attend exams. We considered online testing, but that has proved extremely problematic even at first rate universities like MIT and Harvard, and would be particularly so in Bangladesh because of internet connectivity issues outside of urban areas. Furthermore, despite our preparations it was hard for teachers and students to abruptly transition to complete online learning and that it would take more time than was left in the semester to iron out the kinks in our online learning systems.
With the semester near the end, and after consultation with department heads and deans and stakeholders we suggested a new strategy to finish the semester two weeks early and assign grades in a uniform manner that didn’t penalize students with poor internet connectivity and rewarded students who had worked hard throughout the semester. I am appointing a steering committee to clarify and formalize a grading policy for this semester. I believe that the vast majority of you will find our solution to be fair, practical and in line with common sense. Quality institutions around the world like MIT and Boston University have adopted similar simplified grading policies.
We recognize that finishing the semester early and simplifying the grading is an extraordinary step. But, these are extraordinary times. As you know this is the first time the whole world is in lockdown; the first time Mecca is empty of pilgrims; and the first time our parents won’t let us go out anywhere! Up to hundreds of millions of jobs are being lost worldwide and financial markets have crashed. We therefore hope you will appreciate the necessity of these steps.
In the next semester we will evaluate how we can make up the material not taught this semester. Our mission is to provide you with the skills and knowledge to be successful in the future and Covid-19 will not prevent us from carrying that out.
By ending the semester early, we hope all of you will be able to concentrate on protecting your loved ones and tackling the challenges that Covid-19 may present. God bless and protect you and your loved ones.
Thank you again for your understanding and support.
Best wishes,
Vincent Chang