Distance-learning process for students
(Information last updated on 23.03.2020.)
An emergency situation does not justify any violations of the study contract from either the higher education institution’s (HEI) or the student’s side. It is not a reason to deny a student the possibility to study the previously selected courses (i.e. due to a student missing out on something that had happened before the beginning of the state emergency), the lecturer has an obligation to deliver, however, HEI holds the right to change the length or duration of the study semester or dates of holidays if it is seen as necessary.
Moreover, according to the law, a student is not to be kept in the dark about the matters of their study program and the potential career – you have the right to receive the relevant information from your HEI. In the meantime, considering the circumstances of the situation, for the time being, their answer could be somewhere along the lines of “the factors concerning this are yet unclear, the deadlines and the conditions could change, etc.”. Yet this is not suitable and acceptable as a long-term answer.
It must be kept under consideration that the duration of the state of emergency could be changed (either increased or decreased), thus, it could change the study process as well as your plans for this summer. In this case, we won’t have much say in that. We kindly ask you to follow the recommendations given by the state officials and oblige to all safety measures and ask others to act responsibly, as well.
Hereon a list of different aspects will be provided, some of which you might have encountered. On the following matters, we ask you to seek help by the respective HEI’s website, administrative staff or the appointer academic staff members. These issues cannot be regulated systematically for all HEI with the same solution.
- Study process has been frozen completely;
- At least one course does not have any study materials available electronically;
- At least one course does not have study materials electronically in sufficient enough quality;
- Lecturers are not able to use online tools, thus, the course is lower in its quality;
- Lack of practical classes prevents students from reaching the study outcomes;
- Lecturers are not available for tutorials;
- One or more lecturers are not available for communication at all;
- The resources needed for the course are available in specific libraries (which are closed);
- Student ID is not valid (access to a library, lab and other places is denied);
- Unclear, how to solve study debts and close unfinished ends;
- Unclear, how long is the study semester going to be.
Firstly, reach out to your Coordinator of the Programme, Study Programme Director or the Dean of the faculty. If you don’t find the answer you seek, contact the Student Council of you HEI or the respective management structure responsible for students in your HEI.
- Information resources, which are needed for writing term papers and final works, are not available;
- Laboratory, which is needed for completion of term papers and final works, is not available;
- Collection of empirical data for research is (nearly or completely) impossible;
- Academic adviser (for final papers) is not available for tutorials.
Firstly, reach out to your Coordinator of the Programme, Study Programme Director or the Dean of the faculty. If you don’t find the answer you seek, contact the Student Council of you HEI or the respective management structure responsible for students in your HEI.
- There is no stable internet connection available for working remotely;
- There is no electronic device available for working remotely;
- There is no quiet, peaceful place suited for studying available for working remotely.
Firstly, reach out to your Coordinator of the Programme, Study Programme Director or the Dean of the faculty. If you don’t find the answer you seek, contact the Student Council of you HEI or the respective management structure responsible for students in your HEI.
- Will the study semester be prolonged?
- Will it be possible to fill in for the missed classes? How will that happen?
- What will happen with defence procedures of the final thesis and study works?
- Will the graduations be rescheduled?
- Will deadlines for final thesis submission (bachelor thesis, master thesis) be postponed?
- What is going to happen with the defence and presentation of all term and qualification papers?
- What will happen with internships, especially, if the place has been closed due to COVID-19?
- Will video-lectures be available for viewing offline, i.e. 8h after being recorded live? What about the tasks done live in online classes, can those be submitted later?
- Do we have to pay study fee for this month, too? Will there be study fee waivers? Discounts?
- Is the library going to be available? To what extent?
- Are the Easter holidays going to be cancelled?
Answers to these and other questions will differ from one HEI to another. Therefore, we encourage you to first reach out to your Coordinator of the Programme, Study Programme Director or the Dean of the faculty. If you don’t find the answer you seek, contact the Student Council of you HEI or the respective management structure responsible for students in your HEI.