Originally developed as a result of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, these pages have been modified to provide helpful ideas for dealing with emergencies and crises. Caveat: these are not official university guidelines or policies.
In addition to the ideas below, we also suggest that you sign up for teach-net, the campus teaching discussion email list. In a time of crisis, you will be able to discuss problems and strategies with other faculty and support staff on campus.
1. Helping students who may have family members or close friends directly involved in a tragedy or crisis.
One or more of your students may be personally affected by a national or international crisis. You can let the students know about the resources at University Health Services, Tang Center. You can also inform the Dean of Students, Jonathan Poullard, 642-6770, who will contact students directly who have been impacted by a tragedy and who may need the assistance of the university.
2. Canceling class or acknowledging the events in class.
In the days following September 11, some students indicated that they were surprised that, when they attended some classes on Tuesday or Wednesday, no mention was made at all of the attacks or loss of life. We suggest, then, that some mention of major events, some acknowledgement, no matter how brief, would be beneficial. At the same time, some students were surprised that when they got to their classes, there were notes on the board that said "class cancelled." It seems, then, when such events occur and faculty don't have time to notify students in advance, that instructors might plan to stay for a few minutes in the classroom to explain why class was cancelled and to answer questions.
3. Using class time, or part of class time, for discussion of the tragedy.
Every instructor on this campus will handle crises in a different way. Some instructors may simply not want to discuss it, at all, for a variety of reasons. Others will not want to devote very much class time to open discussion. Still other instructors may choose to check in with students at the start of class to see whether students want to discuss the event for all or a portion of the class session. If you do not want to use class time to discuss the tragedy, you might consider inviting students to your office hours, or schedule another time when you can be available to discuss it with them.
4. Holding a class discussion on a crisis.
The following suggestions have been taken from those drawn up by the University of Michigan's Center for Teaching and Learning after 9/11, then modified for the war in Iraq, to give faculty some help in conducting this type of class discussion.
(We at Berkeley would only add to respect the rights of students who don't wish to participate, as well as students whose opinions and attitudes differ wildly from the norm in the class.)
5. Developing class assignments related to the tragedy.
Some subject areas, of course, lend themselves more than others to developing assignments or altering syllabi. "One More Chorus of 'Feelings,' Please," from California English, February 2002, presents a detailed discussion of one post-9/11 assignment for a writing class at Berkeley.
Here are some other examples of the kinds of assignments we've heard about as a result of the tragedy on September 11:
If you would like to discuss any of these ideas with a faculty consultant, please contact Steve Tollefson at the Office of Educational Development, 642-0875.