Hi Henry,
One way I have dealt with synchronous online meetings in the past is to give students 8-10 choices for synchronous meeting dates and only require that they attend a specific number. From my past experience students actually made an effort to attend more than the required number, because they were helpful.
In the future, if you do require synchronous online or face-to-face meeting dates, we would need to put it in the notes sections of the course in CUNY First and our our website–that way students know before they register that they will need to block out that time. This course would be coded as “online” rather than “fully online” in the Student Info System/CUNY First.
Please note, I just sent you an e-mail regarding the GEO fully online course scheduled for the spring.
Best,
janey