Thanks to rapid action of UND Aerospace faculty, students can complete current ground school courses online<\/p>\n
UND archival image.
\nUND Aerospace\u2019s quick request to move its ground school online won almost immediate approval from the FAA, a development that may have paved the way for other aviation schools and students around the country, leaders of the University\u2019s aviation school say.
\nThe nation\u2019s leading flight school has had to make unprecedented changes during an unprecedented time as its programs \u2013 and programs across the planet \u2013 confront the COVID-19 outbreak.
\nThe situation presented an especially complex set of issues for the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences.
\nNot only are flight operations grounded at Grand Forks International Airport until further notice, but the edict to teach remotely for the rest of the semester directly contradicts the regulations set forth by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allowing UND to operate as a Part 141 ground school.
\nThe FAA-regulated selection of courses comprising Part 141, from the 100 to 400 level, is what prepares and qualifies UND graduates to move forward in their careers as aviators. All of them involve flight in one way or another.
\nAccording to the course outlines that keep UND within Part 141 regulations, all training must be delivered on-campus at UND, or out at UND Flight Operations. This, of course, put faculty in a difficult position, and required immediate action with an impending restriction on campus activity.
\nThe quick work of Aerospace faculty and staff impacted not only the lives of more than 1,000 UND Aerospace students eager to keep their education on track, but also, potentially, thousands more aviation students across the country.
\n\u2018Not a small feat\u2019
\nHere\u2019s the key dilemma that confronted Aerospace leaders as the \u201cremote learning\u201d news developed: How would UND be able to keep complying with FAA regulations, while also switching ground instruction to online after spring break?<\/p>\n
Lewis Archer
\nLewis Archer, assistant professor and assistant chair of flight academics, said faculty leaders were already making \u201cPlan B\u201d by the time they sent a request to the FAA to deviate from their training course outlines, which would allow them to shift to online delivery.
\n\u201cWe had the drafted request in the hands of our principal operations inspector \u2013 who is based out of Fargo\u2019s FAA district office \u2013 by Wednesday, March 11,\u201d Archer said. \u201cWe were preparing for them to say no.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy Roesler
\nOn the day the request was sent, the inspector to whom it was delivered happened to be on location at UND Flight Operations, which gave Archer and Chief Flight Instructor Jeremy Roesler a chance to hand-deliver the same documents and discuss the situation.
\nAfter the chance encounter, Archer checked in with the office through the rest of the week, but didn\u2019t hear back. Then after a tense weekend \u2013 relief. The FAA sent back a letter of approval.
\n\u201cI was quite surprised not only to get that response, but also to get it that quickly,\u201d Archer remarked.
\n\u201cThose of us who have worked with the FAA over the years know that such a result is not a small feat, but rather a huge accomplishment,\u201d Bjerke said in commending Archer\u2019s and other\u2019s efforts.
\n\u201cAs I watched all of the other collegiate aviation programs chime in that their district offices finally received guidance to assist them in similar requests, after we were already granted approval, I realized that we were once again proving to be leaders in collegiate aviation education,\u201d she added. \u201cNot only did Archer\u2019s and Roesler\u2019s efforts positively impact our aviation students, they undoubtedly helped thousands more across the country.\u201d
\nArcher also liked the thought of UND showing the way for others during unusual and uncertain times. As soon as they were granted approval, UND faculty shared their regulatory approach with peer institutions. This past week, Archer confirmed that most institutions have been approved to move their ground schools online.
\n\u201cI\u2019d like to think we paved the way,\u201d he said.
\nAerospace\u2019s online PSA
\nOn March 16, UND Aerospace leaders described the ground-school and other coronavirus-related changes in an online presentation on the College\u2019s YouTube channel. Throughout the presentation, the College\u2019s message was clear: \u201cThe health and safety of our students, staff and faculty is our paramount consideration.\u201d
\nThose were the words of Dean Paul Lindseth, who was accompanied during the presentation by an array of faculty and staff.
\nUND Aerospace boasts an exemplary safety record, noted Brian Willis, director of safety. But \u201ctoday, it\u2019s not your flight safety, but your personal safety that we\u2019re concerned about,\u201d he said.
\nRoesler said that while there are plenty of questions around requirements for flight training, those shouldn\u2019t be a concern at the moment. The conversation about how to eventually resume flight training is ongoing, and everything is subject to change in a fluid situation.
\nRegarding ground school course registration, Archer said that the system tracking flight lessons \u2013 aka course prerequisites \u2013 has been frozen to Feb. 29. That means wherever students were in their flight lesson progress at that date is how the system will establish priority for registration once normal activity resumes.
\nOnce again, though, Archer stressed the fact that any of the numbers can change as circumstances develop.
\n\u201cThere are a lot of factors at play, and there\u2019s no doubt that this will delay things for a lot of students,\u201d Archer said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to do what we can to hopefully avoid that as much as possible.\u201d
\nMaking it work
\nAs many of the courses moved to online delivery for the first time, which was an undertaking on its own, the FAA conditioned its approval on having remote access to the courses.
\nThe responsiveness and assistance from the Teaching Transformation and Development Academy (TTaDA) was a lifesaver throughout the fast-paced process, said Archer.
\n\u201cThe help we\u2019ve had from TTaDA has been exceptional,\u201d he said. \u201cI explained what we had to do to comply with the FAA, and as soon as I had the approval, and I emailed [Academic Application Administrator\/Learning Space Coordinator] Diane Lundeen, it was done instantly. We had what we needed for the FAA.
\n\u201cI can\u2019t thank them enough for how they\u2019ve helped us through this.\u201d
\nArcher is one of the many in the aviation faculty who are teaching online for the first time this week, but he\u2019s confident that every flight student will be able to finish his or her ground school coursework for the spring semester, regardless of where each student is at in the program.
\nFaculty are collaborating as a group, he said \u2013 sharing knowledge and resources to ensure students get the education they expected when they chose UND Aerospace to start their aviation careers.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not going to be an easy transition, but with the amount of tools we have and people who can help, I know we can make it work,\u201d Archer said.
\nKeep up to date with UND Aerospace
\nThe latest information regarding UND Aerospace\u2019s response to COVID-19 can be found at their blog site, and questions can be emailed to flyund@aero.und.edu. Many up-to-date responses regarding flight training and aviation course requirements can be found in the March 23 Questions & Answers post on the UND Aerospace Coronavirus Updates blog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thanks to rapid action of UND Aerospace faculty, students can complete current ground school courses online UND archival image. UND Aerospace\u2019s quick request to move its ground school online won almost immediate approval from the FAA, a development that may have paved the way for other aviation schools and students around the country, leaders of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":3228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[252],"tags":[370,353,354,361,352,373,365,372],"class_list":["post-3227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation","tag-aviation-college","tag-aviation-school","tag-aviation-students","tag-jdosas","tag-john-d-odegard-school-of-aerospace-sciences","tag-north-dakota-aviation","tag-university-of-north-dakota-aerospace","tag-university-of-north-dakota-aviation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n