Community is the heart and soul of UCR. Our small, tight-knit student community lives on campus, socializes and learns here. Our faculty and staff enjoy the frequent in-person interactions they have with students and with each other. As intelligent lockdown measures continue to be relaxed by the national government, we have set our sights on the future, and what this means for our (incoming) students, our community, and our teaching come Fall 2020.
We want our community to have in-person touch points. However, the safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff is of course our top priority. As we prepare for the next academic year, we have considered all the options available to us as it relates to teaching and learning within government guidelines. In our approach, we worked to guarantee high teaching quality throughout our program, whilst not losing sight of the importance and value of our community. And at the same time we want to adopt a model that can be adjusted should governmental guidelines change.
In reaching our decision, current government regulations, RIVM guidelines, the VSNU protocol and Utrecht University regulations have been our guiding principles. In addition, we consulted widely with the UCR community. During the conversations we asked participants to reflect on their experiences of Spring 2020 and to think ahead and consider various scenarios for Fall 2020.
In light of the foregoing, a flexible teaching model has been recommended and subsequently accepted by the UCR board.
A flexible approach to teaching provides for both online and limited face-to-face classes. In practice, this means that on-campus students may attend classes both online as well as in person where possible. Students who have not been able to come to campus, would still be able to attend classes remotely using Zoom. Fundamental to this approach is thus its flexibility. It is particularly attractive when the effects of the pandemic are forcing us to make decisions about how many students can fit into a classroom on campus. The approach also enables it to function for students who may not be able to come to campus at the moment, which might be the case for some of our new international students.
Teaching using a flexible model will commence at the start of Fall 2020. Both current and incoming students will thus be taught through this model. More information about the model itself and what this means for current and incoming students is available on our website.
In the coming weeks, UCR will acquire and integrate the new technologies needed in our classrooms to facilitate flexible teaching. And we will embark on a comprehensive logistics plan to ensure the safe set-up of classrooms, flow of people in and out of buildings, ensuring excellent levels of hygiene throughout our buildings and more.