Dear students, dear university staff, dear professors,
the Student Council of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences remains capable of acting even in these challenging times.
Although face-to-face teaching is temporarily suspended until 04.05.2020 and, like you, we are not allowed to enter university buildings, we continue to represent your interests and are your contact persons. You can contact us via all channels on which we are represented and inform us about your problems, concerns and complications in everyday student life.
Despite great efforts by many lecturers to continue teaching, the past few days have shown that this does not compensate for the canceled lectures/seminars/... and that better alternatives need to be worked out.
"A good internet connection and server capacities cannot be guaranteed at all times and teaching according to the timetable is not reasonable in the long termvia online meetings," says Timon Conrad. We therefore ask students and lecturers to enter into an exchange and work together to develop a suitable format that maintains the quality of teaching. We suggest providing students with video recordings of lectures regardless of the timetable and then being available to answer questions via email or online meetings. We also ask students in higher semesters to show solidarity and make their lecture notes and solutions from seminars in lower semesters available. We are happy to help with this.
According to Nicola Bell, the missed internships and excursions are a particularly difficult problem to deal with . Even if there are no clear solutions at the moment, we would like to approach the faculties and organize a suitable, helpful replacement for the students.
Like face-to-face teaching, all examinations are also canceled until 04.05. Deadlines are also paused. "For the protection of students and teaching staff, I appeal to you to schedule the examinations to be repeated at appropriate intervals or to replace them with other possible examinations," demands Eva Klaes.
We would also like to find a solution with the university management in cooperation with the library so that books can continue to be borrowed and are available to support self-study, as well as finding a way to print.
University sports are also canceled due to the pandemic and courses cannot run as planned. For this purpose, the university sports Instagram feed provides a training program for at home. You also have the option of canceling courses. However, a refund can only take place when university operations resume.
We are in contact with the Studierendenwerk Dresden to ensure a safe and orderly process in the event of a quarantine of students in the halls of residence. This should ensure the safety and health of the remaining students in the halls of residence and prevent any uncertainties.
Thanks to the efforts of the Student Council, in particular Falk Alexander Seidl, it was possible to increase the daily internet volume available to dormitory residents from 5 GB to 10 GB for the period without in-person teaching.
If you have any further questions, please contact us by email at stura@hszg.de, on Facebook or Instagram. You can also find more information at https://www.hszg.de/news/aktuelle-informationen-zum-coronavirus.html and at https://blog.hszg.de/stura/.
We look forward to seeing you again soon, but for now take care of yourselves and each other and stay healthy. #flattenthecurve
Your StuRa
-----------------English version below-----------------
Statement of the HSZG Student Council on the COVID 19 pandemic
Dear students, dear university staff, dear professors,
the student council of the University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz remains capable of acting even in these challenging times.
Even though classroom teaching will be temporarily suspended until 04.05.2020 and we, just like you are not allowed to enter university buildings, we continue to be your representation of interests and your contact persons. You can notify us via all channels on which we are represented and inform us about your problems, concerns and complications in everyday student life.
Despite the great efforts of many lecturers to continue the teaching, the past days have shown that they are no compensation for the canceled lectures/seminars/... and that better alternatives have to be worked out.
"A good Internet connection and server capacities cannot be guaranteed at any point in time and teaching according to the timetable is not permanently reasonable via online meetings", says Timon Conrad. We therefore ask both students and lecturers to exchange ideas and work together to develop a suitable format that maintains the quality of teaching. We suggest to provide students with video recordings of the lectures regardless of the timetable and to offer a subsequent availability for questions via e-mails or online meetings. We also ask students of higher semesters to act in solidarity and make their lecture notes and solutions from seminars available to students of lower semesters. We are happy to help with the mediation.
According to Nicola Bell, canceled internships and excursions are a particularly difficult problem to overcome. Even if there are no definite solutions at the moment, we would like to approach the departments and organize a suitable and helpful alternative for the students.
Not only have all on-campus lessons been canceled but also exams will not take place until the 4th May. This also applies for any deadlines. "To keep both students and staff safe I call on the university to reschedule the exams in reasonable intervals or to replace them altogether with suitable, alternative methods of examination." demands Eva Klaes.
Furthermore, we - in collaboration with the university and library management - would like to work out a plan to support self-study, so that library services like borrowing books or printing become available to the students.
Due to the pandemic all university sports classes and activities have been canceled. To compensate this, the university sports Instagram feed provides an at-home training program. You still have the opportunity, of course, to cancel your cheques for any sports classes you signed up for. Please keep in mind though, that refunds can only be made once the university is up and running again.
We will contact the student services in Dresden to ensure a safe and orderly process in the event that a quarantine situation might occur in the dormitories. This is intended to safeguard the health and safety of the students and to prevent any uncertainties.
The student council, especially thanks to Falk Alexander Seidl, managed to achieve an increase of the daily available internet volume for dormitory residents from 5 GB to 10 GB for the time being.
If you have any questions, please contact us via email(stura@hszg.de), Facebook or Instagram. You can also find more information here:https://www.hszg.de/news/aktuelle-informationen-zum-coronavirus.html and https://blog.hszg.de/stura/.
We are looking forward to seeing you again soon. Take care, look out for others and stay safe and healthy! #flattenthecurve