COVID-19 Assigned Seating and Attendance Tracking

As we continue to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we will again require assigned seating for all of our in-person classes to assist in classroom tracing efforts, if needed. This semester, on-campus course instructors on all WVU campuses will only be required to do one thing :

• Use assigned seating in each class.

Finalized seating charts for the Morgantown and Potomac State College campuses will need to be submitted by  January 21, 2022. WVU Tech and Health Sciences campuses will follow their own established procedures for seating charts.

Once finalized, all seating charts will be submitted to a central location. It is critical that we have this information centrally available to facilitate classroom tracing should it become necessary.

Every face-to-face class session on the WVU Morgantown main and Potomac State College campuses, irrespective of enrollment numbers, must follow the procedures outlined below. WVU Tech and Health Sciences campuses will follow their own established procedures for seating charts.

1. Accessing and Using the Seating Charts

Instructors can retrieve their seating chart using the following links:

• Morgantown main campus
• Potomac State College campus 

These online Qualtrics forms include detailed instructions on how to retrieve and submit the seating charts.  Instructors will use the same online Qualtrics form to upload their final seating charts. 

Spring semester  deadline is January 21 , 2021.

Instructors should note that any time a change is made to a seating chart, an updated seating chart must be submitted, whether that is once during the semester or multiple times.

On the first day of class, instructors should inform students that they will be using a seating chart. This should be done in conjunction with explaining the COVID-19 syllabus statement regarding health and safety measures. 

While instructors are not required to maintain and supply attendance rosters this semester, the seating charts will be used in classroom tracing efforts. Instructors should stress the importance of adhering to the seating chart with their students .

NOTE: Recognizing that there might be movement with adjusting schedules, instructors are not expected to submit their final seating charts until end of the day January 21. 

Instructors can either assign seats or allow the students to choose their seats. Either way, instructors should tell students that the assigned seats will be final after January 21.

Starting the first day of class, instructors will need to complete a seating chart each day until the class seating is finalized. However, instructors do not need to submit the chart until it is finalized. 

NOTE: Instructors should save all of their charts to facilitate classroom tracing until the final seating chart is set and submitted. 

5. Submitting the Chart

Once the final seating chart is complete, instructors must submit it by the end of the day January 21 using the online Qualtrics form in step 1.

Seating Chart Alternatives

Many courses on campus do not utilize traditional classroom environments for face-to-face instruction. This could include lab-based classes in which students are largely moving about in a laboratory setting and/or conducting work outside in a field setting. Instructors who feel that assigned seating and the utilization of a seating chart is not possible in their class should contact Amanda DeBastiani ( akdebastiani@mail.wvu.edu). She will make note of your course, identify a relevant contact in case classroom tracing should be needed, and explore alternatives to assigned seating.

 

Taking Attendance (Optional)