After the pandemic outbreak and the announcement of schools shutting down for a week, KSU held an urgent KPS/KE meeting in order to discuss the situation. A document was finalised, proposing ideas and what the Council expects out of the University Admin.
The main concern amongst students, and the first concern that KSU addressed, was whether other alternatives will be considered to cover the material. It is crucial for all academic staff and lecturers to be on the same page, by making themselves available through online media and clearly specifying how their lectures will be operating. Reading materials, presentations summaries and slides of lectures are to be posted on the VLE and a thorough recap on the material should follow once the lectures resume.
The majority of the students are already making use of online lectures and getting regular updates from their respective lecturers. The Council stated that anything that can be presented online should be reverted to, giving the example of a shift from exams to assignments. The same concept applies to presentations. Presentations should be shifted to online media with appropriate guidance from the lecturers in order to still meet the required public speaking skills. Deadlines, depending on the assessment given, are to be reconsidered. Group presentations or projects can be affected due to the implication of physically meeting up to discuss their work.
Activities and events that were once planned to take place on Campus are being postponed to a later date or are even canceled. That being said, there are still occasions where students will still need to make use of the University facilities for various academic activities. These may include practical sessions, lab work, sports facilities, studio work, library research, use of IT facilities, physical submission of projects, use of the University venues and meetings with supervisors. The Council is proposing an exception for such students to be able to access the University facilities, only in controlled numbers.
Students that are required to meet an amount of placements hours, should have the chance to recover the hours through other means and methods. A priority is to be given to final year students.
A proposal that concerns the student organisations stated that the use of the offices within the Student’s House should be avoided unless it is absolutely necessary. If a student organisation were to host a meeting, it should be within a controlled number.
Extension or postponing of the semester is to be discussed with the rector.