The Rector of Collegium Civitas, Professor Stanisław Mocek wishes to thank the university staff, faculty, student council and student organizations for their involvement and efforts made during difficult circumstances caused by the public health crisis in the country and around the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Colleagues,

On 26 March, our university began on-line provision of classes. We have already been preparing for this transition through the implementation of, amongst others, the university development programme within the project named “University 4.0”. The current public health situation both in the country and around the world has forced us to intensify our efforts to finish these preparations as soon as possible and to immediately start on-line courses in these extraordinary, emergency circumstances, which we are all now facing in our daily life. We had to proceed in a novel situation, without the possibility to meet and discuss matters in person, since for over a week now all staff and faculty of Collegium Civitas have been working remotely.

Our absolute priority remains the provision of good quality education to our students. I am glad to say that we managed to train all our lecturers and successfully start on-line classes, including language courses (more than 500 undergraduate classes and about 200 post-graduate classes). We have received positive feedback from both students and lecturers, and our equipment and IT infrastructure are working seamlessly.

Therefore, I wish to extend by heartfelt thanks to all Collegium Civitas community members working in such extraordinary conditions. My gratitude goes to those of you who have become part of special Teams providing organizational support, IT and coordination, training and support for lecturers, tutors and students, ensuring excellent communication. I thank the Rector’s Team who have supervised the whole process, the academic departments, the administrative departments and their managers and coordinators, as well as all of your collaborators, and especially all lecturers and tutors who approached this challenge with a lot of understanding and good will, responding to our urgent requests and immediately changing the format of their classes, so as to adjust them to the e-learning requirements.

I wish to thank all administrative staff, who have worked tirelessly for many days and who ensure that the quality of our work is not compromised by it being done on-line. Staff from different departments were assigned to other tasks and teams, which is worth noting. Senior tutors, those first-line contact and support persons for our lecturers and tutors, have played a crucial role. We should also mention our students, especially the student council, the scholarship committee and student organizations who have supported us all the way, participating in many relevant activities undertaken by the university.

We know that the emergency situation will last at least until the Easter break, although there are serious indications that it will extend over the second half of April and, perhaps, May. I am convinced that we will cope with all tasks necessary to fulfil the expectations of our students.

We are currently processing student applications, including those related to financial matters, and setting up mechanisms enabling on-line thesis defence (viva voce) examinations, issuance of diplomas and training in the use of anti-plagiarism tools. Our career centre offers students advice on life-related issues, perhaps more vital now than career counselling.

Our students, tutors and lecturers are provided with interesting information and services from our library. We are in touch with students abroad and prepare Erasmus+ stays that are to start in October. All our departments and staff responsible for finances, staff-related matters and HR are working efficiently. I wish to thank especially our IT department for their comprehensive assistance and support for literally all of us, at any time of day or, indeed, night. Thank you for watching over our logistics and organization, ensuring uninterrupted workflow around the university, as well as the rapid implementation provided by our staff.

We are preparing to be ready to start enrolling new students from Poland and abroad on 15 April. We are now capable of offering our students conventional and e-learning classes.

In less than three weeks of the public health crisis we have all completed a colossal amount of work, which proves how important Collegium Civitas is for all of us. For all this work I wish to thank you all once again. We will inform you of all further developments.

Stanisław Mocek,
Rector of Collegium Civitas