Coronavirus: UOW to break early in response to COVID-19 pandemic
The University of Wollongong has announced major changes to the current semester in an effort to manage the coronavirus pandemic.
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The University of Wollongong has brought forward its mid-session break in a bid to manage the coronavirus outbreak.
The university will bring forward the mid-session break to start on March 23 and extend it to two weeks. The move will assist in moving all undergraduate and postgraduate classes to remote delivery mode when the autumn session recommences on April 6.
UOW Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Wellings announced the changes on Monday, ensuring
academics, including casual teaching staff, and professional services staff will continue to work intensively during the mid-session recess to transition all undergraduate and postgraduate programs to remote delivery.
“Educational institutions in Australia and organisations around the world are experiencing operational interruptions, and UOW is no exception,” Professor Wellings said.
“In response, we are taking sensible measures to ensure that students can continue to progress in their studies and our world-class research can continue, while also protecting the health and wellbeing of students and staff.
“Plans are well advanced to move to remote delivery for all our courses. Through these careful preparations, we aim to ensure a high-quality, remotely delivered learning experience for students, with good support in place for students and teaching staff.”
All UOW campuses, library, facilities, research and administrative functions will remain open during the recess.
Classes will continue as normal this week, however, to support students and staff who are particularly vulnerable, the university is introducing flexibility with immediate effect.
Tutorials and other classes will not be mandatory this week. Academic staff who can and wish to deliver lectures online this week may also do so.
The Vice-Chancellor flagged there could be further changes to the 2020 academic calendar as the COVID-19 outbreak develops, while ensuring students have the opportunity to complete the necessary workloads to graduate without delay.
“While there are still no confirmed cases of the virus here on our Australian campuses, we know that there are confirmed cases in our communities. It is inevitable that staff and students associated with UOW will be impacted,” Professor Wellings said.
“As this pandemic unfolds, students and colleagues will experience disruptions in their personal lives, such as needing to care for and support family members. Students and staff who find themselves in this situation are encouraged to use the support services and leave provisions in place at UOW so that they can support their families.”