Corona pandemicand its consequences for the university - in teaching
The summer semester 2020 was dominated by the all-pervasive Corona pandemic: Even the start of the semester was no ordinary one. As a preventive measure, the university's executive board had decided at short notice to transform the traditional first-semester welcome on March 9, 2020, with around 500 expected participants, into a virtual format. A few days later, following an exchange with the health authorities in Ludwigshafen about the current risk situation and in consultation with the university administrations in Rhineland-Palatinate and the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Science, teaching in face-to-face format was discontinued from March 16, 2020; initially until April 20, 2020, then for the entire semester with the exception of the examination phase in June and July, which will largely take place in face-to-face format and in accordance with the applicable security requirements. Instead of the previous face-to-face formats, the university relied on virtual teaching with only a one-week delay in the start of the semester, which started on 23.03.2020.
After some teething problems, mainly related to the testing and resilience of corresponding services and the lack of lead time, the digitization of teaching worked well: Dr. Imke Buß, head of the department of studies & teaching and e-learning, drew a first, predominantly positive conclusion in mid-April: "I assume a digitization of 98%: Events are not actually cancelled. A large proportion of courses take place via video conferencing systems and thus synchronously. Another variant is the recording and provision of videos and texts in connection with reflection questions or exchange among students, i.e. asynchronous e-learning via the OLAT platform. One challenge is that creating material for asynchronous teaching is time-consuming." University President Prof. Dr. Peter Mudra now sums up at the end of this challenging semester: "The feedback from the events and activities in the area of online teaching, to which we had to transfer the scheduled face-to-face events in a very short time, is predominantly positive. Suggestions and criticism in this area were taken on board and - if possible - translated into possible solutions. In the area of the tools used, we are now on an increasingly reliable basis, but we are also still in a joint learning process - like other universities. Overall, our university staff have mastered the challenges quite well. But 'quite well' should not be our yardstick for 'good studying,' 'good teaching' or 'good work,'" explains Mudra and adds: "After a phase in which the realities of life were strongly restricted by guidelines and supported by improvisation and creativity, we now need to ask, with the participation of all university members: What are our experiences of the last few months? What went well, what went badly? What do we take with us for the future?"
To this end, surveys on the situation during the Corona crisis were and will be conducted first with students, faculty and staff, respectively. The results will be reflected back and will be incorporated into the specifications for the further development of home office regulations and the design of teaching and examinations in the future. The staff council and the youth and trainee representatives, the representatives of the severely disabled, the departments and study programs, the university committees and, in particular, the student representatives there will also be involved. "The first results of the university-wide student survey on the Corona semester are now available, for example," explains Prof. Dr. Ellen Bareis, Vice President for Studies and Teaching, Quality Management and Arts and Culture. Overall, these results are surprisingly pleasing; in particular, the experience with digital teaching to date has been largely evaluated positively and the desire for further integration of digital formats has been articulated. Hybrid teaching therefore currently appears to the university management as the future approach of choice.
"We made the case very early on not to lose the summer term, but to value it. Our first priority was to ensure that the students were not disadvantaged by the current situation," Prof. Dr. Ellen Bareis continued. Thus, students are basically free to decide whether they want to take exams or not. The examination period has also been extended by two weeks to a total of five weeks, alternative forms of examination to written examinations have been offered (where possible) and compulsory registration for module examinations has been extended by one semester from two to three semesters. "In addition, in line with the opportunity regulation of this positive semester , students can apply for the deletion of their examination result within one month after it has been announced, without giving reasons," Bareis said.
-in International
What was already a challenging time for students in general was in potency for students in the international context: students who had just been on a semester abroad or an internship abroad were rushed back or had to go through their semester of digital lectures in widespread isolation. Conversely, many of the foreign "incomings" left for home head over heels or spent their semester in the GAG apartments rented for them in Ludwigshafen with digital lectures. Many have extended their stay in Germany because of the precarious health situation in their countries of origin and the difficult travel conditions.
Many international students who complete a full course of study in Ludwigshafen are strapped for cash because not only have traditional study jobs in the hospitality industry been eliminated, but so have contractually secured working student jobs. Not least because of them, the university management actively supported the petition of the Studierendenwerk Vorderpfalz to set up emergency funds for students. There is a great deal of planning uncertainty for the international mobilities for the winter semester, which is noticeable, among other things, in the number of incoming as well as outgoing students.
"Conversely, however, we have also used the Corona crisis as an opportunity," explains Prof. Dr. Edith Rüger-Muck, Vice President for International Affairs and Diversity. "In just a few months, we have negotiated three more double degree agreements and brought them to the point of signature: both in the bachelor's program International Human Resources Management and Organization (IPO) and in the master's program International Human Resources Management (IHRM), students will be able to earn a degree at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, in addition to their degree at Ludwigshafen University, starting as early as the summer semester of 2021. In addition, a double degree for the master's program in International Marketing Management has been agreed with the International College of Management (ICMS) in Sydney. In other respects, too, good progress has been made in the area of international affairs: Despite the strict requirements, all "German as a Foreign Language" (TestDaF) examinationscould be conducted in presence and the establishment of a language center for international exchange has been started, says Rüger-Muck. "In addition, to compensate for the Summer School that was cancelled, Kerstin Gallenstein, the head of our International Office, set up a "Fall School" on the topic of Europe. We were also able to launch new digital mentoring formats to intensify international partnerships, including co-teaching formats with Hong Kong Baptist University or bilateral guest lectures, digital courses with international students and an international lecture series."
-In Human Resources/Administration
As of February , the university administration has made all university employees aware of the issue and actively communicated the hygiene recommendations. In early March, instructions were given for voluntary 2-week isolation for those returning from high-risk countries and for unconditional reporting of confirmed Corona infections. Administrative leadership established a "task force," appointed a coordinating officer, and set up a Corona news ticker at https://www.hwg-lu.de/hochschule/corona-aktuelle-informationen-der-hwg-lu.html. Beginning March 11, all public events were canceled, initially through and including 4/20, then for the entire semester. This was followed on 3/12/2020 by informing all employees about expanded use of home office (for at-risk groups; those with family care responsibilities up to 100%) and measures to drastically reduce the number of people in university buildings (including reducing library and building hours). A week later, from 18.03.2020, in all possible areas of the administration was switched to home office, from 23.03.2020 came to the temporary closure of all university buildings, including the canteen, cafeterias and libraries (from the end of April again limited opening of the libraries). The accessibility of the various units via e-mail and telephone was guaranteed throughout. "Overall, the work processes in the central and decentralized units have run very satisfactorily on the primarily digital basis and the home office constellation, which has already been well-rehearsed for some time," sums up Chancellor (m.d.d.G.b.) Carolin Nöhrbaß, "some of the arrangements we also want to adopt for the future - keyword 'home office, the normal work of tomorrow'." Planning is currently underway for the 2020/21 winter semester with various scenarios.
Outlook for the 2020/21 winter semester
Based on the current situation, particularly in the international context, the winter semester will probably not be able to be a normal semester either.The possibilities for face-to-face teaching will be significantly limited by the space resources required under the legal requirements, and it will also be necessary to provide the best possible protection for people who belong to a risk group with appropriate solutions. Our current plans therefore focus on a mixed form of face-to-face and virtual teaching.
For the winter semester, the following schedules are planned in coordination with the department heads:
a) The majority of the first-semester groups for the Bachelor's degree programs will start on November 2, 2020, as there will be delays for the admission procedures via DoSV due to the later school graduations. The lecture period will be more compact; it will end on 16.01.2021.
b) For the groups not covered by a), the courses of the winter semester will start as scheduled on 28.09.2020 according to the semester planning 2020.
c) The study programs of continuing education as well as some special study programs may deviate with regard to the aforementioned dates.
d) The scheduled examination period is extended by one week. It will start for a) on 18.01.2021 and for b) on 11.01.2021.
For the summer semester 2021, we currently assume a largely joint start of all groups - as in the past.
Overall situation at HWG LU
The financial situation will be challenging for HWG LU in 2020/21: At the end of 2020, the previous Higher Education Pact III for financing universities will expire. However, its successor, the "Higher Education Initiative for Good Studies and Good Teaching in Rhineland-Palatinate," which was announced at the end of 2019, has not yet been finalized: "Discussions are still underway between universities and the state government on individual and framework agreements," says university president Mudra.
The high expenses for renting additional space, which made it necessary to postpone the planned new building on the site of the former student parking lot at the corner of Ernst-Boehe-Strasse and Ludwig-Reichling-Strasse, represented an additional burden. The new building was originally scheduled for completion in 2016; today, university management expects completion in December 2022.
